I was born without a thyroid gland so I can't compare the way I f...

You sound just like me word for word. I have been this way for about six years now. I am on welbutrin xl 300 mg for depression. I have to say it's the best med I have had for the depression. I am due to take synthroid in2 weeks. I just started taking my friends to help me out. I am 235 pds I do hope not to gain weight. Good luck

Hi I am 35 and I have a non functioning thyroid, when I was 11 or 12 I was diagnosed with hyper-active thyroid and told that I would be 4'6" forever and probably weigh 80 to 90 pounds for the duraion of my life...

This was a lie. I started getting depressed at 13 and by the time I started menstruating I was in a full blown depression,and I was GROWING. taller and rounder... nobody thought anything was wrong until I was getting a physical for track at the age of 15. They found a goiter... which for me means an enlarged thyroid, for some people they can be HUGE, anyway after testing for another 6 months... my thyroid was found to be hypo-active... dead or almost dead... It is dead now.. I take 175mcg per day an for a little while I took 300mcg daily... I am also not satisfied with my doctor who is one of the "Best" specialists here in Michigan. He is also the same one who told me I was going to be tiny.

I have depression for a multitude of reasons, but I NEVER have energy to well, anything that I want to do.... My brain says lets do this and my other brain and body say....nahhhh lets go lay down.....

I am trying to research some foods and minerals that can help with these things... but I take meds that can be interfered with by these health food things.... I think and I probably will get in trouble here, but I think that the endocrin websites are not that helpful if you have "NORMAL" results like you and I do. I have never ever felt normal... or what I want to be normal. I just really want to be able to go-go-go and I can't...

So I am just comiserating with you... not much help.....

Do check with herbal treatment centersor research on your own... there are certain foods that discourage thyroid function like corn and cabbage....
I hope this helps a slight bit

lerm

Hi there, I too was born without a thyroid my dosage was just increased to 225 from 175. My tsh and t4 is always up and down they have been my entire life. I understand the symptoms you are feeling trust me I completley understand! I get into some real "funks" sometimes to the point its hard to get out of bed. I work full time at a great job and have some incredible friends so overall my life is pretty good. It wasn't untill 7 years ago(Im now 29) I had to have heart surgery (un-related to the thyroid) After that my mother grew ill and passed away then my fiance passed. I grew very depressed my doctor gave me some anti depressants and I felt great. My father passed away last year and of course sent me through another bout of depression. I just started to take effexor anti depressant and again I feel great. Besides my personal struggles I have always dealt with some type of depression. Finally after all the go rounds with doctors my new doctor finally explained that one of the biggest complaints with hypothyroidism patients is depression. So she gave me the effexor and I feel great. I actually want to get out of bed and live life. As for the aches and pains, I know how you feel with that as well. I cant believe that your doctor has not adjusted your strength, at one time my dose was way to low and I barely could get across a grocery store without my legs cramping and being completley winded. I highly suggest trying a anti depressant and getting your doctor to adjust your dosage.

Thats just like me, I am 18 and almost finished with my senior year in highschool, i have gone all my life with no problems whatssoever involving my thyroid, or lack of. Starting last year, i ahve had intense mood swings, im always sore and fatigued, have touble breathing and feel lightchested and tight chested. Like my heart is beating irregularly. Im always tired and sleep 8 to 10 hours a night, but no matter how much sleep i get i feel like i always need more.Also i have ALWAYS been a good student, getting all my work done on time and receiving good grades, but all of a sudden my concentration is way down and i dont feel like doing anything. Alot of people say its because i am a senior, but its not like that. I just cant muster up the energy to do anything about it. We also just upped my med. level, I take levithroxin. And it is not helping what so ever.

Hi, I read your post and think it is so remarkable that you survived so many years without a thyroid gland, even though you take the synthetic hormones. I do know one thing, becoming a vegetarian will help you tremendously. It seems to me that you are probably extremely hypoglycemic. In other words, your blood sugar drops way below fasting level, and thus you experience the tiredness and depression. Eating lots and lots of avacados, tomatoes, lettuce, bananas, apples, oranges, etc. and different types of breads, whole grains, flax seed, and goats cheese. No milk, and stay away from nuts and soya as these foods work against the thyroid gland. You need to take in lots of calories, but very little or no protein..esp. animal protein and nuts! It works for me as I am hypothyroid myself and after eating like this I feel better and have more energy. Good luck. I hope you get this post!

