BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Thyroid Health MY STORY

A short while back i was asked if i could share my experiences with dealing with Hashimoto's Disease. I will go back to the very beginning when all of this started, back in the late 1990's when i always wondered if all my health issues stemmed from my thyroid. It's quite lengthy and detailed as much as possible. Let me also note that i will be forced to take breaks from time to time between posts ( due to work schedule and family commitments and duties), my apologies however i ask that you have patience. Meantime I look forward to sharing my story with others here in the very near future. Thank you!

I could remember as a child i was always tired in class, i had a poor attention span, teachers were cruel and would always accuse me of daydreaming. Then i would constantly talk and interrupt the teacher. Noises also startled me at times. I also had allergies, not any food ones that i am aware of, but seasonal (always allergic to grass, ragweed, and pollen) also i was allergic to cats. As a teen i had eczema breakouts and dermatitis, i also had poor decision making. I never really got good grades in school either but i did pass. As i grew into adulthood these slowly dissipated and my eczema and allergies cleared up. I'm wondering now if this had anything to do with my endocrine system (thyroid and adrenal function) although i never had any noticeable symptoms of hypothyroid.
In general i believe i was hypo several years before any symptoms started as i was always cold when others weren't and i always had a hard time losing weight despite rigorous exercise and eating way less than i should have.

Where do i start? Well from the time i hit my late 30's, and especially after i had a tubal ligation at age 33, i started having symptoms of low grade depression, unable to tolerate stress, anxiety at times, always cold (on a 30 degree day i shivered) and, despite eating right and exercising, endless weight gain. I knew i neededto lose at least 20 lbs. I wasn't obese but i knew i would look & feel much better.
I joined a local gym in Dec, of 1995 thinking that was the answer to my weight issues, i went 4 days a week (and was religious with my eating habits) Mon through Fri, i left the weekends to eat whatever i wanted most of the time i didn't eat a lot) I would lose a few then gain it back which turned into a pattern. I was getting nowhere.
Another thing i noticed when i hit my mid 30's was my periods started acting weird. I would have 2 in one month (one on the 1st day of the month, then again on the 28th day), and they would be heavier, not to mention my cramps became so severe i would have to heavily medicate myself with Motrin and Darvocet (eventually Lortab) I also had bad PMS and would become depressed, irritable, sometimes not able to handle any stress at work (i'm a nurse), i would be so anxious i would shake. Then at times i would miss one to two periods in a row, and go through severe PMS before they started. I confided in a female co-worker who said my symptoms are typical of what happens after a tubal ligation. I went to my gyn dr who said that wasn't true but said he could give me Prozac to help
relieve my symptoms and i agreed to take...that was in 1997.
I did notice an improvement and i even noticed some weight loss, but over a 14 month period in the end i was right back where i was and eventually weaned myself off.
In 1999 i began reading articles on hypothyroidism (only in magazines and a couple of newspaper articles) and it's symptoms and saw that i had quite a few of them! I told my husband and he was starting to believe that that's what my problem was, we especially hit on the fact that i was always cold and unable to lose weight (by this time i was just about starving myself with very little results) I discovered the test to ask for was a TSH which was short for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone. I remembered that medical term from nursing school back in 1985 when we studied the Endocrine System, we never focused on the thyroid and the only thing we learned was that it was a gland in the neck which controls the body's metabolism. I was now convinced that i had hypothyroidism and went to my PCP. He agreed to send me for a TSH and to give me a copy when the results came in, which he did. And...it was normal. Oh well, i thought, not my thyroid after all...carry on...back to the gym, this time 5 days a week instead of 4. I began punishing myself and blaming me for my weight gain but barely losing one pound.
And my above mentioned symptoms continued...
In early 2000 i went to my PCP again and literally begged to have my TSH taken again, he reminded me that my last one was normal but he didn't turn me down. He sent me for another test and recommended an endocrinologist in my area. I was thrilled and thought 'i'm finally going to get answers!' I had my first appointment with my first endo dr, a female, foreign, nice, well-mannered, office i noticed was empty, thought that was weird. Well, in the end SHE ended up being the weirdo! She had a copy of my 2nd TSH results (the one my PCP sent me for) and told me it was normal and that there was nothing wrong with my thyroid...i kind of wanted to challenge her but with what? What other info did i have to prove her wrong? I had none. Sooo....the only advice she gave me was to exercise more and watch my portions ( i was doing just that already!) . Needless to say i never went back.
Now all my thoughts of any thyroid problems were quickly forgotten about and i went on with my life. I still continued to suffer with crazy periods. I stopped the gym for quite a while, eventually,as i was just wasting my time and my money. My husband had a treadmill and i began using that 3 days a week.
By 2003 i still struggled with my weight, also something else i noticed was i began to have some hot flashes accompanied by intermittent heart palps and feeling like i couldn't catch my breath. I kind of attributed it to perimenopause and went about my business, but it was almost more than i could tolerate. I remember around late September i had to fill out a form for my annual physical at work and i had to have my vital signs listed, well i got tired of carrying that form around in my purse and time was running out for the deadline. Well, in a brief minute i had a fellow nurse take my blood pressure...i was shocked to find it was 138/98 (i normally was 122/78) She took it again after i rested for 15 minutes and it was the same.
Scared, i went to my PCP and he sent me for tests, i made sure he included another TSH...

