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[Kathleen]

Hello Wrensong

Thank you for your post.

I have a friend with Hypothyroidism who was also diagnosed twenty six years ago and her condition is well managed on Levothyroxine.

 I'm a bit miffed that the strategies I use to keep my UC under control were not enough to prevent Thyroiditis but obviously blood tests don't lie and I do seem to have a lot of the symptoms my friend had before she was treated.

I am taking the Levothyroxine as directed and I'll book in a blood test in a months time to see how things are going. Hopefully by then I will be feeling better as well, fingers crossed!

Wishing you well and take care.

K.

[Wrensong]

Hi again Kathleen,  I'm glad you already have the reassurance of knowing someone who's doing well long term on thyroid replacement.  I understand how you feel about the considerable care you take with healthy living & yet still developing another autoimmune condition - can feel a bit unfair.  I sometimes feel the same way about my combination of health issues, but try to tell myself if I didn't do all I could to remain as healthy as poss, things could have been a lot worse. 

The thyroid symptoms should begin to respond to replacement with noticeable effect within a few weeks, but you'll already know your initial 75mcg dose may need tweaking and bloods will be a guide to that, importantly together with how you feel. 

I'm a bit surprised you've been started on more than 50mcg.  Usually in our age group, those new to Thyroxine are started on no more than 50mcg & sometimes just 25mcg, then increased gradually as needed over a few weeks.  Perhaps because your TSH is quite high your doctor wants to start off with a higher dose.  I take it it's a GP who's prescribed this & not an Endocrinologist.


I would think you will be feeling some benefits by the time of your next TFT in a month, though it could take longer to feel really well again, especially as you've recently had glandular fever.  But it might also depend on how long your thyroid has been ailing.

You can at least justifiably delegate responsibility for Christmas to others & put your feet up.  I hope you will be well pampered!
Wx

PS  Stella - we were posting at the same time!  I second what you say about more energy & another early sign I'd expect is increased urine output, so that any fluid retention begins to go down quite quickly.  That I find makes me feel a lot better.

[Penelope]

Hi Stellajane I am so sorry you still get heart palpitations they must be just awful.Interesting what you have to say about your thyroid meds that is what the NZ petition is all about you take it for so long and it stops working.I hope they have tested your ferritin levels and vitamin D levels there is so much more they can test for this and have us all addressing.So we can try and regain ultimate health.
My ferritin levels were so bad that I had the OCD of eating ice that I had thought was a pregnancy craving.What they don't tell women is OUTRAGES!!
We can make a difference on here to let all women know they are NOT being cared for like we think we are.💖🌹 

[Wrensong]

Hi Penelope & Kathleen, how are you both doing?

[Kathleen]

Hello again ladies.

Wrensong - thank you so much for your concern. I feel I am doing slightly better  so perhaps the Levothyroxine is beginning to help. I mentioned on another thread that about eighteen months ago a Thyroid blood test  showed that my TSH and T4 levels were in the normal range but only just. My GP said that was okay but  I  felt awful. A few weeks ago  another blood test showed that my levels had dropped further and a Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies test came back positive, hence the prescription for Levothyroxine.

I was chatting to someone yesterday who had had their entire Thyroid removed years ago due to cancer. She was told that without this gland  she would not have mood swings when she reached the menopause, only flushes.  She is fifty two now and has some sweating but no mood problems to date. Makes you wonder if our Thyroids are more involved in the menopause than we thought.

Once again thank you for your comments and take care.

K.

[Penelope]

Hi Kathleen so pleased you are feeling better.Did they tell you when your thyroid antibodies came back that you have Hashimoto's thyroiditis?
Yes if your T4 Or T3 are on the high end or the low end you can have severe symptoms that mimic the menopause symptoms or make them twice as aggressive.
And that can all be with a normal TSH test.
Glad you are beginning to wade through and advocate for your self.
It is my opinion that over a third of the ladies on this forum actually have thyroid issues.
Xx 💖

[Kathleen]

Hello again ladies

Penelope - thank you for your post. The doctor did mention Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and my prescription of Levothyroxine is on repeat so he clearly believes I will always need it.  Perhaps an undiagnosed Thyroid problem explains why my previous  HRT regimes all failed to eliminate my symptoms.  I hope I have more success balancing my thyroxine levels!   

Thanks again and Happy New Year.

Take care.

K.

[Wrensong]

Hi Kathleen, Penelope & Stellajane.  Wishing you all & all other MM members a very happy & healthy New Year.

Kathleen, I'm so pleased to know you're starting to feel a little better.  I would expect it to be a slowish response to replacement at first & it sounds very encouraging that you can already feel some effects.

I was chatting to someone yesterday who had had their entire Thyroid removed years ago due to cancer. She was told that without this gland  she would not have mood swings when she reached the menopause, only flushes.  She is fifty two now and has some sweating but no mood problems to date. Makes you wonder if our Thyroids are more involved in the menopause than we thought.

I've never heard it said that thyroidectomy prevents menopausal mood swings, so that's interesting.  I had a hemithyroidectomy to remove a suspicious nodule (thankfully benign), but the remaining gland is said to atrophy on replacement. 

If the thyroid is functioning suboptimally the body struggles in so many ways & it can certainly complicate menopause, so I'm in no doubt this will have made you feel worse.  Once your maintenance dose of Thyroxine is established that should go a long way to helping you feel better though. 

