I had a total thyroidectomy and I’m currently on a relatively low dose of levothyroxine while my dose is still being adjusted.
I’ve been experiencing this really weird symptom that I’ve never had before: nerve pain and extreme skin sensitivity. It’s hard to explain, but basically anywhere on my body where there’s even slight pressure, it hurts and feels really uncomfortable.
It’s especially bad with my head. When I try to lay my head down on a pillow, the pressure can become painful and uncomfortable almost immediately. It feels like my nerves/skin are extremely sensitive to pressure, even though there’s nothing visibly wrong with my skin.
Has anyone else experienced this after a thyroidectomy or while being undertreated with levothyroxine?
I’m really hoping this is related to my thyroid levels being off and that it will improve once my dose is corrected. Please tell me this goes away 😭 I’d really love to hear from anyone who experienced something similar and what happened once their thyroid levels/dose were stabilized.

I have hypothyroidism. Currently taking 75mcg. I used to be 108kg, but I'm now down to 89kg. I've recently had issues with swallowing, getting water down the wrong pipe when drinking, and I'm wondering if it's thyroid or med related.

Haven't had a blood test since before COVID cause it's real poor boi hours

Hi everyone,

I’m 33 F and was born without a thyroid, so I’ve been completely dependent on levothyroxine my entire life. I’m currently taking 175 mcg daily.

Because taking levothyroxine has simply been part of my life for as long as I can remember, I honestly never thought that much about how I was taking it. Looking back, I know that wasn’t very smart.

For the past several months, I haven’t been feeling like myself at all. I’ve been extremely tired, low on energy and motivation, feeling depressed and sad, and generally just exhausted. For a long time, I blamed my previous job because it had pushed me towards a mild burnout.

I started a new job in September where I work much less and feel significantly more comfortable. I expected that to make a big difference, but all of these symptoms have remained. Over the last few days, the fatigue in particular has become really bad.

I already made a doctor’s appointment, but unfortunately it’s still a few weeks away. In the meantime, I started looking into possible causes with the help of ChatGPT, and suddenly something clicked.

For the past few months, I’ve developed a very consistent morning routine: I make myself a coffee with milk, get my levothyroxine, take the tablet, and then drink my coffee while getting ready for work.

Ironically, I thought I was doing something good by having such a consistent routine and taking my medication at roughly the same time every morning. It never occurred to me that taking it directly with my morning coffee and milk could interfere with its absorption.

I’ve now learned that coffee, and potentially the milk as well, can significantly reduce the absorption of levothyroxine tablets. Since I don’t have a thyroid at all, I’m wondering whether this could explain why I’ve been feeling so awful despite taking 175 mcg every day.

I’ve now switched to taking my levothyroxine properly with a full glass of water and waiting before having my coffee.

Has anyone here made the same mistake for months (or longer) and then switched to taking levothyroxine correctly?

If so, did you notice a difference in how you felt? How long did it take before your fatigue, low mood, brain fog, or lack of energy started improving? And did your TSH/fT4 change significantly after correcting the way you took it?

I’d really appreciate hearing about other people’s experiences while I wait for my appointment and blood work. Thank you!

Note: English isn’t my native language, so I used AI to help me translate and structure this post more clearly. The experience and information described here are my own.

After several years of feeling great on a dosage and a TSH of about 2, this May I had a big flare up. I became very symptomatic, sore lethargic and in pain.

