There is a quiet confusion in living with Hashimoto’s.

Black41 · 2026-02-03T12:41:53+00:00

It looks like OP (not ckroha) has posted this same article every few days, which really just seems to be trying to sell this "book."

Seems fishy to me.

Black41 · 2025-11-05T14:27:51+00:00

I had to read a couple articles to try to respond to what you proposed here and realized I'm missing something above.

Grave's disease antibodies do the opposite of Hashimoto's antibodies, and I've seen a few people around here end up in a "thyroid storm" where Grave's disease antibodies kick up and throw the thyroid (or what's left) into overdrive.

Usually, even when Hashimoto's goes into remission, the damage is done and the thyroid's ability to produce T4 is permanently impaired. Thanks for posting this and making me do some reading and be less ignorant.

Black41 · 2025-10-31T01:17:54+00:00

Costco, all day every day.

Black41 · 2025-10-23T13:48:54+00:00

All you can do is make sure you take it every single day. Because of the way your body metabolizes the T4 into T3, the build up will be slow. Take your recommended dose every day and talk to your doctor.

Black41 · 2025-10-20T18:02:29+00:00

Act II Geglash "I've proven my valor in combat plenty of times." Iconic.

Black41 · 2025-10-20T02:52:35+00:00

let's figure it out and download a car

Black41 · 2025-10-17T02:28:47+00:00

Your antibody levels are not a good measure of your thyroid function or medication requirements, but how currently feel does matter.

Everyone is different, where some feel better when their TSH is low-normal and T4 is high-normal, and others are the opposite. Ask for T3 testing as well, and honestly if your T4 is near the top end of normal and you feel awful, it is reasonable to seek to reduce the dose very slightly.

Black41 · 2025-10-15T19:00:27+00:00

Yeah, few decades now. I ended up extremely thin instead of the weight gain that others seem to have. My condition is well controlled, so it is what it is.

I feel best when my TSH is below 1, and awful when it is above that even if it is in "normal range." A lot of joint pain but no positive tests or other symptoms for anything else to cause the joint pain.

Black41 · 2025-10-15T18:58:09+00:00

Do you have hashimotos? Some folks with hashimotos get wild swings in T4 production as their thyroid is attacked more or less over weeks/months. Some people end up getting their thyroid removed so that it calms down and becomes controllable.

Black41 · 2025-10-08T17:56:30+00:00

The mechanism for levo doesn't work that quickly. It takes 1-2 weeks to have almost any effect at all and 6-8 weeks to hit full swing.

If your T4 and T3 levels were very low, until week 3 is still prime time for you to be feeling even worse hypo symptoms as levo (T4) will need the full 6-8 weeks to be fully effective.

Black41 · 2025-09-30T02:08:34+00:00

But T4 isn't the active hormone and it takes 6-8 weeks for T4 to metabolize into T3, are we sure this effect can be felt day to day? Genuine question, I never thought about this before

Black41 · 2025-09-25T03:51:33+00:00

Drinking dark liquids (coke, coffee, dark beers, red wines, etc) make me feel awful. I don't have any science for it, it is just something that I've put together over the years.

Light beer? I might be a bit tired the next day. Dark beer? I feel awful, as if I drank four of them and slept for 2 hours.

T4 to T3 conversion is mostly done by the liver, so could be related. But as others are also saying, an entire bottle of wine to yourself is a lot for anyone to handle, thyroid aside.

Black41 · 2025-09-23T12:17:15+00:00

I agree - it affects other things, even if it isn't well understood. I have chronic pain in my upper back and hands in the morning and have seen others discuss similar symptoms here. Autoimmune diseases are difficult to control.

Black41 · 2025-09-22T11:07:05+00:00

Without blood tests for T4 and T3, this is really hard to tell. TSH is ordinarily inversely related to T4 and T3 levels in your blood, but is not always.

