Thyroid Cancer by Chris5666

[Med Help]

by chris5666

To: Dr. Lupo

I have felt bad for nearly three years before the doctors finally figured out something was wrong. I have thyroid cancer and had my thyroid removed just before Christmas....one month ago. I am still feeling horrible. I am on Synthroid 100, and vitamins, and even Lexapro now...and yet, I am still not feeling any better.  I am too tired and achy every day! When am I ever going to feel normal again? Was all of this even worth my time? I have Radiation treatment in April and do not wish to continue any of the treatments unless I start feeling better now. It is just not worth it anymore.

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

The radioactive iodine is a one-time treatment.  After that, most thyroid cancer patients are done with the active treatment and only need followup with ultrasound, labs and thyroid medication monitoring.  Talk to your doctor about your target TSH (usually around 0.1 initially after thyroid cancer treatment, then often increases to 0.2-0.8) - it takes time to adjust to all that you've been through and sometimes to get the levels straight....give it some more time.  Also make sure your calcium is normal.

[mtkst13]

hi,
it will take time for your synthroid to work.  it sounds like you are hypothyroid and that you need a higher dose of synthroid OR your body is still adjusting to the dose.  what is your tsh?  how much do you weigh?

i'm hypothyroid and on synthroid.  it took 2-3 months to find the right dose and to adjust to the meds.  the antidepressants may help, but that too takes some time for it to build up in your system.  i'm on sertraline, so i have experience with that as well.

i read your previous post, so i know how stressed and down you are.  you may benefit from talking to someone or getting into a support group.

hang in there.  it will slowly get better.  

[ChitChatNine]

My turning point was acceptance ... I didn't realize until I starting talking to others there isn't a rule of total acceptance .. some people don't ever 100% accept their thyroid cancer diagnosis and when I realized that is an okay thing to do, I started to feel better on a daily basis ... one day I may totally be ok with all this stuff, but as of today I'm 95% there .. the other 5%, well, no guarantees I'll ever be ok with it and that's ok and I've stopped beating myself up over that 5% .. maybe talking about your feelings along with your doc and med change may help you through this very difficult time right now.

C~

[chris5666]

I dunno what my tsh is...but i am 136.  Last i heard it was a little low, but i have no idea what that would mean.  Is there some sort of calculation that endcrinologists use to figure this stuff out or something?