I have this ongoing health issue since my 24th, now I am 41, female and totally burned out since the past three years because nobody seems to know how to fix or find the root cause of my health issues? Maybe someone can help me direct in this, how to approach this with my doctor and what to ask for to finally rule out the root cause and find the solution to get back feeling healthy and alive again.

I was diagnosed by an integrative doctor, call it functional medicine, in 2010 when I suddenly got a lot of health issues: slow gut transit, constipation, fatigue, hair loss and total lack of any energy, problem digesting food and collapsing. This happened after a stressful period of study and living + working abroad but mainly because of an Copper IUD which caused heavy bleeding and making my ferritin drop to 7 (15-150). GP said it was just IBS and stress, gave my iron tablets, removed the iUS, that's it. I could not absorb any iron, felt like hell in my stomach and gut and I started to look yellowish.

Functional doctor said it was my thyroid: hypothyroidism. My TSH was 1.89 ( 0.4-5.0) free T4 12.5 (11 - 21) free T3 3.6 (3.5-6.5) , all within low normal range, no antibodies, no auto immunity. Basically I always had these thyroid levels since puberty. Ferritin was also always low, but since the copper IUD extremely low. He gave me armour thyroid and told me to take it the rest of my life. Worked up to 2 grains ( 120 mg NDT) but it made my TSH drop to 0.00 and after three years I felt as if I was a girl on steroids. Yes tons of energy, ferritin never very high despite healthy appetite and nutrition, but maybe for my constitution ' fake' energy cause I was like on speed. Build my career, worked day and night, exercised and socialised, nothing was too much. But after three years I crashed, my body was in such a high cortisol state and I could not handle the thyroid meds anymore, so I had to drop it to 1 grain ( 60MG) but it caused chronic fatigue again. Meanwhile turned out I had Lyme disease, got antibiotics for that, also Epstein bar virus + CMV, so my whole immune system was off.

I decided to stop the thyroid meds after my GP said I had a perfect normal thyroid and labs and should have never been given NDT, I did a fecal transplant because my gut was a mess after all antibiotics and I managed three years still being always fatigued, not possible to pick up my speed of life as before. I went back to my GP, asked why my ferritin kept dropping to 7 again, my thyroid returned to the same values as before meds (TSH 1.8 free T4 12 free T3 3.6) no antibodies, no celiac, no helicobacter pylori, good b12 and folic acid, good vitamin D. Still always gut issues, slow transit, always full, never hungry, skinny, and not able to exercise anymore or work.

Again: no further look, gastro-ent. said I probably have a large colon and need more stool softeners and laxatives rest of my life. Nobody looked in the colon. I also had cycle problems with mastalgia ( breast lumps / tenderness) and prolactin levels high and sometimes low again. No endometriosis, no heavy cycles or bleeds, no special diet. I tried many interventions with gluten-free, dairy free, fodmap, paleo, fasting, gaps etc but symptoms stayed. All kinds of supplements until the point I can't tolerate any pill anymore and just tired thinking about this issues. My functional doctor put me on NDT again, never been able to go higher as 1 grain ( 60MG) my TSH drops to 0.03 free t4 to 11.5 free t3 to 3.9 but I can't take more cause then my adrenal start to get weak. I tend to get symptoms of low cortisol but not Addison.

So now im totally lost in this hell. I finally am forwarded for a colonoscopy after all those years and to a consultation with the gastroenterologist and endocrinologist to ask for help. How to approach this, what could be the root cause? What I want to rule out: Crohns disease because of all the constant pains in my stomach and colon, especially at night, it never stops. Chronic constipation no matter what I do and very low appetite, weight loss, reflux, low stomach acid and low motility. My ferritin is again 7 and all iron supplements or even foods high in iron make me miserable and in so much pain! this is not normal to me.

Thyroid: if my thyroid works good, I have no auto immune issues, then would this be the low ferritin that causes my t4 and t3 stay so low? When I stop taking NDT or even on NDT, im still fatigued, no appetite and constipated yet im under weight, never over weight. Very small and athletic body, never heavy. I would like to rule out central hypothyroidism and also why I won't absorb iron? What's going on? Im hyper sensitive, since childhood, quickly to faint ( low blood pressure) and often allergic reactions to supplements or medicine. But no doctor seems to be able to help me, either put me on thyroid meds that won't help, or do nothing.....

