r/Hypothyroidism

The test results are normal (TSH-2.57, T4-15.68 (norm is 6.44-18.03), T3-5.63 (norm is 2.76-6.45), without antibodies, endocrinologists brush it off and say that everything is fine with the thyroid gland. Also ferritin - 68, vitamin d - 33, serum iron-12.3 (lower norm). Over the course of six months my hair, eyebrows, eyelashes have been falling out, the skin has become pale like a corpse, severe swelling of the eyelids and in general around the eyes and cheeks (even the nose has become larger!), I sleep for 9-10 hours and wake up completely exhausted. I just don’t recognize myself... now I’ve decided to prescribe myself 75 thyroxine (t4) and waiting for thyromel 12.5 (t3). Please, anyone who has experienced this, write how long it took you until the situation normalized and the previous appearance returned after taking pills. My work is directly related to appearance (modeling), so I would be grateful to hear advice from those who have encountered this. Man. 23 years old. Weight 73 kg. Thank you!

I'm gonna try to keep this as short as I can because it's a lot. Let me start with I'm a 40 year old female, I'm 5'9 and I've averaged around 150 pounds since high school. I had my third and final child in 2017. Immediately upon coming home from the hospital with her, my weight started plummeting and at the worst of it I was 105 pounds. I looked like death but couldn't gain weight no matter what I tried. It's worth mentioning that I lost a scary amount of weight after having my second child as well, but it never reached such drastic numbers as with my third child. After I had my first child I lost a little bit of weight and I always assumed it was due to the fact that I breastfed and just the stress from everything in general. With both children I would return to my normal weight within the first year after they were born. But with my third, I stayed sickly skinny for over 3 years.

And then it's like a switch flipped and I went from being 105 pounds to 200 pounds in a matter of 30 days. My hair started falling out by the handful, my feet were extremely dry and started cracking, my nails lifted up off of my nail beds, I lost the lunula on them, and they started growing sideways. I had severe seborrheic dermatitis on my scalp, I would get black spots and rolling balls of light in my vision, my blood pressure skyrocketed, I developed tinnitus, my taste buds changed, my sense of smell changed, my ears started producing too much ear wax, I would get humongous cystic pimples on my jawline (which is severely scarred now from them) and I suffered from extreme depression/anxiety and had no energy, desire or motivation to do absolutely anything. My legs and ankles would swell up, I would get recurring bulging discs in my back which was the worst pain I've ever experienced before in my life. I immediately made a doctor's appointment and they did labs on me.

When my results came back, they showed that my thyroid was performing normally. Over the course of 5 years, I did enough research on my own to come to the conclusion that I had silent thyroiditis, considering all of my symptoms. But I was repeatedly told that there was nothing wrong with me. I had an ultrasound done on my thyroid after about a year once my symptoms started, which came back normal as well. Fast forward 7 years and they schedule a second ultrasound which shows I have a 15 mm nodule growing on my thyroid. I have a thyroid uptake scan and it comes back non cancerous and I'm told that I'm going to be referred to a specialist.

That was almost a year ago so last week I made another doctor's appointment, and told them a specialist never contacted me and I'm desperate to get this resolved because I have been struggling in every way for over 8 years now and want nothing more in the world than to be able to feel normal again. I'm still trying to process what happened at that doctor's appointment and would love for anyone with any kind of experience or knowledge about thyroid problems to help me understand.

So my doctor seemed more hung up on the fact that I used the word 'tumor' instead of 'nodule' and before anything made sure to correct me by stating I did not have a tumor, I had a nodule. I thought that a nodule was literally a specific type of tumor but she insisted that was the wrong terminology because I did not have a tumor growing on my thyroid. And that furthermore, my uptake scan came back and said it was non cancerous so they never referred me to a specialist because there was no specialist to send me to. Her receptionist called me about 9 months ago to check on the status of said referral so I'm very confused why she lied and said they never said they were referring me to a specialist? And that basically I better get used to feeling like I do because there is absolutely nothing they can do for me, so I have to learn to just deal with it.

I'm not a doctor but I feel like surely there is something that can be done. I have been dealing with this for almost a decade and it's heartbreaking when I think of the years of my life that I've lost to this. Does anyone know of anything that can be done or any steps I can take next? I'm becoming hopeless, and I would greatly appreciate anyone's input.