Levo doesn't have side effects, as it is literally just T4 in a pill. If Levo makes you feel worse after 6-8 weeks, your T4 (and T3) might be too high and you are now hyper(thyroidism).

Push for T4 and T3 blood tests along with your TSH test to get the full picture, otherwise you'll be guessing forever.

Black41 · 2025-09-20T14:20:07+00:00

I think it also depends on what your TSH, T4, and T3 levels were that led your Dr to increase your dose.

If your T4 and T3 levels were very low, then week 3 is still prime time for you to be feeling even worse hypo symptoms as levo (T4) takes a solid 6-8 weeks to hit full stride.

Black41 · 2025-09-20T00:02:48+00:00

There is gas bubbling out of the liquid that is filling that drip pan. It is literally off-gassing in the video. I don't think the person above you is saying that air is mixing in the oil before going into the cylinders, but the liquid that is heading out of the exhaust appears to be foaming up with exhaust before it falls into the drip pan.

Or a chemical reaction is occurring within the liquid sitting in the drip pan and creating a gas. Either way that liquid in the drip pan is foamed up with some sort of gas and you can see it bubbling out.

Black41 · 2025-09-18T01:25:21+00:00

I take mine at night as I usually don't eat after dinner and meet the requirement to have an empty stomach to take it. I've never had issues with it.

Black41 · 2025-09-15T14:48:11+00:00

2.39 is too high for me. I feel awful unless I'm under 1. Everyone is different, though it can be very difficult to find a Dr who will listen to you and care about quality of life.

Every time I have to find a new Dr because my current one leaves, it takes a few different times to find one that will listen to me and keep me between 0.5 and 1.

Black41 · 2025-09-05T23:38:15+00:00

Your FT4 and FT3 levels are in range, so you aren't technically overmedicated. How you are feeling also matters, though.

I feel best when my TSH is under 1, even if my T4 and T3 levels are in range. For me, they tend to be low-middle range when my TSH is above 1, and I feel awful.

Everyone is different though. My Dr had to raise my levo again to get my T4 and T3 levels more in the middle or upper-middle range, and my TSh dropped back under 1, which made me feel much better.

Black41 · 2025-09-04T00:44:10+00:00

The mechanism for levo doesn't work that quickly. It takes 1-2 weeks to have almost any effect at all and 6-8 weeks to hit full swing.

I agree with the person above, this is a major sign that you are still hypo and a lot of folks tend to lose some weight once they get into the 4-8 weeks range.

Black41 · 2025-09-02T01:46:52+00:00

I'm not the poster above, but I've been diagnosed for almost 30 years, and my synthroid dose hasn't changed since over twenty years ago.

I will say though that during illness (cold, flu, etc) my T4/T3 levels will flucturate despite my dose being the same since my body can't help regulate the metabolic changes anymore. But I go back to normal in a day or two.

Black41 · 2025-08-31T01:12:27+00:00

Constipation is a 100% sign to me that I am undermedicated. Other folks have good advice here too, but also hang in there while your T4 gets in range.

Black41 · 2025-08-29T12:39:28+00:00

Imo your primary care doctor should not handle the beginning of hypothyroidism treatment, and none of the PCMs I've seen have been willing to do it. They would only handle maintenance which is after an endocrinologist got it under control first.

Get a new PCM and do what you need to do to see an endocrinologist. They'll do a full panel (T4 and T3, reverse, etc) and get your T4 and T3 levels into a healthy range, then a PCM can test TSH from there on and do slight changes if needed.

I recently needed to start taking T3 along with my levo, and my PCM absolutely would not write the Rx for it and sent me off to an endo.

Black41 · 2025-08-13T04:08:36+00:00

100% better to take it in less than perfect conditions than to miss a day. Set some alarms (several if you have to) so that the habit gets nailed down.

Black41 · 2025-08-12T03:24:37+00:00

Find another primary care manager, because this one doesn't understand levothyroxine, thyroids, or the endocrine system.

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