Hi @catealexis
I had a lobectomy and one parathyroid removed, due to a large nodule that turned out to be Hurthle Cell Carcinoma. Since I still had one lobe, I was not immediately put on Synthroid, however as the weeks moved on I started picking up symptoms. In my opinion, it is very hard to tell what are thyroid related symptoms and what are just little events (i.e., headaches, burning mouth, unfocused, depression, weight gain, etc.). I did not feel like myself and things kept increasing. The endocrinologist prescribed Synthroid which helped with some issues but I was till experiencing issues. The doctor kept increasing the dose of Synthroid and I just kept feeling worse. I did not feel like the Endocrinologist was listening to me since she just kept telling me that the goal was to suppress my TSH to prevent cancer…..the fact that I felt terrible did not seem to be one of her concerns. I changed Endocrinologists and as soon as the dose was decreased some of the symptoms started to diminish. Unfortunately, I have been having a very hard time getting regulated on thyroid medications due to the side effects. It is hard to know if the issues are due to Hypothyroidism, a side effects of the medication, allergy, or some other issue interfering. The one thing that seems to be consistent with me, is that when I am on medication that brings my TSH down too low, I feel terrible and have a lot of symptoms. My doctor was trying to use my blood levels from before I hade surgery and try and get my numbers closer to that range. My thyroid numbers have always been in the “normal range,” (before and after surgery), however when I am in the low normal range, I feel terrible and have a lot of unwanted side effects.
Getting regulated on medication is challenging!! It is problematic that the symptoms can seem like isolated issues and you don’t always realize they are associated with your thyroid; there are soooo many variables! So yes, it CAN take awhile to start feeling yourself again (for some of us), but I think it is just something you have to be aware of, so you recognize when it might be related to thyroid and get help from your doctor. Good luck!