[snelsen]

#1062295

Hooray!!!!!
It sounds like you are getting excellent care! You may know all this already, but…
-take it on an empty stomach with a glass of water first thing in the morning.
-you can eat in 1/2 hour.
-do not take supplements or vitamins for four hours.

Then your labs will reflect what is really going on physiologically.
I think you endo is doing everything just right! Be sure to report how you are feeling to him when you have concerns. And, all of this still takes a LOT OF PATIENCE! But you are sure headed in the right direction.
Shirley

[rapunzel]

#1018028

Seems my thyroid has burnt itself out. I met my endocrinologist this morning — a wonderful doctor at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles, where I’ve become accustomed to getting great care — and took my first dose after our first meeting. It’s the tiniest possible dose — one half of a 25 microgram tablet — just to start out with. We’ll monitor my test results every five weeks and adjust as needed. I’m so relieved to get started on a course of treatment and glad the doc wants to take it slowly.

Would very much like to hear from people about their experiences when they first began taking thyroid medication.

Thanks!

[rapunzel]

#1062296

Many thanks — didn’t know about the 1/2 hour wait. Helpful 2 know!

[Dee11]

#1062297

Hey glad to hear you are being well treated. I was diagnosed with Graves back in September. They put me on a supress and replace course of medications. Within days the medications started to work and I started to feel better. Within 10 days i was like superhuman, fitter than i had ever been! Wonderful! Was like that until about a month ago when i suddenly took a turn for the worst.

Got send home from work for almost fainting in a meeting, suffered from extreme fatigue mixed with moments of euphoria/hyperactivity, leg muscle weakness and pains, breathlessness going up stairs,etc. (have a whole A4 page of symptoms). My doctor said my thyroid levels were too high again and reduced my dosage. I am not perfect but compared to how poorly i felt 2 weeks ago, i am satisfied. ” title=”Smile” />

All this to say, that from what i understand, thyroid medication can work really well, but will regularly need to be adjusted. Not sure why though.

And if you ever feel frustrated when your body is having a bad day and you can’t do certain things you enjoy like maybe hiking or cycling, then i find the best cure is to take your mind off it for a few hours. In such cases I find that meeting up with friends in a cafe and just having a good time joking around about everything and nothing makes me forget for a few hours about my reduced quality of life and i come back home euphoric and happy.

[Ski]

#1062298

Thyroid meds (not sure whether you were referring to ATDs or replacement hormone when you said this, but this applies to both) may need to be "regularly adjusted" at first, but most people find a comfortable spot over time. It can take a while, but the goal is to find one dose that keeps your levels normal, and you feeling well. After that, some life changes can affect our need for meds, but those are slow changes and we recommend annual testing for that reason. Many patients pass many annual blood tests without any change in dose.

The range of normal is VERY large, so it helps to have a doctor who will support adjustments *within* the normal range, in order to find the spot at which YOU feel best, but it doesn’t mean you need to "constantly" adjust your dose.

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