Synthroid and new doctor

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

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.

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 been on synthroid for 30+ years. It has steadily been increased throughout the years. Last April 2007 I ran out of medication and was going through a stressful move. I hadn't been on the medication for about 6 weeks. Once I got my new doctor they checked my levels and instead of putting me on the same dosage of .175 they increased it to .2mcg. I gained 10 pounds overnight. I looked like I was pregnant, mood swings, aching joints, insomnia, etc. I went back in 2 weeks to have it rechecked. That was the second problem. It takes 6 weeks for the medicine to level out in your system. So not only did they increase my dosage after telling them I had been off of it for some time they retested my levels too soon. So it was again increased to .225...more weight gain...another test...another increase .25mcg. Now my neck is swollen and I have an enlarged gland, hard to swallow, shortness of breathe, 43 pounds of weight gain, severe anxiety, acid reflux, gerd, on top of the other symptoms mentioned above. In 8 weeks of increments I have been retested and the dosage has gone down and as of last week it was finally decreased to the original amount of .175mcg. It has only been a week but I have lost 2 pounds. Oh Lord please let it keep coming off! My neck isn't as swollen and my 5th doctor who finally could see the light explained that I was having a thyroid storm. It is very important that when your levels are checked you wait 6-8 weeks to let the medication level out in order to get a true reading. He also said that you need to take your meds on an empty stomach...which I knew...sort of. I took my synthroid on an empty stomach but I also took my other vitamins with it which can effect the absorption of the synthroid throughout your body. He also gave me a beta blocker to help with my symptoms until my levels even out. It is called metoprolol succinate (Toprol-XL) 50mg. My gut doctor put me on Paxil as well to help with the acid reflux and gerd which he felt was caused by the anxiety due from the synthroid levels being off. I hope this info helps but it makes sense to 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?