Edema, weight gain, and hypothyroid

[NinaNinaBallerina]

   Hi! I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis 4 years ago. I went on Synthroid and I lost over 50 pounds and gained back my strength. In the last year, I have had to drastically increase my dosage. Even this did not help alleviate any of my symptoms (weight gain, hair loss, dry hair/skin, fatigue...etc you know the drill). I then went to a specialist who told me I had hyperthyroid temporarily, and I was on wayy too high medication, and decreased it by half. (now on .15 mg,was previously on .3) You would think this would finally fix the problem, but it has not! I'm not sure when I will ever gain my hair back or feel healthy again. On top of that, I am now experiencing edema (fluid retention) in all parts of my body, but especially the hands and feet. It's so bad that I cannot even slightly get my rings on anymore and my feet and hands hurt from this. I also gained all the weight back and then some. I am due for my next blood test, but until then, can you please shed some light on this problem?! Any suggestions about the fluid retention? That's probably my bigest problem right now. I am very frustrated with the whole thing at the moment.

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

Give it some time.  The 0.3mg dose is too high for most people, but cutting it in half is a dramatic change that while appropriate most likely from a dose requirement standpoint, may make you feel like you hit a wall.  Would go ahead with the labs and re-evaluate.

May be worth considering adding some cytomel -- the evidence for T4/T3 combo is lacking, but some patients feel better.

[NinaNinaBallerina]

Do you think I should switch to cytomel rather than synthroid? Is it more effective?

[suzy25]

Cytomel would be in addition to synthroid. Synthroid is only T4 and cytomel would be adding T3 to your regime. You may have a problem converting T4 to T3. My T4 would be perfect and I would be feeling horrible. I finally found a doctor who would check my free T3 and T4 and my T3 was at the bottom of the range so I am now on armour thyroid. I feel TONS better. It does take awhile to notice the changes but it has been worth the wait.

[NinaNinaBallerina]

thanks so much!

[jikijane]

A related discussion, edema was started.

[hillsville]

A related discussion, thyroid removal and edema was started.