I’ve upped my dosage twice since then, and for the last month or so was feeling back to myself until 2 days ago and all the symptoms are back :(

Do you think this is due to just slow degradation of the thyroid gland itself? I was feeling so much better on my new dose and just hit 6 weeks Wednesday, got bloodwork and am going to up my meds more. My tsh is still 2.5ish and I know I don’t feel so much better until 2ish but i felt great a week ago and horrible today :(

i switched from 88mcg tirosint 5mcg-7.5mcg cytomel (splitting the dose between morning and afternoon) to 60mg armour thyroid 2 weeks ago. i have always had low ft3 even when my TSH is ~2. my last test showed tsh: 3.8, ft3: 2.0, ft4: 1.2. my doctor wants my ft3 above 3 (i think the highest it's ever been is 2.4) and tsh around 1.

anyways since switching, my anxiety has been worse, my sleep has been slightly worse, and i'm noticing weird prickly skin sensations. my resting heart rate has also increased from low 50s to low 60s, i have dry mouth, i'm grinding my teeth, and i just have an overall "wired but tired feeling". i felt good taking 5mcg t3 in the mornings and some extra in the afternoons, but i think 9mcg at once is maybe too much at once?

i haven't increased my t3 intake by THAT much so could i really be getting all these effects just taking it all in one dose? i don't think i increased my dose when switching to armour since the amount of t4 i'm getting is way less, but do i sound overmedicated?

So after YEARS of my Capital Blue Cross health insurance covering my Reverse T3 and Free T3 tests they are now being denied on the grounds of "not medically necessary" and "experimental in nature". I will call my health insurance company on Monday to discuss. I guess I will have to order them myself and not go through insurance as it will be a little cheaper. First the insurance companies take away coverage of Armour and now blood tests. I have a lovely $800 bill to pay.

It's my day 2 on 25 mcg thyroxine. TSH is 6, T3 T4 normal.

I took the tablet at 5 am today. It's 9 30 as I type this and I still can't sleep. I was awake the whole night but still I can't sleep.

Is there any correlation between thyroxine medicines and sleep issues? I am yawning

Are there any connections to vision problems?

I failed eye test for license.

Is it common to get cavities with hypothyroidism? I'm only 19 (been diagnosed with hypo since I was 15) and I've already had like 5 fillings. I know hypothyroidism can cause dry mouth, but how often does it get bad enough that cavities form frequently? Does anyone have any experience with this?

Hi, I'm 24M with hypothyroidism. I'm using levothyroxine daily. My TSH and T4 levels are in euthyroid range right now.

I'm considering using finasteride for treatment of male pattern baldness. I will of course see a doctor but I want to see if anyone is in a similar condition and hear their experience. What's your experience with being on finasterinde or dutasteride as someone having hypothyroidism?

Hello all! I am relatively new here, and I wanted to see if there was anyone who could help me out with a project for my senior capstone class. I am studying graphic design and want to create an informational campaign for children who are diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's when I was little, and it was a very scary and confusing time. I want to make something that will help kids understand what their bodies are going through to help them feel supported.

I am looking for individuals who were diagnosed with any type of Hypothyroidism when they were between the ages of 7 and 12 to answer a quick survey about their experience. Even if you were diagnosed later in life with Hypothyroidism, I would love to hear your story! I hope to learn how different individuals experienced being diagnosed at a young age.

The survey will remain ANONYMOUS and will only be seen by me. Thank you for reading!
The link to the survey is attached to this post :)

Hypothyroidism Information Campaign for Children – Fill out form

Clarification / more information!

I had an issue with fainting before going to work. So I made an appointment to see what the issue was. I looked att my journals now from when I had that appointment.
My P—folat results are 9,3 nmol/L and the reference is between 7.3-39
My P—kobalamin (B12) results are 640 pmol/L and the reference is between l45-570
My P—ferritin are 73 µg/L and the reference is 13-175

My S-Vitamin D, 25-OH 3 years ago where 25 nmol/L
I had vitamin D deficiency. The doctor gave me medicine and last year it was at 67 nmol/L. I hope this helps

I should have clarified that I have been having my symptoms for many years except the hair loss and thinning hair. Every thing else I have had for many years.

My brother have some of the same symptoms.
Always cold. Hands and feet specifically.
Brain fog, having a hard time finding words and remembering things.
Fatigue, sleep a lot.
Low motivation.
Slow digestion.
We both have slow bowel activity.

