Hey everyone,

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism a couple of months ago and started on 50mcg of levothyroxine. It’s been 69 days, and my blood work has improved significantly: my TSH dropped from 9.34 to 1.77, and my T4 went from 0.72 to 1.18. (My doctor didn’t request new T3 tests this time, but my initial T3 was 0.73).

I actually discovered my hypothyroidism by reading that a TSH above 4.5 is a red flag, which led me to seek medical advice and confirm the diagnosis. I’ve experienced all the classic symptoms (fatigue, slow metabolism, hair loss, dry skin, brittle and ridged nails, sensitivity to cold, high cholesterol, etc.) but just assumed it was “normal” for me. Looking back, my TSH has been high for over six years based on old test records.

Here’s my concern: despite the great numbers, my symptoms haven’t improved at all. I was hoping to see at least some change in my fatigue or skin, but it’s all the same as before.

Has anyone else experienced this? Should I be looking into other options? I’ve seen suggestions here to add T3 medication for those who don’t get symptom relief with T4-only treatment. But with my TSH now in the normal range, would that even make sense or be the case?

Thanks in advance for any insights!

Newly joined to this sub. Having thyroid problems again. Currently on 112mcg levothyroxine and labs just came back normal but still having some symptoms. Started to dive into my lab history to look at trends and found my first test results. I found out at 15 my thyroid is basically shite.

My TSH was 134.05!! 😬 Posting the link because I can barely believe it myself.

https://imgur.com/a/of8cwEE

I am 24(M) 5'11 and around 100Kgs. My TSH is 10.9 I have been put on 37.5 mcg of thyroxine. And have been continuing it for around 2 months. I clock about 10K steps daily.

But I have been unable to lose weight.

The main problem for me is the diet. I live in Bangalore in a PG and have to eat food outside. So to lower the calories I have started skipping breakfast.

And my lunch is around 650-700 cal and same goes for my dinner.

Any suggestions regarding diet or lifestyle changes would be helpful.

I had my thyroid tested at 8 weeks pregnant. It was 0.5 TSH

At my 12 week scan the dr said she doesn’t see a need to do the test again because the first one was fine, and that we will do it at the next ultrasound.

My next ultrasound is in a few days but I’ve been definitely feeling like my thyroid has gone out of whack - I’m 18 weeks pregnant now. I’m exhausted, brain fog and the VERY specific feeling of rage that comes with a high TSH.

I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of reading up on what a high TSH can potentially do to my baby and I’m in tears. I’m so angry that she didn’t take better care of me.

I was not ever able to go to another dr for this test. No gynaes would take me so far along in my pregnancy - and my GP doesn’t order tests like this during pregnancy because it’s on the OB to do. (I live in Germany, rules around healthcare are quite specific)

Please tell me if anyone has had a high TSH during the 2nd trimester and if it had any bad impacts. Im so stressed out

i don’t know if my thyroid is causing my acne problems but i’m wondering if anyone else is having the same problems as me

i’ve been breaking out like crazy

i need to get a sonogram done because im wondering if i have PCOS or something else other than hypothyroidism that’s causing my acne because if im already on levothyroxine then my irregular periods, acne, fatigue, and other hypothyroidism symptoms should be going away right?

i’m just trying to figure all this out and it’s increasingly stressful

I was diagnosed in mid Sept with the following labs, which I ordered myself via WalkinLabs and had run at Labcorp:

TSH - 4.620 (0.450-4.500

T4 - 10.8 (4.5-12.0)

FT4 - 1.13 (0.82-1.77)

T3 Uptake - 18 (24-39)

FT3 - 3.8 (2.0-4.4)

Free Thyroxine Index - 1.9 (1.2-4.9)

Ferritin/Iron panel wasn’t run at the time, but previous one from 2021 was deficient.

Since diagnosis I was started on 112mcg levothyroxine and, since I felt too variable on generic, for my second month’s Rx I got brand name Synthroid. Blood work was run after about 2 weeks on the Synthroid. I also started supplementing Iron (65mg/day) Selenium (two Brazil nuts per day, because they’re tasty and I enjoy them more than pills), zinc (50mg/day) and Vitamin C (1g/day).