Is anyone on a statin and struggling with side effects?

I’ve been on Rosuvastatin 20mg for several months now but I’m struggling with breathlessness, insomnia and extra bad joint pain (I also have Psoriatic Arthritis) the entire time I’ve been on them and my PCM thinks I’m making it up and just don’t want to take the statins, not true. I decided a couple of months ago to reduced my own dose from 20mg to 10mg but the breathlessness, insomnia and extra joint pains persist… I then decided to do 10mg every other day and take them during the day instead of just before bed like my PCM told me to do and I still struggle but at least its not an everyday thing….. I know its the statin thats causing my issues because I actually stopped the statin for a few days an during those few days I didn’t suffered with any of the issues… but as soon as I started the statins backup the issues came back ….

Its unbearable and Im curious does anyone else with hypothyroidism take a statin

have these types of issues or similar and if so how do you cope?

just curious asking for advice :)

I’m a 33F and was prescribed 25 mg levothyroxine in late February when I went to see my gynecologist about heavy breakthrough bleeding I was having on continuous birth control. They did a blood test (TSH reflex to T4) and my TSH level was 5.1. I had previously had a blood test a few months prior for an unrelated reason and my TSH was around 2.4.

So my doctor prescribed me the lowest dose to see if it would help. The bleeding stopped after a few days (before I got the prescription filled) and I haven’t had an issues with it since. Tbh I didn’t really notice any signs of hypothyroidism besides thinning, dry hair but I was willing to see if the medication would help. I haven’t really noticed anything in the month or so that I’ve been taking it, good or bad. I did find out after talking to my dad that hypothyroidism runs in the family, as his mom had it and so does his oldest brother. He also believes he may have it but hasn’t had it tested.

In two weeks, I’m supposed to be doing a multi-day trail race. I’ve been a runner since 2014, doing trail runs since 2020 and ultramarathons since 2023, and this will be my biggest race yet. It’s 125 miles with a cutoff of 3.5 days and I’m obviously hoping to finish, but I will likely be out there at least a couple of days. My sleep schedule will be messed up and I will be eating differently than I would be on a regular day as my body will require lots of calories to keep moving, so I will likely be eating every 30 minutes, or at least hourly.

So I’m not sure how all this affects how/when I will be taking levothyroxine while I’m out on the trails! Right now I take it first thing after I wake up and typically an hour before eating anything. During the race, I’ll be lucky if I can get in 30 minute naps a few times a day and I’ll be eating/drinking as much as I possibly can. I thought about skipping the pills for a few days since I really didn’t have any issues before taking them, but not sure if that’s a bad idea. If so, what should I do about my medication while I’m running and hiking for multiple days?

I started 50 mg levothyroxine 12 days ago. Yet my fatigue is getting even worse with no improvements. I've been off levothyroxine for almost 2 years, 3 and half years ago I was diagnosed with subclinical hypothyroidism. Doctor said I could start 75 mg now. What other causes could there be?

this might be a really silly thing to ask but… I’ve been taking levothyroxine for a few months now and have been feeling really good comparatively. I mean it’s not perfect, but I’m not in as much pain of feeling as awful overall. Today I missed a dose and didn’t realize until it was way too late to take it. the entire day I’ve been incredibly depressed— in a way I haven’t felt since starting my meds. I know thyroid issues can mess with your mental health but is it even possible for one missed dose to make me feel that depressed again or is it just a coincidence type thing that I happened to have a bad depressive episode on the one day I missed my meds?

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Firstly: I do love this sub and I have learned A LOT about hypo but also it‘s nice to be able to share experiences with people who understand. The fatigue, the brain fog, weight gain, the mental part like depression etc.

BUT I have realized that a lot of people who have SOME of the symptoms are googling answers and jump to the conclusion that they MUST HAVE hypo. It‘s OK to seek advice because some doctors are just sh*t and don‘t take symptoms into account or 'optimal ranges' or talk about 'subclinical hypo' even though symptoms are present (for anyone who doesn‘t know: subclinical actually means no symptoms but visible hypo in blood work).

But I just argued with a guy who has low ferritin and low vitamine D levels, symptoms for those deficiencies and in range thyroid labs. He started self medicating on Levo without fixing his deficiencies first. He didn‘t even look for a second opinion from another doctor or into other causes for his symptoms. It MUST be hypo, because idk?