I went to my PCP who sent me for tests and took my BP (which was elevated) so he put me on a small dose of Altace at 10mg. I soon felt better and was almost convinced that my thyroid had zero to do with my symptoms.
Here are the tests i had done on 10/24/03:

Triglyceride 95 (85-160)
T4 Total 6.20 (6.09-12.23)
TSH 6.01 ( 0.34-5.60)
My PCP found out that TSH result was a lab error but i didn't buy it, so, at my demands, he sent me for another one a week later and it was normal. So i was right back to square one.
Here are the other test results from 10/24/03:
WBC 6.8 (4.0-11.0)
RBC 4.31 (4.10-5.60)
HGB 13.0 (12.0-16.0)
HCT 38.1 (36.0-47.0)
Glucose 99 (74-115)
Sodium 142 (136-144)
Potassium 4.1 (3.6-5.1)
I had my annual appointment with my GYN/NP in December that year. I explained my symptoms to her ( i changed GYN's in 2002) and she said it definitely sounds like i'm entering perimenopause, however she did not dismiss the thyroid and agreed to send me for another TSH along with my FSH and LH levels, which i had done on 12/5/03:
TSH 1.89
LH 25.33

Reference Range for LH:
Mid-Follicular Phase 2.22 -10.89 mIU/ml
Mid-Cycle Peak 19.18-103.03 "" ""
Mid-Luteal Phase 1.20-12.86 "" ""
Post-Menopausal 10.87-58.64 "" ""
~

FSH 30.40

Reference Range for FSH:
Mid-Follicular Phase 3.85-8.78 mIU/ml
Mid-Cycle Peak 4.54-22.51 ""
Mid-Luteal Phase 1.79-5.12 ""
Post-Menopausal 16.74-113.59 ""

Now once again thyroid was swept under the rug and i sincerely believed these symptoms were nothing more than perimeno (as my dr told me) and hypertension, then i thought 'no wonder menopausal women are moody because this is horrible!' and i wondered how could they even tolerate this because it's taking control of my life! My GYN dr did suggest going on HRT but i refused at this time.
Oh well...

~
2004

I had a normal cycle on 1/7 to 1/10 and by February came the waiting game again....with PMS so bad i thought i would die. AND once again i was plagued with those awful symptoms from a year before:
Hot flashes/profuse sweating, followed by chills & intolerance to cold (regardless of the weather)
Always tired despite adequate sleep
Exausted all the time, even at rest
Unmotivated
Mood swings/Depression/Anxiety
Heart Racing/Palpitations
Dizziness
Brain Fog
Forgetfulness
Unable to handle stress (* I took Valium to calm me down whenever this took place, same for when i had heart palps)
Menstrual Cramps ( i lived on pain killers as well)
In February i started having chest pains with breatlessness, which prompted a trip to the ER (my first of several visits) I had cardiac enzymes & regular bloodwork done, also an EKG and chest xray, also an echo cardiogram, all normal. A couple days later i had a barium swallow to rule out anything GI related, it turned out i had a slight hiatal hernia with mild GERD. A BMP was included in my bloodwork when at the ER and one was for TSH which was normal. This was taken on 2/13/04 ( i won't post the reference ranges again unless there's a different test here)

