Synthroid and doctors

I Had half of my thyroid removed 16 years ago. I was immediately put on synthroid. It made me crazy. I had rage and emotions that I couldn't control. I went through 2 divorces because of synthroid. I did not realize that was what was causing it. My doctors thought that i was crazy when I told them my symtoms. It must be the help of God because I stopped taking synthroid and started doing research and found out that sea weed would help me and do the same thing that synthroid did. Just a flake or two a day has been helping me for almost 2 years now. I feel great without the side effect that I would normally get from synthroid. Two much will make you weak though but the small about I take works just fine for me.

i have been on 137 mcg of synthroid after a total thyroidectomy 1.5 yr/ago. i have since gained 40 lbs...am fatigued and irritable...have severe pain in both of my feet...and my hair is falling out by the hand full. i am 43 yrs old and had hopes of conceiving a child with my husband...but have had no luck for the last 6 months. i am interested in meeting with a holistic doctor that is willing to listen to my symptoms. my physician now is only interested in my blood leves. will someone recommend someone in san antonio, Texas?

I have been on Synthroid since 1983--varying dosages. Side effects have included: weight gain, heart palpitations,adrenalin misfires, extreme reaction to heat (sun burns) and body feels hot all the time, fingers go numb in cold weather. Just recently have not been able to regulate dosage--fluctuating between hyper/hypo. I would like to try a new medication with few side effects. Anyone had any luck finding a different med that works?

Just switched to synthroid 88 mcg after 8 yrs on Armour. My doctors found an ugly mass on my right thyroid and rushed me to surgery, certain it was Cancer: it was just an ugly goiter..now I have to take thyroid meds the rest of my life. :(

It took a year to get me regulated on Armour and I gained 30 #. 20:20 hindsite. I thought it was good and natural too... for 8 years

BUT here is an FYI: NOBODY TESTS THE PIGS. THERE IS NO QUALITY CONTROL TO SEE HOW MUCH THYROID WE ARE 'REALLY' GETTING.ANIMALS CAN BE HYPO AND HYPERTHYROID TOO.

Sooo... 7 weeks into a 90 day supply of my Armour and my pharmacy recalls it. I mention it to my doc who promply makes the connection and draws my labs, VOILA I am suddenly hyperthyroid AND now I can understand some of my crappy symptoms of late..

Lesson learned. Hoping to be feeling better soon. Hope you all find what works for you but these are all drugs and be aware.

Hi,
I am 50 years old. I was diagnosed with as hypo at age 39. My doctor prescribed Synthroid at 25mcg and I have (proudly-ha!) worked my way up to 125mcg. I was always one of the "lucky ones" who could eat any and everything and my weight stayed the same. I am a busy mom of two and a first grade teacher, so the 33 lbs. I have gained since age 39 has not been due to diet changes or sitting around with a bag of chips in front of a TV all day. I also questioned my doctor about this and he just brushed it off. Well, I am tired of not feeling good about myself. My life is in good order except for my weight. I want someone to take this seriously. Should I see a specialist rather than my regular internist?
Wow! I think I just lost a little weight telling you great people about this!
jf

I been on Synthroid now for 10 years. Almost right after I started the medication i started to have headaches. I had / have headaches every single day , all day long. Before the Syntthroid i NEVER had headaches, EVER. It has been 10 years and i still complain. I have spent so much money and wasted time on exams and doctors. All the doctors tell me is that i am stressed or its sinus or something else . Which i don't think i am . I have CT scans a few times. I am not crazy, i know what i am saying. Doctors don't listen. I looked on online and saw that headaches are a side effect. I went back to my doctor and explained. The doctor(s) insist that the Synthroid is not a cause of my headaches. With headaches every single day a person can not function normally.

I ran across this website and in a way i felt better knowing that this symptom is real and other people are experiencing the same thing. On the other hand it upset me that all these people are complaining and no one is listening.

Is there no solution?

I've been on synthroid now for about a year. My dosage is VERY little (0.075). My doctor keeps running blood tests every 3 months and assures me I am within the "lower-end" of the norm, but I still feel tired, sleep deprived, wake up with night-sweats and I keep gaining weight...

I am only 24 and have just been told that I need to take this medication for the rest of my life, it\s pretty depressing. I keep asking if there are other ways to lose weight and feel more energized. He tells me that I need to keep taking this medication and has put me on a "sleep hygeine" routine where I go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.

Does this "disease" mean I will always be overweight and tired for the rest of my life? I would like to know if someone else with more experience with this medication can give any sort of advice? Feeling a little hopeless about it and not really interested in complaining to my doctor anymore.

