another thyroid rant

mk820

I have low thyroid. I thought it would be difficult to lose weight. Surprise! I consistantly lost 2-3 lbs a week for 7 or 8 weeks. Then my doc did blood tests and and I was at high normal and she cut down my med. Now I am losing 1/2-1 lb. a week , need to take a nap after work and wake up dizzy and cold all the time. Why couldn't she leave well enough alone?

dirtyblue

I'm sorry to hear you aren't feeling well on your new dosage. You need to be your own advocate and let your doctor know you are not feeling well. If you were in the normal range, why did they change your dosage? Are you just on T4 medication? If so, see if your doctor will lower your T4 medicine and also put you on T3. My levels were coming in fine, but I was still feeling so tired and drained. The doctor put me on T3 as well and I started feeling better.

Good luck!

NikkisNewStart

I'm also hypothyroid... and obviously it wasn't "well enough" if you were becoming hyper due to having too much thyroid in your system... a lot of body functions rely on efficient thyroid function... a decrease in the amount of weight you are losing should honestly be the least of your worries. If you think that you are on the low end again... you can always go back in for more bloodwork... if he/she won't see you but every few months regardless of your symptoms... then find another dr.

Supermel

When i was having symptoms, the dr compromised and let me take the higher dose one day, lower dose the next- my bloodwork was good and i felt good. Good luck!

mk820

Thanks for your responses. i am having my levels rechecked this week.

jtintx

It's called a normal "range" for a reason. At the upper end of normal I didn't feel well. Talked to my GP and he increased my dose. Now I'm in the middle of the range and feel SO much better. Treatment should be based on your symptoms, not on what works for the general population. If your doc won't work with you - get a new doc.

jansus

I have only just started medication so am waiting for some change - so far nothing.

Feel free to add me as a friend so we can compare notes -

or maybe we should start a Thyroid thread where we only weigh in once a fortnght as it takes me that long to lose 1/2lb ( if I am lucky!) (:

lesliejsilva

i've been hypo for about 8 years now, was fine til about 2 years ago when i was put on anti-depressants...completely ruined my system even though I was only on them for 2 weeks. Have been gaining ever since! Found out I had to go on brand name Synthroid b/c the generic wasn't working for me (did you know that there can be as much as 25% dosage difference from pill to pill with generic?) Then I was too high...I wanted to stay on the high dosage b/c I thought I'd lose weight but my doc showed me the reasons why it's not good to be on a higher dosage. We are trying to get pregnant and thanks to my thyroid no luck...trying to get my body working with the meds! My levels are yo-yo'ing like crazy...every 3 months I have to change my dosage. Ridiculous.
Woops that was my rant haha!
Good luck, do lots of research, and find a doc that you trust!

seasonalvoodoo

Ugh, if you were in the normal range the Dr. should have left you alone and rechecked in a month or two to see if your levels continued to go up (or is that down?) and then adjusted your dosage.

@lesliejsilva: I am on Synthroid, too and a while back the pharmacy gave me the generic-Levothroid-and it made me nuts! I was irritable and literally felt like I was going nuts. Needless to say, I got back on Synthroid!

staceyo1211

I take Synthroid and it seems to work ok for me, but I really need to get in and have mine checked again its been a while.

jansus

does your medication have t3 and t4? I am only on T4 at the moment

nykdem

I was hyper for a long time before doing anything about it. I lost loads of weight during this time. Once I finally had radiation therapy I become hypo and started on Levothyroxine. It took months and months to get the dosage right and in that time I piled on the pounds. The meds problem coupled with having to give up work to care for my wife really took its toll on my weight. Although I feel healthy enough on my current dose, I know from experience that trying to lose weight is an uphill struggle for me. But I'm determined to keep with the MFP plan even if I only see very small losses or none at all ....... at least I won't be putting on weight!

Good luck with getting your meds right. Feel free to add me.

ckh2069

Hi I just joined this site. I have had trouble with my thyroid since I was a junior in high school and i am about to be a junior in college. I am also Type 1 diabetic (for those who dont know this is juvenile diabetes and I did not get it from unhealthy lifestyle but most likely from genetics or environment toxins- the cause is still unclear). anyway, when my thyroid starting failing my junior year I hit 150 pounds (I am five foot eight), however last year in college my weight was done to 125- I worked hard for this- ran almost everyday and really limited my carbohydrate intake to probably under 20-40 grams a day and ate a high protein diet. I went on a birth congtrol pill last spring and started experiencing thyroid symptoms all over again despite being on synthroid and I started binge eating- chocolate, cookies, pop tarts, candy- anything sugary I could get my hands on! I went off the birth control in Novemeber but these thyroid symptoms still continued- I just started Armour thyroid medication about three weeks ago and while I am seeing improvements in some symptoms (less hair falling out, a little more energy, skin not as dry) I am still binge eating. I was so depressed when my thyroid wsa underactive that I dont know if I I just adopted these unhealthy habits and am having trouble kicking them.. or what is going on? Has anyone else experienced something similar- my weight is up to 190 lbs and I just long for the body that I had last year as this has taken a HUGE toll on my confidence : ( if anyone has gone through anything similar and has any tips or suggestions please let me know!

jansus

At the moment I cant advise as just started my medication. I have been reading lots of books such as stop the tyroid madness ( found that quite negative) and others - plus I am just starting to join some forums in the uk.

My medication is only T4 - but yours is both T4 and T3 - which from what I have read is usually more successful.

I think I get confused because I have tried so many different diets and also you read so many conflicting reports.

At the moment I am calories counting I have put targets to 40/30/30 carbs /protein/fat.

I have read that high protein low carb is good for our problems - but am confused about the fat - as good fats are supposed to help.Where as other diets promote low fat products.

I think That my problem I keep mixing up what I am doing ( although I am keeping within the calories)

My situation is a bit harder than yours as at least you have some height to help carry your weight - I am barely 5ft 1" so every lb shows.

At the moment I am also feeling depressed and finding it all quite hard - but I am not giving up and I have more blood tests next week and an appointment the week after so will see what happens then.

toodleton

Hypo with goiter, on Synthroid X2 years. Take the name brand because like some others the generic form didn't help me. I started out at 25 now I'm taking 112. On 75 I was losing some weight finally but starting to feel sooo sluggish and freezing all the time again. So a doctor I work with informed me that I need to take 1 1/2 my usual dosage to boost my thyroid (wake up the metabolic functioning). I have recently switched to the new dose, waiting 1 more week before I have bloodwork to see where my ranges are at now. Been so fatigued lately, lots of aches/pains, no energy whatsoever. My eyes have been red, really dry, irritated to the point that it feels like sand in them. Anxious episodes of insomnia. Headaches/migraines. Also my response to temperature is varied but to the extrem, if I'm hot-I'm melting! If I'm cold-I'm freezing! Crazy! I'm just so tired of battling this issue that seems to wreak havoc on my life, really would like to feel good again

jansus

I have accepted you as a friend and you will find a lot of my other friends have thyroid problems as well. I am not familiar with your medication as I am in the UK. I am back to the doctors next week to check on my levels - but so far have felt no better and today although I managed to excercise I felt rubbish afterwards. In one of the books I have read it does mention that some thyroid patients find when they exercise their blood does not get oxygenated like normal people. I think it helps to talk to others in the same position and although a lot of the time I see my friends racing away with their weight loss whilst mine is extremely slow they are all very supportive.I am not obsessed with my weight - but in general like you would just like to feel "normal" and have some energy .