Cholesterol 179 (140-199)

TSH 1.66
WBC 5.7
RBC 4.69
HGB 13.8
HCT 41.6 (36.0-47.0)
MPV 7.8 (7.4-10.4)
Glucose 100
Sodium 136
Potassium 4.0
CPK, Total 45 (26-140)
CKMB 0.8 (0.6-6.3)
Troponin I 0.01 (0.00-0.3)

So now i was back on my Altace and started feeling a bit better, my symptoms had eased up a bit (no more chest pain) and i was able to concentrated on my life again.
But now, my period was late again. I called my GYN dr who started me on 10 mg of Medroxyprogesterone which i took from 4/1 to 4/5, which triggered a period from 4/11 to 4/13. I had a total of 8 more that year, all normal and i did have occassional hot flashes & heart racing again but i was religious with taking my BP meds. Then i had a very light flow on 12/1 & 12/2 and my awful symptoms from earlier in the year came back in full force by 12/26 with PMS from hell and obvious mood swings. I admit i was confused. It was scary going from sweating and shakey and gasping for air trying to find a fan or open window( at work) to being cold. This is what "change of life" feels like? This is how it's supposed to be? This is what i have to get used to? Bull****! I wasn't buying it 'cause i felt like i was slowly dying!
Sooo....i called my GYN again and she prescribed me 10mg Medroxyprogesterone on 12/29 to take for 7 days...

