underactive thyroid

[tasia]

Hi guys I havent actually been on here for quite a while as I have been doing really well and was feeling so happy with everything than my world turned upside down again as ive found out i have an underactive thyroid. The doctor has told me i have to stay on these thyroxine tabs for the rest of my life and i know its not life threatening but because of my terrible HA to me it seemed like it was.. im not proud off myself feeling like this when i know people have much more serious problems but all my anxietys have come back i keep crying and im driving myself insane i keep thinking every little ache and pain ive got is my bloody thyroid..also to top it all i have noticed a small dent in my forehead i have had it a few months but my friend actually noticed it yesterday and asked me if i had banged my head i tried to laugh it off but inside i was falling to bits and now today ive been Dr.googling and cant really find anything on it..omg i feel im going crazy and cant take much more please if anyone suffers with thyroid please get intouch with me to try to help me understand it a bit more i know many people suffer with this thing its just very hard to know your body is failing you and my thoughts are running away with me ive been like this since my mum died of cancer ten years ago..im not a teenager im a mum of 3 god wish i could just be a stronger person...thankyou for any feedback.xx

[BubbleBonce]

Hi Tasia,

I have an underactive thyroid. It may be why you haven't been so good over the years. Most people have it for a long time before they get tested.

I'm sure you will start to feel a bit better once you get on a higher dose of thyroid medication. It really is an OK condition so long as you remember to take your meds.

Hope this helps.

Bubble

[joannap]

aww - bless you but when i had an overactive thyroid last year i would have done anything to have underactive lol! this is because thyroxine is a natural hormone whereas the treatment for over active are tablets that can have very dangerous side effects.

i do understand it feels like a shock but there are much worse things to have lol x

[fightingmyself]

My nan had underactive thyroid diagnosed in 1983. She's still going strong now at 86.
I know that doesn't help with the dent which I imagine is the main concern, but if you took the huge risk of consulting dr google and found nothing, then personally i'd be jumping for joy.

[tasia]

hi guys...thankyou so much for your replys...they have made me feel better about my thyroid but yes im now fixed upon this bloody dent in my forehead lol...sounds so stupid i keep looking at it all the time my husband has told me it probably has always been there and i havent noticed it but im sure i would have..there were a couple of things on the net about dents but people had headaches etc which thankgod i havent got...thankyou so much about the thyroid replys im sure i will come round to accepting this situation and will try not to let it frighten me so much im going to try to calm myself down otherwise i will make myself really unwell...thankyou again for your replys xx

[sugarplums]

dont worry about it hun, i have an under active thyroid and it was diagnosed when i was 6 years old, im now 31, the underactive thyroid can make you feel tearful and depressed etc but once your on the medication the doctor gives , it should improve. I will also be on thyroxine tablets for the rest of my life, the doctor usually monitors the level of thyroine every year or twice a year by a blood test, to make sure you are getting the level of thyroxine right for you.
You will be fine hun xx

[countrygirl]

I worked as an advisor for a thryoid advice charity so know loads! I also have had underactive thryoid since I was in my mid 20's and am now 49. Taking thyroxine is not different from a diabetic using insulin its taken for life and keeps you alive!! The difference is a diabetic would not last long without insulin whereas you can have underactive thryoid and live a long time but not very well.
The only big piece of advice I would give you is once your dosage is stable then make sure you get your blood tested every 6 months regardless of what your Dr says - loads of Drs say only test it once a year but alot can change in a year so insist on having it checked very 6 months.
when I was working as an advisore it felt as if every female had an thryoid problem as it is almost exclusively a female problem ( there are men but they are about 2% of total diagnosed) and it does tend to run in families in the female line. Every female in my family has had thryoid trouble one way or other.
So huge number of women and a few men are taking thyroxine and living normal lives.

[ditzygirl]

Underactive-thyroid untreated will make anxiety/depression pretty horrid, but once your meds kick in you will feel much better. I was traumatisted when I was diagnosed, I knew I was high risk coz it runs in my family but I have the biggest needle fear. Going for my blood tests is a nightmare!!!!!lol bless the nurses who are very kind!!!!!!!

