Hi,
I am 17 years old and have been having thyroid probems in 2 years. I am taking levothyroxine tablets at the moment but took carbimazole before that.
I haven't had my period for 6 months now, and i dont know why.
Hi there, i appreciate this is an old post but have only just spotted it and wanted to comment as I have been experiencing the same problems with weight gain since being on thyroxine. I had my thyroid irradiated due to Graves' and ever since then have been putting on weight steadily. I had always been slim and never had to diet but now I find that despite exercising regularly i just can't lose the extra weight. my endo tells me this is due to my age (45) and that i shoudl just stop eating and be on a very calorie restricted diet. my breast are always swollen although not painful and i feel water logged, especially on my back - never had fat there before but now it looks awful. i'm on 125mcg currently and feel OK in terms of energy but absolutely hate being this fat...
Hi...I was 165 lbs and gained 9 pounds in seven days...not water weight...two doctors told me the body does not work that way. Oh yes it does!!!!!
Timeline is 11/10/2013.....165....gaines 9 pounds.....Could not lose it.....January 1 2014.....weight is 175 lbs....not water weight....in march of 2014 I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and told that back in November my thyroid was a 5.93 which showed I had hypothyroidism then. When I gained the nine pounds. I had no idea what was wrong with me or why I had gained weight that fast. I had never done that before in my life. So the doctor put me on Levothyroxine and I gained another 10 to 15 pounds. I began to have terrible depression and body aches...such that I could barely get out of bed.I could not do any housework due to joint pain. Every time I ate a meal I would gain 6 to 7 pounds of water. then lose it the next day for about 6 hours until I ate another meal. It was an ungodly nightmare.
I had told my doctor I wanted off this med it was doing no good. She told me she does not know enough about hypothyroidism so she sent me to an endocrinologist who saw me 15 minutes and told me to stay on this med for another two months and then we will see how I feel. I had been on this med for seven months at this time and told her of the symptoms which she contributed to menopause and told me that i just better get used to the weight gain and how I feel cause it is not going to change. I was furious......she totally would not listen to my symptoms. i decided to take the initiative and go totallt off my meds all of them I could not even take my diabetic med because of shooting back pains. I went off my medicine one by one with the last one being Levothyroxine and low and behold that was it.
My doctors never liked that but I did find a naturopathic understanding doctor and he is putting me on both t3 and t4 cause he told me my t3 was too low. So that means the 88 mcg that I was taking of Levothyroxine was not doing me any good. It lowered my tsh but my body was not converting the t4 to the much needed t3....so both doctors were wrong. I am off my meds now and feel so much better. I noticed right away the devastating effects of levothyroxine on my body. I was being poisoned and I had told my doctors at that time. That med would have killed me I am sure of it. After three days I was up and moving and doing my chores around the house...no longer bed ridden.....
now I am waiting for my new doctor to give me new medicine and i will report on this later....I undersyand all your dilema with this drug and it needs to be taken off the market but how...we need a class action suit flled....for sure.....
Thanks...
Hello guest 1969, I am glad to see someone else who has had their thyroid out make a comment. I was overactive for 7 years and decided to have mine out, didn't like the other option for fear I would become underactive with all those issues. I have tried the 100, 200, 300mcg, felt lousy, put on weight, felt bloated all the time. I now take 200 in the morning, 1hr before breakfast and 200 at night, 3hrs after food. Any other meds I take in the middle of the day so they don't interefere. Feel great, my blood test results are within range but at the top end. Guessing that higher dose is going to have side effects long term? I am getting pain in my finger joints and back pain but putting it down to being 51 and menopause so going for regular massage.
Hi there,
Glad your doctor agrees with a higher dose, what are you on? I am at 200 in the morning and 200 at night and within range but at the top end
My new doctor is evaluating all of my tests at the moment to see what he is going t start me out on. this will be a new med for me and I am hopeful it will be better for me than the dreaded Levothyroxine. i believe that depending on what caused your hypothyroidism determines if you can tolerate this medicine. I have hashimotos....and I have read where those that have this do not do well on this med. Those that do not have hashismotos....do well on it.
But Levothyroxine causes weight gain....I am maintaining at 185 now though. Since I have stopped taking the Levothyroxine....l hope you have success with your meds....
I have been on Thyroxine now for about 2 years during which time I have put on well over 2 and a half stone. I have never been actually slim but if ever I wanted to lose weight, I didn't really have a problem with dieting. It came off at a steady rate. Now I do Weight Watchers and in the last month, although I have stuck to it religiously, I lost half a pound. It just won't come off. My doctor says it's nothing to do with the medication and is going to arrange for me to see a dietician. I know this will be a waste of time but I suppose I have to go through the motions. I wonder what will happen when the dietician tells her it's not what I'm eating that's making me put on weight. I'll keep you informed.
Hi cameronita, I have also been on levothyroxine for a long time and all of a sudden have been experiencing hot sweats and since being on it have high glucose boardering on diabetes. I would be interested in what your readings were for tsh t3 and t4, I had my tsh done which was .08 and t4 was .18. They said that's normal but cut my levo down to 50 a day. Been to two doctors both contradict each other, one says 100 is right the other says 50 is right. Any info would help.
ne says 50 is too low the other says 100 is the right dose.
Hi Fay....My tsh was a .18 and they told me that was too low....and they had not checked my t4...That is why I changed the endocrinologist to a naturopathic doctor. I was not getting a straight answer. I was on a higher dose and they cut me back to 88 mcg. So actually I believe a .08 is too low and that is why they cut you back. That is low. which means you were taking too much levothyroxine.