Maybe someone can give me a bit of advice what could be worth asking to rule out or test in hospital. I definitely would need iron infusions cause taking oral iron in all forms is just a hell. I never get it up. Its so painful. The slow motility and low appetite, low stomach acid, constipation seems to be related to my thyroid. But with NDT because of the T3 in it , my TSH gets to zero pretty fast and my free t4 always drops, never rises. Unless I take massive amounts, but my heart will explode. Even on thyroid meds my blood pressure is really low, heart rate is high though. But now im stuck: stopping thyroid meds make me feel awful. And this gut pain and stomach to colon issues make me so tired and exhausted. I can't get the nutrition I need, no matter what I try. Or is it all just a mental thing? I've been in therapy for 2 years but even my psychotherapist says she can't explain why im still having these health issues despite feeling mentally stable and dreaming of working, exercising, living and doing again. I'm not in menopause, my progesteron is low, lower since NDT use, but I still have a regular but extremely light cycle every 26 days. My weight is way too low, since NDT all my muscles waisted even on just 60 mg (1 grain) NDT but i'm 46 kilos being 170cm long. Normally my weight is around 50-52 kilos, when i'm in full health working out and living my normal fit life. Always fit, always fun and active person, just always weak immune system since childhood and often sick. Also these gut and iron issues. But I have learned to deal with it. Now i'm done with dealing with it cause I can't bare the pain and stress of this anymore. My intuition tells me so many years already its never been my thyroid but something else. Hopefully good tests and doctors can find out what's is wrong With me, im kind of done with the whole functional medicine approach. Costs me all my savings on supplements, tests and medicine that never actually is solving things from the root cause. Hope somebody can give me clues and advice what to do! Thanks

This seems to be a grey zone, alternative medicine believes it to be real and mainstream medicine says there isn't enough evidence.

I wanted other people's opinions who have gone through poor conversion issues and their theories. My conclusion (which is backed up by my experiences (I was going to post my story but it's too long)) is that you have to get a high T3 to reverse T3 ratio and after that point improvement in symptoms occurs which points to either reverse T3 actually blocking T3 action or otherwise I need to get my T3 to the very high end of range for it to do anything. But this depends also on whether it is actually the T3 helping me which is probable but not guaranteed as otherwise it could be the higher Iron/lower cortisol combining to improve my nervous system by themselves and improved thyroid numbers are coincidental. Looking at my numbers history my TSH has tested as high as 4.41 and I would say if I don't do any treatments for my health my TSH is chronically in the 3-4.5 range. Basically in my story/experiences, I only start benefiting or feeling any improvement in health issue symptoms when TSH goes below 2 at the highest and more like closer to 1.5. I also only start getting benefits when elevated reverse T3 lowers into the 400's (reference range 170-539) or if T3 is 5.8 or above (reference range 3.5-6.5).

If all else is in range, t4 t3 reverse t3 etc

If you’re diagnosed and medicated, does anyone feel best with a TSH of 2 over a slightly lower TSH? Still above 1ish

Title. I’m 6 days into adding 5 mcg liothyronine to my 79 mcg of tirosint. Having all sorts of hyper symptoms. Is it normal for that to happen or is this likely an indication I should drop my tirosint dose down? All I see is people adding t3 talking about how it had positive effects immediately

Hi all, week 4 of 25 mcg levothyroxine and the indigestion symptoms that started when I began taking levothyroxine are worsening. Is this normal?

I'm wondering if it is due to fact I probably have AIG ( autoimmune gastritis)

Has anyone else experienced acid reflux/ indigestion from taking levothyroxine

TIA 😊

I was misdiagnosed for 10 years and still waiting for treatment to hit but I feel confused. I felt bad and depressed for years but I thought it was "me" however I was functional, buy yeah, fatigued and losing hair etc. This year I had an onset of symptoms and everything got worse including depression. I don't know what to expect, will I feel like my past self (before onset)? Or better that those 10 years? Will I have an existential crisis? How did you handled it?

Hi. I'm a 21 year old female and I'm undiagnosed right now. I am very depressed, emotionally numb, I have no energy through the day and I just can't. I miss periods all the time, have very thin hair, i get brain fog all the time.

I was talking to my dad and asked about hypothyroidism. As soon as I asked he went 'oh. Youve definitely got it' and went on to explain that hypothyroidism runs in my family. My sister, dad, grandparent, great grandparent and so on all had it. I booked an appointment.

I've booked a gp appointment but I'm worried about being dismissed as I am an overweight woman and doctors don't tend to like those. I want to know what I should expect or if it sounds like I am thinking too much into it. I don't really feel cold, like ever. In fact I run really warm.

