Re: new here can you tell me what a what if you have a TSH level of 125 means
Your high TSH means you are very much in need of hypoT medication - it can be an indication of the severity of your condition but there is no direct correlation between TSH and one's symptoms - pituitary glands that produce TSH are individuals too. The average TSH is actually more around 1 - or 2 tops. Medication will almost certainly make you feel better (there are some people that can't tolerate levothyroxine). You need to make sure your dosage is adjusted to Your needs - aiming to have your TSH around 1 or so and also keeping an eye on your actual thyroid levels FT4 and FT3 - they usually need to be at least around midrange or above it. It can take several months or longer to get your thyroid situation in balance and your weight to start to normalize etc. so you need to be patient - but usually one starts to feel some improvement in a matter of weeks.
Re: new here can you tell me what a what if you have a TSH level of 125 means
Actually, your extremely high TSH has no bearing on how hypothyroid you are. It's a pituitary hormone, not a thyroid hormone. Hypothyroidism is by definition "thyroid hormone deficiency", not "pituitary hormone excess". It's very likely that your thyroid hormones, T4 and T3, are no lower than someone whose TSH is 4 or 5. No doubt, they're very low, or you wouldn't have symptoms. But lots and lots of people with TSH much lower than yours have T4/T3 just as low. Therefore, they and you are equally hypothyroid.
Re: new here can you tell me what a what if you have a TSH level of 125 means
Thank you for your replies to my question. I really appreciate it. I have been on levothyroxine for about a month now and feel somewhat better. I started taking 150 mg about a week ago and feel much better than I did at 100mg.
I am concerned about the weight gain and seem to have reached a serious point where I'm not losing or gaining. I am about 50 pounds overweight and can't seem to lose it. I gained that 50 pounds all in the last 6-8 months. Like so many, the doctor wouldn't listen to me when I said I was eating only 1500 calories a day for those months and exercising 3 times a week. She just said I needed to "try harder." Finally I was feeling so bad with the other symptoms that I just couldn't exercise as much because my muscles ached so much.
I have been reading some other stories and see that I am not alone. That helps some.
At least the doctor finally did the tests for hypothyroidism. Since the medication, I am feeling much better, but not really normal yet. Still extremely tired and lots of pain. However the extra weight still won't budge and carrying around that extra weight at age 65 is hard on me as I've never weighed anywhere near this much in my whole life and have arthritis and slight osteoporosis. It feels like I'm lugging around a huge bag of potatoes all the time. Does that make sense to anyone? Doctor says the medication will help get rid of the weight if I continue my diet and exercise, but it just stays static.
oh well, I'll just follow the advice on this forum and keep trying I guess.
Re: new here can you tell me what a what if you have a TSH level of 125 means
Recheck your free t3 and free t4 levels in a couple weeks and see where they are at. Feeling "somewhat better" isn't optimal but you might see improvement with more time at that dose. If you don't you'll need to increase it little by little until you have relief of symptoms. Once you are optimized your metabolism should be higher and you will be able to burn off the extra weight with your diet and exercise.
Re: new here can you tell me what a what if you have a TSH level of 125 means 