2005

I took the Medroxyprogesterone until 1/4 with no results, that's when i wondered if there was something serious going on, at age 42 the menstrual cycle just doesn't shut down for nothing (unless for other reasons), now i'm thinking i should tell the dr again, i mean what if there is something wrong? Like cancer? I wasted no time in calling my GYN office and was surprised how quick i got in. She was very unsympathetic & said "Well this is perimenopause you're now in and this is what happens so.....you're just gonna have to get used to it." She suggested HRT and an antidepressant to "take the edge off your symptoms". I mentioned having thyroid function tests done, she said "Your thyroid test came back fine so i don't think it's necessary to run it again, i really don't think your thyroid has anything to do with it." And all while she kept a fake smile. That signaled a red flag. I refused the antidepressant but i did take the HRT, she gave me a low dose of Prempro (Premarin) I started on 1/18. It did alleviate most of my symptoms, especially the sweating and i did have a cycle on 2/18 to 2/20, but it wasn't normal, then i had a very light one on 3/9 to 3/11. I decided at this point to stop worrying about my menstrual cycle and to accept what my dr told me, that i am in perimenopause, and get on with my life. I was very busy, working full-time as a nurse, and trying to manage a small household, it was only me & my DH, he had major health issues (one was heart disease) far worse than mine, although he was stable and functioning normally. So my emphasis was on him first , me second.
I stopped the Prempro on 3/26. I just didn't feel right on it and i worried about cancer and other side effects and after reading about all the negatives of HRT and especially this fact: That it's made from horse's urine! Then one day my DH showed me a very interesting article in the paper. I read it and my jaw dropped. A woman, name not mentioned, won a malpractice lawsuit against a local gynocologist who did surgery on her to which the woman suffered long term irreversible damage. That dr? You guessed it, and i never went back to her again.
Meanwhile, all my symptoms had returned (soon after i stopped the Prempro) and once again i was miserable. I forgot to mention that, starting back in January, i had been doing my own researching on the internet about women's health and thyroid disease. I registered on WebMD and a couple of other sites looking for answers to the questions i asked over and over to myself. I also kept looking at my test results (i had been obtaining copies since 2003) in desperation to find something that would shed some light on my problems. On this one women's health website (of which i am still a registered user to this day) i started talking to other women on the message forums and found that i wasn't alone, there were other women experiencing the same symptoms as me, what a relief it was to get to share some information! They advocated the use of something called (and i had never heard of) bio-identical hormones as opposed to synthetic HRT (ex: prempro, birth control pills, estrogen containing products) because i learned that bio-identical are natural plant-derived hormones and least likely to cause life-threatening side effects. They also mentioned that soy products were also useful to help alleviate the symptoms associated with menopause. Without delay i decided to try OTC products. I soon started taking Estroven, soy isoflavones, & Black Cohosh in late March. To say now that any of it helped i would be lying, i honestly don't have any recollection of it working, maybe just a tinge bit if at all.
As a result of what i had found out about Hypothyroidism( and by this time ,late March i was convinced i had, although every time my TSH was taken it was normal , it was like pounding my head against the concrete) i began taking my oral temperature, it was mentioned that low basal body temps( taken first thing in the morning) way under 98.6, was a sign of poor thyroif function. Well low and behold, my temps were reading: 96.0, 96.2, 96.8, on some mornings i was even getting 95.9 (it basically steadied around 96) and even after normal activity and up to a few hours into the morning it was low. Now i was really stumped.
One woman who i became friends with on-line told me she had something called Hashimoto's Disease, which caused her to become hypothyroid. She said she took Synthroid and felt a whole lot better, before that she said she could barely function' and had symtoms similar to some of mine, she said it threw her cycles out of whack too, just like me!
By the time April came i was a walking mess. My poor hubby couldn't understand what was happening to me and tried his hardest to understand, but even just merely talking and explaining to him exausted me and make me miserable towards him. I became more snappish, cold, withdrawn, nasty, very touchy, very distant, depressed non-communitive and, as loving and supportive he was of me, he became afraid to even say hello. I became extremely defensive and argumentative towards him and he was very easy going in return, in other words he would never lay a hand on me. I just wanted to be left alone. I wanted to die.
I called my GYN office and went in on 4/25, i was no longer seeing the actual GYN dr (the one that gave me the prempro) , her name was taken off the door where it always was (obviously she was let go in that office due to losing the malpractice suit) Now i was seeing the GYN/NP. It was music to my ears when she finally said those magical words that would stay forever in my brain: "I think it's your thyroid." Did i hear that right? Yes i did!
She wrote me scripts for the following: TSH with reflux to Free T4, T3, and a test i had never, ever heard of: Antithyroid Antibodies. I never gave it a second thought, though, as i expected these to come back in normal, just as before. She also sent me for a serum estradiol, FSH & LH. I stopped the Estroven, isoflavones, & black cohosh that day ( i didn't go back to taking them again at that time). She also told me to start taking Calcium at 1200 mg a day and offered me Effexor XR for the hot flashes, she said it was my choice (never pushed). I started at 37.5mg on 5/3 increased to 75mg on 5/10. I started the calcium on 5/6.
I had the bloodwork on 5/3.
One week later i got a phone call from her, which was unusual. She gave the news i've been waiting to hear: My Antithyroid Antibodies were high. Here are the results:

T3, Total: 150 (60-181)
TSH w/Free T4 RFX
TSH 0.48 (0.40-5.50)

Estradiol <14

Follicular Phase: 11-212
Mid-cycle: 18-480
Luteal Phase: <or = 247
Post-Menopausal: <or=27


FSH 46.2


Follicular Phase: 2.5-10.2
Mid-Cycle Peak: 3.1-17.7
Luteal: 1.5-9.1
Post-Menopausal: 23.0-116.3



LH 38.2



Follicular Phase: 1.9-12.5
Mid-Cycle Peak: 8.7-76.3
Luteal: 0.5-16.9


Thyroglobulin Abs: >90 H (0.0-2.0)
Thyroid Peroxidase Abs: 2.3 H (0.0-2.0)

She mailed me a copy and i took in to my pcp for him to look at, he agreed that i should see an endocrinologist right away, he recommended one who he referred to as one of the best in the field. My husband & i were both thrilled that finally i was going to see an expert dr who will treat me and put me on the road to feeling better!
Or so i thought.......

