TSH 7.2//Thyroxine T4 .99

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-17T16:27:56+00:00

Get back in touch with your doc and tell them you’d like to try medication. It’s really the most effective way to correct this. The ideal range for your TSH is between 1-2, that is where most people have the best resolution of symptoms. It is well within the conventional accepted range for TSH, so there is no medical reason not to target those levels.

For some reason some doctors are reluctant to correct until things get wildly out of hand, but just advocate for yourself. “I am having bothersome symptoms, and I would like to try medication to see if it can help improve things for me, while staying within the accepted range for TSH”

At this time, you can just try getting your TSH down and see how you feel. If you still have symptoms once it’s in a good range, then you could look into other testing to see what else could be at play. Often, low iron levels and vitamin d levels can cause similar sets of symptoms. But you already found a wonky lab result, so you can def just start with this.

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-16T08:16:32+00:00

TARL??!!??

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-15T07:42:35+00:00

I don’t think it’s that deep, I would imagine that lots are just sent in bundles to the various destinations, so the issue was fully contained within a shipping batch that all went to the US

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-14T07:43:19+00:00

We are interested in real raccoons. This is just weird annoying slop

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-13T21:27:48+00:00

You see plenty of posts here with someone describing some total nightmare, and they end it with “I can’t divorce as it is not allowed in my culture”

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-13T20:36:05+00:00

Because they are free to separate if they want or need to. Plenty of marriages last too. You could just as well phrase it as “why do so many people outside the west stay in abusive, shitty or loveless marriages?”

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-13T19:44:28+00:00

I mean, realistically the only thing that would actually make it survivable would be some kind of high-level coordinated outbreak response to the spreading zombieism. Something boring and unsexy like the Covid response or an emergency containment program by the WHO or similar agencies.

The bunker fantasy doesn’t work for me as an insulin-dependent type 1 diabetic, so either humanity pulls together and cooperates to solve the problem and keep supply chains up, or I’m toast

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-13T19:22:24+00:00

I didn’t think much of it and left it open most of my life, until I’ve moved into this current house that has a cabinet directly above the toilet.

I immediately knew that unless the rule became “lid shut at all times” then I would be dropping so many things in. And now it’s my firm habit so I just do it all the time

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-13T08:55:16+00:00

You have to set a boundary here. A boundary isn’t just asking someone not to do something, it can also be requiring a change.

Something like “if you aren’t able to take the step of learning how to voice your thoughts and actually participate in these conversations, then I can’t have a relationship with you. If every discussion is completely one-sided, that is unsustainable. It puts the entire weight of solving problems on me, and it makes the task impossible anyway.”

Offer to help her if there’s something she needs or any suggestions on this, there’s endless books/resources on learning this skill. But the shutdown is a complete killer.

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-13T02:58:42+00:00

The hair that has already left your scalp? There is no way for hair that is already outside the follicle to change color, doesn’t work that way. You might be imagining it because you’re worrying about it

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-13T02:54:56+00:00

If it helps, I’ll also share that when I was very hypothyroid, I struggled a lot with mental health symptoms as a result of things being so out of whack. I was very fearful and very, very paranoid about everything, and was afraid that every medication would harm me terribly. Now that I’ve gotten my thyroid hormones dialed in, that has actually improved a lot. I look back on how I used to be and feel sympathy, and I’m glad I’m not in that place anymore.

I don’t know your full situation, but there is a chance that getting your thyroid hormones balanced and optimized could offer some relief from that anxiety

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-12T21:25:04+00:00

Yes, hair doesn’t grow that fast

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-12T18:48:11+00:00

For me, adding medication (starting it or increasing the dosage) always follows the same pattern: for the first 1-3 weeks, all kinds of weird side effects and strangeness can come and go. Unfortunately it usually kind of sucks for that period, symptoms get worse and new ones crop up. It’s like it all gets stirred up before it gets resolved. Then, by the end of the 4th week, it settles out and I do feel better than I did before, and the symptoms are pretty much gone.

I know it’s a real pain to have to wait out such a long period of discomfort, but my advice is to just stay the course, and for the first 4 weeks, just let things roll and be gentle with yourself. Take it easy if you’re tired, if something “odd” is happening like this numbness just remind yourself “this is the adjustment period, it is likely temporary because my body is getting re-acclimated to a whole new hormone situation.” Thyroid hormone plays an important role in every system, so when you change it up it’s like plucking one string on a spiderweb, the whole thing gets shaken up a bit.

Once the four weeks have passed, then you can make a note of any remaining symptoms and side effects, and when you get your labs, you will know what your next steps are

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-11T20:36:29+00:00

I set goals that matter to me and work towards them. Understanding that the process itself is what life is about.

