massive weight gain on eltroxin please help

[thyroidspice]

Hi everyone

So I was told to switch from the dessicated thyroid I have been on for my hypothyroidism for the past 12 years since it was not working so well. Granted, I had been missing the odd day here and there over the past year and I never took it at the same time each day and so I had a weight gain and my blood work showed my thyroid to be hypo again. So then my doc told me to raise my dessicated amount which I did and within a couple of months I went hyper a bit. At this point I switched to eltroxin. One month after taking it, my weight has gone up by 15lbs....this has never happened to me before! If anything I should be losing weight since when I started the eltrocin I also became a gluten free vegan!! My tests from the other day showed the eltroxin to be working, my TSH is 2.1 and my T4 is 14.1 but the endocrinologist told me I should go to weight watchers! And he also told me I had hashimotos and no amount of eating gluten free or vegan would help so do not bother. I am really depressed and wonder if I should go back to dessicated...need some help, please. :(

[thyroidspice]

thank you. I am going to print that out and take it to my doc.I will have to be forceful with him as he will be reluctant to do any testing beyond TSH.

One other thing I am experiencing which is strange is that I have a very itchy bottom of my foot...the middle of my foot on the bottom of it, crazy itchy all the time and has been for the past month...

[gimel]

Sending you a PM with a link I can't post here.

[thyroidspice]

What is an easy way I can explain to him why I want the reverse T3, in a few words? I also am thinking of going to a chinese acupuncturist.

[gimel]

One grain of desiccated is about 60 mg.  

Another thing that came to mind is that you should also get the doctor to test for Reverse T3.  RT3 is the mirror image molecule of T3, but RT3 is totally inactive.  Sometimes a hypo patient will convert too much T4 to RT3 instead of T3, and the result can be the same as having inadequate levels of Free T3.  Requesting the Reverse T3 test should really blow your doctor's mind.  LOL

[thyroidspice]

I felt no different on the 245mg as on the 185mg...the same non stop lethargy that makes me unable to do anything with my kids, can't even do housework, laundry piled up all over...I just feel heavy, tired and like a big blob. I was only doing 245 for 5-6 weeks but honestly noticed zero difference. I feel in a fog all the time and even after a full nights sleep, I still have no energy. I can't get anything done, the hours tick by and the most I can do is pop online but even that is draining. I just want to lay on the couch or the bed really.

I wish I knew why my thyroid changed in the first place. I had been on 185mg of dessicated for a long time, years, and had blood work done in Dec 2010 which showed my levels to be normal...so they told me. And I felt good and was losing weight, had more energy, life was good. But then at some point into 2011, I lost my energy, became droopy and lifeless and gained all the weight back that I had lost and more. Yet I was still just as active despite having no energy, I forced myself. And I was still eating the same way, pretty healthy. By Sept 2011 I was so tired of feeling so blah and fat so I gave up sugar...after 2 months, I still had no change and also was noticing a swelling of my upper stomach on and off so I went gluten free. But after a month of gluten free, nothing had changed. That is when I had my thyroid testing and was told it was TSH 10.1 but I just do not know when it changed, or why it changed.

I am confused about what you mean about grains, etc...I am thinking I should just go back to 185mg and split the dose, do 125mg mid morning on empty stomach and then 60mg after lunch? I don't know where else to start really....

I will try and get the lab test numbers from dec 2010 to see how good they were...I just am so confused over how and why it changed in 2011...

[gimel]

The conversion of T4 to equivalent desiccated is 75 mcg of T4 to one grain (60 mg).  So you can calculate how much desiccated to substitute.  I would not go beyond that amount as a start, and then you can gradually increase as necessary to relieve symptoms, subject to the doctor's agreement, of course.

Keep in mind that TSH is basically a useless test when taking thyroid meds.  If tested and your TSH is suppressed this does not mean that you are hyper, as I explained above.  So don't let the doctor convince you that suppressed TSH automatically means that you have become hyper and need to reduce your meds.

With desiccated med, you should split the dose and take half in the morning and half in the early afternoon.  You will get better absorption if you take it without food, but that is really a personal choice, as long as you do it consistently.

By the way, how were you feeling when you were taking 245 mg of desiccated?

[thyroidspice]

For now I think I should throw away this stupid eltroxin and go back to dessicated....any thoughts on what amount I should try? I was on 185mg, which was not working so well and I was 10.1 TSH...then I went up to 245mg but that showed me to be in the hyper range...so I am thinking if I go back to 185 and take it the best way possible, maybe things will level out. At least until I can test again...any idea on the best time of day to take it or with or without food?

[gimel]

Well, if the Endo gives you resistance to those tests, just explain that scientific studies have shown that hypo symptoms correlate best with Free T3, while Free T4 and TSH did not correlate at all.  Tell him that TSH cannot be shown to correlate well with either Free T3 or Free T4, much less with symptoms.  It is even less reliable after taking thyroid meds, and there are many scientific studies that show that to be true.  Also you can state that a suppressed TSH does not mean that you are hyper unless you have hyper symptoms, due to excessive levels of Free T3 and Free T4.  If he has any reservations about this info, offer to provide references to scientific studies that support what you have said.

You can also tell him that the most effective way to treat hypothyroidism is clinically, by testing and adjusting Free T3 and Free T4 as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels.  That is the way it was done before the advent of the TSH test, after which it was sold as the only test necessary to diagnose and treat a hypo patient. Unfortunately, as stated above,  the TSH test is inadequate as the main diagnostic for thyroid, because of the lack of correlation to Free T3 and Free T4, and especially hypo symptoms.

Insist on all the tests you mentioned.  Also, ask if the doctor is going to be willing to treat you clinically.  I would also ask if he is going to be willing to prescribe T3 type meds, if necessary to raise your Free T3 enough to relieve symptoms.  If the answers are negative, then you may as well stop wasting time there and find a good thyroid doctor.

[thyroidspice]

yes just TSH...I remember you were helpful to me before, I just checked my other posts from late 2011, so I have been waiting for this recent endocrinologist appt for awhile now. It was just such a let down. I am going to go and demand that my doc test my Free T3 and Free T4 along with Vit A, B12, iron and RBC magnesium. The endo did not feel any of that was needed! ARRGH! :(

[gimel]

When you say that after a couple of months with the increased amount of desiccated, that you went hyper, what was that diagnosis based on?  Was it based strictly on TSH level?