by VeggieSue » Mon May 10, 2021 4:02 am
I've been on it since 2009, even though I had symptoms for decades. I had found out my TSH was 8.something at least 15 years before that day, back when doctors only told you if your labs were "good" or "bad" and not give you the exact numbers and I was told my thyroid tests were was "good", but the doc said their practice doesn't treat hypo until the TSH hits 10, a rule the reigning doctor, his grandfather, set out back in the 1960's or so. Well, I hit the roof and insisted my then 6.something TSH get treated STAT! I had every symptom in the book since I was a kid yet wasn't treated because that's how it was done in 1960?? He agreed, said he would be the rebel and be the first in the 4-man practice (grandfather, father, him and his brother) to treat for higher than 5 TSH numbers. I started on one dose, had labs checked 6 weeks later, dose was increased, then after another blood test 6 weeks after that had it decreased. Went through that cycle for about 2 years before we hit on the current dose.
Although my TSH now stays between 2 and 2.5, I still have every single symptom I started out with. I had read in a number of places that this happens sometimes if hypoglycemia goes untreated for long periods of time. If my hunch is right, I was untreated for at least 40 years.
As for what med, most of the time I was on Synthroid. My doc said it's best to stick with the name brand because each company's generic has different fillers and the dose in the individual pill can vary based on where in the drug batch's run it came from - the dose of levothyroxine may be more or less than the stated dose. But the price of Synthroid has been fluctuating wildly in recent years, and at one point my co-pay with insurance was over $100 for a 90 day supply! It's currently back in the $35-$45 range, but for a while I was tempted to ask for the switch to generic!
At one point near the beginning I convinced him to try Armour natural thyroid, but my numbers fluctuated wildly on that so we went back to the Synthroid after just a few months.
If it helps you decide, Dr. McDougall does recommend his hypothyroid patients take the Synthroid, and said this is what he always ordered for his patients.