Gary, I was feeling really crapy when at a TSH of 18. If John could still stand up at 50 then he must be superman. The synthroid (or generic) is really without significant side effects. Cold hands, tired, mentally slow, forgetful especially of names and phone numbers, easily out of breath were all of the major symptoms I had. There seems to be a lot of argument about the differences between brands of synthetic hormones. Apparently some people feel better with one brand over another.

It is not uncommon for the numbers to jump around and be hard to get the dosage right. Incidently the dose is in Mcg not Mg that is microgram not milligram. Usually 25Mcg or 50Mcg is a starting point. I am at 135Mcg. now but it keeps going up. The big gripe I have is how slowly the doctor will proceed with changing doses. I felt lousy for quite a while as they tried increasing the dose, then wait 6 weeks for the next test, several times.

There are two common Thyroid hormones T3 and T4. T3 is usually what is tested unless you ask for more.
T3 is Low at 2.2 High at 5.0
T4 is Low at 0.7 High at 1.7

You will feel better if you can keep this normal (hopefully you have a record of what your personal normal is)

I did not have any weight change that I could blame on my thyroid.

Take care