Hi Ann,
I’m still pretty new here, too, and have had the very same questions (and aggravations!) as you. (Feel free to read my posts, doing an author search under Flora – you’ll see how I practially hogged the forum early on, with my troubles. Although the topic title for each thread is listed many times, just one click on that title provides the whole conversation for that topic.). So many forum friends came to my support, and I am so grateful to them. My doctor started me on a low dose of Methimazole, called Tapazole here in Canada, 5 mg daily, on March 5th. While I expect it maybe did some good in blocking the production of new thyroid hormone, other forum friends explained to me the 4 to 6 week wait time for the excess stored hormone to be flushed out of the system. I was pretty miserable while I “not-all-that-patiently” waited. At 5 long weeks in, Doctor increased me to 15 mg daily (5 mg, 3 times a day). Again, 3-plus even longer weeks of “no better”. Then, finally, finally, at close to 9 or 10 weeks, I started to feel better. First, the interest in my old interests returned (had been finding it hard to get into anything, or even to be cheerful around friends and family – for months); then, some energy came back; now, a little more slowly, some strength and stamina are returning (tempting to push it, but I know to go slow), and Thank Heavens, the fatigue, shakies and joint/muscle pains have mostly subsided.
I had bloods drawn again just today, and will see next week what Doctor thinks re: dosage. I’ll be telling him how much more improved I feel, in case the TSH is still lagging – he is very good at considering patient input, and I feel lucky to have him. Hope this helps a little, and that you will start to notice some improvements, too, very, very soon.
Flora
), you sound wonderful already! Gold Stars, and all the best to you!