# Recently Diagnosed Hashimoto- Looking for advice and input - Right Side Hemiparesis, Fatigue, Eye Weirdness, Body Aches, Brain Fog



## burnouthappy (Apr 15, 2016)

Hello everyone!

Forgive me if this is long, I would just like to get it all out there.

I am 28 years old. Female. 116lbs. 5'4" tall. Averagely active and thought I was healthy.

Thyroid issues run in my family.

So I can't really tell you when I first started having symptoms. It could have happened a few times so far that I can think of that I didn't see a doctor for during that time. I remember when I was 23 or so, I was very very puffy in the face and looked chubby without really having put on that much weight, maybe 5-8 lbs or so, but I looked different. Again, I never got checked out so I don't know. Either way, this is just to say that I could have had this issue in the past that I may not have known about. During that same time I felt like garbage and was riddled with panic attacks for apparently no reason.

The most concerning symptom that I have is that for the past few years, I have had a loss of sensitivity in my right arm. I never really had it looked at because everyone just thought I was crazy. But my right arm....feels weird....most of the time. Sometimes it feels worse, sometimes I don't notice it. But it is like a lesser sensation than my left arm. I can still move it just fine, just as well as my other arm, it just feels....off..... Last month, I noticed it more. I also felt the right side of my face gaining the same type of feeling, and slowly my right eye joined in. I can't tell you how hard it is to explain that although I have no affect in my right eye's vision, it is just....weird. You know that feeling when someone shines a bright light in your eye and it screams "eeehhhh I don't like that!". It feels like that all the time. But it isn't sensitive to light, my vision isn't affected, and I can see just fine. It just FEELS that way. Very strange. I also feel like my right leg is also affected, and each day it feels more and more. I have no affect in walking, my leg just feels weird and more achy than the rest of me.

So I hadn't gotten a blood panel done since 2014, but I really don't know what they tested for during that time either. I will ask for the results tomorrow and will post them when I get those.

I got pregnant on Christmas of last year. At the time, I smoked a pack a day and drank every evening. Once I got pregnant I quit everything cold turkey. During my pregnancy I felt GREAT! Amazing, actually. After I gave birth in August 2015, it was like I was at 1/16 of the energy level I could have been. Obviously birth is a very exhausting and traumatic thing to go through, which was my thoughts exactly. I was so weak, tired, monotone. I cared for my baby no problem and was happier than ever, I was just a sloth. I gained more energy and strength as the weeks passed by, but I never got back to where I was.

I struggled every day to get out of bed, despite getting 10+ hours of sleep. I just dragged myself out of bed, and dragged myself around the house. It hurt to even think about leaving the house. And after I had to go back to work, I struggled. I was always a night owl, so by the time I had to go into my night shift, I had energy finally. Even before pregnancy I slept all day and was up all night. But I would be SO SO SOOOO tired all day, and once night hit, I was up until 4am. That was just my thing, I am a night person I guess.

So this brings us to now.....well....a week ago. I feel awful all the time. I am so tired. So weak. So utterly exhausted for no reason. My head feels like I am stoned all the time. The right side of my body just drives me crazy. Life just kinda sucks. So I called a neurologist with my concerning symptoms. I called my primary care doctor as well. The neurologist thinks I have a pinched nerve, and we scheduled an MRI for next Wednesday. I saw my primary last week, and she did a blood panel. I got the call three days ago from my primary saying I had Hashimoto.

My test results were

TPO - 314 on April 8th at primary doctor. Normal is <9

TPO - 137 on April 15th at neurologist. Their range is 0-34

TgAB - <1.0 Range is 0-0.9

TSH - 5.74 Range is .40-4.50

FreeT4 - 1.0 Range is .8-1.8

She told me it "could resolve on its own" and I told her that these symptoms were killing my daily life, and I needed to fix it. She put me on 50mcg of Levothyroxine. The first day after taking it (I took it at night because I read that was the best) I felt like death. It was like my symptoms were multiplied. Going on day 3 and they still aren't much better. I think my body just doesn't like it. Even yesterday and today, I had trouble finding words and thinking straight. Remembering things and focusing.

I have done a ton of research and so far the only thing that has come up that made some sense was Hashimoto Encephalopathy, which can and does affect the right side of the body. There really isn't much information about it out there, but I called my neurologist about it and he has requested bloodwork for it. So hopefully his blood panel is a bit more thorough than the last one I had.

I would love any input, insight, and advice from you all. I just want to feel normal again and be as active as I was. I would like input as to the best medication for this, as I have heard nothing but bad things about synthetic thyroid medication. I want my symptoms to be treated as well as the problem, and I read that most doctors just treat the thyroid until it is a "normal" range and ignore the fact that you still have symptoms. Obviously my thyroid isn't the actual issue, since my immune system is attacking it, so any advice on that would also be great.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

First, do you have the ranges for those tests?

Secondly, have you asked for a thryoid ultrasound?

Encephalitis is REALLY rare and is usually associated with severe symptoms, like strokes. I'm not saying you can't have it, but I am saying that one would expect significant worse symptoms.

Hashi's doesn't "resolve on its own," so your doctor is wrong about that. And, sometimes adjusting to meds is a tough process. I'd be interested to see what other thyroid antibodies you are dealing with...


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## burnouthappy (Apr 15, 2016)

Thanks for the response! I just edited my original post with the corrected and additional test results.

In some cases, Hashimoto's will appear after pregnancy and then go away on its own. Since it runs in my family. I doubt that it the case.

So I have been taking 50 mcg of Levothyroxine for 6 days now. I still feel like death. My body aches, my joints ache, my muscles ache. I get a nasty headache everyday somewhere around 4-7pm. I am assuming that is right about when the medicine really wears off. Also around 7-8pm I start getting super exhausted, like I haven't slept in weeks. I am also assuming that this is because the medicine is wearing off. I take it at 11pm because I read that it helps with the mornings. However, I work at night and that is when I need the most energy.

I have also been reading about natural thyroid medication vs synthetic. I am going to ask and see if my doctor will let me switch.

I haven't asked about an ultrasound. My doctor said it is barely larger. However, I DO have an MRI on Wednesday with my neurologist. So that will show the thyroid as well.


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

I would push for a Free T3 test, too. Especially if you're going to push for NDTs (that's the 'natural thyroid meds').


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## patish (Jan 12, 2016)

I wonder if you are not converting your T4. I am taking natural thyroid and I feel horrible too. I am slowly titrating and have found that I am now super sensitive to caffeine and have had to cut it out.


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## burnouthappy (Apr 15, 2016)

I asked my doctor yesterday about T3 testing and natural thyroid. I got the standard "99.99% of patients take synthetic, it is standard practice" and "T3 testing is difficult to request because insurance companies don't want to cover it" and "You just got diagnosed, let the medication kick it and we will test in two months and go from there"

I just put myself on the Autoimmune Protocol diet two days ago. I am desperate to try anything to feel normal again.


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