New labs as of 10/28/24, ordered by the PA who diagnosed the issue. Also Labcorp so same reference ranges as above, but slightly different than what I ordered (thyroid panel is less comprehensive)

TSH - 0.037

FT4 - 14.7

T3 Uptake - 27

Free Thyroxine Index - 4.0

TPO Ab - 17 (0-34) (edit: checked and in 2021 this was <1, so slight increase but nothing out of range)

Thyroglobulin Antibody - <1.0 (0.0-0.9)

TIBC - 425 (250-450)

UIBC - 339 (131-425)

Iron - 86 (27-159)

Iron Saturation - 20% (15-55%)

Ferritin - 135 (15-150)

My concern is that the labs show hyper, yet I don’t have ANY hyper symptoms. I’m losing weight at a rate that makes sense with my lifestyle (80+ min in the gym doing weight lifting after work plus 40-60 min of steady state cardio after), my bowel movements are the most normal they’ve been in years (1-2x per day, perfect consistency), I have energy to wake up in the morning and get through a whole day, my brain fog is gone, I’m super calm and don’t have the anxiety I had before, and overall I feel so alive! I’ve also monitored my heart rate and blood pressure closely and BP has been within the range of 100/75 to the standard 120/80, and heart rate is back to my baseline of around 80-85bpm at rest. During my workouts I typically spike to 145+ during very heavy lifts, but drop to 100 or less within 1-2 minutes of rest between sets. Ive always had a slightly faster heart rate, that was my baseline all my life. I don’t have heat intolerance, I don’t sweat excessively, and in general I feel like I did in my 20’s. In fact, as of this week I’m back to lifting at the gym with about 90-95% of the strength I had before my thyroid fully crashed. I also had a DEXA scan done earlier this year for body composition purposes and my bone density is phenomenal, which is to be expected with weight training as that is often recommended to maintain bone density.

I have no doubt that, with a TSH of 0.037 meds will get adjusted down as that’s WAY too low, but my fear is that my hypo symptoms will return. I don’t want to get stuck in a situation where they medicate based on labs only and disregard how I feel because “the numbers are ok”.

Conversely, has anyone had hyper-looking labs, had meds adjusted down and DIDN’T see a return of hypo symptoms when labs got out of the hyper range? I’m hoping this will be my case and I can maintain feeling good at a lower dosage but also have normal labs (I’m fine being on the lower end of the range, under 1.0 but above 0.4 if I don’t have hypo symptoms)

I’m thinking of asking for a dose down to 100mcg or maybe 88mcg to see how that works, but I don’t want to do a crazy drop down in dosage since I don’t exhibit any hyper symptoms and actually have amazing quality of life right now that I really don’t want to lose. I was an absolute zombie when I was hypo and don’t want to return to that. I should note, the labs were taken about 1hr post Synthroid dosing, if that makes a difference.

I've been suspecting I have hypothyroidism and maybe Hashimoto's for years. I didn't know you were supposed to get blood drawn in the morning though, so my first draw for it (early 2023) gave FT4 of 0.68, TSH 3.5. Not terrible, still felt like a$$ and couldn't lose weight despite trying desperately. Had to beg the doctor to test for thyroid problems and she only ordered TSH and T4 labs. Late 2023, I got a new PCP because I want feeling seen (should've just gone to an endocrinologist, but hindsight and all), could only get her to order TSH, it came out at 4.

Went to a fertility doctor two days ago, early morning, fasting state. She ordered ALL the tests because we're trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant. TSH popped at 16.2, FT4 at 0.75, but the real kicker was TPO Ab of 425 UI/mL.

So. Super. Hopefully this means I'll finally get medicated and stop feeling like my body is rebelling.

I got my lab results back, tsh 7, antibodies are at 10 (9 is considered top of normal range). My usual doc was on sick leave so the replacement suggested I take 2x600mg ibuprofen for a week because hypothyroidism is an inflammatory condition and Ibuprofen is antiinflammatory. She also said i should redo my blood work after a week of taking it

Did I get pranked or is this legit? My doc is back in office next week

Thanks

Made the switch from Levo 50mg to Armour 30mg one week ago.
I feel like I’m buzzing with energy and having a little trouble sleeping soundly. I checked the conversion table and it looks like the correct dosage.
Did anyone else have this initial reaction? If so, how long did it take to level out? I appreciate your responses!

