[Diagnosis] Hypothyroidism

[Beej]

It takes roughly 4 half-lives to hit steady state on a medication. (I learned this working on a drug abuse hotline; cross-check with a pharmacist).
Thyroxine has a half-life of about 7 days for normal folks, and around 9-10 days in hypothyroidism. It may start at the 9-10 day level and gradually decrease to the 7 day level as you continue supplementing.
You should reach steady state some time during 28 - 40 days of supplementing.
If the dose is optimal for you, and it is causing some of the sleep problems, I would anticipate a gradual improvement.

[RebekahTN]

My research has shown that one of the ways that hypothyrodism can cause you to have sleep apnea is due to the swelling of the tongue, which can be a symptom of hypothyroidism.
Tongue swelling is one of my symptoms and I have been tested for hypothyroidism, but my labs come back within the low and high ends of the "normal range". I am trying to get scheduled with an endocrinologist who will look at symptoms (MANY more than just tongue and sleep apnea - both are listed as possible symptoms) and "optimal ranges" to figure out what is going on.

The relationship between the 2 makes sense to me, because if you tongue is larger than normal it could possibly cause your throat to become partially blocked at times during sleep when it relaxes. My pressure is set at 16, it has been almost 3 months that I have been using my machine. When they discovered sleep apnea was one of my issues, I was actually excited, thinking they had FINALLY found the answer to my sleep/tired/brain fog issues that have been going on for almost 9 years. What got me to researching the link between the 2 was after about a month when I realized that although I was sleeping better (not waking up during the night several times a night) I was still tired and had brain fog issues even with 8-10 hours of sleep a night.
So I'm hoping we get this figured out and if this is the link for me, I have hopes that when the underlying issues are corrected so the swelling in the tongue will go down, I will no longer have issues with sleep apnea.... I can hope... right???

[Beej]

Ask about being checked for thyroid auto-antibodies. You might have good blood levels, but if they can't land where they do some good, due to antibodies, your body may not work optimally.

An autoimmune condition up your family tree increases the chances that you could have one affecting your thyroid - parent or grandparents with hypo or hyperthyroidism, Cushing's or Addison disease, rheumatoid or other inflammatory arthritis, and so on.