If you are not immediately put on thyroid hormone medication, watch carefully
for symptoms of hypothyroidism, and insist on full testing as soon as any symptoms appear.
To
ease symptoms of hypothyroidism, increase your intake of vitamin D, through supplements after speaking with your doctor or through natural sources like milk or fatty fish like salmon.
Hashimoto's is an autoimmune disease that attacks and damages the thyroid gland,
causing symptoms of hypothyroidism that include weight gain, cold hands and feet, depression, fatigue, and hair loss.
Unfortunately most of the main
symptoms of hypothyroidism also coincide with common things that many new mothers experience anyways: fatigue, depression, inability to lose weight, dry skin, constipation, hair loss, intolerance to cold temperatures.
American Thyroid Association guidelines recommend considering levothyroxine therapy at thyrotropin levels of 10 mIU / L or less when there are
clear symptoms of hypothyroidism, positive thyroid autoantibodies or evidence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (hardening of the arteries) or heart failure.
Watch out for
subtle symptoms of hypothyroidism like tangled hair, sleeping more and cold intolerance in 4 - 6 weeks after switching... (It takes that one for your current medication to wash out).
Despite taking the iodine and continuing on my Lyme treatment plan, I have continued to experience some
mild symptoms of hypothyroidism (weight gain, muscle pains, dry skin, etc).
During the period of time that the thyroid is being destroyed, people with Hashimoto's may occasionally switch back and forth
between symptoms of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism.
(I had low T3 personally with normal TSH and free T4, along with
flagrant symptoms of hypothyroidism and a body temperature of 94.6 F, all corrected with thyroid hormones that included T3.)
Alternatively, if you already take a T4 preparation like Synthroid or levothyroxine but have stalled weight loss or
persistent symptoms of hypothyroidism, then adding T3 nearly always solves the problem.
It's important for everyone to know that for dogs who are very well - nourished like the majority of my patients, often the
only symptom of hypothyroidism is a very subtle change in personality or behavior.
Realize though that improving the quantitative fuction of the partially destroyed thyroid glands will take more time than clinically improving the
functional symptoms of hypothyroidism.