# Feeling Miserable Constantly



## Kaydensmomma (Aug 18, 2013)

Hello everyone,

I am a 23 year old Mother with Hashimoto's. I was diagnosed At 15 years old with Hashimoto's with a goiter. I have been on Levothyroxine since the beginning. I just had my son 5 months ago. For the last two years I have been miserable. Constant fatigue, nausea, gaining weight losing weight, mood swings etc. But after I had my son I got worse. Not eating right. Too tired to do anything. I have to take a nap every two hours just to stay awake. But I'm still fatigued. I'm a single mother and every day I feel worse. I want to get healthy to take care of my son. I recently went to the doctor and had my TSH levels tested which came back at 24.495. Extremely high. Not only that I tested positive for MTHFR Heterozygous Gene Mutation. I also am awaiting testing for Thyroid Cancer. They put me on Levothyroxine 150mcg. I have to say its making me feel worse. Migraines, IBS, trouble concentrating, troubles with urination and more. My doctors are not really helping. I wondering if anyone has had same issues and has gone under a different method of treatment and has felt better. Please help me. I am miserable :/ I want to enjoy my life again.


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## StormFinch (Nov 16, 2012)

Hi Kaydensmomma and welcome to the forum. 

I'm really sorry you're having to go though this. I wonder if your doctor wasn't monitoring your thyroid very well during pregnancy and postpartum. I know this is probably going to seem like I'm bombarding you with questions, but every piece of info you can give us will help. What dose of levo did you move up from? Are you on generic or a name brand? Do you happen to have a copy of your labs that you can post, and did the doctor run more than just TSH? If the one subscribing your replacement is not being helpful then it might be time to start searching for someone who will be.


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## Kaydensmomma (Aug 18, 2013)

Hi StormFinch,

You are not bombarding me with questions and thank you for replying. I was moved up from .100 mcg to 150 mcg. I am on Levothyroxine which is the generic hormone replacement for Synthroid. I do not have a copy of my labs and the only results they gave me were TSH. I saw you had a Thyroidectomy. Did it help? How did it help? If you don't mind me asking.


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## StormFinch (Nov 16, 2012)

No I don't mind at all and Good Grief YES it helped!!! lol

As you saw by my sig I was diagnosed with both Hashi's and Graves. Do I actually have both? Don't know and no longer care.  My particular pattern was that I'd have hypo symptoms and blood tests for 6 months give or take, and then hyper for the next 6 months give or take. The hypo was hard enough to control on meds, but then the hyper got to where it couldn't be controlled either so I gave up and had it out. I had been worried about my eyes with RAI and my parathyroids with surgery, (I also have early onset osteoporosis) but with a good surgeon everything went great. My numbers are no longer bouncing around and I can stay on one strength of replacement, in my case Armour thyroid. I feel 100% better too.

Alright, a few options for you... First off though I'll suggest that you start asking for copies of all your labs. Titering thyroid replacement isn't just about TSH, but Free T4 and Free T3 need to be looked at as well. If your doctor is only running TSH then you definitely need a new doctor, but a copy of your labs will tell you that.

As to your side effects on levo, it could be a number of things. A) It could be that the 50mcg jump was too much for your body to handle with your TSH so high. This is the direction I'd probably lean if you've been on the same brand of levo the whole time and didn't have any trouble with it before or during pregnancy. B) It could be that you're sensitive to a filler in the levo. This is more probable if you've changed brands recently, and I know a couple of different ones went off the market within the last month or so. There's also the chance, however small, that you developed an allergy to something in it as those can happen at any time. My suggestion would be to start by either talking to your doctor, tell him/her that you feel that the jump in meds was too much for your system and ask if you can take 125s for awhile. Or, if you have any 100s left just alternate the 100s with your 150s for a week or two until your body can adjust. If that doesn't work then you might want to switch over to the name brand synthroid or even the one without fillers called Tirosint. Either way, the synthroid at least would be better for you in the long run because generics can (legally in the U.S. mind you) have up to a 10% discrepancy in dosage strength. Ultimately, if neither work, you could ask to be moved to a dessicated like Armour or NPThyroid, but we'll cross that bridge if we come to it. Just trying to find a doctor to prescribe those can sometimes be difficult at best.


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## Kaydensmomma (Aug 18, 2013)

StormFinch,

I am so glad you had a great outcome from having the Thyroidectomy Procedure. And I am very happy that you are feeling much better. I have been looking at the Thyroidectomy procedure for awhile but I have had my doubts and I do not like anything surgical.

My numbers have been bouncing around since I was 15. I have never had them stable. No matter how long i was on a prescription.

My doctor ran my t3 t4 and tsh I believe and I will be asking her for the results and copies of the labs.
I have been having other issues aside from my Hashimoto's. And finding a doctor who takes Medicaid is horrible. I live in Illinois and most doctors here do not accept Medicaid. Atleast the good ones don't.

I am hoping I can find another method because I am too young to be going through all of these problems. My weight has also became another issue. I weighed 140 before pregnancy and after 210. Ive tried losing the weight but it will not come off no matter what I try. I think it is time I try to find another doctor. But will be very hard to do.

I am being tested for Thyroid Cancer as well. Hopefully I do not have it.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Kaydensmomma said:


> I am being tested for Thyroid Cancer as well. Hopefully I do not have it.


Are you having an ultrasound and biopsy? I hope so! 

I agree that getting copies of your labs is critical.

Also, my counterintuitive advice is to be careful what you wish for...if you have cancer, it's very treatable AND (most importantly) it would very difficult to deny you a thyroidectomy. I had an undiagnosed case of Hashi's...I developed cancer...had my thyroid removed and life has never been better. Cancer was a weird blessing.


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

> My numbers have been bouncing around since I was 15. I have never had them stable. No matter how long i was on a prescription.


Have they ever run TSI antibodies or TPO antibodies tests on you?

I , like StormFinch have both antibodies and was told I had hashi's and graves and never could stabilize on drugs. I finally gave up and had a TT in 2008. Again = the best decision I ever made and life is much better post TT due to stability in thyroid hormones.


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## hashimotocoaster (Mar 22, 2013)

From what I understand, pregnancy can mess with your thyroid hormones--babies can't make their own, so they use the mother's, and if you're already low... you know what happens.

If there's a state research hospital within driving distance, you might try there for a good doctor. They tend to be better about working with people with no/limited insurance than private practices, and you'll probably get better treatment anyway.


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