Did anyone tell you you should be entitled to free scripts now - not just for thyroid meds - all your meds?  I think you should be able to apply for a Medical Exemption card.

One thing I didn't find out for years, but you may already know, is that absorption of Thyroid meds is best when they're taken with plain water on an empty stomach - leaving min half & preferably an hour before any food.  There are various foods, drinks & supplements (eg calcium) that can impair absorption & that includes acidity from things like fruit juice.

I do hope you find your resistant menopause symptoms improve once your thyroid is sorted, but if not, please don't be put off trying HRT again.  It should be perfectly possible to balance both with a bit of determination & persistence!
Wx

[Wrensong]

Stellajane,

I've never had any mood problems going through meno whilst on thyroxine - but lots of sweating!

  Great to know you have not had mood problems whilst on Thyroxine - sounds like yours was treated in the nick of time.  Depression & anxiety are said to be common in untreated or poorly controlled hypothyroidism as we all know & I did have low mood immediately prior to diagnosis when my antibodies were found to be sky high & I needed surgery for a goitre.  So presumably the condition had been underway for some time.

I think vasomotor probs are a particular challenge for hypothyroid ladies.  We're said to have difficulty with thermoregulation even before menopause starts.  I certainly did - difficulty keeping warm in winter & couldn't cool down in summer, from diagnosis in my early 30s onwards.  Menopausal overheating & all the trimmings that go with it have also been very troublesome & persistent for me, but for most of that time I wasn't on HRT.

I agree we can't blame everything on thyroid dysfunction, but having a dodgy thyroid, especially at menopause, can make it difficult to see the wood for the trees!   Unfortunate when we end up with more than one autoimmune condition too, but sadly not uncommon.

[Kathleen]

Hello again ladies


Thank you all for your very interesting posts.

Wrensong -  I only chatted briefly to the lady who  had her Thyroid removed so I've no idea who told her that she would
 escape mood swings at menopause. It was during her treatment though so I'm assuming it was a nurse or doctor. Perhaps they meant that menopausal mood swings would not impact her Thyroid hormones because she would be taking a consistent and stable amount of Levothyroxine as a replacement. 

The patient leaflet explains that the tablet needs to be taken daily, at about the same time and at least 30 minutes before food so this is what I am attempting to do plus I may consider HRT again when the dust has settled lol.

My TSH was above range at 37.62 mU/L, normal range being 0.35 - 5.5. My T4 was below range at 3.1pmol/L, normal range 10.5 - 21.0 and my antibodies were above range at 480 iu/ml, normal range 0.0 - 60.0. All pretty out of whack I think you'll agree. The GP felt my throat for a goitre but I don't have one.

Stellajane -  I'm sort of hoping that my mood swings are the result of my Thyroiditis rather than the menopause and that when I get my levels right I'll feel better.

I agree that having one autoimmune condition makes us vulnerable to developing others which is why I prompted my GP to test my Thyroid 18 months ago when T4 was within the normal range but only just, and again recently when Hashimoto's was diagnosed.

Many thanks ladies for your kind concern and I really appreciate your comments.

Wishing you well.

K.

[Wrensong]

Stellajane, the hives sound horrible - I never had those as such but I did find that my upper chest area below the collarbones would come out in a very itchy, raised rash in sunshine, not spotty, but like a sort of padded effect under the skin.  I have to keep covered up in sunshine now.

I'm so sorry about the hair loss, that must have been hard for you.  Mine has receded at temples during the menopause years & I worry it won't stop, but as it's still fairly thick elsewhere & I have something of a fringe, the hairline is hidden.

Actually, now being post meno, in a lot of ways I feel better than I have for years with my hormones being more settled.

That's good to hear Stella.  Like you I'm better postmenopause in some ways.  Peri was the very worst time for me.

Kathleen, your bloods were certainly pretty abnormal so I would expect the hypothyroidism to have had an adverse effect on your mood, your memory, ability to concentrate & to have left you feeling lethargic, to say the least.  Also disproportionately sensitive to cold, with fluid retention & possibly sluggish digestion, though hopefully your veggie/vegan diet (sorry can't remember which) may have helped you there.

For many years, from initial diagnosis, the Thyroxine I was prescribed came loose in bottles, so no PIL.  GP gave no advice about how to take it, so I was taking it with orange juice at breakfast every day until some years later I read it should be taken on an empty stomach with a full glass of plain water!   No internet access then, but I joined the British Thyroid Foundation & bought as many books on thyroid probs as I could get my hands on.

Glad to know you have no goitre.  Now you're on Thyroxine, I wouldn't expect one to develop.   

[Penelope]

Great thread ladies keep it going.We need more awareness on this topic.xx💖💖

[Wrensong]

How are you doing Penelope?

[Mary G]

My understanding is that you need TSH, T3 free, T3 total, T4 free, T4 total tested every year. 

[Kathleen]

Hello again ladies

MaryG - you may well be right about what's included in the annual blood test. A close friend has had Hashimoto's for over twenty five years so I will ask her when I next see her.

I think the problem is you can be symptomatic even if your results are within the ' normal range'. I've noticed that the lab initiated the antibody test because my T4 result was below range however eighteen months ago when it was only just in range no further testing was done even though I felt terrible!

Wishing you well.

K.