Hi my name is Angela. I was born without a thyroid as well... I think you've basically just described my life!!! Some things I've tried: I don't know if you drink caffeine or not but I know NOT drinking it tends to help with the mood swings for me plus it depletes calcium which with not having a thyroid you need as much calcium as you can get! So i'd suggest taking a calcium supplement. I've been dealing with the depression thing as soon as I hit puberty and in a way I think it might have something to do with that. I've been told everything should regulate by the time I'm 25 and I don't know for sure if that's your case but if you think it might be just hold on a little longer because that's really what I'm hoping for as well! I do take birth control and I'll tell you that's helped A LOT!!! Also I've taken Omega Twin ( a supplement found at most health food stores) before which helps with that as well. Omega 3 is something found in most foods but I haven't found even if I eat those foods that I'm as happy as when I take that supplement. Make sure to take a multi-vitamin everyday as well. I know it sounds like it's a lot of stuff to take but I've noticed everyone has their own life altering changes that they've made just to see if it helps and of course everyone is different. I know that when I run I'm tight chested as well but I've always considered that to be mild asthma but never been diagnosed so it very well could be due to lack of thyroid. I so far haven't figured out the serious lack of concentration or why I've got no energy so I'm lost there. And my doctor has had me up and down on synthroid dosages. I'm taking two as of now and for the past year and a half. I don't know if you go to an endocrinologist but I'm starting to think that might be the best route instead of a family practice. I know you don't want to get on too high of a dose because it can and most likely will cause heart problems!!!
Good Luck! I don't know if I'm much help but it's worth a try

I think you might find the following very interesting - - hopefully it brings you the answers (and energy) you are looking for. I found the following on the internet @ http://www.altsupportthyroid.org/tsh/tshrefs3.php

" . . . 2. Mary J. Shomon, author of Living Well With Autoimmune Disease (2002) and Living Well With Hypothyroidism (2000), and About.com Guide to Thyroid Disease: "HELP! My TSH Is 'Normal' But I Think I'm Hypothyroid"

In my own experience, I feel downright awful at anything above 4, and I feel great between 1 and 2, which is where my endocrinologist keeps my TSH. But some doctors would have no problem keeping me between a TSH of 4 and 5.5, still in the "normal" range, despite the fact that I still have the full range of hypothyroid symptoms &8212; fatigue, weight gain, irregular menstrual periods, dry skin, hair falling out &8212; at those levels."

The reason I found this so interesting (and thought you would too) is because I feel like crap when my TSH level is 2.77, which is considered way within normal limits (as far as most doctors are concerned) and even though my lab report also said:

"Hypersensitive TSH Exhibits performance consistent with the definition of third generation TSH.”

I think this means that further testing is needed to be done, but absolutely nothing was done. So, I am going to try to find a doctor (good luck to me) who is willing to get and keep my TSH levels between 1 and 2. Maybe even closer to 1 because I know 2.77 is not working for me at all. So, in other words, maybe this is what you are experiencing too with so-called "NORMAL" thyroid results. Good luck to you too getting the treatment you need, which might mean finding a different doctor.

I know how you feel! I was born with out a thyroid and when I hit middle school I became very depressed and it was very hard for me to lose weight. It went on for along time until my mother and I decided to see if there was anything I could be doing instead of just taking Synthroid. I found a DR. in California on the internet. I never did actually see her because i'm from Wisconsin, but I would get tested for different deficiency in my body and then I would talk to her over the phone . Any way, she started getting me on a whole bunch of supplements like iron, very strong vitamin c, fish oil, a multi vitamin. all together it was about 12 different things. it was costing us about $200 a month to get everything, but I was feeling great. After I moved on my own I couldn't afford all of it so I went back to Synthroid. and all my old symptoms have came back.

Thank you everyone. My daughter has been dealing with thyroid issues since she was 16. She just never feels right and the doctor always dismisses her symptoms as unrelated to her thyroid or the levithroxin (sp). Needless to say she has gained a ton of weight, she is either cold or her skin is burning hot, her hair is dry and she is always tired but can't seem to sleep enough. Now she is throwing up after bigger meals so we are trying several small meals a day. We can't find another endocrine doctor as they aren't taking on any new hypo patients. I guess they don't want to deal with "complainers". Hopefully your tips will help us get her back on track. Good luck to everyone!

Anyone on Synthroid notice a lack of appetite or feeling 'full' only a few bites into the meal? The above comment about getting ill after bigger meals reminded me that I often feel sick to my stomach from eating a considerably small portion.

YO! :) Hi there, my name is Neelie and I'm 16. I was born without a thyroid altogether! You all must know it’s some what hard to explain what it’s like to have thyroid issues to others, but no matter what I’m not going to see it as a sickness! Although I understand completely that it does in fact help to have people to talk to and to joke about my silly symptoms. Personally, if I had a choice I probably wouldn’t turn back the clock to change it, because it’s all I’ve ever known. About the depression, it’s another one of those symptoms that you can’t bring yourself to understand at all. And I think you have a point when you said doctors should just admit people with thyroid disorders are more known to get increasingly depressed. I think it started at puberty as well (but you see during that time, I also had a tough move from my home state of Texas, to a smaller area in Colorado, extremely different from Austin)! I sometimes find myself saddened by the strangest things.

