anyone with hypothyroidism?

[Bee Bee]

Bee Bee, I agree with everything you said! I am close to having my thyroid out bc of nodules and am curious as to how you feel having it removed. I havent been euthyroid for much of the last 7 years!
KEI, I'm sorry if we are confusing you or making it harder. At lot of us with thyroid issues learned really early on that we had to advocate and learn a bunch about this stuff the hard way, because we had bad doctors who didn't hear us out and bad experiences with getting the wrong/right information. I hope that you have a case that isn't as bad, but I know that oftentimes thyroids are finicky crazy organs that cause us lots of grief.
I have always had normal T3, T4, just low TSH. The low TSH was enough to justify my hypothyroid diagnosis and then later I asked for the autoimmune antibody test so that I could be certain that is was Hashi's (just for peace of mind).
When you say borderline, I'm assuming you mean "Subclinical" hypothyroidism which means you have no obvious symptoms and only slightly abnormal lab tests. But you seem to have obvious symptoms and labs which confuses me. However, I can tell you from personal experience when they first found mine it was a 5. I was diagnosed as "subclinical" and no one even tried to run an antibody test. My doctor just started treating it with 25mcg. 2 months later it was no better. I was upped to 50mcg. 2 months later it was upped again. And its been a battle ever since. I can tell you that sometimes I dont realize just how bad my thyroid makes me feel until its better and then I realize just how crummy I was really feeling.
I don't want to overconcern or confuse you. Or to act like I am a MD when I'm not. But Hashimotos is linked to other autoimmune disorders like B12, which I also have and almost everyone I know with the disease has also, and can cause an early gallbladder failure, like mine. its best to know for sure because when you do you can get to feeling a TON better!
His, try not to stress too much if u are already pregnant and have hypo. Its good that the dr found it. As I said, My level was 9 almost 10 when I was 5 weeks and I went on to have a very healthy and smart 2 year old girl!
I sincerely hope this helps and if not just tell me shut my trap!

First I want to verify what you said about having a baby with hypo. My sister did and he is 4 and perfectly healthy. She has had him checked for thyroid issues as well and he's fine. My sister found out she had a growth first and was told her levels were elevated (not sure what the number was) but not enough to worry. Then she got pregnant. Since she already had a growth, it started blowing up. By the time it started getting large enough to notice, she was too far along to remove it. By month 8, it was the size of a grapefruit. She got it removed essentially in the same week as her C-Section.

Her case was extreme but was also one of my main reasons to have my thyroid removed. I had several growths and I knew I was going to TTC, so I opted for removal in order to avoid a situation like hers. Also just because medication was not working. They had wanted to only take out the one side with the growths, but I told them to just take the whole thing out. I wanted to avoid any possible future surgeries or issues. Since you asked, I am feeling much much better since removal. What it seemed like to me is that my thyroid fluctuated it's levels on maybe a daily or weekly basis which is why my tests always came back different. The funny thing was that even when i was in the hospital, in recovery, I felt immediately better. I felt drugged, for sure, because I was. But I could tell the tiredness was just from the drugs, not my thyroid.

As I mentioned, I am hyperthyroid currently. So on the other side of the spectrum lol. They just started me on an arbitrary dosage when I got out of surgery, so 125mcg. And as I mentioned I am currently at 75mcg which is exactly the same amount I was on prior to my surgery. Even though my levels still aren't at the right amount, I still feel worlds better. I am less tired, I'm not cold all the time like I was, I can actually concentrate and my thoughts are clearer. I have also been able to lose weight finally. It's only been 10 lbs so far, but thats more than I was ever able to do the past 4 years, no matter what I did.

 

[berwar]

Bee Bee, thanks SO MUCH for all that info! I have really been debating hard about keeping this thing around and have been so fearful of having it out. I'm currently on 112mcg with the thing in so I doubt its really doing any GOOD work anyway.
My nodules were discovered last year. The ENT said we would wait for 6 months to have them rechecked and we could biopsy, but he also was not afraid to remove it because it essentially isn't working with how high my dose is anyway!
I have been having some "gallbladder" issues and had a HIDA scan and my thyroid nodules reevaluated. All 3 of my nodules had grown and they are all above 1 cm. My thyroid is currently 4.8. I go back to consult with him in 2 weeks to see what he wants to do but a part of me just doesnt like dealing with the fluctuations and the cancer scare! I have been fearful of my ability to get pregnant without it though. What are your thoughts there? My gallbladder is only functioning at 27%. They want to remove it as well. I wonder if some of those symptoms though could be related to the thyroid because I have read that low thyroid causes a slow down in your gallbladders release? Any thoughts on that?
As you can see, I am still learning and interested in what other people have found as they have navigated these waters.
I always feel pretty good on the hyper side, so I bet you are too. I would trade the hyper for hypo any day as long as my heart stays on rythm. Im sure your levels will be mellowed out in no time so then, other than pregnancy, you wont have to deal with it any more! Lucky you!