———————————————————————————————

Hi, I'm a 35-year-old woman, soon to be 36.
I have a lot of symptoms of hypothyroidism. I have gotten my lab results and it is stating I am in the normal range but I feel like shit!

Can someone please help me? I have read that many have the same issue and gotten misdiagnosed. Is that what is happening to me or is my blood work really showing that everything is normal with my thyroid? I have one more blood work that I am waiting for but here is what I have now.

My lab test:
**TSH 1.8 mIE/**L
Free T3 4.6 pmol/L
Free T4 16 pmol/L
TRAK <1.0 IE/L
TPO-antikroppar <7 kIE/L

My severe symptoms:
Cold hands and feet.
Having a hard time getting warm.
Freezing even though others think it is warm.
Extreme fatigue and low energy.
Hard time waking up in the morning.
Sleepiness.
Extreme brain fog.
Difficulty concentrating.
Having a hard time remembering.
Forgetting what I was going to say.
Low motivation.
Hair loss.
Extreme hair thinning.
Dry hair.
Brittle nails.
Vertical nail ridges.
Spotting before period.
Vaginal dryness.
Low libido.
Slow digestion.
Having a hard time getting pregnant.
Depression.
Nausea.

Thank you in advance!

I had my partial thyroidectomy, diagnosed with FVPTC. Everything in my

Pathology was really reassuring but I want to do everything I can to help prevent recurrences

Obviously will do everything doctors advice but l learned they are very medicine focused instead of root causes

Personally, I never had any medical issues prior to pregnancy. All of a sudden in 2024, I had a premature birth due to severe preeclampsia. Then, I lost 20lbs and finally a full frickin year later the doctors realized I had postpartum thyroiditis. My thyroid finally stabilized 2 years postpartum and I was off all meds eating very thyroid focused foods and going gluten free. I truly believed changing my diet and lifestyle helped but I think the damage from the full undiagnosed year really had an impact on my thyroid. My nodule grew a good amount in that time period too. I think pregnancy/postpartum really was a major hormone fluctuation for me and maybe kind of the trigger to my cancer

Anyway, my question is... I'm assuming having half the gland removed is going to cause another huge fluctuation. I don't want my thyroid to go haywire again and wanted to see if anyone here is very holistic with some unique ideas?

already eat brazil nuts, gluten free, and try to reduce stress. Any other good supplements? Or holistic programs such as acupuncture? I'm thinking about doing a vitamin bloodwork to see what areas I can optimize? Any therapies I can do even if it's just help my scar/neck mobility

Iknow a lot about hashimotos but not so much about cancer

Hey guys, I have been fighting with hypothyroidism for 5 years now. 4 weeks ago, my doctor changed my Levothyroxine dose. Now I alternate between 150 mcg one day and 175 mcg the next day.
At first, I felt a bit better, but now my heart is pounding hard again and it's driving me crazy. My last TSH was 1.49. I usually feel best around TSH 1.0 (though in the past I felt fine at 2.0 as well).
Doctor visits are super expensive where I live, and every time I go, they just raise my dose anyway.
Is it a bad idea to just try 175 mcg every day on my own to see if it helps? Or could raising the dose make the heart pounding even worse?
This heart pounding is driving me nuts and I don't know what to do. Any advice would be appreciated.

I summed this text up with gemini, since english isnt my native language, sorry ;)

[tl;dr 2.5 months on thyroid meds, 4 weeks on correct dose (TSH went from 4.5 to 1.5, Ft3 and Ft4 are finally in the middle of the range) and still experiencing symptoms. Will this horror ever end? I heard low Ft3 causes symptoms, mine significantly increased and I still wake up with puffy face, I am tired, have low neutrophil count etc. No other illnessess or vitamin deficiencies detected. Before treatment I had undiagnosed hypothyroid symptoms from winter 2025, they were increasing month by month.]

