Hi, I have been taking levothyroxine for 2 months now and even though I can concentrate better and feel better, I am also gaining weight, I know it has to be the medication. I have read alot of bad things about this medicine. I was only borderline on my tsh 4.65. Doctor discussed with me I could take it or not. I tried to go without it for a couple of weeks but felt I was getting worse with the concentration and lethargy. So I started taking it 50 mcg. I did not have any weight gain first month. Now this second month I have. I do not know whether I want to take this or not. Doctors don't have something natural they can put you on?I don't want to gain weight because that can give you diabetes and that runs in my family. I just don't know what to do. I don't want to go higher up in the med in mcg either.I already take lorezepam for anxiety so I did not want to have to take another drug. Someone please tell me what I should do, should you trust your doctor or what should you do?
Hi Donna, some doctors are good at listening and others not so. Some are more informed than others about the thyroid. The thyroid seems to be very complicated and I'm not demonising medics but and I believe they have much to learn from thyroid patients. There is a great website but I'm not allowed to provide a link, although you can find them via google. Search for 'thyroid patient advocacy'. There is a wealth of information from journal articles to people's accounts and lots of discussions on the forum about alternative and complimentary solutions.
There are some things you can start doing now to build up your thyroid picture.
1. Start monitoring your temperature. Measure temp immediately on waking and before getting out of bed, oral temp after three minutes (my thermometer beeps after 1 min but I just take it a 2nd and 3rd time - it usually increases by 0.1 or 0.2. Helpful to monitor temp in the evening too to see if it fluctuates. Your morning temp should be above 36.8C. (Colds, flu, sore throats will usually increase your temp so ignore if these are present). If temp is under this, it is indicative lowered metabolism owing to hypothyroidism.
2. keep a note of symptoms (read up on symptoms, you may have some that you never noticed before or did not realise were related to underactive thyroid). Worth pointing out that reading up on symptoms and being mindful of symptoms is one thing whereas over focussing on symptoms can be unhelpful. You mentioned having problems with anxiety so over focussing could lead to worrying about them unecessarily. (Google 'living life to the full' - free info for overcoming anxiety).
3. Ask around in the family if anyone else has thyroid issues or has been tested. You mentioned that diabetes is in your family, thyroid problems can also run in families.
4 get in touch with GP practice and ask for all blood tests to be copied to you. You are entitled to this information and you do not need to give any reason. Specifically ask for the test name, result and the range used. Different labs use different ranges and different countries use different cut off points. For example, someone in Germany who is diagnosed hypothyroid may not meet the criteria for diagnosis in the UK. Surprisingly enough. (The figures used for diagnosing seem arbitrary when different countries have different cut offs but that's a separate rant.)
5. Check out your diet, are you getting a good balanced diet? There are certain vitamins and minerals which seem to help with thyroid function - more info from the 'thyroid patient advocay'. Also some nutrients are reported to interfere with the absorption of thyroxine such as iron and calcium.
before any of the above - google 'thyroid patient advocay'. I hope this helps to start with. Best wishes.
Hi Donna. Thyroid problems can cause the anxiety. Now that you are on thyroxine the anxiety should lift but as you are on an anti depressant this will mask whether you can deal with the anxiety. If you come off the lorezepam, tell your doctor, you need to do it slowly and anxiety for a short time can be withdrawal. You can deal with any residual anxiety with natural methods. Log in to the Donna Eden workshop site, also hypnotherapy can help. Once you feel better you can deal with the weight gain. Is it a lot of weight? I am on 75 and keep my weight down by a good wholefood diet which I now enjoy. I swim twice a week and have a walk - not too far as I have hip problems too! The 5 min Donna Eden has made a huge difference. See her book The Little Book of Energy Medicine. Hope this helps. Good luck. BB
Both the replies u had sound like good advice. People that have been treated with the iodine or have had it removed have to take the replacement. People that are hypo thyroid like yourself will feel sluggish. See an endocronoligist. Not a gp. Get checked every six weeks. In 3 months u can put on a lot of weight. If u cant get your thyroid down using natural medicine than your gonna have to deal with the levothyroxine. The key is to get the right dosage. Your thyroid controls many things. If I dont take the meds for a day and a half everything shuts down on me. Dont give up though. Whatever happens your probably gonna have to change your diet. I also swim quite a bit. I lost 40 pounds before I got diagnosed. Felt like superman, but my heart rate was like 140. After 3 doses of the iodine I finally started gaining weight. Within a year I was up 100 pounds. Wish someone had told me to get checked more often
The only advice I can give you on this is one of healthy eating:
Wholewheat bread or wholewheat cereal
Skimmed milk
As many vegetables as you like but make sure you include lettuce, carrots and tomatoes.
Cut out food with sauces, cut out salt and sugar. Eat fruit for your sugar intake.
Do not eat between meals
Drink plenty of water.
Eggs or lean beef, fish or poultry
If you eat rice or pasta, you don't eat bread. Maximum 3 tablespoons once cooked.