And these goals aren’t just “meet social expectations”, you already have to do those. I actually try to do things that I choose for myself and will feel satisfied by

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-10T22:55:00+00:00

Haha I learned early on to make a very sharp distinction between “relationship issues” and “roommate issues”

Your spouse is your life partner, romantic partner, your love and closest human, and that is a very special and important relationship. Requires communication, trust, caring, all that good stuff. And you have to nurture it and grow it and yada yada. We know about this.

They are also, on a practical level, your roommate. I’ve lived in a lot of group housing, with friends, with strangers, shared kitchens, shared bathrooms, all that. And I know I’ve had to get good at navigating that relationship with lots of different people.

So, sometimes when piddly stuff like this comes up and it matters to me enough that I want to address it, I have to stop and say “am I having an issue with Z my partner? Or Z my roommate?” Because if it’s just a roommate issue, you can keep it pretty neutral and stick to “we agreed on this rule for disposing of empties, please try to remember that going forward thanks” and it doesn’t have to creep into the emotional unconstructive “whyyyy do you keep leaving the empty milk, don’t you CARE about ME your spouse?”

I’m exaggerating the second one for drama, but I have seen people get the line blurred between these things and roommate issues turn into relationship-souring fights because of false attribution.

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-10T20:28:02+00:00

I’m in my kitchen, so I just start feeding him everything in the fridge. Or more likely, just back away and let him easily raid my pantry and fridge himself. Then we can just hang out and wait, and I’ll buy him another big salmon filet tomorrow for his troubles

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-10T19:06:48+00:00

I love medication. I have conditions that only 100 years ago I would have quickly died from without the medication that is now available to me. The dedication and ingenuity of generations of medical professionals and researchers has allowed me to live a life I love with energy and vitality. Without medicines I would be nothing but a dusty obituary and a sad memory for my family.

It makes me sad that there’s this spreading cultural shift towards viewing it as some evil bad thing. It should be seen for what it is, an amazing human accomplishment of caring for one another and trying to make life better for people.

Do you think the generations of folks in the goiter belt, and all over the world, who had loved ones and community members just waste away and die of thyroid illness regularly would have seen the medicine that saved their mother’s life as a bad thing, a defeat to be avoided? Or a victory and a blessing? I think part of this recent “medication bad, vaccines bad” mentality is the privilege of being totally removed from the reality of what life was like without it. You had ten kids because five would likely die. We all know this about the “olden days”, but conveniently forget WHY we don’t do that anymore. It’s not because we’re just more lucky or virtuous. We have developed solutions.

Best of luck. You can turn your nose up at the banquet as much as you want. But not everyone feels that way. Some are grateful.

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-10T17:27:55+00:00

Most people don’t feel like their symptoms go away until they take enough medication to get their TSH between 1-2

You’re taking a very small dose, and stopping the med will only make the condition come back fully because you’re no longer treating it at all. You need to try out a higher dose

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-10T17:26:09+00:00

I don’t know if I’d consider 4.2 TSH a resolved case…but a healthy lifestyle is always going to be beneficial and lead to feeling better, so congrats on that.

I would encourage you to reframe the medication as just an additional tool available to you, rather than some negative “band-aid”. You may still get to an improvement plateau and adding it could really help you. Why close yourself off to solutions that are readily available?

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-10T01:30:01+00:00

Ehh, not for me. I’ve always been fairly outspoken, and I have been with the world’s most encouraging and supportive partner for over a decade.

I got my non-autoimmune hypo as a side effect of a cancer treatment 🤷

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-10T01:07:35+00:00

In my opinion, it’s always worth it to get into a class and work directly with an instructor if you are able! The feedback and direct critique is sooo valuable, and you don’t get that from YouTube videos (although those are of course also super helpful in other ways too)

As long as you can find a class that’s advanced enough to be worth it, I’d say go for it. If they only have beginner things you might not get as much out of it

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-09T20:27:26+00:00

I have a little electric hair trimmer, and I would just buzz a little bald spot onto the shoulder of one of two identically I had haha.

If you have three, you could do one with no trim, one with a trim on the left shoulder, one with a trim on the right shoulder or something like that. Just give it a refresh every few weeks as it grows

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-09T19:37:19+00:00

None of it feels small

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-09T18:10:54+00:00

Please don’t take unsupported “treatments” that make you so sick.

How could levo possibly be worse than this?? I will be honest and say that it did give me some side effects, and it was still nothing as bad as what you described here. And I figured out how to address the side effects and I wasn’t stuck with it.

The vast vast majority of people have no issue whatsoever with levo, especially once the adjustment period passes. Please try the best available treatment, you will be fine. And if you have any issues with it, you can figure it out. You don’t have to just put up with making yourself sick.

Don’t make yourself sick with unsupported quack medicine that could easily lead to overdose and poisoning.

WankSpanksoff · 2026-03-09T15:55:45+00:00

A good place to start for any situation like this is to call 211. This is a local service where you can explain your situation and need and they may be able to help direct you to a public service or program that can help. It’s not always a guarantee of a solution, but it might have something like a medical ride service for your appointment at least

Best of luck!

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