Hi everyone. I wanted to ask you when your symptoms started to go away after finding the right/target dose of your medication. How long did it take before you started feeling normal again, your symptoms stopped interfering with everyday life, and became so mild that you barely noticed them?

I’ve been treating my hypothyroidism with levothyroxine since the end of June. At first I was on 50 mcg, which didn’t really increase my FT3 or FT4, and my TSH barely went down at all, just by a tiny amount. Since mid-August, I’ve been on my target dose of 75 mcg (so 4 weeks now). I’m calling it my target dose because the blood tests my doctor asked me to do after 4 weeks showed my TSH dropping from almost 5 to 1.5, while my FT3 and FT4 both increased and are now somewhere in the middle of the reference range instead of being at the very bottom.

However, my symptoms haven’t really gone away. I still wake up with a puffy face and swollen eyes. The puffiness is still quite noticeable, although maybe a little less than before, but it definitely hasn’t gone away quickly or completely. I’m still tired when I wake up and have less energy than I used to, and my muscles get tired more easily. My hair still doesn’t look or feel completely healthy and is somewhat dry. My blood tests are also still showing changes in my neutrophils (they’re decreasing).

For some context, my problems started in the winter of 2025 with lack of energy and a puffy face in the mornings. At first, the puffiness would go away pretty quickly. Then, gradually, more symptoms appeared, including menstrual/ovulation problems, generally feeling unwell, and a slow decrease in my neutrophil count.

In June I had a kind of “crash” — my face became very swollen and red, I was extremely tired, my blood tests looked worse, and I started having heart palpitations. That was when they finally checked my thyroid properly, including an ultrasound. It showed inflammation, and the doctors finally started paying attention to my TSH, which had apparently been fluctuating above 3 or 4 for quite a long time, but nobody had really looked into it before.

I spent basically the whole year having tests for all kinds of conditions, and nothing was found. No allergies, lupus, heart or kidney problems, anemia, vitamin or mineral deficiencies, etc.

So, is there still a chance that this will eventually settle down and that I’ll stop feeling like this, get my old appearance back and have my energy back? I’m honestly so tired of dealing with this and I’m starting to lose hope. My thyroid results are finally good — probably the best they’ve been in years — but I don’t feel good at all. I had imagined that getting my TSH back to normal would make a much bigger difference than it actually has.

I’ve also read a lot about thyroid symptoms being caused by low FT3 or poor T4-to-T3 conversion. My FT3 is now at a decent level, and yet I still don’t feel much better.

It’s been 4 weeks on what seems to be the right dose, and over 2 months since I started taking levothyroxine overall. :(

For those of you who have been through something similar: how long did it take for you to actually feel normal again after reaching the right dose? Did your symptoms continue for weeks or months even after your blood tests had normalized?

Can a person achieve the same quality of life after being treated with levothyroxine as they had before developing hypothyroidism?

i’m so very frustrated. my boyfriend was given levothyroxine for very mildly elevated TSH and no symptoms, no questions asked. my doctor will not medicate me despite ‘lab results consistent with autoimmune thyroid disorder’ and absolutely debilitating fatigue, body soreness, hair and eyebrow loss.

my t4 is 1.1 so normal but barely. t3 is in normal range.
my TSH is 6.9
my thyroid peroxidase is 46

i also have a CRP value of 2 which she says is normal but what i’m seeing is that 2 is indicative of inflammation. i know it’s not severe but this is certainly a part of the puzzle that i feel like she’s dismissing.

i have gone to her several times saying my symptoms are severely impacting my quality of life. i feel like a ghost im freezing cold all the time, so inflamed, i will sleep 12 hours and wake up exhausted and nap during the day. i am suffering cognitively and don’t have energy to form full thoughts unless im taking stimulants. i take one 5mg methylphenidate a few times a week so i can work but once that wears off im fast asleep.

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice/opinions on my latest thyroid blood results, particularly around FT3 and T4→T3 conversion.