Thanks:)

I have just been switched to Synthroid (by my Endocrinologist) after being on Armour for 4 years. I have to tell all you out there that think "Armour" is the save all drug..and believe me I am not an advocate of Synthroid either because I have not been on it long enough to know what possible side effects I might have..however when I first started on Armour I felt like I did before I had been diagnosed with Hypothyroidism ..then about 1 yr ago I started to gain rate rapidly like 40lbs in 6 months feeling sluggish, off and on skin problems, puffy hands, face, feet,hives, pimples in the back of my head almost hive like,some hair loss that is noticeable to me as I have had very thick curly hair all my life now it is getting noticeably thin and It is making me very nervous...My Endo put me on .75 mcg Synthroid and .5mcg Cytomel which she calls a "controlled Armour"..Armour does not stay consistent with your T4's and T3 levels and that is what cause my thyroid to become suppressed and these are the symptoms I was experiencing...she also put me on Spironolactone which is a mild diuretic to lose the puffiness in my face,hands,and feet and so far so good...Like I stated earlier, I am not an advocate of Synthroid or Armour our any drug for that matter, I just want to find what is right for me and stick with it..and if Synthroid doesn't work for me, then I will try something else...Just remember one very important thing.."You" are the only one who knows how you feel and Dr's are not God they can't fix everyone that is why its very important to read about your disease and find out what things might work for you..I suggest getting this book I bought that was recommended to me by my Endocrinologist called "Screaming to be Heard" Hormone connections women suspect and doctors still ignore written by Elizabeth Lee Vliet, MD...its a fabulous book and I am sure all you women can relate to this book...its all about us....Most important thing is to stay healthy eat a well balance diet and exercise..also find out about the foods that only worsen thyroid problems...

Hello To All,

I too am on this med, I have been on it for 1 year as of July 2008-

35 pounds, brain fog, headaches, eye sight for reading, chest pain and fluttering heart beat. My doctor who is my friend has told me that he will up my dose... "Dear God" any more and I will go nuts. Does anyone know of any study done in a medical journal that theu could forward to me so I can show my doctor.

Please email me at ****** I would be so very thankful.

Thanks to all and be healthy.

I am a diabetic with hashi. I had been taking synthroid longer than metformin and had been on both for at least a year now. Recently I have been to ER due to heart palpitation and shortness of breath, so I had stopped my synthroid .1 for one day and felt better. So I stopped taking synthroid altogether, After 3 weeks I took it again because I was afraid not to follow my doctors order. 3 days into it, I was back to a high pulse, shortness of breath, chest pin and palpitation. I went to a different doctor,
and he agreed that we experiment on the dosage and try a generic brand.
I took .25 this time and I had the same reaction as taking synthroid .1.
I have now stopped completely, I am hoping to that my doctor will listen to me and will give something else other than synthroid.

Wow! So glad and sad to find other sufferers. I wish our doctors would listen to us and take us seriously! Why are they stuck on forcing Synthroid on us? At this point, I think I'd rather not take any Synthroid. I stumbled upon this site while looking for something I might take to counteract the effects of Synthroid. I had to halve my 112 mg pills because of the side effects: frequents headaches, bloating, weight gain, irritability and anxiety, dry mucus membranes (eyes, nose, throat, etc.), allergies, muscle fatigue, achy joints. Of course, my doctor is slowly upping the dosage again, because my TSH is chronically high, but I feel like sh*t, physically and mentally. I used to feel so much more normal and like myself before I was diagnosed and "forced" to take Synthroid.

I have had Hashi now since 2000, i got it when I was still in high school. They though that was rare that this would occur at such a young age. No one in my family had it, well not quite yet. I was the first to get diagnosed. My gyn mentioned that there is a link between autoimmune and preeclampsia. I had a terrible preg. I take synthroid now well the generic. And I do not feel much better at all. But people who use Armour should be careful. My endocrinologist strongly disapproved to this. It is Pig tyroid. This is from a site "The prevailing opinion is that everyone converts all the T4 needed into T3 automatically, and that drugs such as Armour and Thyrolar are outdated and old-fashioned at best." Also does not mention much on Hasimoto patients like myself. I would like to try it though to feel better. The side effects are higher as well. Esp long term.
Unfortantly, what works for one, does not always work for another person. So though some have problems with there synthroid others do not. Also it takes a while for you to notice a difference with this. IF you take it regularly at the same time and follow instructions on eating as well as not take it with vitC then you should be experiencing something. If not then you really need to get a new endocrinologist. Regular doctors are not made to deal with these issues, though they try, you need to see a specialist. Just remember that you know how you feel and if Synthroid is not working for out then change.

I was diagnosed as having Hypothyroidism in 1-07. My TSH was 83 and I was sleepy all the time, moody and anxious, hair falling out, gaining weight, heavy clotting peiods, etc. I was 51 and it was all blamed for a while in perimenopause. I have been on Synthroid .50 since then and some things are better like hair loss and sleepiness. My last check a few months ago was 1.3. What I hate most of all is waking up after a few hours of sleep and I feeing like I am on some kind of speed. My mind is wide awake and jumping from one thought to another, sometimes sweating heavily with my heart racing. I was diagnosed 10 years ago with Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia and was on Beta blockers for a while. I have a new doctor now and never discussed this with her. The anxiety is awful sometimes too . I start to get fears of not being able to swallow or breathe but can keep it under control. An average night of sleep is five broken up hours of sleep and every now and then from exhaustion I will get close to seven hours. I am foggy headed a lot but I never hardly yawn or feel sleepy in the daytime.

