# 21 y.o. needs HELP with Hashimoto's



## pineapple46 (Mar 14, 2017)

Hello friends.

I am new to this forum and just need overall help with managing my hypothyroiodism. I am only 21 years old (female) and have a hard time understanding this disease.

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and hypothyroidism when I was 19 years old. I have now been on medication for almost two years (levothyroxin 75 mcg) but still have a hard time managing my symptoms. Being so young, a lot of the symptoms are hard for me to understand or explain and are really starting to take a toll on my relationship with my boyfriend (of 3 years now).

So here are some of the symptoms that I am struggling to manage, and have not gotten better with 2 years of medication.

1. Tiredness - I literally cannot stay awake, that is the main problem. The first couple years of college I literally slept through my classes, and have gotten in trouble in class for sleeping before. My problem is I literally can't help it. I would wake up at 8am and go straight to class, and fall right back asleep five minutes later. Now in my senior year of college, I am able to stay awake through class, but when I get home I almost always need a nap. I can lay down to watch tv or sit down to do my homework, and I will fall asleep almost immeditately. Most days I fall asleep before 9pm- and when me and my boyfriend don't even get off work till 7 most days, you can see how this is becoming a problem in our relationship. He is always saying to me, "the only thing you want to do is sleep." But what I cant understand and what I cant explain to him is I can't help it!! I can be 100% awake one second, and the next second I'm dead to the world for the next 12 hours. I am sleeping my life away and I don't want to, but I am ALWAYS tired. Even with sleeping 50% of the day, I still feel tired for the rest of it.

How do I stay awake and stop being so tired? The fatigue is almost unbearable and I literally cannot sleep anymore.

2. Sexual Dysfunction - This one is a biggie. I am 21 years old, let me repeat that, 21 years old. I should not be having to worry about sexual dysfunction for another 30 years, yet here I am. Other internet research has told me that sexual dysfunction is one of the symptoms of Hashimoto's- but should get better with treatment. I have been on levothryroixin for over 2 years now and have had my dosage's adjusted, but honestly it has just gotten worse. I never get horny. Like ever. I almost like can't even remember the last time I actually WANTED to have sex. I love my boyfriend and we have a great relationship, but he is getting tired of me never being in the mood. Its not that I dont want to have sex with him, I do. I am very attracted to him and the sparks were crazy when we first met, but they have slowly dwindled away for me and now theres almost nothing.

On top of this, I also experience vaginal dryness and even pain during intercourse. Again, I should not be having these problems at 21 so the only thing I can think of to be causing them is the Hashimoto's. Even though I am never in the mood, or even on the rare chance that I do get horny, most of the time its not when my boyfriend is. So half the time I just have sex to please him, but it is uterrly TERRIBLE for me. I feel pain and swelling in my vagina every single time we have sex (and reminder, weve been having sex for 3 years now). And I understand this is probably being cause by lack of lubrication, but why am I so dry? Why is it impossible for me to get wet?? I could initiate the sex thinking I am in the mood, but when we get to it, I am dry. Dry. Dry. Even after we start having sex it like doesn't even get any wetter. If its possible I think it gets dryer. This is a HUGE concern for me, since I am only 21 and I can barely even keep my boyfriend happy sexually.

Any advice on how to deal with this? Could I need different medication, or is this something I am going to have to deal with for the rest of my life? Could there be another reason for this or is this typical for Hashimoto's? Please help, I want my sex life back 

3. These are all the other symptoms I am struggling with:

- Dry Hair

-Dry Skin

-Anxiety

-Stress

No matter how many products I buy and use, I cannot do anything to keep my hair and skin from getting dry. I read online that this is another symptom, does anyone know of any products or remedies that work for us affected with Hashimoto's?

The anxiety and stress is terrible. I am already under a great deal of stress, and my online research told me having Hashimoto's is like being stressed all the time. You overproduce cortisol, which is what is released when you are stressed or something about that. Could the Hashimoto's be making me even more stressed upon what life is stressing me out about?

I often find myself worrying, stressing, overthinking, and having general anxiety about EVERYTHING. I work myself up if I have to make a call or go somewhere I have never been before. I am always worrying about my above problems affecting my relationship, and I do not want to lose my boyfriend because I do not know how to cope with my stress and anxiety about this illness.

ANY and ALL tips and answers to my above questions would be GREATLY appreciated! )))))

THANK YOU and PLEASE HELP ME!!!!


----------



## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

You sound like your disease is not well-managed.

What do your latest labs look like?


----------



## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

pineapple46

Welcome to the forum!

You sound under medicated.

You have a right as a patient to have copies of your lab results.

Please request them and post results with ranges.

Do you know if they have tested your non thyroid labs which include Ferritin, B-12 and Vitamin D? Being low in any of these would contribute to fatigue. Please note when in your cycle your ferritin labs were drawn as it does matter - being close to your monthly cycle would result in a lower result.

What other medications do you currently take?


----------



## pineapple46 (Mar 14, 2017)

Lovlkn said:


> pineapple46
> 
> Welcome to the forum!
> 
> ...


I just had my lab results posted, these are as of a week ago.

They tested a lot of stuff, I will post my results here.


----------



## pineapple46 (Mar 14, 2017)

Sorry for the formatting issues, it didn't look like that when I was copy and pasting lol.