On the plus side as long as you take ur meds you will be fine and as someone else has said make sure you get tested every 6 months.

If it helps there are some good books available, maybe your local library will have some for you to look through.

[tasia]

Thankyou all for your replys...you cannot imagine how much better i feel after reading all your replys ive only been taking these tablets for two weeks and im still doing the ;oh god i forgot my tablet this morning thing; so now ive put some notes on my fridge to remind me..maybe that is why im feeling so anxious and tearful as ive been so well for quite a few months its so awful to be feeling like a nervous wreck again i have to go back to my doctor in two weeks so i will insist on another blood test to see how things are going than i will make sure i go every 6 months for check ups. Im hopeful i will feel strong again in myself and not driving myself round the bend with every little ache and pain and mark on the forehead lol...Bless you all and thankyou all so much again xx

[joannap]

yes - underactive thyroid can make you feel very ill but it is not life threatening - i cried when i found out i had an overactive thyroid (which has mysteriously resolved itself) but then i told myself that there were other people out there being diagnosed with cancer etc. however - it can be a shock to realise your body is not working properly lol. i have been told that having had an overactive thyroid - it is pretty certain that one day mine will go underactive but after having over active which is much harder to treat - an underactive would honestly not worry me. xx

[Geoff2301]

I was similarly diagnosed when I had a routine over 50 check........never had any symptoms.... no tiredness or anything..... anyway been on thyroxine, 75mg daily, for about a year...... can't honestly say I notice any difference if I take it or not. One advantage is you get free prescriptions for life.

[Vixxy]

Hi. I was diagnosed when I was 14. I was actually very ill when it was picked up. I've been on the same dose for 15 years. However I'm seeing a new GP now and she has picked up that the dose may be too high and causing me anxiety. So I'm half way through my new trial dose.
To be honest with you. The illness is a pain in the ass, but its nothing to worry about. I get tired and I need more sleep than your average human being, but in the grand scheme of things its not the end of the world :D

[miss_moose]

I have Underactive thyroid too, and i have 100micrograms of Thyroxine.
I was diagnosed with it 10 years ago, but due to agorphobia i missed the bloodtests i needed and went without tablets for many years.

Last year, i got checked again and put on tablets. It took about 6 months to get the correct dosage.

You take the tablets for life as you know, but other than that theres no reason for it to get in the way of your daily routine.

When i first started taking them i was really worried about side effects and i asked the chemist, she said the only thing that should happen is that i would feel better.
I have a no side effects and theres nothing to worry about:hugs:

[tasia]

joannap...thankyou and im so pleased that it did resolve itself...my friends mum had overactive too and after a few weeks went back to normal strange isnt it she has never had a problem since this happened in her 40s and she is now in her 80s so be positive its amazing how our bodys work and sometimes the things we think will happen wont happen..thankyou again for your reply and god bless xx

[tasia]

Hi again everyone..just want to say thankyou thankyou thankyou to you all...i feel so so much more better just reading all your replys even my friend said to me this evening i look and seem much more happier and i do and its all thanks to you lovely people god bless you all i think tonight i will sleep much more peaceful and content i realise now i was being silly and really its nothing to worry about i will be ok...thankyou all..xxxx

[lauraw]

Tasia, I have a condition which caused me to be over active and then under active. I know being underactive is HORRIBLE!! I would be over active everytime compared to under!! The tablets do help though and alot of your anxiety/health anxiety may be linked to your thyroid and hopefully you will start to feel better soon. JoannaP I appreciate that being over active may be difficult to treat but unfortunately thyroxine is not a natural derivative and can have side effects too. Thankfully though both are treatable and not lifelimiting conditions which is good news!!! Hope you feel better soon x

[tasia]

Hi Lauraw thankyou for your reply.l I to am now wondering if its because of my thyroid that im suffering with the anxiety so much i am so stressed and taking it out alot on my family especially if ive had a glass of wine or two...since coming on here you have all helped me loads and im not so worried about it but i hope i dont get any funny side effects i guess not everyone has side effects hey....im sure i will start to feel better in myself soon i havent been taking them long...Thankyou again for replying xx

[ditzygirl]

sweetie - this site is fab isn't it? just when you think no one understands you -you share with us and hey presto!!!!!! The world is a better plae.