What I’m especially interested in is what happens when any of you guys don’t take your medicine? For me, after about a week or so I get weird and sometimes scary symptoms. I’m extremely cold and I can’t get myself warmed up no matter how hard I try, I begin to shake (but not from being cold), I obviously can’t concentrate, and I cry out of the blue! There are a few more, but because I haven’t had one in so long I’ve forgotten. I remember once in 7th grade it hit me, my English teacher wouldn’t let me go to the nurse until I finished a poem. I just sat there having a strange crying fit while everyone stared at me, it wasn’t until about 10 minutes later she finally realized I needed to get out of there. What about you guys?

Thanks for all of you stories and advice it's nice to know your not the only one :D

Much love,

Neelie S.

P.s. I haven't found any information about heritages? Do any specific ones get it more? I myself am Irish on my fathers side, but because my mother is adopted I don't know what she is?

Neelie,

Why would you stop taking your medicine??? Of course bad things start happening when you stop, because you effectively stop your metabolism. Eventually (after weeks, possibly months) you'd slip into a coma...not fun! On the rare days I missed a dose I'd start to feel lightheaded (spacey) around the late afternoon. I really never let it go past one missed dose, though. If you've got no thyroid you NEED to take your meds. It sucks that it's for the rest of your life but at least it's a tiny little pill.

My lack of thyroid wasn't inherited. I'm a mutant, hahaha. I'm of Eastern European descent (Polish) and am light-skinned, light-haired, with green eyes. That being said, people of any background can experience thyroid disorders, as well as the gamut of birth defects. The main concern here would be that women of my genetic background (or similar) tend to be more prone to osteoperosis, and Synthroid tends to exacerbate that problem (leeching the calcium from the bones). Whatever your background, you should get lots of calcium and do weight-bearing exercise if you're on Synthroid. Hope this helps.

i stated on synthroid recently and my periods were all messed up after having ben regular all my life and stated having other symptoms u describe as well the heart stuff and depression etc.i figured out after $1000 of tests that my hormones r messed up even tho the tests come bac normal.but i no my body.there is a great integrative doc and a great nutritionist in my area wholl help me.im in indiana.c if u can find one in your area or a endocrinologist wholl try natural stuff like hormone creams and such.good luck.connie

i was born without a thyroid too! wow, so cool to know there are others out there like me LOL. i was the only one of anyone i know who was born w/o a thyroid... my levels have always been so screwed up and wavy and up and down... felt depressed alot, tired CONSTANTLY, hungry all the time, and round. and i hate it! i have never known the feeling of having a non-rounded face. but wow the advice floating around here is amazing. :) thank you all for sharing your stories and ideas. :)

I am a mother of a son that is almost 18yrs old and he was also born without a thyroid gland. I have never met anyone else that was born without one. Unfortunately my son was born 2-3 mos premature and is a special needs child with alot of other health problems. I seen where someone wrote that you have to have plenty of calcium.I did not know that. The doctors never told me that. Well just 3yrs ago my son was diagnosed with cerebal palsy, scoliosis and austeoporosis. It blew me away because his bones werent absorbing enough calcium and I didnt know that his body needed alot more calcium then what he was getting. Its interesting reading about different side effects because my son cant tell me because he has the IQ of a kindergardener.Now iwonder if he was having alot of the same side effects as all of you but was getting diagnosed with something else.I found more things about my son then any DR. could ever tell me about my son.If anybody has a child similar to mine please post a reply.thank all of you for sharing your stories. Barb

I have a 15 year old daughter who has been on 50mcg of synthroid for the past 2 years. I noticed when she started taking the synthroid she stopped growing. She is 4ft 11 inches and 152 lbs. I am very concerned for her. Does anyone know if the synthroid has stunted her growth? When she had her braces on they took an xray of her hand and said she would be aprox 5ft 3in. We are considering taking her off of the synthroid. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Julie

I have no thyroid either. I had to have mine removed Jan. 08. I take an awesome product along with my synthorid that has made a world of difference. I would be more than happy to share. Email me at mistez23@yahoo.com if you would like more information. I know how it feels to feel like crap and depressed like and no one has an answer. I can help you! My name is Misty and I live in Georgia. Let me know if you want my help. God Bless!

Finally a group of people that have NO thyroid at all. This at a time when we have no ability to get the medication we desperately need. I just can't go back on synthroid/cytomel and I'm scared silly.I've fought uncaring endocrinologists for many years - now I'm "ok" on armour and can't get for who knows how long, and of course Dr says that's the only option!!!