Synthroid and mom

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've been on Synthroid for 8 months after gaining 10 pounds in two months. The symptoms started to appear when my Mom was very ill. Doctor said it was caused by stress and started me on 25 mcg of Synthroid. My reading at that time was 5.56. I had blood work done every 4 weeks,and the numbers are going down (1.8 last reading), but so is the quantity of my hair, which I see all over my white tile. My weight hasn't budged even though I am dieting. My doctor upped me to 100 mcgs. My blood work is not good - low white count, low lymphocytes, borderline anemic. Mom died, and I didn't get any better. I feel sick all the time and it's difficult for my husband to understand how bad I feel. I've tried to get my doctor to prescrive Armour, but he doesn't even return my phone calls. When I see him in the office, he keeps telling me it takes time. I hate living this way and want to stop the pills completely.

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.

My mom has had 4/5 of her thryroid removed over 30 years agao and has been on SYNTHROID ever sicnse. Recently she has been experiencing intense muscle and joint pain in her hands, fingers and legs. All tests for Rheumatoid are negative. Can the Synthroid be possibly causing these side effects???? Ayone else out there with these same complaints?