Hi there,
I have Hashimoto's and took Levo for the first med. I was 165 pounds. I ballooned up to 203. I also retained massive water retention of up to 7 to 9 pounds on top of that. I thought I was dying. Literally. I was thinking about my will. I asked the Endo to please take me off of Levo and she refused to. She told me that she cannot due to contractual restrictions with the manufacturer of Levo. She told me to seek out a natural doctor if I want a change. So I did. I tried Armour next and lost 10 pounds. But it was still not correct so I switched to WP throid and was on that for about 6 months and it did nothing for me at all. My water retention was getting worse with this med. So I asked to be put on a T3 only med cause i had a problem with converting and so my reverse T3 was to high at times. Or on the high end of normal. My natural doctor put me on Cytomel and I am now down to 180. I have a minimum of a 4 pound water retention on top of that. Not too bad but i lost from 203 to 180 in a year and a half. That is so good for me. But I also had a ratio where my estrogen was too high over my progesterone. So my doctor also put me on 200 mg of progesterone. I can tell that the 200 is not enough and so will ask for about a 50 mg increase. I was estrogen dominant and that causes weight gain as well as water retention. So I finally now am getting everything in check with just a T3 only med cause your body does not need reverse T3 to function and I take no T4 with this. And then I take my progesterone with no estrogen but the estriol. Estriol is the protective estrogen. Estradial is the one that will make you put on the weight if is it is not the correct ratio to progesterone. I had so much study for hours finding all I could about this disease and the hormones. With all of this together I am finally feeling like I did before I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I of course am not there yet but so much closer than I ever have been.
The reason that woman told you it was not the med is because she probably does not take it. But that aside Levo has side effects and not everyone can take it. It is a T4 only med that relies on your body to convert the T4 to the active needed T3 for the body to function. If your body does not convert well like mine then that med is a big problem. Did the doctor check you reverse T3 and also your antibodies and your estriol estrone and estradial and also you progesterone level. Your ratio of Estrogen to Progesterone needs to be in balance or you will retain water and also weight. Even if the thyroid is normal with meds the hormones need to be balanced.
I wish you so much luck in your steps to wellness.
Thank you,
Cameron