My long-awaited appoinment with my first endo was on 5/24/05. While at the same time i was feeling ill and struggling just to get by day by day, i so looked forward to this day as i knew i would finally receive treatment for my thyroid, which now i was convinced i had all along.
I printed out some info from this one website regarding hypothyroidism and it's symptoms (much of which i had) also the new recommended ranges for TSH levels (as opposed to the standard one that my lab is still using to this day--0.40-4.50) I also learned, from this site, that being tested positive for antithyroid antibodies means eventually you will become hypothyroid. I still had a lot to learn and it had only scratched the surface.
She seemed somewhat caring, quiet, unmotivated. I explained all my symptoms, how i was feeling ( and it showed too, as i glanced at myself in a mirror and wasn't thrilled at what i saw). She seemed unsympathetic (why did i have this feeling before this appointment? I kept saying to DH that it wouldn't turn out well and he kept reassuring me that it would), especially when i handed her the print outs from that website , she glanced at the papers & said "Generally i don't read stuff off the internet" and handed them back. I was stunned to say the least. I asked her if i needed medication for my thyroid, she said she does not treat if antibodies are high, however did give me scripts for TSH, T3, T4 and an ultrasound, then sent me out. The initial appointment lasted 20 minutes.
I was quite unimpresssed and dissappointed. I felt i had accomplished nothing, but i stuck with her because she was board-certified and one of the best endos in my area. Also i discovered her name was listed on the Top Thyroid Doctors list (from the same website i printed thyroid info from) and patients gave her very positive feedback. Sooo....my mind was made up to stay with her, after all it was only my first appointment and she never said that i didn't have a thyroid problem (like the first endo i went to in 2000) and did send me for tests.
Righ after this apointment, about a week later, i had what i would refer to as a mental collapse, i walked out on my husband because i thought he was trying to start a fight ( not true, he was only asking a simple question) , i just took off and left like a bat out of hell, he had to come after me in our car (slowly and cautiously) and somehow talked me into getting in, with much trepidation and comforting words, (remember i'm quite symptomatic and even conversing was an effort ) and i literally broke down, he reassured me that things will get better. All i could do was hope and pray.

Here are my labs ordered by the endo, taken on 5/25:

Total T4: 12.5 H (3.8-12.0)
TSH: 0.02 L (0.40-5.50)
Free T4: 2.0 H (0.8-1.8)
Total T3: 249 H (60-181)

Ok so now it looks like my TSH took huge drop within a short period of time from earlier that month, my labs now looked hyper instead of the other way. I also had the thyroid ultrasound on 6/2, which didn't show anything significant other than a slightly enlarged thyroid, no nodules, no masses, as my endo told me. On the evening of 6/3 hubby took me to the ER for severe heart palps and a resting heart rate of 120-130 BPM, i remember lying in bed after taking a valium to try and relax and my heart was pounding so hard i thought it was going to jump out of my chest, not to mention how anxious and scared i was. The dr. there ( a nicer dr than the endo) did labs, they were:

COMPLETE BLOOD COUNT

WBC: 7.4 (4.0-11.0)
RBC: 4.88 (4.10-5.60)
HGB: 14.2 (12.0-16.0)
HCT: 42.9 (36.0-47.0)
MCV: 87.9 (81.9-99.0)
MCH: 29.2 (26.0-34.0)
MCHC: 33.2 (31.0-37.0)
RDW: 12.0 (11.5-14.5)
PLTS: 265 (145-450)
MPV: 8.0 (7.4-10.4)


DIFFERENTIAL

Neutrofil % 62 (50-75)
Lymphocyte% 23 (20-40)
Monocyte% 11 H (2-10)
Eosinophil % 4 (0-8)
Basophil% 1 (0-2)
Neutrophil # 4.5 (2.0-8.2)
Lymphocyte # 1.7 (0.8-4.4)

SPECIAL STUDIES

Sed Rate, Westergren 10 (0-20)


Glucose 115 H (74-100)
Sodium 139 (136-144)
Potassium 4.1 (3.6-5.1)
Chloride 103 (99-110)
CO2 30.0 (22.0-32.0)
BUN 13 (7-20)
Calcium 9.4 (8.4-10.3)
Bilirubin, total 0.5 (0.0-1.3)
Protein, total 7.8 (6.1-7.9)
Albumin 3.9 (3.5-5.0)
ALT 43 (10-60)
AST 34 (10-42)
Alkaline Phos 74 (42-121)
Creatinine 0.8 (0.4-1.0)
Bilirubin, Direct 0.1 (0.0-0.5)


THYROID STUDIES

T4,Free 1.65 H (0.58-1.64)
TSH 0.01 L (0.34-5.60)

The kind dr gave me a diagnosis of Grave's Disease (hyperthyroid) and gave me a dose of metoprolol 50mg to slow down my heart and told me to follow up with my pcp and to have him prescribe it for me, which he did at 25mg twice a day (when i saw him the next day). My husband gave me another dose of valium when we got home and i slept well that night.