My labs 10/30/2024 on 150mcg Unitroid

TSH: 0.08 (0.4-4.5)

free T4: 1.8 (0.8-1.8)

free T3: 3.9 (2.3-4.2)

Hi all- 6 months postpartum and still going through it with my thyroid. The last couple of months my TSH has been all over the place: 0.21 > 14 > 29> 0.08 (just yesterday). The doctor's office called me this morning and said to keep at my current dose of 150mcg Unitroid, I was in shock... I feel like complete dog shit and after seeing the lab results I was expecting a lowering of my dose. I told the person over the phone this and they said they would consult with the doctor.

Am I missing something? is there a reason in postpartum why they'd want me to be over medicated? I'm confused, my doctor has been very good so far so this was a shock, hopefully it was a misread of lab work?

Also- side bar question about conversion-

I know that I'm over medicated and feel terrible but does this show that I am a good converter of T4 to T3? In the past I was told that I needed T3 due to poor conversion but maybe that's not the case?

TIA

So I was diagnosed with hypo 10 months post partum back in June. The main trigger for me going to the doctors was hair loss, I had a small bald patch on my head and had lost about half of one of my eyebrows. My TSH was 38 on T4 was 0.9. I started on 50mg and over the last 4 months I have moved up to 125mg and my levels have been slowly working towards normal range( at my last check my TSH was down to 9 and my T4 was at 13) I also had low ferritin levels and have been on iron tablets for the last 3 months.

I know it can be slow going with reversing the hair loss, but the patch on my head is just getting bigger and I’ve now lost the whole eye brow and started to loose some of the second one too and I’m at a total loss on why it seems to be getting worse not better.

I’ve got my next set of bloods next week and I’m just wondering if there’s anything else I should be checking for if they come back lower again or if it’s just a case of riding it out for a few more months

So a few before I was even diagnosed with hypo but probably around the time it started, I started struggling with excessive thirst and urination, so my doctor at the time tested me for type 1 and 2 diabetes. It was all clear so I was good. I got diagnosed with hypo 3.5 years ago at 25 and I have always struggled with this. More recently my friends and family made me realize how abnormal it is how thirsty I feel all the time and the amount of water I’m drinking. I finally got to an endocrinologist and she was super validating to my experience and was like yeah this is clearly not normal and we’ll get to the bottom of it, so they tested me for diabetes insipidus. It’s a rare pituitary condition where your kidneys don’t conserve water/overproduce urine. I had to do a water deprivation test and it showed I don’t have that.

My endo and other doctors with the information of how dilute my urine is just diagnosed me with primary polydipsia which is literally just the overconsumption of fluids. They said this is commonly associated with psychiatric illness but that does not line up with me. So she just gave me advice to start using sugar free lemon drops and limit my water intake before bed so I can sleep through the night without urinating a lot.

The thing is though, I know I’m not drinking out of some compulsion, I am most definitely thirsty, I feel so dried out. It’s like water just sometimes doesn’t quench my thirst and I just have to keep on drinking. It led me to look more into causes of primary polydipsia, and guess what popped up? Hypothyroidism. It led to finding a decent amount of info on excessive thirst being associated with hypothyroidism, and in all the mass research I’ve read on it over the years I’ve never read that! It must just not be as common. I also found several people complaining of levothyroxine giving them bad dry mouth and making them feel thirsty. So that could be an explanation too but I felt this way way before a diagnosis and meds.

But I will say my meds have taken care of my symptoms as low as my tsh stays at a good place. But maybe just some random symptoms don’t go away and this is that one for me? Recently my tsh shot up to 6.3 or something after being at 1.25 a couple months prior and I will say I felt like shit and the thirst and dry mouth was much worse that it normally is. I will say it makes sense now and I wish I realized this sooner. Has anyone experienced this? I’m worried if this symptom just can’t be corrected much I just have to manage it forever now😭

I have my menstrual cycle and the cramps are killing me. I’ve seen some articles saying that levothyroxine will have less effect if I pair it with other medications.