I am doing ok at the moment started armour and taking a supplemental hormonal package of estrogen and progesterone.
I hope you get all your answers....I hate having these problems.....as I am sure you do too...
Good luck....
Cameron
Hi...I was 165 lbs and got thyroid disease and gained 10 pounds then I went on levothyroxine and gained another 15 pounds. Yes it is the levothyroxine. Water weight was so bad I gained 7 to 8 pounds on a meal and then lost it the next and then I would eat the next day and gain it again. A yo yo effect. I was at my wits end. I stopped this med at my own urgence. The doctors were irritated but I will tell you I am stalled at 185 and gain a minimal of 3 to 5 pound water to a max of 188 but the weight gain of fat has stopped. That steady increase of a pound or two every two weeks....Stop this med and you will see....I proved it to myself....
I wish you luck....this is an awful disease....
Cameron
Tsh levels
Tsh levels
hi Cameron just got my readings back tsh is now 2.15, t3 is 3.8 and t4 is 12.0. Can anyone shed some light on these readings, are they in the normal range?
hi cameronita: I totally agree with you. been on it for years and was always really skinny it runs in our family, but soon after i have gained and gained weight. ive been doing a lot of research and your nat doc is right about adding t3 to t4. all my doc does is up my dose im now up to 1.12 so i read an article about natural products to take. Kelp which has iodine in it is great to regulate it. i stopped taking the med and im waiting to see a difference. theres also natural products at the health food store like sprouts. its a great store that has great prices and fresh produce and foods. if you dont have one close to you check them out on line. one product they also sell is raw thyroid a lot of people like it they cant keep it on the shelf you can special order it but before the kelp or raw thyroid or anything else talk with you nat doc. Please let me know I cant keep going on this way. besides the weight gain and no sleep im turning into a zombie. take care J.T.
hi cameron: i will look up armour but what is the hormonal package besides estrogen and progesterone. Is the estrogene and pro all natural. Know any good nat doc. here in the states. im in san diego calif. your right there should be a class action suit but usually the attorneys get most of the money and the top main people who file the suit in the first place get a good chunk. Let me know Im in. these western docs have to start looking at everything and all your symptoms and put them together. the problem is that they do one thing at one time and may miss something vitally important. take care jt
I am on armour right now and it takes about two months to get in my system but my nat doc told me that since I have Hashimotos...Iodine is not good for me....so I have quit taking it. I had the one with kelp in it. He prescribed for me pure fish oil.....he said i am in bad need of it. So if you have Hashimotos iodine with kelp is not good.....do some resewarch if you have hashimotos....I am on a strict diet now cause i also have diabetes. So processed sugars are poison to me. But I am looking forward to recovery soon.....I will post again in two months after my meds take affect....Good luck with your weight and your meds.....But we do need t3 with t4.....Usually endocrinologsts will prescribe only levothyroxine cause it is a large phamecutical and the company pays the doctors to prescribe only their medication....that is why we all search out naturalistic doctors who are not paid by the large companies....I am so thrilled I found one. They will listen to you....I will tell you that when I went to one conventional endo and she told me when I told her that my body was not converting the t4 to t3 correctly...All she told me was well perhaps you need to go to a naturalistic doctor cause he can prescribe medicine that I cannot......bingo she opened up a revelation to me.....the large companies are putting chemicals in our food and our medicines that are harmful to our bodies and its all for money.....so be careful....you need another med if you are gaining weight. I have stopped gaining weight since I went off of levothyroxine. I now only have like a 5 pound water gain that goes back to my now normal 185 pounds. I have learned a lot since all this has attacked my body last year....so good luck.....my best wishes to you.....
Hi ....I just wanted to say that medicaid pays for a naturalistic doctor and also for armour thyroid.....I am so happy to be off of levothyroxine. I believe i am on my way to a recovery and am hoping I do not have any long lasting effects of that medication. I was so weak and had no energy and could hardly walk....now that i am off of that med I am regaining my health......good luck to you.....
My hormonal package is all natural done at a compound pharmacy. I have been on it for three days and so it needs time to work in my system...but I will keep all posted. I am hoping with the armour that I can get back to normal. My doctor told me I should begin to feel better after two weeks. I am in Washington state and there are two that i found that are good . I am going to one that also is a chiropractor he is wonderful.....I wish I had found him earlier. I am on medicaid so it was hard to find one that accepts that . Two I found here. But it is worth looking. He has filled me in on why all endos give all levothyroxine and only that. That med is a slow killer.......I already have felt better off that med and have regained strength and lessened pain....with no more weight gain.....but it has been a large lesson learned with lasting damage to my system.....good luck to you.....
Also medicaid is covering my Armour...That is a blessing......
We are as guinea pigs. The large pharmacueticals have bought off the conventional doctors so that is why everyone gets Levothyroxine. That is why when I asked to be taken off of it I was denied that request. I saw the endo once and that was enough....She told me that a naturopathic doctor could prescribe meds that she could not and I believe it....especially after what I know now.....it is truly an outrage. They are really killing all of us slowly.....I hope you have had success with your hypothyroisism.
Cameronita
I also live in Washington State and have been having issues of late
with my levothyroxine and how it is impacting my body. I am seeing many
of the issues I am experiencing in several of the posts I have read here today. I would be interested in knowing where to find these two good doctors you mention. This is my first time posting so I am not sure how to proceed.