Lost-Weight-And-Found-Myself-On-Correct-Thyroid-Med
Laura Jean Patino (Laura Grace),
Thyroid Thrivers
Thyroid Nation

33 years young
Illinois, USA
Thyroid Disease, Hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism 1991, Hashimoto’s 2013

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism when I was only 10 years old. I gained a little bit of weight and I was always tired. I would fall asleep after school and I would have no problem going back to sleep around 9 pm. That led to me being tested for hypothyroidism by my gynecologist.

I was started on Synthroid thyroid medication right away. Unbelievably, I still didn’t feel right. I stopped taking my Synthroid a few years later because, it just wasnt helping with any of my symptoms. To be honest, I never really understood what the thyroid was, what was happening to me, or why I felt so tired all the time. Especially, because my friends didn’t seem to have any my same issues. Believe it or not, I felt the same with or without my thyroid medication. So, why take it?

When I turned 21, I started taking Levothyroxine. 60 pounds was how much I gained, unfortunateky, while taking it. Fatigue never eluded me and I still didn’t feel right or like myself, on thyroid medication. But, I was starting to understand how the thyroid worked a little bit more, thankfully. I knew I had to take it but I didn’t like the way it made me feel. It definitely wasn’t helping to make me, feel like me.

When I turned 25, I decided to stop taking my thyroid medication again. Losing the weight that I had gained from taking it, I was much happier. Working a lot of hours was how I explained my extreme fatigue I felt, and not my underactive thyroid. Are you supposed to feel better off the medication you need? I did.

One day at work, when I was 29, I started to black out. Immediately, my boss called the ambulance and when I got to the ER, my TSH was 70. Obviously, they wouldnt let me leave until my TSH came down, so they gave me another prescription for my thyroid. Levothyroxine. Who’d have thought? Four days later, thankfully, I was on my way and out of the hospital. The bad thing was, I was still having blackouts.

I was exhausted. I was tired of my thyroid, gaining weight and blacking out, so, I started to do my own research. I realized that there are more medications out there then just Synthroid and Levothyroxine. When I was doing my research, I realized that Synthroid and Levothyroxine have Acacia in it. Acacia is tree gum that holds the pill together. I am allergic to trees and pollen so I’m not sure why my thyroid doctors were giving me a pill that had an ingredient in it that I was allergic to. I couldn’t breathe while taking it. I was really puffy. I felt like I was being poisoned. I lost all color in my face.

Finally, working with my pharmacist, we decided what thyroid medication I wanted to try. Nature-throid was my next stop. I talked to my doctor about it and he had no problem prescribing it to me. Why hadn’t we tried it before? He said that he didn’t realize that Levothyroxine and Synthroid had Acacia in it. Of course, he didn’t want to give me a pill that would make me worse or that I was allergic to.

Starting off on 65 mg of Nature-throid, I started to feel so much better.  Now, I’m taking 162.5 mg. It took me 8 months to get to that point. The first symptom that went away was constipation. The next symptom to vanish was my rage. I lost 15 pounds without doing anything or any exercise, when I switched to Nature-throid. My color returned and I’m less puffy. Actually, when I started taking it, my hair was falling out but, I was feeling like a person again, so I decided to stick with it. 7 months after I started taking Nature-throid, my hair stopped falling out. Whew! I’m glad that was only a temporary side effect.

It really is all trial and error with thyroid disease. My advice to all of the Thrivers out there is, if one thing doesn’t work, then try something else. There are so many thyroid medications out there. Not to mention there are thyroid-friendly doctors who are willing to help. Don’t ever let a doctor intimidate or bully you. They work for you. If you know something isn’t right with your body, then it isn’t. I have an amazing endocrinologist that works with me and understands thyroid disease. She works with me and not against me. She runs all the right tests that I need. She also talks to me and not at me. I cant’t believe I went all those years of being sick because I didn’t know there where different types of thyroid medications out there.

One year later on Nature-throid turned me into a different person. Back into me. You can find your way, too!

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