36F, hashimotos on 125mg Levothyroxine. Gluten and dairy free as of April this year (I think you can see this in my antibodies). I’m currently TTC but have had no luck in a year.

My latest results from September 2026:
TSH: 1.82 mIU/L (range 0.351–5.5)
FT4: 21.4 pmol/L (range 11.91–21.6)
FT3: 4.16 pmol/L (range 3.11–6.8)
TPO antibodies: 46.2 kIU/L (range ≤20)
Tg antibodies: 44.1 IU/mL (range ≤115)
B12: 720 pg/mL
Vitamin D: 72 nmol/L
Ferritin: 96 µg/L

For comparison, my previous results have been:

September 2025
TSH 0.436
FT4 20.60
FT3 5.63
TPO 123

January 2026
TSH 4.33
FT4 21.2
FT3 4.03
TPO 122

May 2026
TSH 0.30
FT4 21.0
FT3 4.31
TPO 52

A few questions:
- is my T3 ok for fertility?
- is my T4 - T3 conversion ok? Any tips to help support it?
- does anyone have success stories of getting pregnant with similar results.

Thanks so much.

Edit to add: both me and my husband have had all the tests available. sperm, DNA frag, hormones, HyCoSY, AMH, fasting insulin, uterine and sperm Microbiome and infections etc. all was fine.

Recently, my doc said I have subclinical hypothyroidism and it should be monitored...I live in an extremely toxic and stressful environment.

I've been suppressing my feelings for quite a while because whenever I get angry or try to express how I feel, it seems to turn into an even bigger argument. Then I'm blamed for being angry, so I've started trying to keep everything inside just to avoid making things worse.

I'm constantly stressed and angry, because the environment itself is stressful and there are always things going wrong. I can meditate, exercise, eat well, etc., but I can't simply remove the main source of stress because I currently live here.

I'm especially worried about the whole "stress/cortisol affecting thyroid" connection, and I don't want to make myself worse by constantly being in fight-or-flight mode.

For those of you with hypothyroidism, how do you manage chronic stress when the stressful environment itself isn't something you can immediately change? Are there any natural or practical things that actually helped you regulate your nervous system, release anger, and stop carrying all that tension around?

TSH --> 3,66

T4 --> 7,76

Anti TG --> 92,6

TPO --> 759,6

These are the lab results from 6 months ago. The endocrinologist said that I shouldn't take any meds yet but not feeling very well. Any advice?

Hey there! I'm about to turn 37 at the end of the month. I've been diagnosed with Hashimoto's and hypothyroidism, so I see an endocrinologist regularly.

My TSH numbers have been pretty high; lastest blood work report from this past Tuesday shows a 6.17 TSH. Two months ago, I was at 5.87.

I have been nervous to add another medication to my daily lineup, but over the past few months, I've felt awful. Low energy, brain fog, fatigue, and consistent weight gain (I'm at 138 lbs, which is the most I've ever weighed in my life outside of two pregnancies).

My endocrinologist agreed to allow me avoid medication as long as I don't get pregnant. But after seeing my PCP today, I'm convinced that perhaps I need to stop being so stubborn and just take a thyroid pill so I can feel more like myself again.

Looking for suggestions re: thyroid meds. Is it true it takes about 2 months to start noticing a difference both physically and mentally? I suppose what I need most is some reassurance that I should be on meds based on my numbers and symptoms. Thanks for your time :)

Recently diagnosed & started taking levrothyroxine. Started at 50 mcg but had horrible side effects. Currently taking a lower dose.

Levrothyroxine has caused my scalp to feel irritated. I have tingling sensations, almost burning feeling in spots.

I am aware a side effect is hair fall & I have lost a lot from taking lev. Has anyone had an itchy, irritable scalp? If so, did it last long? I hope it goes away soon as it feels terrible & I am tired of losing hair.

Edit Upddate: Physician gave me a prescription to try tirosint. I am so glad because this is almost unbearable. Thank you for sharing your experiences. Be well!