Hi Hazel,

I was diagnosed with under-active thyroid a little over 3 years ago. I now take a (whatever is the cheapest) thyroxine tablet once a day. I was told to take the tablet 20 minutes before breakfast to give it a chance to absorb. That's annoying, but only slightly.

The other thing is not to keep the tablets in a warm place for a long time. I took my tablets on a month long camping trip in the most sweltering summer we have had for some years (in Oz, so I mean like 40 deg C/100 deg F daily). That was before I knew they had to be kept cool, and I couldn't have anyway, because we were camping. No wonder I look back on that trip with some anguish. I wasn't too well at that stage (understatement).

But, as soon as the correct dosage was identified I have become much better. I was, as the specialist said, "REALLY SICK" by the time the thyroid condition was diagnosed. (I felt like I was dying.) Now, I'm back to normal health, but I haven't missed a day on the tablets.

I worked with another woman who consistently went without the tablets and then had a week or two on them, then back off them. I could tell when she had been off them for a couple of weeks because her brain turned to mush, like oatmeal porridge, just like mine had before I was diagnosed. (Don't ask me how I taught business and management classes at that stage. I have no idea how I got through that, and hardly any idea what I taught.)

I have been told by a natural therapist, a survivor of thyroid cancer herself, that soya products are best avoided. I had been using soy milk daily before I was diagnosed, but I can see other causes too.

Basically, the thyroid tablets are a supplement which takes my body back to normal thyroid levels. It's not a chemical but a hormone replacement, so it's not the thyroid tablet which may mix badly with other medications. But the thyroid condition may make me vulnerable to reactions to other things such as sinus tablets, although I haven't noticed any problems. I am currently on Oroxine (in Oz) and no sun related side effects so far, and I would have noticed, living here.

As for the gastric reflux/heartburn which was one of the symptoms which clued the doctor into thinking it could be thyroid related - that was significantly reduced after I started using a product called GastroCalm, produced by the same group/company which brought Tea Tree Oil to the commercial market. It has meadowsweet in it which balances the stomach acids, and it has changed my life (I mean, "Hallellujah, brothers and sisters, changed my life!!") by reducing the heartburn to a couple of episodes every few weeks rather than 24/7.

I am interested to see what other people's experiences are of under-active thyroid, because I have only met 3 other people with it, and 2 were thyroid cancer survivors, and apparently it is really quite common.

Helen