Synthroid and tsh

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 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 been on synthyroid for the past 4 months and my doses have been increased from .75 to .112 which I am currently on. I weigh 92 pounds, which is my normal weight, but it seems this new increased dose has increased my appetite (I always had a fast metabolism) given my palpitations, flushing, sweating, high and low blood pressure and generally feeling overstimulated. It's been two weeks since my dose was increased and I felt better with the lower doses. My endocrinologist keeps increasing my dose since my TSH levels are still not in the right numbers, but this new dose is making me sicker than I was before. Could this new dose be too high for me.

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 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 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 a 49 year old male. A little while ago I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism. My TSH was at 43. I have been taken Synthroid for a little over 3 months. I started with 25mcg and was recently increased to 50mcg since my TSH was still at a high 15. I also thought it prudent, since I had gained a lot of weight over the last year and a half, to also diet and exercise a little. In the last 5 weeks I have lost 32 pounds. (I was about 80 pounds more than I liked). I have more energy, have not lost anymore hair than normal, and my hair is not brittle. I have episodes of Atrial Fibrillation since I was 30 and occasional "heart flips" ever since. Since taking the Synthroid I have not experienced these "flips" at all. I sleep well. My blood pressure was High in the past and was taking two meds for it. Since taking the Synthroid (I'm also guessing the weight loss, diet and exercise has also helped) I am down to one med and I now have a BP of 110/65 with a resting heart rate of 64. By the way..I am taking the generic form of Synthroid.

Hey, First off I would like to say thank you all for posting, I was just diagnosed with hypo. I was placed on 50mg then increased to 125, I felt terrible so I cut it in half. I take the pill at night, but I still feel all the symptoms you guys feel, I woke up this morning with no voice, hoarse. My tsh level was 13, I am going back to the doctor for more blood work this week. I think I my ask to be switched to another brand. I hope all of you will soon feel better.

hello everyone
i am a full time college student and I believe that i have some side effects from synthroid. As i was reading everyones blog i notice that some people feel the same way that i do. At times i feel that i'm normal but if something upsetting happens i get really tired, depress, and I have a never time concentrating at school and home. My body hurts all the time. especially my joints and i feel that i don't want to do anything. I have about a year left until i graduate and its the going to be hard. I cry sometimes for no reason. help! i'm going to talk to my doctor but if any body else feels the same way please reply.

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've been on synthroid for 9 years. started at some low dose and gradually went up to112 mg. get extreme itching all day everyday if i don't take allegra for that.not a rash just itching. that doesn't bother me as much as the fatique. every joint in my body aches all the time. sure there are better days but fo rthe most part it's bad. tried physical therapy and chiripratic care but no avail. they ended my sessions. my legs get sooo weak and my feet burn lower back really aches. sometimes muscle cramps. i'm very negative towards my loving family and it hurts me to do so. can't seem to keep upbeat. soo tired all the time.
is it the syntroid? i used to be very energenic and a doer. now i have spurts of activity in the morning , but then i just can't get motivated. help me any suggestions?

I have been taking Synthroid since Jan. 2006, am on 100mcg per day and all test results have been 'normal', I have been told to take this medication in the morning an hour before eating anything, if I do this...I have headache all day, I can't eat after an hour because I am so sick at my stomach there's no way. I feel hungry, but feel like if I eat it's coming right back up. Am having serious joint pain in hips, knees, elbows and wrists, my neck hurts really bad as well. I wake up to arms asleep anymore and just feel like I haven't slept in months...am very weak and very tired all of the time.

I have found that if I take my pill at night this gets a little better, but holy cow, don't tell your Dr. your taking it before bed...no, take it of a day. (don't know why this is a major thing?)

Anymore I feel like I am walking around with flu symptoms constantly, and the Synthroid hasn't done anything weight wise with me, because I was so HYPERthyroid before the RAI, I was very thin and looked like a bag of bones, have been waiting and excited about putting on weight...at one point I stopped taking the Synthroid and let myself go HYPO just so I could gain weight, it worked and I got up to about 130 pounds, was very HYPO so they told me critical that I get back on meds...I lost it again because it makes me so sick I can't eat.