 

[berwar]

KEI, Let me clear something up before we confuse you.
HYPER thyroid, which is too MUCH horomone, shows up as low levels, generally below .3. HYPO thyroid, which is too little that you have, shows up as levels higher than 3.
How confusing is that right?! It has something to do with your body requesting more or less of it when its needed but it can make for a confusing time at the beginning.
Hypo is associate with hashimotos. Hyper is associated with graves disease. Both of those are autoimmune issues. When I first found out about the hypo, I worried greatly about having the Hashi's autoimmune portion. But I learned that almost all cases are related to Hashi's and really it doesnt change much of the outcome. It just lets you know WHY your body is doing what its doing.

Also, to everyone here, ask your doctor about B12 deficiency and have that panel run. Many people I've encountered with Hashi's have B12 deficiency. Its not a coincidence I can assure you and its important to producing folic acid in pregnancy and can make you feel pretty terrible when its low. It causes anemia and is easily correctable with once a month b12 injections (which give you energy)

 

[berwar]

KEI, I also want to say this. I have one of the best OBGYN's ever. I love her to death. She knows everything there is to know about pregnancy, babies, etc. But when it came to my thyroid, she just wasnt familiar enough and didnt deal with it on an ongoing basis. She offered just to run my labs and send me to someone who was more equipped and sees it all the time. I am so glad that she did.

 

[Bee Bee]

Bee Bee, thanks SO MUCH for all that info! I have really been debating hard about keeping this thing around and have been so fearful of having it out. I'm currently on 112mcg with the thing in so I doubt its really doing any GOOD work anyway.
My nodules were discovered last year. The ENT said we would wait for 6 months to have them rechecked and we could biopsy, but he also was not afraid to remove it because it essentially isn't working with how high my dose is anyway!
I have been having some "gallbladder" issues and had a HIDA scan and my thyroid nodules reevaluated. All 3 of my nodules had grown and they are all above 1 cm. My thyroid is currently 4.8. I go back to consult with him in 2 weeks to see what he wants to do but a part of me just doesnt like dealing with the fluctuations and the cancer scare! I have been fearful of my ability to get pregnant without it though. What are your thoughts there? My gallbladder is only functioning at 27%. They want to remove it as well. I wonder if some of those symptoms though could be related to the thyroid because I have read that low thyroid causes a slow down in your gallbladders release? Any thoughts on that?
As you can see, I am still learning and interested in what other people have found as they have navigated these waters.
I always feel pretty good on the hyper side, so I bet you are too. I would trade the hyper for hypo any day as long as my heart stays on rythm. Im sure your levels will be mellowed out in no time so then, other than pregnancy, you wont have to deal with it any more! Lucky you!

I have been told that not having a thyroid should not affect your chances of pregnancy any. As long as you are being medicated. A funny thing that my doc said is that when I do get pregnant I shouldn't have to worry about thyroid levels at all. Apparently without a thyroid, there isn't an issue with thyroid hormone fluctuation due to pregnancy.

I have no idea on the gallbladder though as I am perfectly healthy outside of my thyroid issues. As I had mentioned earlier, my doc tested absolutely everything to make sure there was nothing else that could be causing my symptoms.

And I do feel better in the hyper range. Only issues I am having right now is that I have heart palpitations. When i first got my thyroid out, my resting heart rate was 120 lol. Now its in the mid 60's. But I do still have palpitations for some reason. I thought it was caffeine but I have cut it almost completely out and I still get them even when I don't consume it. Also, this cycle I have yet to ovulate. My cycles are normally in the 31-35 day range with ovulation between CD19-23, I'm on CD43 today with no ovulation yet. Doc thinks it's because I am still hyperthyroid and she lowered my dose.

 

[KElwanger]

KEI, Let me clear something up before we confuse you.
HYPER thyroid, which is too MUCH horomone, shows up as low levels, generally below .3. HYPO thyroid, which is too little that you have, shows up as levels higher than 3.
How confusing is that right?! It has something to do with your body requesting more or less of it when its needed but it can make for a confusing time at the beginning.
Hypo is associate with hashimotos. Hyper is associated with graves disease. Both of those are autoimmune issues. When I first found out about the hypo, I worried greatly about having the Hashi's autoimmune portion. But I learned that almost all cases are related to Hashi's and really it doesnt change much of the outcome. It just lets you know WHY your body is doing what its doing.

Also, to everyone here, ask your doctor about B12 deficiency and have that panel run. Many people I've encountered with Hashi's have B12 deficiency. Its not a coincidence I can assure you and its important to producing folic acid in pregnancy and can make you feel pretty terrible when its low. It causes anemia and is easily correctable with once a month b12 injections (which give you energy)

Thank you! I totally know the difference between hypo and hyper. They do seem a little opposite, but I get it. I'm actually not really confused about the disorder itself or what it is or anything. Just confused about what my specific levels mean. But like I said hopefully they'll be corrected in a few weeks and eventually I will meet with an endo to get my questions answered.

 

[KElwanger]

Oh and I was anemic during my pregnancy with my son! I wonder if it's related at all...

 

[berwar]

https://www.nytimes.com/ref/health/healthguide/esn-hypothyroidism-expert.html?pagewanted=all
Saw this article on another post! I learned a lot! You guys have to read this because it really sums up what we talked about!