On 6/10 i called my endo and got a confirmed diagnosis of Grave's Disease, she prescribed me Tapazole at 5mg a day, which i started on 6/11. Within a week i started feeling noticeably better and my symptoms became less and less with each passing day, my heart slowed down to normal and my horrid sweating and tremors stopped. ON 6/12 i stopped the metoprolol (due to it causing ankle swelling) and i weaned off the Effexor, i felt i no longer needed it, i can't really say that it did anything at all, maybe decreased my sweating a little (?). I started living my life again.
I had another TSH & Free T4 done at my endo's request on 7/11, I also had a menstrual period from 7/22 to 7/25, normal. Now i was convinced i was on the right track.
I had my next endo appointment on 7/28 to review my results from 7/11. She didn't like what she saw and decreased my Tapazole to 2.5mg a day (started 7/29). My labs were:

TSH 0.14
Free T4 0.9

She also mentioned that i wasn't going to stay on the Tapazole for life and that she wanted to do RAI (radioactive iodine) to kill my thyroid because it was being destroyed by the antibodies, hence i will then have my thyroid removed, hence i will become hypothyroid and will need Synthroid for the rest of my life. That sounded like a plan and i was looking forward to it.
Now i have changed my opinion on this dr as i was confident that i was in the right hands.............

gtnmylifeback62,

Thank you for sharing your amazing story which demostrates yet again, the incredible struggle patients can have in getting properly diagnosed and properly treated!

This may sound like an oversimplified statement and one I've made in a number of articles but if Dr.s would go ahead and order more complete thyroid blood testing, they could save those undiagnosed patients who have somewhat elusive-to-detect thyroid disease a great deal of anguish. When patients come to Dr.s with symptoms like those you have experienced I feel TSH, T4, T3 and Thyroid Antibodies should be tested for. Too many reputable medical research studies conclude that symptoms can occur with "thyroid autoimmunity" long before TSH and thyroid hormones become abnormal, that it should become a standard to test for all of these. To rule out or diagnose thyroid disorders/diseases. If thyroid disease is detected, even if not at a treatable point a Dr. can then monitor it for that stage at which treatment should begin. Another reason for close monitoring bordeline cases is in your example of the disease first appearing to be Hashimoto's but then manifesting strongly as Graves'. Early stage thyroid disease can do this uncertain waivering in some patients, I've read their testimonies many times. This also demonstrates the importance of testing for Thyroid Stimulating Immunoglobulins (TSI) in these borderline cases as well because TPO & TG antibodies can occur in both Graves' and Hashimoto's but are usually found in lower titers with Graves'.

While you've experienced the run-around many of us have and untold numbers of thyroid disease sufferers do, it is still important in my opinion to get yet more opinions if you're uncomfortable with a treatment/proceedure suggestion.

Thanks again for relating your story, it is a great way to help educate other patients and something I always enjoy reading!

Thanks for sharing this - enjoyed reading this - I do hate to read that this has been such a long road for you.

Thank you for reading! You may find it interesting to know that is not the end of my story that i have a long way to go here, there's a ton more to follow i just haven't had the time yet to re-start (job & family circumstances). perhaps this weekend i will have time (i'm off work) Stay tuned!!

Late July 2005

By this time i feel like i'm at my peak of good health, my symptoms had stopped completely, my libido had even made a comeback (i never realized it was gone until now) I was in good hands of an expert board-certified endo who i trusted and had complete faith in. My outlook for the future was very positive. My husband (who was greatly affected by all of this as well) i had never seen happier that i was well and normal again. Life was on the upscale.