So glad you are feeling better - but you know where to come if you have a wee wobblexx

[doodah]

Hiya tasia,

I too have had an underactive thyroid for about 8 or 9 years now (and I'm the world's biggest health-worrier plus I have agoraphobia). Before I was diagnosed I honestly thought I was going mad - felt so weak, ill, tearful and anxious. I thought they'd diagnosed me wrongly at first because I am a bag of bones, only weighing about 7 and a half stones! Anyway, it took about 3 or 4 weeks and I started to feel back to my old self again. The doctors gradually increased my dosage of levothyroxine (I'm on 150 mcg at the moment) and it sometimes goes up or down, but it's under control and I get no side effects from the pills -phew! I think you'll wake up one day and think "wooohoo! I feel okay!".

I'm the main carer for my 91 year old mum (who also has underactive thyroid!) and had to have a flu jab last week. I can't tell you how worried and stressed I was after hearing lots of horror stories from other people who got side effects - anyway, I had the jab, didn't feel a thing and had no after-effects at all!

Why do we worry so much - grrrr!!

Take care and stay positive.

Wendy :yesyes:

[gina p]

i have an underactive thyroid since the birth of our daughter 3 years ago . I also have health anxiety but I can honestly say that I do not worry about my thyroid as its so easily treated/ i went overactive which was horrible and then underactive - I've been on thyroxine for 2.5 years now and its no big deal to me as its so easy to treat .xx

[tasia]

What can I say but thankyou again guys you are all so great kind and caring, bless you all for making me feel so much more positive about it im sure i will start to feel better in myself soon thankyou so much again xx

[joannap]

hi lauraw

i meant that with underactive you are replacing a hormone whereas with over active you take carbimazole and the latter is definitely a lot less natural - i know which i'd prefer lol (the underactive!) x

[joannap]

hi tasia - thanks for the post about your mums friend - i was told i would likely go underactive but perhaps not. i know loads of people who are underactive and have been for years - once you get your head around it it will just be normal for you xx

[tasia]

Thanks joannap....im trying very hard to get my head round it and slowly slowly i believe i am although im still very anxious during the night for some reason...things will improve with time though i know that..thankyou all again for your help x

[mom1982]

Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) is very common and many people have it and don't even know. A symptom of hypothyroid is anxiety. I have hyperthyroid at the moment which is heaps more dangerous, though in my case i'm pretty sure i have hashi's(hashimotos is a type of hypo which is probably what you have) and i'm going through it's hyper phase). You should not worry that you have this, my husband has it for 14 yrs now(since he was 18) and most of his family has it and heaps of other people i know including my aunts & cousins. it's not a disease that you need to worry about, you just need to take your thyroid medication for life so you don't get the symptoms of lethargy and weight gain and tons of other annoying symptoms of hypo, nothing life threatening. even if you don't take your meds, nothing will happen to you until yrs later so it's not anything serious but you need to take your meds to feel better! don't worry about this, it is so common and people with mild hypo live their whole lives normally with crappy symptoms and not know they even have hypo. they still live long lives.

I know a lot about hypothyroid, unusual symptoms, meds(better choices of meds), dosages, interpreting test results the proper way(which most GPs do not do). you can pm me if you have any questions or have your TSH, free T3 & free T4 results & thyroid med you're taking(i hope it's not synthetic cause those suck! for those people that are on synthetic thyroid like thyroxine and you're wondering why you're symptoms are still there and you still don't feel 100%, it's because synthetic thyroid meds only have T4 which is not enough for you and there are hundreds of thousands of people out there taking natural thyroid meds which has T1, T2 , T3(very impt) and T4 in it & a whole lot just taking natural T3 but that's complicating and there's too much for me to type on that so nevermind. and most GPs don't much about the thyroid and always prescribe synthetic. i know a bunch of hormone & thyroid private docs that are completely against thyroxine. And heaps & heaps of people including my hubby feeling much better on natural thyroid meds after trashing the thyroxine. (most endos are just as bad as the GPs).