Thyroid new to all of this

[Ripley]

What a silly thing to type I meant to write Hep C.  I wonder what to do next. I was diagnosed with Hypothyrodism six month ago. My doctor immediately put me on .75mcg of Synthroid. Within a days I was climbing walls, having anxiety attacks, heart racing you know it I had it.  I put up with this for about a month as I thought it would adjust itself. Well to make a long story short my doctor had over  medicated me and took me off Synthroid for a month.  Next .25mcg. another blood test later and I was up to .50mcg, another blood test and I am now up to .75mcg.  I am now suffering from muscle cramps in my feet, legs and hands.  I have an appointment with an endoc. in Sept.to get a second opinion, should I try to get someone to take a look at me now, or do you think it is alright to wait  until Sept.?

[irishgal]

Hi everyone -  This is the first time I've posted to this forum and I have to admit all of you have helped me out a lot...its nice to know that I am not alone.  

With that being said I would like to pass on some of the thyroid knowledge I've learned through experience.

My Background --  I was diagnoised at 11 yrs old with Grave's disease/Hyper, by 15 (because I couldn't be regulated with PTU) had radiation.  My thyroid gland also by this time was 6x its normal size.  Goiter...yeah right...it felt like I swollowed an orange.  I am now hypo and have been all over the board with my synthroid dosage (up and down, up and down). Now I am 28 and pretty much have been to hell and back with my thyroid.  

The most important thing you need to know is the fact that you will always have symptoms, even if your blood tests come back normal, its just the severity of your symptoms that changes.  Your dosages will always need to adjusted.  As you get older your body changes which also has an effect on your thyroid function.  

For example, this past September I found out that my body now after 12 years is rejecting Synthroid.  My OB doctor had to keep increasing my Synthroid due to pregnancy...or so they thought.  By the time I got to an Endo I was on 300mcg of Synthroid and feeling like ****!!!!  I was literally being overdosed on meds and my levels were off the charts.  I was at great risk for "Thyroid Storm" and given that I was 7 months pregnant it was not a good thing.  What ultimately ended up happening was I had to also put on a T3 hormone supplm. called Cytomel which enabled my body to accept the Synthroid.  Not quite sure why this cocktail works but it does.  I still have a lot of my symptoms but to be honest I've had this condition for soooo long I truly don't know what it feels like to be normal.  Currently I am on 200mcg of Synthroid and 25 mcg of Cytomel.  

I guess I've learned that you take it one day at a time and educate yourself about your condition the best you can.  Plus you are not alone...you are not crazy or a hypocondriac!!!!

Sorry for my long drawn out story.

[Heather127]

I was very interested in reading about the muscle cramps you guys are having.  My husband had his thyroid out in March 05 and has been in a constant battle with the Synthroid.  His first endo started him at .200 and his body went into shock.  It was insane.  The new endo told him he should have been started low then increased, which to me was common sense anyhow.   He is still trying to work out the dosage and still suffering from the fatigue, weight gain and these horrible cramps in his legs, arms, chest and stomach.  They only last up to 30 seconds or so and come on at any given time.  Is this similar to what you guys are experiencing?  Thanks for your opinions.

[layla]

If you are dealing with HCV and thyroid it will be VERY hard to find a doc that is good and experienced at dealing with both. If this is the case you should try to get in to see and endo doc as soon as you can but make sure to ask if they have dealt with thyroid problems due to interferon or HCV. I am curious to hear your situation.

[v eggie dip]

are currently on treatment for the Hep C?

[ShannieK]

Hi, It's so frustrating I know, I understand.  You sound like me too, they started me with the 25 of Synthroid and did the 50 , 75, and than 100, My symptoms never got better so they kept bumping me up in dose.  Well Long story short, Sorry.  when I got to 100, I started having palpitations, and they dropped me back to 50 of synthroid thinking that I was over medicated, but within the month I was back up to 100 again, because the other doses made me even feel worse.  Another long story short, On some doses you just don't feel well.  75 was a terrible dose for me also, I just was real tired and had terrible muscle aches, they bumped me up to 150mcgs, past all of this, and now I feel great, the best I have felt in a year.  I am a firm believer in maybe sometimes the dose isn't high enough, it has really rung true to me.  So many people jump to the conclusion that when the Heart palpitations start that you are on to high of a dose, so they bump your dose back, but if you bump up and go the other way sometimes that helps too, you can have the exact same symtoms if your dose is too low or too high, that's what makes this whole process so confusing I think.  I know that everyone is different and different people benefit from different things.  Just my experience, My muscles start aching and I start getting heart palpitations when my dose is not high enough, once the doctor bumps me up, I feel great.  Good luck to you

[mari c]

You sound a bit like me with the muscle cramps.  I have hypothyroidism diagnosted in Dec 04.  Started on Synthroid 50mcg, then after each blood test over the months have worked my way up to 137mcg in May.  I haven't had any palpitations but just a lot of muscle cramping (feet, legs, arms, hands).  About 6 weeks ago my muscles started twitches.  My Endo doesn't think it's related to my thyroid or Syntroid but his willing to alter my medication.  Maybe try a combination of T3 and T4.  I'm just trying to return his call regarding my blood work from last week.

I would try to move your appointment up if you can.  It's no fun having muscles cramps.  

Good luck.