Ask Somebody With Hypothyroidism.

Because overly-specific-topic ask threads are always fun.

Anyways, a few years ago (Spring 2009, when I was still in high school) I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. And put on hormone replacement therapy. Anyways, when I was taken off my other medications in September 2010, it stabilized a bit (risperidone has been linked to thyroid dysfunction, though I can't really understand the big words in the research so I might be making a mistake here). Then, over time, it's gotten not-so-stabilized (e.g. borderline) and now I'm back on the medications.

Anyways, the basic symptoms of it is just basically feeling sluggish and generally crappy. I get a blood test every couple of months just to monitor then the doctor adjusts the medication levels if needed (you need to be really careful with this type of medication, because an overdose can be dangerous).

Anyways ask away.

No questions just a story. When I was 19 I went to the doctor for a cough. The cough was just bronchitis but the xray showed a golf ball sized tumor growing on my thyroid. They removed half of it but the rest functions well enough that I don't need meds. I lost my insurance a few months later so it was supremely lucky I caught it when I did.

Wow. I know some people have to take hormone replacement the rest of their life if their thyroid is removed for some reason. I think sometimes its removed if its really overactive and they cant get that fixed.

Yeah but apparently you only need hormone replacement when the whole thing is removed. My doctor said if some of it is left the remaining tissue will ramp up hormone production to make up the difference.

Did the doctor diagnose you right from the start or was there the 'guessing game' period before diagnosis?

Well, what happened is -- I was pretty bound up (as in bowel movements). So the doctor decided just to send me in for a few blood tests to make sure nothing was going on that was weird. And it turned out it was hypothyroidism. When they put me on the medication I started feeling better overall (except for a while when they were trying to figure out the proper dosage. There was a lot of stomach content evacuation until they figured it out.)

I have hypothyroidism (was diagnosed in January 2011) after several months of my parents and teachers noticing that I was tired and inattentive all the time and my grades had significantly dropped. I was put on medication (which helped a lot actually), and I drink a soda every morning to help keep awake. So I can help answer questions.

Is it an emotional sluggishness, a physical one, or some combination of the two?

As in, you might want to just lie in the field you're in, but when you saw the biplane diving and shooting, your muscles and such are ready to make you run.

History_Buff said:

Is it an emotional sluggishness, a physical one, or some combination of the two?

As in, you might want to just lie in the field you're in, but when you saw the biplane diving and shooting, your muscles and such are ready to make you run.

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For me it's physical and mental, I don't feel very alert and just want to sit down all day.

CELTICEMPIRE said:

and I drink a soda every morning to help keep awake.

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That seems really unhealthy. Have you looked into healthier alternatives? Why soda?

@ Aimmee : Favorite Petty Album?

History_Buff said:

Is it an emotional sluggishness, a physical one, or some combination of the two?

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For me, its generally physical sluggishness; some mornings I just can't bring myself to get out of bed for half the day. Though mental, too. I sometimes get rather absent-minded.

Mango Elephant said:

@ Aimmee : Favorite Petty Album?

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I don't have a favorite, to be honest, though I have a leaning towards Damn the Torpedoes.

Mango Elephant said:

That seems really unhealthy. Have you looked into healthier alternatives? Why soda?

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I hate coffee and I love soda, it's partly for the taste as well.

Coffee is an acquired taste. Much like beer really. You've got to try it a little bit just to get used to the bitterness. I actually used to feel the same way about coffee, but now I quite enjoy a strong black coffee.

Do you ever get weird hot flushes where your body generates heat and your skin goes red?
Do you find it hard to put on weight?
Do you over analyse events in your life - especially social interactions?

Quackers said:

Do you ever get weird hot flushes where your body generates heat and your skin goes red?
Do you find it hard to put on weight?
Do you over analyse events in your life - especially social interactions?

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1. The hot flushes mostly happen if my medication's a little too high.
2. I have trouble keeping it off.
3. Sometimes, though this probably doesnt have much to do with thyroid functioning...

What is the cause in your case? Hashimoto's Thyroidosis? Something wrong with the Hypothalamus or Pituitary gland? Iodine deficiency?


Thyroid problems run in my family. My paternal grandfather had thyroid cancer. My father has a rather severe case of Hashimoto's. My mother's sister has a less severe case of Hashimoto's. My sister has hypothroidism, but we are not quite sure of the cause. It could be a side effect of the lithium she takes for her Bipolar. My mom and I tend to think that he does not really have bipolar though, and that her two so-called manic episodes may have been the bouts of hyperthyroidism that Hashimoto's causes while the immune system is actively destroying the thyroid gland. Mom says she seemed a lot like my dad did around the time she was born, when he went hypothyroid. (His intermittent fasting and recently completed chemotherapy for leukemia as really messed up his thyroid hormone levels lately. They have supposedly fixed his levothyroxine dosage by now, but he is still acting rather oddly.)


The blood work at my physical in June of 2011 seemed to indicate hypothyroidism (and I had been experiencing some constipation and chills when the temperature dipped below 85 Fahrenheit), but when I went back for the followup thyroid panel three months later all the results were perfectly normal. This year's physical (almost exactly a month ago) again showed elevated TSH, but not as high as last year's. I hadn't really noticed symptoms this time, so the doctor (technically a PA rather than MD) recommended waiting 6 months for the followup thyroid panel. I have never been medicated for a thyroid condition.

MagisterCultuum said:

What is the cause in your case? Hashimoto's Thyroidosis? Something wrong with the Hypothalamus or Pituitary gland? Iodine deficiency?

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Not exactly sure; the doctor said it might be linked to my risperidone. Not sure why it would affect me now, though, since I'm not taking it anymore, unless its damaged it for good.

Wife has Hashimoto's. They tried to moderate her thyroid blood serum levels just through diet, but it didn't take. After 6 months they put her on synthroid. It's a really simple non-nasty hormone replacement, but it's the sort of thing you don't ever come off of. Ever. Emotionally it was pretty rough, getting used to that idea.

They've had to tweak the dosage a bit, but to be honest it hasn't done anything positive for weight control, but it has indeed helped with energy levels. Of course, there's a lot of other stuff going on in our lives all time so it's difficult to ascribe every positive to the synthroid.

Also, a good friend of mine was diagnosed, therapied, then surgeried, for thyroid cancer all within about 6 months. That was terrifying. So now he's on sythroid as well, but he's feeling like 100000% better than he ever did in the previous 10 years.

SOrry I don't have any questions

Im on Synthroid too. The main side effects is being jittery and what have you; this doesnt really happen too much unless the dosage is off. Which is why I have to be constantly monitored. Severak vials of blood every few months. Several people who don't like needles ask how the hell do you get used to it. You just do. (Interesting fact: I have a permanent mark on my left inner elbow where the needle always goes in. Its not too noticeable, though.)

History_Buff said:

Is it an emotional sluggishness, a physical one, or some combination of the two?

As in, you might want to just lie in the field you're in, but when you saw the biplane diving and shooting, your muscles and such are ready to make you run.

Click to expand...

It's the thyroid not the adrenals!

History_Buff said:

Coffee is an acquired taste. Much like beer really. You've got to try it a little bit just to get used to the bitterness. I actually used to feel the same way about coffee, but now I quite enjoy a strong black coffee.

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I think there's something classy and wonderful about drinking bitter drinks and enjoying them.