There's some symptoms that I don't have so I'm like errr do i really have a case here or am I just desperate to not feel this bad?

Hi guys! for reference i had RAI a year ago.

@ the end of july i got thyroid panels due to extreme fatigue. TSH came back high @ 6.57 and t4 was .85. We increased my dose from 75mg to 100mg. retested Sep 10th (about 5/6 weeks later) and my tsh is 1.15 and t4 was very slightly elevated at 1.16.

Is it likely my levo dose hadn’t reached full effect yet?

I’ve been having a lot of anxiety and a funky feeling in my chest like i wanna jump out of my own skin. i’m also tired and nauseous sometimes and a little hot flashy. rly haven’t been anxious the last year unless my thyroid was involved- and not like this since before RAI when i was super hyper. I’m having rly bad health anxiety and having the chest discomfort freaks me out rly badly. even tho i’ve had chest pain/ discomfort many times before, and i see a cardiologist yearly, and take a beta blocker daily. idk im just worried so i assume it is bc of my thyroid but just looking for comfort or others experiences i suppose

I have Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism. Despite seeing endocrinologists, working with a nutritionist, and eating well, I still experience low energy, sleepiness after meals, and never feeling satiated, even when eating large, balanced meals.

I strength train 3 times a week. Has creatine helped anyone with similar symptoms? Does it improve energy or fatigue, and how long does it take to notice effects?
I only want to buy it if it could genuinely help. Thanks!

I've been learning to treat my body less like a mystery and more like a map. I think of it in layers: my layers have systems, my systems have voices, and every voice speaks through sensation.

One of them I call Soma — my body's reporting system, "the ledger keeper, the one who remembers what the labs forget." Another is the boundary that refused dismissal; another is movement itself — the one that carried me through a physical collapse.

"Naming is not childish; it's somatic literacy."

I'm curious how others here do it: do you have your own names — or your own system — for the different signals your body sends? What does yours speak through: fatigue, pain, restlessness, something else?

I've been hypothyroid for 30 years. Started in perimenopause about 2 years ago and feel like everything is going crazy now. Was on 120 mg Armour thyroid and 5 mcg compounded T3.

I stopped the T3 about a week before my most recent lab tests and honestly I'm not even sure why we stopped it. My regular doctor who is the only one at the practice that works with natural thyroid like Armour just went out on medical leave and I feel helpless. I was on synthroid for a long time prior to the Armour (which I started about 10 years ago) and never felt good on synthroid so I don't want to go back to synthetic.

My latest lab tests show the following:

TSH at 0.05 uIU/mL (was 0.14 in July, so decreasing)

Free T3 3.6 pg/mL

Free T4 1 ng/dL

Ferritin is also low at 44

I've started having extreme insomnia where I can't fall asleep for hours even after taking high dose melatonin. I wake up about 2-3 hours later around 1-2 AM and can't fall back to sleep. I'm exhausted. I know this could be from the insomnia and also the low ferritin and to complicate matters I'm also on Estradiol patches, Testosterone injections and Progesterone. My testosterone is quite high so I've stopped the injections. I also had to recently switch estrogen patches and don't know if that's causing any issues, but my estrogen levels seem ok (just on the low normal side).

The TSH is scaring me. It was marked Urgent on my results.

I have read that the TSH will be depressed when on T3 meds like Armour, but should it be that low?? I'm trying to find a new doctor, but most take forever to get into and I'm in the middle of nowhere so most are also a good hour drive for me. I appreciate any insights anyone may have. Thank you :)

Does anyone else randomly fall a sleep? I fall a sleep watching TV or holding my cell phone.

Could this be narcolepsy or hypothyroidism? I never experienced this before.

(not sure if this is the right flair, i apologize in advance if it’s not)
i just recently went to my endocrinologist and my results came back that i’m pre-diabetic again. i’ve had this issue before and i actually managed to get my level down again.
but i forgot to take my synthroid medication for a while and everything’s gone to whack now. i knew this was going to happen and im beating myself up for it so much, so id like to know if theres ways to reversing it and lowering my level.
for context im audhd (autistic and adhd) and im a extremely picky eater (i have food aversions to all veggies besides lettuce, and only like apples, pears and peaches as fruits)

any help would be greatly appreciated 😌

If you're still healing, please comment that and state how long you've been taking Levo. Also if you're taking anything else to help like B9/B12.

Or will it take multiple increases before symptoms resolve? My TSH is 12 and Free T4 0.96.