I am 6.5 months past my total thyroidectomy and can barely stand it. My labs are normal; this is just side effects from the levo. I’m on 88 mcg Tirosint.

I'm having symptoms of hair fall, feeling cold, weight gain etc

Below are my blood work details, please let me know what should I do next.

TSH - 3 (0.5 - 5.5) T3 - 64 (80-200) T4 - 4.27 (4.8-12) FT4 - 1.36 (0.93 - 1.7)

Thanks

Ok, so I'm taking 90mg NP thyroid currently, and MD Rx'd me 5mcg of liothyronine earlier this year. Original Rx's were at a Walmart Pharmacy near my old job. However, that location was very out of the way for me so I switched to a nearby CVS. This is where the confusion comes in.

While the Rx was with walmart, they were giving me a small pill for my liothyronine... it worked great, fit under the tongue and you could feel the effects after taking it (I tend to take my pills sublingually so they absorb better/quicker). After switching to CVS, the Rx is the same, and listed as such on the bottle, but the pill is now much larger, like 2 or 2.5x's the size, and dissolves into a chalky mess that doesn't absorb at all. No effects register when taking it either so I'm not sure what the hell happened. Has anyone else had this same experience? Is it worth switching my Rx for Lio back over to walmart so I get the good stuff... since it seems like I'm paying for basically nothing here.

Hi everyone. I guess I technically have “subclinical hypothyroidism” my TSH is 5.98 my t3 is 2.9 and my t4 is 1.3 as of this last week. My antibodies were 598 in march and they haven’t been tested since. The endo told me I was fine and nothing needed to be done. I’m currently about to go see a naturopath doctor but not for another couple weeks. However in the last 2 months my mental health has been soooo bad. OCD is through the roof, fear, paranoia, anxiety you name it it’s horrible. Curious if anyone has dealt with anything similar / if anyone thinks this might be correlated. and if thyroid meds have helped? Or what has helped in general?

I was in the hospital this morning for SVT, had three events while I was there. SV rhythm mostly the entire time. They found nothing except my TSH is at 9.37. I was just talking to my doctor that even though I am in calorie deficit I have gained weight and since I have PCOS he tested my A1C and insulin— all normal. I have also had extensive heart work up, nothing is organically wrong with my heart.

I am chronically fatigued, tachycardia, constantly freezing, heart palpitations, brittle nails, edema, and had sudden weight gain despite deficit and trying to increase activity. I got into an urgent appointment tomorrow. Is this something to worry about? What should I ask for?

Hello, I just turned 15 last week and it turned out that my thyroid hormone is slight below the normal amount. I got prescribed a pill to take each day. My thyroid number is 4.48. How bad is the defence and what affects does that amount have of deficiency have on me?

Sup everyone, I have long standing hypo/hashi successfully treated for a decade with 137.5 levo, thyroid labs have been stable for years, however since a few months things have worsened and my FT4 levels are now only 0.7 ng/dl down from 1.4 usual reading, FT3 bottom of range at 2 pg/ml, however TSH is staying in range and not elevating appropriately as it should. My endocrinologist said this is central hypothyroidism and I'm indeed hypothyroid, I am also experiencing severe morning low glucose below 50 ng/dl (proved by bloodwork), yet the doctors says these low levels aren't low enough to trigger any symptoms, so I don't need to up the T4 to fix this, despite FT4 being below range. This sounds outrageous and against the most conservative of guidelines. I feel absolute trash, I have never been this bad in my whole life, but according to doctor, it must be something else...

I have no family history of it and no medication that could cause this.

Hi. My Dr is changing my levothyroxine to synthroid but it’s so expensive. I go to CVS and it’s $50+ for 1 month supply vs levo for $10 a month. Which pharmacy do you guys get yours? Thank you!

Does anyone have express scripts and have had tirosint denied even with several prior authorization from your endocrinologist? I don't know what else to do. I'm currently on armor but I feel like complete hell and my numbers went from 15 back up to 47.5. I'm taking them regularly and not eating while taking them etc. I don't react well to the generic or synthroid. I'm so sick of going through this and constantly feeling like hell.

I know there's a savings program but I doubt I'll even be eligible for it as I'm a government employee. My mom wasn't for her one prescription because she was a federal employee. I really don't know what to do at this point. How can insurance not cover a necessary medicine?