I think that people don‘t realise sometimes that hypo is a serious issue and medication should not be taken lightly. No one would start on insulin if the doctor told them that they don‘t have diabetes, why do some people think that hypo-medication is something like an over-the-counter-pain pill?

Yes, post here for advice when you present typical hypo symptoms(even if only partially), when you are unsure about lab work or you dosage or whatever else related to hypo. We learn a lot together. :) But also please take the advice if you post here. It doesn’t help anybody if you post here and than not listen to any advice given.

Rant over.

Over time I’ve noticed the same problem come up again and again with people managing thyroid conditions.

Everything is scattered. Lab results are in different portals, medication changes aren’t tracked clearly, and symptoms are hard to keep up with. A lot of people end up guessing how they’re doing.

I’ve been working with a small team and input from endocrinologists to build something to help with this.

It’s basically an AI-powered thyroid companion where you can track labs like TSH, T3, T4, log symptoms, and keep a history of medication changes. It focuses on correlating your data over time and gives evidence backed insights to help you better understand what’s going on.

We’re also working on a feature where you can ask questions and get answers guided by a board certified endocrinologist, so you’re not just relying on random information online.

We’re still early and trying to build something actually useful.

If you deal with hypothyroidism or anything thyroid related, I’d really appreciate your thoughts.

What would you want something like this to do for you?

I’m happy about any kind of feedback, feel free to share appreciation or criticism. If anyone is interested, I can drop the link in the comments.

Ferritin: 113 ug/L

Free T3: 5.1 pmol/L

Free T4: 11 pmol/L

TSH Ultra-sens: 1.56 mIU/L

VitD: 65 nmol/L

Even though I asked for a full thyroid panel, Reverse T3 and Thyroid Antibodies were not measured. I am a 20 year old male, started experiencing symptoms in 2022, my mother has hypothyroidism so there is a significant increased risk of developing it.

These results are confusing to me because I display all the symptoms of severe hypothyroidism.

Extreme fatigue especially, I spend roughly 90% of my day lying down in bed, 9% sitting up and 1% standing up because I get orthostatic intolerance/POTS when standing. My resting heart rate lying down is 56 BPM (bradycardia), 83 BPM upon sitting up, 90 BPM upon standing up, and 113 BPM after 15 minutes standing and profusely sweating (doubled heart rate from laying down).

Some days I've drank two energy drinks per day (320 mg caffeine) and am able to fall asleep right after without problem and no significant energy boost. I'm consistently sleeping 10-12 hours a day and I wake up feeling no refreshment. I'm so exhausted I've started to neglect basic hygiene like brushing my teeth only once a week and showering twice a week, with showering being the most exercise I ever do by standing more than 15 minutes and I dread having to shower.

I am not overly overweight but I do have stubborn stomach fat and an incredibly slow metabolism, maintaining my weight eating one meal a day and finding it impossible to lose weight, as well as bloating incredibly easily from water. I probably drink too much water and have to urinate constantly.

I have mild cold intolerance and poor circulation in my legs leaving them cold to the touch but my temperature is a stable 37 C.

My skin is dry, and my hair is dry and incredibly tangled, falling out easily from any disruption like combing. I always have constipation and incomplete evacuation. My muscles are very weak in the neck and middle back leading to me having anterior pelvic tilt and forward head posture. My working memory and concentration skills have severely declined and I have severe brain fog and executive dysfunction.

My voice is noticeably weaker and higher pitched, speaking feels a lot more difficult and less automatic. Even breathing deeply through the diaphragm is difficult and not automatic, I have incredibly shallow breathing and occasional shortness of breath that mimics symptoms of a panic attack. I've noticed my face has gotten a bit more puffier and less defined.

I have delayed puberty and no major growth spurt, facial hair is severely delayed with very weak and short peach fuzz on moustache, underneath chin, and sideburns that stop growing after a few weeks. I still look 15 or 16 years old if I were to guess my age from someone else's perspective. Most strangely, my total testosterone is 952 ng/DL and free testosterone is 548 pmol/L, which is above average. But I display all the symptoms of low testosterone: fatigue, low libido, low muscle mass, skinny-fat appearance, irritability and high stress, and little facial hair. I don't think I have a goiter but I do feel tightness in my throat, my blood test results also showed high cholesterol which is a common result of hypothyroidism.