August 2005

By the start of this month i noticed things had slowly started to change. I noticed some of my symptoms had returned but i wanted to deny it, and i pretty much had got on with my life (no, i kept saying to myself, this can't be happening ) By the time my birthday rolled around, on the 5th, i felt like i was before taking the Tapazole, those horrid symptoms had made a comeback. I was sick again, but this time i noticed i was moving at a much slower pace, whereas before i remember having tremors and shakes.
Once again i was in my glass bubble.
I called my endo on the 8th , i knew i needed to have my Tapazole increased as i thought she made a huge mistake lowering it. She sounded annoyed and just said "So? so just increase the Tapazole, ok?" Whoa...her words hit me like a bullet, she sounded annoyed, was i bothering her? Did she no longer care? Don't be silly, i said to myself, she's my dr & she does care! Carry on.
I followed dr's orders and went back on the med at 5mg a day.
By the 13th i was worse off than ever with horrible symptoms:
Slow movements (i was flaccid, like a ragdoll)
Brain Fog
Heart Racing, even at rest
Anxiety, Paranoia (i had to take Valium again to get me through my day)
Mood swings
Impatience
Everything to loud, boisterous ( i had an intolenace to ANY noise, even people talking at a normal tone irritated the hell out of me)
NO sex drive (here we go again!)
Constantbody aches/pains/flu-like symptoms, no fever though. Every morning i would wake up to this and grab the bottle of pain killers, i couldn't get through my day without it.
Difficulty concentrating/focusing/remembering ( i recall almost making serious medication errors at work!)
Struggling with normal daily routines (taking a shower, using the bathroom, washing dishes, fixing a meal, oh on this one i recall trying to make a simple meal and, because frustration had set in because of my sickness, and my endo's lack of compassion, i went into a violent rage and began throwing things in the kitchen, my poor hubby ran in from the living room to restrain me just in the nick of time otherwise we wouldn't have have anything to eat or drink out of either.)
Short term memory loss ( to this day my husband would tell me certain small events that occured or statements that i said back when i was at my height of illness and i have no recollection, none at all.) I had forgotten how to do small tasks, i would remember i would be just about to do something (get dressed, get ready to take a shower, etc) & didn't know where to start, i was terribly slow in gear,and then i was faced with just normal distractions then i would become lost (ex: the phone would ring , i'd stop and answer , hang up, then sit down and try to recall what i was doing before i answered it) Oh it was a nightmare.
I called the endo again on the 15th and she told me to resume the Metoprolol 25mg a day for the racing heart. I thought about asking for an increase in the Tapazole but thought first to let the BP med take hold, maybe it's really what i needed. She also ordered a TSH and Free T4.
I really donot know how i did it but i managed to make it through an 8hr work day, i must have had nerves of steel, but what got me throught was a positive attitude ( i tried to maintain despite my depression and negative out look on life) and the fact that i wasn't dying of a terminal illness (cancer, aids, etc) and that i was surrounded by elderly residents who's health and well-being was far worse than mine. That seemed to help.
I had the labs done on the 16th, the NP at my endo's office (the endo now dismissed me and put me in the NP's hands, i still had the same dr, though) called me with the results 3 days later, to my utter amazement i was shocked to discover that i had gone the OTHER way:

TSH: 11.87 H (0.34-5.60)
Free T4: 0.47 L (0.58-1.64)

