Well after just recently being diagnosed, I have found that I feel worse now then before.  Where do I begin?  Let's start at the beginning.  

After starting on Weight Watchers in October 2001 in hopes to lose 70 lbs, I found myself not losing anything no matter what I did.  I rejoined Ballys Fitness and went a couple of times a week, now this was more activity then I was getting before.  I changed all my eating habits and started packing healthy foods to take to work with me.  I went to see my OB/GYN in early March for a follow-up and told her that something wasn't right.  I was brushed off quickly and she said that I was suffering from winter depression and that I need to exercise more.  I insisted that something was wrong because I was feeling more and more tired and my skin was so dry, someone could have mistaken me for an alligator.  Finally, she did a blood test to check my thyroid.  Well sure enough, my TSH level was 7.4, this may not seem high to some people but the Lab's averages were .5-5.5 and most people do not feel good until their TSH is around 1 or 2.  No wonder I was so tired.

I was then put on Levoxyl 25 mcgs daily.  After a month on the meds, I started to feel worse, headaches, dizziness, excessive sleepiness, muscle aches, joint pain, mood swings, extreme PMS, depression, and let's not leave out the inability to lose weight still.  

After 2 months on the 25 mcgs of Levoxyl, I went to my GP to get my most recent set of lab work.  My TSH had dropped to 5.6, but I still felt bad.  My doctor told me I was depressed and to stop taking the medication.  At that point,  I was depressed.  I called around and made 2 appointments with endocrinologists.  One of those doctors was Dr. David Cooper at Johns Hopkins University.  I sent him an email and he rreplied.  He told me to increase my Levoxyl to 50 mcgs and scheduled me for 6 weeks later so we could do another blood work up.  During that time, I had an appointment with Dr. Neil Ravin.  He was very nice and told me to keep my appt with Dr. Cooper.  He explained my results, ordered new labs and did an antibodies test.  He handed me 2 prescriptions and told me he would call within a week and let me know which one to get filled and advised me to return in 2 months.  One week later, he called me with the results of labs, explained them once again, and told me which prescription to get filled.  That prescription was for  75 mcgs of Levoxyl.  My TSH was down to 4.94, but I also tested positive for Hashimotos Disease.  However, I still felt bad. 

I just went back on September 10, 2002 for more blood work.  I was feeling really bad during the summer.  Sleeping 12 hours a night plus naps.  I just couldn't function.  Well Dr. Ravin called again and told me that my TSH was up to 10.76 and to begin taking .88 mcgs of Levoxyl.  I feel like this is never going to end.

I'm tired of being tired all the time.  I just want to feel good again and be able to function on a daily basis.

Here are some links that may help you...I'm still trying to gain information on the subject matter so others don't have to suffer as well.

http://thyroid.about.com             http://www.msnbc.com/news/776014.asp#BODY http://www.thyroid-info.com        http://www.thyroid.org                   http://www.aace.com/                The Kelly Ripken Program at Johns Hopkins  Thyroid Manager                        http://members.tripod.com/~TDmagicmom/faq.html
http://www.drrind.com/scorecardmatrix.asp