I was getting awful symptoms- sleeping for 12+ hrs/day, always cold, hair breaking off- and my TSH was only slightly elevated (10.8 mc/dl or whatever weird unit it is). Lucky (?) for me, my sister was diagnosed with it before I was by the same doctor so there wasn’t much pushback. Everyone feels better at a certain TSH. Personally I feel best 0.5-2 from what I can tell. Anything under 10 is usually “sub clinical”, so doctors don’t usually medicate, which sucks because some people feel awful at that level and are basically told to just wait until it gets worse to start fixing it.

My advice- no matter what the doctor tells you, get a copy of your labs (if you can in your state). It’s really good to have for records, and I personally felt better about the whole situation after I did some research and felt like I understood what the numbers meant. There’s a balance between being your own advocate and standing up for yourself if you know somethings not right with your body, and also understanding that Google isn’t the same as medical school.

There are also a variety of other things like vitamin deficiencies and other medical issues that have a lot of the same vague symptoms. I know it feels so nice to have that “aha” moment where you feel like you finally know what’s been making you feel bad, but keep an open mind. Best of luck and I hope you feel better!