I'm at a loss for what could be causing this if my blood test results show a healthy and not low T4, and a healthy and not high TSH, it's incredibly debilitating.

I’ve had my latest blood test today and TSH 4.57 T4 11pmol. Both literally just over and under the normal for our lab. My last set 6 weeks ago was TSH 6.5 and T4 10pmol. 6 weeks before that TSH 24.19 and T4 6pmol. I’m currently on 150mg of levothyroxine. guess it might be put up again not sure. But my symptoms of muscle and joint pain and feeling cold are at their worst. Im always warm so feeling cold is something I’m just not normal too. I need fans in the winter normally in the uk. I can’t say apart from the odd leg cramp I’ve never had pains but atm (sorry tmi). but I can’t even have any romantic moments with my husband cos the muscle cramps and joint pain. We have a 1 and 3 year old so it’s very little window for this anywa but last three attempts I’ve been crying from the pain of my joints and muscles. lifting or doing anything causing shooting pains. Now a TSH of 4.57 surly can’t still be causing this right? Sorry just want to feel Normal again and my gp said it’s All satisfactory.

Around a year back I started having crazy heart issues, I have bradycardia and occasionally smoking would cause it to rise to around 200+ bpm.

It was terrifying and I knew THC didn’t help but it didn’t always cause it, sometimes driving would cause it aswell.

I went to a doctor a few weeks ago for concerns on a hole in my heart(which I don’t have thank god) however he noticed my TSH was around 5-6. He put me on levothyroxine and I immediately noticed a difference, however even the tiniest puff causes immediate sweats, dizziness, and palpitations, which means I more than likely have to quit.

I’m looking for other solutions however I will quit if there are none, I’ve just used THC as an anxiety med for so long I don’t know what to do. I’m fine at home but if anything stresses me or even driving I can feel my thyroid swell and THC is useless at that point.

I also use nicotine however I’ve only noticed issues if I also smoke THC.

If anyone has advice or can point me in a good direction I will very much so appreciate it, I’ve only been on thyroid meds for around 2 weeks so I’m not sure when it will fully kick in.

Hello everyone!

Even since before I was diagnosed, all my life, I had really bad struggles and problems with heat and warm weather. I sweat obnoxiously much even in winter and while its cold outside, without even doing any physical activity. It's exhausting. I have a bit sweaty hands, but that's something I can handle. My real problem is my armpits; I sweat HEAVILY there. It doesn't smell because I use a good deodorant, but the stains are still extremely visible and large, and its embarassing. The moisture remains, even though the sweat has already 'dried', which is just very, very uncomfortable.

Recently, I've been looking into using botox to prevent the sweating. I've heard that it closes the sweat glands for some time. I've watched videos and googled around, and everyone speaks positive about it, but I wanted to get some more opinions here.

How expensive is that? Does the health insurance company bear the cost/a part of the cost of the treatment(s), because it is a health issue? I live in Germany. How often would I need to refresh the botox? Once a year? 2× a year, every six months? More often? How painful is the treatment & what does it feel like?

Is it really as helpful as the people in the videos say?

Where could I even get that done? In the hospital, a beauty clinic,...? Does anyone know reputable doctors in Germany that do that? Maybe even has recommendations? What do I have to look for in a good, safe & reputable doctor? Whats important to know beforehand/maybe even before the first treatment? Do I have to wait to be 18 for the treatment since I'd use botox, or can I get that done underage? I turn 17 next month.

I'd be really thankful for everyone that shares their experiences with me, and gives me some input!:)

(20F) Looking for some advice. I'm relatively new to being diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I was officially diagnosed last June and to say the least, it has been a rollercoaster.

For some background, my original TSH was 6 when I was diagnosed. I was heavily symptomatic and my doctor suggested medication (my mother has Hashimotos). I was started on 50 mcg of generic Levothyroxine. I felt better at first, but in October my 3 month labs showed I was overmedicated at 0.04 TSH. My antibodies for Hashi also began to rise around this time.

