How long did it take to get your Thyroid levels 'good'?
 

Hey all,
I was found to be hypothyroid last June, my TSH was 14.2, and a few months later, confirmed to have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. My levels are still not even close to ok, lowest I've tested is 9.1 - but the test directly before that was 15.1, so who knows.

My question is this - how long did it take to get your thyroid levels into a functional range? (I'm taking Armour, dose was just upped again to 120mcg, they will only up my dose every 6-8 weeks, with bloodwork.)

Other than going gluten free, which I have, and that is why my TSH is down so much, and only eating my kale and broccoli when cooked; what did you do that helped?

Info:
I also have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. Currently, I am not functional enough to work out, between pain and fatigue.
I'm not eating 'low' carb, but not eating anything like SAD, either. Mostly good, local, organic food, made into meals by me.

It is unusual to see a genuine question thread go a month without a single reply. Disappointing.

It took a quite a few rounds of medication increases to get my TSH levels normal.
Besides going low carb, I'm grain free, mostly dairy free and avoid powdered sweeteners. And I take 500mg of magnesium daily. All greatly improve the fibro symptoms.
I'm playing with the idea of trying the AIP diet to lessen the lingering fibro symptoms I have.

Have you read on the Stop the Thyroid Madness site? There's some information about Fibromyalgia on there too.

I hope you start feeling better soon. I'm happy every time I see someone who has managed to get on Armour though.

Thank you ladies.

Livinright - I know it takes a while, I just get frustrated to still be fighting the uphill battle a year later. I'll check out magnesium again, too.

LorelaiS - Yes! That website is really, really helpful!

I usually see new threads when they're posted, but I didn't see yours for some reason. Sorry!

With Hashi's your thyroid levels can rise and fall dramatically. And it does take 6+ weeks for the new dose to stabilize. How big of an increase are you getting each time?

My increases are 1/2 grain (30mcg) at a time, 6-8 weeks apart. I just read last night that the largest available dose for Armour is 5 grains (300mcg) and that made me realize that it could be another year before before we dial it in.

(I just had new labs done, waiting for my Doc to call me with results for new TSH levels and med increase.)

Yeah, but I don't think many people take 5 grains of Armour. Wow... that's massive. I was on 1.5 and it was all I could tolerate. In fact, it soon became too much. I just can't seem to tolerate much T3 at all.

Wow, the T3 made a world of difference for me. Levothyroxin gave me the oddest side effects and my TSH wasn't really responding. The T3 + going GF are the only things to help so far.

Yeah, I *feel* those Hashi swings and it is weird. I could probably tell you when I get a big release of T4 from the destruction, because my symptoms flip flop.

I'm on 4.5 grains of Armour and I haven't felt this good in a very long time. I think it's the T3 three that my body needs the most. I do wonder if I have the immune type because for about 3 days, out of no where, I felt a bit over medicated. Then I was fine. Just wondering if our bodies needs change and swing at times. Anyway, I started noticing a difference at around 2 grains, but didn't feel great until I got to4.5 grains.

Figured it would be good to update here. My last round of tests came back and my levels are in normal/good range for the first time since my diagnosis.

For me it wasn't just getting my thyroid meds dialed in. I was taking a mega dose of D3 every week and my endo saw that the better my TSH was getting, the higher my blood sugar was climbing. So she put me on farxiga and glumetza for my blood sugar, which is helping me sleep (weird!) and now my other levels are all starting to come back good.

I don't think we are perfectly dialed in just yet, but getting me here - to the ballpark - took just under a year and a half. So if you're reading this 6 months in and frustrated, it will get there!

Awesome! Thanks for the update.

Glad to hear you are feeling better. What dosage of Armour are you taking?

That is good news! I'm struggling with my doc about my TSH levels. I feel good but the TSH was so low that he is concerned and wants to drop my dosage. The other problem is that now my insurance will not cover Armour Thyroid and the prescription has gone from $20 to $133! Dam!

Unfortunately my symptoms aren't gone yet. We're still working that part out. My current dosage is 120mcg armour + 50 levothyroxin.