Hi Robin,
Sounds like you were pretty hypothyroid. The longterm effects of thyroid hormone are improved health. If you're taking Armour, Nature-throid or Westhroid, you ARE going the natural route. I do know what you mean, though. How nice to think that all we'd have to do is eat well, supplement properly, reduce toxins, exercise and think nice thoughts, and all symptoms would disappear. But these things are often a long time in the making and get well-entrenched before we find out about them. Some people do recover from Hashimoto's after using hormone for awhile. I've mentioned this before, but according to my doctor, who's a holistic osteopath and anthroposophic (you can google that), the number who do is approximately 30%.
Now, here's a new wrinkle, and you should really check out
www.realthyroidhelp.com forums for a discussion about it, but there's a drug that can kill off autoantibodies. It's called Naltrexone, and it's used in tiny doses. It doesn't replace eating well, supplementing and exercise. etc., but it's being used for many different autoimmune diseases with some good results. Googling "low dose naltrexone" will get you to the various websites. For most autoimmune conditions, such as MS especially, patients need to take it for life. I don't know if this is true for Hashi's, but I've elected to be a guinea pig and will have more information as time goes on. There's evidently little to no effect on the liver from such small doses, and there are no side effects that I know of .
BTW, your "super low blood pressure" is considered a symptom of low adrenal function. Low thyroid function tightens muscles, including those in the arterial walls, and can cause hypertension. So don't forget to support your adrenals.
