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Need follow-up advice please

by ripes6, Jun 28, 2009 04:41AM
Hello Dr. Lupo,

I wrote to you in June, 2008, and you gave me some very good advice. I'm a 37-year-old Canadian male, 177cm tall, who exercises daily and who used to be in perfect health before this awful illness. I have all the hypothyroid symptoms (very tired, sad moods, lethargic, bad constipation, dry skin, weight gain, cold body temperature in the morning) yet my blood tests are always inconclusive. I live and work in Taipei, Taiwan, and the doctors weren't going to treat me. You suggested I start Eltroxin at 100mcg. I found a doctor to prescribe me the medicine in July, 2008. My weight for 20 years was 75-76kg (never over 78kg) but ballooned to 90kg over one year ending in January, 2008. That's when all the terrible symptoms struck me and my weight became stuck at 90kg.

My problem now is that my doctor suggested I stop taking Eltroxin. He admitted to me that he has never seen a  patient suffering from hypothyroidism that didn't have conclusive blood tests. He is the head of endocrinology at a major hospital here. I'm not sure if he is telling me the truth. He says he's worried about my glucose levels, which are indeed up. My opinion is that I don't want to stop the Eltroxin because I don't want to be sick forever! I've had "pre"-diabetes since around 2000 so the Eltroxin has made that worse. [Now I take Januvia, which is better than Metformin was for me, but still not perfect. I've been taking Wellbutrin since June, 2008, to stabilize my mind so that I can function somewhat normally.]  However, the doctor has no other explanation about how to treat me-- other than stopping Eltroxin-- even though he believes I probably have hypothyroidism. It's strange.  

My Eltroxin now is at 350mcg and my doctor said this is "crazy." Crazy or not, I'm still very sick. At 200mcg my weight dipped to 86kg and then went right back up to 90kg. At 300mcg, my weight dipped to 86kg again and then back to 90kg. Now, at 350mcg, my weight has dipped to 85kg. It's been like this for one week. I've been on 350mcg for exactly four weeks now. Am I doing the right thing? Is 400mcg the next step? Have you ever had a patient like myself? And at what weight level may the symptoms finally disappear?

Your opinion will be invaluable.
Thank you,
Mark

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