NO-ONE can tell me the Synthroid is not the cause of this problem, if I stop taking it I feel WONDERFUL, but my test reults are bad. After a while of course my feet become numb and I end up having some bad hypo symptoms, have tried breaking pills in half....oh Lord no, need it all...

Have been told they are thinking about raising my dosage again anyway, I can't do this, I will break down in the office if they try to raise it. Right now my TSH is fine but my T4 is 'a tad bit' off. I am already an emotional wreck, if they raise my dosage I am going to try and go a different route with this, am on my 3rd Dr. at this point anyway...

Palpitations, insomnia and shortness of breath and hot flashes and stressed out. Perhaps my levels are too high? I take 100 mcg daily 5x week and 50 mcg 2x week.

Labs last checked about 6 weeks ago and TSH was around 1.0

I haven't taken my Synthroid for a couple of days and then I am going to decrease dosage to about half the prescribed dose until I can get in touch with my M.D.

The palpitations are worrisome so I certainly don't want to aggravate those.

I have been on synthroid for years, my stool turned yellow and my doctor half the dose and my stool returned to nornal (brown) but I just had a Free T4, and TSH and the TSH is high. My doctor raised my synthroid 12mgs more, will this happen again if my synthroid is raised to high? My doctor is checking some every three months.

I was taking sythroid for enlarge thyroid. I begin to feel irritable, and experinced extreme hair loss. I'm drinking tahitian Noni juice and it has been great for me. My doctor can't believe how my tsh and t3 levels has changed for the better.

I have been on synthroid for 11 years. This past year, however, after stopping birthcontrol pill, my dosage has changed. First I was too high on 125-150 mcg and now I am back to 100 mcg. My TSH is 1.72 which is within the normal range of 1-2. My big side effect right now is extreme nausea especially after any activity, not even strenuous, such as doing some errands or grocery shopping or even up-down stairs. I have to sit really quietly before feeling slightly better. Has anyone felt this way? I feel sick all the time. Perhaps a smaller dosage of synthroid would help.

just started taking it today. .05mcg synthroid. TSH was 135 very hypothyroid. I have 5 children, one only 4 months old. Can this stuff work quickly to restore my metabolism. I am literally pulling myself throught the day, and begging God for sleep at night. I was normal and healthy all my life, until now. I want to know if I'll ever feel normal again. The things I read on here have scared me. I hate anxiety attacks, weight gain, oh and do not want to lose my hair....Really concerned

I've taken Synthroid since 1969. The only time I had side affects was when the drug was reformulated (without my knowledge) and the dosage I was taking became Toxic to my liver. My hair started falling out, my leg muscles became enflamed and I didn't feel well.

Most of the symptoms I've read here indicate incorrect dosages. Today's doctors treat lab tests more than patients' symptoms and the lab tests most doctors use don't reveal whether T4 properly converts to T3. Typically, they run a TSH and if you're lucky, they might throw in a T4. There are many other drugs on the market that block T4-T3 conversion (i.e. birth control and anti depressentants type medications are two of the big ones) as well as other environmental factors. Clinical studies have proven that soy protein blocks thyroid hormone production/obsorption at the cellular level. It's hard to find food products today that aren't loaded with soy. Don't take my word for it though. Research for yourselves. Hair loss can be caused by too much, too little or Synthroid not actually working at all due to other factors.

Good Luck! At least everyone here was diagnosed as having a problem. There are millions out there that go undiagnosed who are suffering from much worse symptoms than us.

Has anyone out there experienced leg cramps or a feeling like weak muscles in your legs?

I have been on Synthroid for about 10 years. I've been taking dosages between 5 mcg's to my current 137 mcg's. I had my thyroid removed 3.5 years ago, due to an enlargement. Fortuantely, it was not cancerous.The side effects I have noticed have included weight gain, depression, anxiety, dry skin, and lethargy. None of these have been extreme, and my thyroid panals (TSH, Free T4, and T3) all come back within normal range when checked.Because I was at the low end of 'normal' my Endo increased my doasge from 112mcg to 125mcg to my current 137mcg. It's stopped my weight gain, and since i've been working out regularly for years, the weight is finally starting to come off.