Here are my most recent lab results again:

Vitamin D-

Component Your Value Standard Range
Vit D, 25-Hydroxy 31.2 ng/mL 30.0 - 100.0 ng/mL

TSH-

Component Your Value Standard Range
TSH 2.740 uIU/mL 0.450 - 4.500 uIU/mL

Comprehensive metabolic panel-

Component  Your Value Standard Range
Glucose 86 mg/dL 65 - 99 mg/dL
BUN 13 mg/dL 6 - 20 mg/dL
Creatinine, Serum 0.85 mg/dL 0.57 - 1.00 mg/dL
eGFR If NonAfricanAmerican 98 mL/min/1.73 >59 mL/min/1.73
eGFR If African American 113 mL/min/1.73 >59 mL/min/1.73
BUN/Creatinine Ratio 15 8 - 20
Sodium 138 mmol/L 134 - 144 mmol/L
Potassium 4.7 mmol/L 3.5 - 5.2 mmol/L
Chloride 102 mmol/L 96 - 106 mmol/L
CO2 21 mmol/L 18 - 29 mmol/L
CALCIUM 10.0 mg/dL 8.7 - 10.2 mg/dL
Total Protein 7.2 g/dL 6.0 - 8.5 g/dL
Albumin, Serum 4.7 g/dL 3.5 - 5.5 g/dL
Globulin,Total 2.5 g/dL 1.5 - 4.5 g/dL
Albumin/Globulin Ratio 1.9 1.1 - 2.5

Total Bilirubin 0.8mg/dL 0.0 - 1.2 mg/dL
Alkaline Phosphatase 37 IU/L 39 - 117 IU/L
AST 11 IU/L 0 - 40 IU/L

ALT (SGPT) 7 IU/L 0 - 32 IU/L

CBC with differential-

Component Your Value Standard Range
WBC 5.2 x10E3/uL 3.4 - 10.8 x10E3/uL
RBC 5.76 x10E6/uL 3.77 - 5.28 x10E6/uL
Hemoglobin 11.4 g/dL 11.1 - 15.9 g/dL
Hematocrit 36.0 % 34.0 - 46.6 %
MCV 63 fL 79 - 97 fL
MCH 19.8 pg 26.6 - 33.0 pg
MCHC 31.7 g/dL 31.5 - 35.7 g/dL
RDW 16.3 % 12.3 - 15.4 %
Platelet Count 305 x10E3/uL 150 - 379 x10E3/uL
Neutrophils 42 % %
Lymphs Relative 45 % %
Monocytes 11 % %
Eos Relative 2 % %
Basos Relative 0 % %
Neutrophils Absolute 2.1x10E3/uL 1.4 - 7.0 x10E3/uL
Lymphocytes Absolute 2.3 x10E3/uL 0.7 - 3.1 x10E3/uL
Monocytes Absolute 0.6 x10E3/uL 0.1 - 0.9 x10E3/uL
Eosinophils Absolute 0.1 x10E3/uL 0.0 - 0.4 x10E3/uL
Basophils Absolute 0.0 x10E3/uL 0.0 - 0.2 x10E3/uL
Immature Granulocytes 0 % %
Immature Grans (Abs) 0.0 x10E3/uL  0.0 - 0.1 x10E3/uL

T4 Free-

Component Your Value Standard Range
Free T4 1.71 ng/dL 0.82 - 1.77 ng/dL

I'm sure this one is easier to read, again, thanks to anyone who can help!


----------



## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Your free t4 is awfully close to being too high.

Ask you doctor for a FREE t3 test. It's very possible that you are not properly converting t4 into t3.


----------



## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

Ditto the FT-4 comment above.

Has your doctor prescribed anything for your low D? Standard treatment is 50K IU weekly for 12 weeks and retest. I did this and now need to take 5K IU daily to maintain 3/4 range.


----------



## pineapple46 (Mar 14, 2017)

I will ask about the free t3 test, but as of now my doctor said that my medicine is at a good level and should not change,

although I really disagree with this sense I am having such awful symptoms and the medication is not relieving any of them.

My doctor did tell me to start taking a vitamin D supplement of 1000 unit daily.

Is there anything else I can do to help with the tiredness / sexual dysfunction?

Thanks


----------



## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

pineapple46 said:


> Is there anything else I can do to help with the tiredness / sexual dysfunction?


Attending to your Vit D will help. But really there's not much to do if your disease is not being properly managed.


----------



## visc (Feb 22, 2014)

Im a guy, but I only feel better when my FT4 is less than 1.5. Otherwise my skin dries out and I feel tired.

Also, I find when I'm tired and hypo I have little interest in sex and don't get aroused as easily.


----------



## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

> Is there anything else I can do to help with the tiredness / sexual dysfunction?


For your comfort - try Carlson Key - E Suppositories, Insert 1/2 every night and it will help moisturize your va-j-j. The longer you use them the better you will feel and you can decrease to 1/4 per night, every night.

Also - Astroglide when sexually active.


----------



## AFG034 (Apr 5, 2017)

Weird question: are you on birth control? My wife was and the pill she used caused a decrease in libido.


----------



## pineapple46 (Mar 14, 2017)

AFG034 said:


> Weird question: are you on birth control? My wife was and the pill she used caused a decrease in libido.


Yes I am on birth control actually. I have been on the same pill, I believe it is called Alyacen, for over 4 years now. I have read online that this could be causing the decrease in libidio


----------



## visc (Feb 22, 2014)

When your FT4 is less than 1.5, does your TSH get closer to 1.0? This would lead me to think, in those times your autoimmune activity is reduced and you can adequately convert T4 to T3. Which is why, as others said, you feel better.

Also hows your diet? Are you getting enough water? Are you sleeping 8 hours a night? Exercising?


----------