I suggest to anyone that has Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (type of Hypothyroidism) to have a blood test done for Celiac Disease. There has been research done linking Celiac Disease and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. Celiac Disease can be controlled by a gluten-free diet (wheat, rye, and barley free). In the US, not many doctors recognize/know of this link. I have been hypothyroid for 20 years (had Hodgkin's Disease (cancer) - radiation/chemo at age 16) I have 2 sisters with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and were iron and B12 deficient. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis 3 months ago with iron and B12 deficiency. I have been on a gluten-free diet for 2 months now. My dosage of synthroid (levothyroxine) was 175 mcg and now is down to 137 mcg. I hope that I am one of the lucky ones that will have their antibodies to their thyroid normalized (no more synthroid!) I have a couple of days left before my next blood test and I hope that it goes down more. I am feeling better now than I have in a very long time. I have attached a link for those of you interested. It is an endocrine article from Finland outling the link between Celiac Disease and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (among other things). I hope that this helps some of you. http://edrv.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/23/4/464

I have been on Synthroid since about 1995. I had a thyroidectomy and do not have a thyroid anymore. I have been on 0.175 mcg for about 10 years and did not have any side effects except for fatigue and a little depression.Everything else was pretty good. My TSH is registering low so my doctor moved me to 0.1 mcg of Synthroid and 5 micrograms of Cytomel. I took this for about three weeks and for the last 1.5 weeks have had awful headaches and the dryest eyes ever. Something, I have not experienced before. My doctor keeps saying he wants to help me but does not listen to
any of my symptoms. I actually pulled off the symptoms from the list online of hypothyroidism and have 15 out of about 20. I am wondering why I felt so much better on the higher dose than this low dose. Can anyone releate. I am starting to think maybe my body is not processing this right. The funny thing is is that my lab work came back with normal results today, which means my doc is probably going to keep me where I am and I feel the worst I have felt in ten years.

I have read a lot of these blogs and I am seeing that many other people have the same side effects. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism when I was in 6th or 7th grade I think and I am now a high school senior so about 5 years taking Synthroid. the doctors said that my antibodies had completely destroyed my thyroid gland so I wasn't getting any of the hormones I needed which became very noticeable when I started gaining weight and loosing energy in 5th grade. I haven't really seen any weight gain in a while but I still look like I am overweight. I am 5'6 and 130 lbs so I am about average. Side effects that are also occurring are rapid mood changes, one minute I am happy and something sad happens or I think about something and ill be tearing up. I feel depressed a lot. I am currently on 150 mcg. also during 9th and 10th grade I was put on this drug to stop my puberty so that I could grow more while on the Synthroid I guess it helped a little with height but I still look like a freshman. I don't know if I should stop taking it or keep taking it because I stopped for about a month once and started getting really sick, I would get really bad nose bleeds at random, had constant migraines and felt sick to my stomach. I started taking the Synthroid again and felt fine. I really don't know what to do.

I must say that I HATE this medicine. I have been on it for about 30 years. Constantly like playing a game. Too much then too little. It is driving me crazy. I swear that I have tremors from it. I also have gain lots of weight and my hair falls out everyday. Surprised I am not bald yet. I use to be able to go to the gym for 5-6 days a week and now it is soooo hard to get out of bed in the morning.

I truly wish that there was something that I could do. I have had one side of my thyroid taken out and now have to go and get a ultra sound of the other side. Still cant figure out why the doctor took one side and not the other when the other side had nodules too.

I am so tired of it and just don't know what to do.

I do know that I will be definitely speaking with my endo and even if my levels are okay she has to do something to help me.

I was born without a thyroid gland so I can't compare the way I feel now to the way I would've felt with a thyroid. I've been on Synthroid my entire life (22 years), and I'm up to 112 mcg now. I am very skinny (5'5", 104 lbs) and feel constantly fatigued no matter how many hours I sleep, what I eat, and how much exercise I get. I periodically get pain in my hip joints, heart palpitations, and intense mood swings. My thoughts race but I have very little physical energy. I feel restless and gloomy almost all the time for absolutely no good reason. My doctor tells me I'm depressed but I honestly have no reason to be depressed and I wish she would see it as a symptom instead of a diagnosis. I graduated from a good college, I've got a job I like, I have friends, I enjoy life and my hobbies, yet I feel overwhelmingly sad. This does not seem like depression to me.

I find that after I do aerobics I get a tightness in my chest, which makes me worry about my heart, but again my doctor doesn't seem to think this is cause for concern. I have been irritable/fatigued for YEARS and I suspect I'll feel this way for the rest of my life. The worst of it started when I hit 16 years old and started the 112 mcg. My tests are always normal and it frustrates me that my doctor disregards my symptoms. I've tried other doctors, but they always send me away with my 'normal' test results. Can anybody help?

I have a hair thinning problem on just the top of my head. Also my hair has gotten very dry and brittle breaking off when I comb or brush my hair or even run my hands through my hair. It has become "frizz city".