I had taken my last dose of Tapazole on 8/18 for good, the NP said to stop taking it. No sooner said than done, i thought.
I was spending a great deal of time on the internet and discussing my experiences. I learned about a disease called Hashimoto's and wondered if i had it, i couldn't miss because i had just about every symptom, but i wondered why my endo wasn't telling me? Weird. I recall back in April on one health website i was registered on, i kept emailing an endo who's office was in NYC, i explained about what i was going through and i needed answers. I got an email from one of the nurses in his office a few days later, i can't remember word for word but she said i had an autoimmune thyroid disease called Hashimoto's in which my immune system is attacking itself, hence my thyroid will be non-functional. Also that i needed to be on a drug called Armour Thyroid, which will replace what my thyroid will no longer be making. I had never heard of Armour and this was all greek to me, not to mention quite confusing. But my endo never mentioned Armour , so i guess it must not have been that popular. I soon had forgotten about it.
On the 21st (of August) i noticed i was really slipping, almost incoherant and unresponsive, walking became an effort, i was going from hot and sweating to cold and shaking over & over, my body hurt terrible, i couldn't do anything, couldn't leave my apt. my husband was an emotional wreck as he didn't know what to do, after all how many ER visits can you make? I was already feeling i had had my share already.
The 21st was a Saturday, luckily i was off work (as well as Sunday). My husband asked if i'd be ok if he went with his nephew for a couple of hours, he needed to get away from all of this (although he didn't say it i still had my wits about me enough that i can tell, it was written all over him) if only for a little while, i actually encouraged him to go, i could see this had taken it's toll on him and i didn't want to see HIM have a mental breakdown himself, but he was stronger than that, luckily. When he was gone i was on the computer chatting with a few of my gal friends about the way i felt....i kept making mistakes typing on the keyboard, i recall walking to the next room and having to hold on to the wall for fear i would be on the floor....the rooms were spinning...i was getting weaker but i fought it. One of the gals said she was worried about me and to go to the ER right away, but i didn't want to. I had a glass of wine to see if that would at least help me relax, i sat at my computer and several times had to lift my chin up because my face was going to do a nose dive on the keyboard. I knew once again i was in trouble.
My husband came home and the first thing he asked was how i felt (yes he already knew but he had run out of words), i said clearly that i needed to go to the hospital and he agreed. Now he's panic-stricken again (not good for his CAD either) but i don't know how to calm him.
We go on another dreaded trip, only to be told by a rather rude female dr that there was nothing she could do, that i would have to live with my symptoms (until the Tapazole was out of my system, how long she didn't know) and to stop whining (she never used those exact words but damn close!) I couldn't challenge her, she was dr and that's all there was to it. She then gave me a dose of Ativan and sent me and myhusband on our way.
My mind was made up that that would be my last ER visit....
Monday the 23th i called in sick from work, i didn't have the strength to do my job. I called my endo that morning and said i needed to be seen immediately, she managed to squeeze me in at 12 noon. I could remember that day was dark and cloudy, equal to how i felt. I just threw on any clothing that was within my view, not caring one bit if it was clean or dirty, i then threw on my hooded sweater because i was cold (despite the teme being 70 degrees) and i just tossed my hair around and pulled it back in a clip, never bothered to put one speck of make-up on either, for the first time in a long time i didn't care about how i looked nor did i care what others thought. When my husband and i left our apt i remember holding on to him and being very, very scared, i walked along side him with trepidation and clinged to him for dear life. I was afraid of the outside, afraid of people.
I was seen by the NP, who ordered another TSH & Free T4. She also said that i was now considered to have Hypothyroidism and that the Tapazole more than likely had caused me to relapse ( i can only imagine now if i had continued taking it and increased the dose, i don't even want to think about it , Myxedema coma maybe? Probably) She also decreased the Metoprolol to 12.5mg
I had the lab work done on the 25th, the results on the 26th:

TSH: 7.30
Free T4: 0.48
I was started on Levothyroxine (Synthroid) at 25 mcg on 8/26, Metoprolol was stopped, and more bloodwork (labs) in 4 weeks.
I was finally on the magical drug i had been praying to be on for the past several years.
I was now thinking positive and had hope for the future.

~
Sept 2005

By the 15th i was feeling remarkably better, i had since returned to work and was able to concentrate more, and my head was out of the fog, as i could think clearer. I had labs done on the 19th:

TSH: 2.2
FreeT4: 0.75

By now i was again plagued with PMS symptoms and severe cramps, so i finally got in to see the NP at my GYN's office, a urine test showed me positive for a UTI so she prescribed me Macrobid 100mg a day for 7 days. I clearly stated that my periods had become absent again, she knew it stemmed from the thyroid but prescribed me a low dose BCP called Necon (estradiol) which i started on the 25th. She stressed highly that i should call my endo and let her know that i was on a BCP, it is a known fact that if you're on Synthroid (or any of it's generics, like Levothyroxine) that your dose needs to be increased. Why i didn't know but i'd let the endo tell me that--she never did as she never returned my call after i notified her a few days later. I just figured i was ok and forgot about it.
~
October 2005

I had a period on 10/19 and felt better, i also had a flu shot and my annual PPD at work. I was back on track again with my life and had high expectations for the future. Hubby was thrilled also.
But little did i know that my life was about to make an unexpected turn for the worse...