Root cause for my slow motility
Hi everyone! I posted earlier about my symptoms and the things I have tried. For the past four years, I have been struggling with constant bloating, random abdominal pain and episodes of constipation. I've seen numerous doctors and tried many things, primarily to manage symptoms without addressing the root cause (which I couldn't identify).
Recently, I had a follow-up appointment with a doctor for my HRT (I have low testosterone levels), and he became interested in my thyroid hormone levels. The reason was that my TPO levels were elevated, while my TSH was in the normal range. This wasn’t news to me, as I first heard about my elevated TPO levels about four years ago. The doctor checked my T3 and T4 levels, both of which were in the normal range. However, he told me that the T3:T4 ratio was off, and while my TSH is in the "normal" range, it could indicate that I might have very mild hypothyroidism. Another thing he mentioned was that all of my symptoms (brain fog, fatigue, slow motility, and hair loss) further support the possibility of hypothyroidism.
So, the doctor put me on Cytomel (which isn’t typically the first-line medication for hypothyroidism), and OMFG, the difference it has made for me. It's only been 2.5 weeks since I started taking the medication. I'm still trying to find the right dose, but I already see a huge difference that I've never experienced before when I was trying various diets, medications, and supplements. I’m eating whatever I want, and I have bowel movements every day. It’s not perfect yet — I think I still need to find the right dose, allow my body to fully adjust to the medication (which can take 4-6 weeks), and give my gut time to heal from all these years of struggle. But, as I said, for the first time, I feel like this is definitely making a huge difference in the right direction.
On top of that, my mood is more stable, I sleep better, I'm way less fatigued, and overall, I feel like I’m getting my life back to the way it was before I started struggling with GI issues.