My doctor then bumped me down to 25 mcg levothyroxine and my hypo symptoms returned. My TSH tested at 9 in January after being on meds for 3+ months. My GP then decided to switch me to name brand Synthroid and try alternating doses of 25 mcg (tues,thurs,sat,sun) and 50 mcg (mon, wed, fri). I felt better overall on Synthroid but still have persistent brain fog, joint pain, etc. Nothing compared to original diagnosis.

I recently had labs done and my TSH came back at 2.89. I am technically in "normal" range but do not feel optimal. My doctor wants me to see an endocrinologist but offered to switch the brand of levo to name brand Unithroid. I have not seen much on this subreddit about Unithroid and wanted to hear experiences.

I appreciate any advice that you can give. Unfortunately my mom had a much easier time with her diagnosis and treatment plan, so she doesn't have as much insight on how I've been feeling. I'm a college student so life is already stressful enough. Thank you :)

Hey guys, looking for advice! TLDR: weigh loss when?

I was originally diagnosed with Graves *hyperthyroidism* in May 2022. Been through a lot of drama and messing around with the NHS and now suddenly my thyroid has decided to flip to COMPLETE hypothyroidism in March 2026🎉. Bro just nope-ed out and I guess.

So my TSH is now a spooky 72.3, T4 is 5.9 pmol/L and free T3 is 2.8 pmol/L. My specialist has slapped me on 100 micrograms of Levothyroxine 💪 and I’ve been on it for 5 days now, I understand this is too early for anything to change.

Honestly I kinda don’t care about my thyroid function. But I’ve always cared about my weight. I have fluctuated between 65kg and 80kg for 4 years. I’m now 79kg and this is what I’m tired of.

I hate how areas of my body are touching again, how my clothes are tight, how I just feel so tired and how I need to be careful about how I exercise.

Will I lose weight? When? I’m really rather depressed. Also please don’t tell me to seek therapy 😭 I want a stomach tattoo, and this constantly back and forth is pushing it back:(

I’ve been on levothyroxine (50mcg) for the better half of 8 years (currently 27). I had blood work today and my level was 0.016. I’m seeing endocrinology in a few weeks but I was wondering if anyone else has ever had a similar issue where medication causes hyperthyroidism. My main symptoms are just Exhaustion and a bit of pain at the base of my throat.

(47)F diagnosed severe hypothyroidism last March. My TSH started at 37.6, after a couple of months it got down to 1.7 with levothyroxine. Well, once that happened the Endo doc took my off the Levo and said I don’t have to stay on it since my numbers are normal. Well here I am, in the worse muscle pain and achiness of my life. I can’t walk far before getting out of breath. I am constantly struggling to get up and down from my couch because that’s how bad my body aches. Of course I’m always tired too. I literally feel like hell. I just want to not hurt. 🤦🏻‍♀️. So my question. Is it normal for a doctor to take you off of Levo once your TSH is in range? I have my first Endo Appointment on Thur after not being there in months. And is all

This muscle pain normal?

My TSH was labelled as HIGH at 5.24 when normal range is 0.27-4.20. I have severe anxiety and panic disorder and a fear of taking pills. I see posts on here of people who are being treated for hypothyroidism and it turns hyper! I don't want that happening because I will probably end up in an ambulance again for a panic attack! Can I absolutely have the lowest dose for just for a short amount of time?

Hi everyone, wondering if anyone else has had this experience and if/how you fixed it. I’m 26F, discovered a 4cm nodule on my thyroid last year. Got a hemithyroidectomy in June 2025, they found 2 types of cancer in the nodule and one was metastatic and had spread to a lymph node but it was all removed during the surgery thank God. Have been on 25mcg of Levothyroxine since.

In the past 6 months I’ve been experience heavy fatigue and depression, worse than it was before the surgery. I keep scheduling appointments with my endocrinologist and sleeping through them and missing them 😭 I don’t take my medication at a consistent time only because I keep sleeping through every alarm. I’m missing classes and important appointments just from sleeping all day. I also have ADHD and I’m prescribed Adderall, I feel like it doesn’t even work anymore due to how tired I am. Just been in a constant loop of sleeping and feeling extremely depressed and disassociated/brain fog. It started about 4 months after the surgery and wondering if anyone knows what it might be attributed to, maybe I need a higher dosage of Levothyroxine or could it be something else. Ty!🙏