Body scan symptoms and conditions

My thyroid troubles started in 1993. I am not sure how long before the discovery I had the problem. Mine started as a nodule on one side. I was immediately put on Synthroid and had to go see the Endo every 6 months for a biopsy. In 1995 I became pregnant. I had one more biopsy until after the birth of my daughter. The Endo told me he wanted to see me right away after she was born to do another biopsy. I had my suspisions, but didn't think anyhing until after she was born and went for my biopsy. Well, I had cancer. I went through the whole thyroidectomy, the 3 days isolation with radio-iodine, and every year to every few years after I had to go back and get the radio-iodine treatment, while not the high dose as the first time, it went with the complete body scan. In fact, I am due now, but don't have health insurance. My dose has been switched a lot, I have probably been on every dose from the lowest up to .200mcg, which has been the highest for myself.

Symptoms: pre-thyroid disease, I am 5'2. I was always 110-115 lbs, I was 22 yrs old and 120 lbs. when I married in 1993. I did notice gradual weight gain, probably because of my thyroid problems. I am sad to say that now I am around 180 lbs. I cannot seem to lose the weight unless I go on a total starvation diet. I managed to lose 10-15 lbs over the past summer, but unfortunately for me it has come back over the winter. I tried to stay as active as possible by going to stores and malls to walk around. I do for a fact notice that when my dosage for Synthroid goes higher, so does my weight gain. I was on .137mcg over the summer, and I think that was a good dose for me, that was through the regular dr. The Endo is the one who put me back up to .150mcg. My Endo told me the thyroid is a regenerative organ, so it CAN grow back. I guess they don't want that in case of cancer again, and I guess that is why he keeps me on higher doses.

I personally cannot stand it. I feel it is a horrible curse. I feel very robbed of my previous active life. I have been dealing with this now for 12 years not having a thyroid and being on this medication. I feel angry that I do not have the energy to do things with my 12 yr old and 3 yr old. I miss the way I was before having thyroid disease. I feel very sad when they come up to me asking to do certain things and they (nor anyone else I know for that fact) can understand that I just feel so whooped, and no energy. All I ever seem to want to do is take a nap. I have migraine headaches constantly, I am constantly tired. I cannot concentrate, I have some memory loss. My ex-husband, and my current husband too for that fact think I am just being lazy. Well, that is not so. There are moments when I do feel a burst of energy, but then, I have to use that burst to do the things I need to do around the house.

Pre thyroid disease I was always active, never tired, could do anything. After: TIRED, I was 24 in 1996 and felt like an old lady, dry skin, no matter how much lotion I put on. The tub is full of hair, while it doesn't come out in clumps and I still have thick hair, I have hair all over the place. Irritable, mood swings, happy to angry and the snap of a finger. I can have insomnia some nights, constipation, lots of the same stuff others have listed on this forum. Those side affects are the same no matter what dose I am on. And like I said the higher the dose for me, the more weight I pack on. It is instantanious. Over Christmas, and no, it wasn't from eating all the goodies, I gained a lot of the weight I had lost over summer back, and that was because a few weeks before, the Endo had put me on the .150 mcg.

I had been taking Zocor for about five years when I developed a tingling in my feet & toes. I went to my Doctor
and he said I probably had a pinched nerve that was causing the problem. So I went t a chiropractor for about a month, but the problem got worse. Went back to my doctor and he immediately said that I had neuropathy. I went to a neurogolist had tests taken and sure enough I had nerve damage to my feet & legs with severe shooting pains and tight
muscles. I asked the neurologist what caused the problem, he said it was the statins in the Zocor I was taking. I stopped
the Zocor the immediately but the damage was done. The neurologist told me the statin break down the fatty tissue covering the nerves and could take months even years to heal. Now I was a very active 70 year ald man went to the ymca three times a week walked 3-4 miles a day, worked the weights even played golf 2-3 days a week. Well, all that has stopped. walking has become a chore. because the pads of my feet feel like they have big knots in them. But the good news is I wont give up and let this rule my life. I still work the weights and still struggle thru the pain of walking that 1 mile a day. oh yes I have started taking vitamin C for my cholesterol

Now that I've read some of these comments, I see mine is not a new side effect. I had 400 cholesterol (bad) but 100 good. Body scan appeared that I had blockages. I'm 62 but have been very athletic all my life, walk/run about 30 miles a week (no pavement, just hills), life weights, work with a trainer, tons of lunges, bounding, etc. and just LOVE to work out. Dr. put me on 10 mg. Lipitor and I noticed my left hip hurt bad. Thought it was from too much bounding. Also noticed my arthritic fingers hurt more but thought whatever. Cholesterol dropped to 250 and he put me on 20 mg. They told me to stop and start taking something called WelChol (which I haven't yet started). The muscle pain diminished and rather than start Welchol, I resumed Lipitor because I thought it was just arthritis stuff. After about one month more of 20 mg. I'm virtually crippled now. It feels like my body is freezing up. No more Lipitor and I'm about to go have a serious chat with Dr. Can't live like this. I used to be so happy and joyous and now all I am is ouch.

I would like to know if anyone is experiencing or has experienced the following side effects:
I am 28 yrs. old and have been on levothyroxine since April 2004. I started graduate school immediately following my body scan and RAI treatment(5 days after when I was no longer radioactive) in August 2004.
After immersing myself in classes and field placement, I found myself having difficulty concentrating on my work and I had little to no motivation to get out of bed to go to class. My grades dropped and that made me even less motivated to continue on with school.
I went to my dr. and after telling him about my side effects: lack of motivation, difficulty concentrating, emotional instability, he just said that he does not believe that it is from the meds.
I have dropped out of school for the time being because I just can't get enough energy to go every day.
Has anyone ever experienced these symptoms? If so, do you believe they are an effect of the meds. or having gone through cancer , surgery, etc.?
Feel free to email me. I'd like to get some feedback. Thanks.
Amy ******

Just this week I had 2 injections of Thyrogen before a body scan uptake. The only side effect I endured was nausea. It's been a long week.

Good Health To You,

Crystal
11-12-04