Does anyone have any experience with being on Levothyroxine and Metformin? I recently was finally diagnosed with PCOS after many trials and errors. Just curious if anyone has any symptoms they experienced. I'm about 2 weeks in now.

At 5mcg twice a day. On top of my current .25mcg levo… Should I expect a noticeable improvement soon with this? Noticed nothing at all with the levo only

Hello, I just got my labs back and my T4 level was 2.1 (higher than normal range) my TSH was <0.1. I need to get a hold of my doctor but I’m scared and wondering what to expect? I’m 27F and my grandma has a history of thyroid problems. Any advice?

Hey, I’ve been on levo for a few months now and labs have gotten to a good range, but I still feel pretty symptomatic - mostly very fatigued and feeling super spaced out and distant mentally. My doctor and I have agreed to try adding t3 to see if it helps.

Just wanted to hear what others experience from doing a levo/lio combo, and how it helped them with their symptoms

Hi folks. I was diagnosed with Hashimotos in 2022. I had severe Hyperthyroid symptoms before I was diagnosed, and my TSH was undetectable. Had the usual stuff, anxiety, high blood pressure, pulse, migraines, hot flashes, increased heart rate etc. Thyroid antibodies were also high, at 40.Felt God awful. No Weight loss however.

Finally, as is usually the case, my Thyroid died in March of 2022. My TSH was 145! Have been on between 75-135 mcg of Levothyroxine since fall of 2022.

All of my labs since then consistently indicate I'm in a Hyper state. With TSH in the range of .01 at the lowest, to .2 at the highest. Free T4 from 13 at the lowest to 19 at the highest. My free T3 is always at about 3.9

The thing is, I dont have any of the Hyper symptoms, in fact, I have almost all the Hypo. Inability to lose weight and gained 25lbs since diagnosed, freezing, terrible constipation, dry skin, Eczema, hair and eyebrow loss, extreme exhaustion, moon face etc. Literally do not feel hyper AT all.

Additionally, my cholesterol has went up to the point they should probably medicate me for that too. I literally walk 15- 20km a week, row 2x weekly, eat pretty well etc. I hike all the time. It's awful. The worst thing is my intermittent but incredibly heavy periods.

My last labs were TSH 0.01 FT4 18 FT3 4.7

Currently on 125 mcg of Levothyroxine.

I see my internal medicine specialist next week, don't have access to an endo in NorthernOntario, and I'm at a loss as to what to do. I think we need to decrease my dose but I'm terrified to gain more weight.

I am trying to get weight loss injection through an online provider, but I'm 5lbs short of 'Obese' so I can't qualify. No history of thyroid cancer in my family, but my mum does have Hashis too. I'm terrified of gaining any more weight or my cholesterol getting worse. Obesity runs in my family, along with diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Maybe someone here has gone through something similar?

Has anyone had success with desiccated thyroid? Will they prescribe that?

Long post but I'm just so tired. Having my first period since June and I feel like I'm dying.

Am I being unreasonable? My primary doctor tested my TSH and it came back at .04 (edited from .4) along with high cholesterol. I have another doctor that manages my thyroid medication which I told her. I'm on armor and I have the understanding that taking armor suppresses the TSH. Nonetheless, no matter what I think, my endo doctor sees me twice a year and doesn't seem concerned. She told me this is an emergency and I needed to contact my other doctor immediately because this is dangerous. She continued to raise her voice telling me that this is a liability on her part because I will not let her adjust my medication. Is this alarming? I'm waiting for my endo to respond to the test results.

Edit: I will be going to my Endo on Monday to address being overmedicated. I appreciate the comments, and for those that were a little stern, I understand that you are just looking out for me so I am not suffering any other health conditions. My primary doctor is the one I go to for a general physical. She doesn't prescribe my thyroid medication, nor does she test anything but TSH so I don't want to step on any toes and have her start changing my medication when she doesn't prescribe nor manage it. I don't trust the office in general because they have failed miserably in diagnosing my hashimotos and thyroid condition to begin with. So thanks everyone, I appreciate all the comments whether they were nice or not.

How can I calculate the hormone dose?