two drs with two different opinions

[froggy0936]

I had total thyroidectomy 12/17/09 and was started on 50mcg of synthroid because I have anxiety and endo wanted to ease me into synthroid. I had appt with pcp yesterday who looked @ my bloodwork and said I needed to be raised to 100mcg immediately..(I see endo on 2/18/10). Endo said for me to go to 75mcg so I don't trigger anxiety and pcp said absolutely not and to take 100 mcg. I feel like crap and don't want the anxiety symptoms again so im taking the 75mcg, but I know it needs to be increased eventually. I need to start feeling better and find work again. My labs are T-uptake 1.08. T4 5.6 and my TSH is 66.060 which prompted pcp to say "holy crap." How can two doctors be looking at the same thing and have such differing opinions? Am I safe to only go up to the 75mcg or should I listen to pcp? Please help. I feel awful and this is going to CAUSE me anxiety!  

[froggy0936]

Thank you for the advice Smilerdeb. Im sure that you guys are right and I appreciate your insight. I think alot of the problem is that I feel endo should have bumped up my dose a bit sooner. You figure I only had bloodwork done once since my TT on 12/17/09 and for TSH to be 66.060 I'm thinking maybe a month or so after surgery, maybe he should've started increasing med then. Who knows? I see him 2/18/09 but I started the 75mcg Saturday so we'll see how it goes. I know people who have had this done and they are getting along fine. I know everyone is different....guess I just wish I was one of those people! Thanks again to all and it's nice to know I'm not alone! God Bless.

[Smilerdeb]

baby steps is the key to success.
Just because you have no thyroid , doesnt mean you cant go 'drug induced hyper'....and that is NOT a nice feeling.
Take things slow and if you have to, increase your meds every 2 weeks to get to 100mcg but to go from 50mcg to 100mcg in one hit is...madness.
You will feel one 'almighty hyper rush' and thats not good.
Take the 75mcg for 2 weeks to ease your body to the increase.
Then see how you are and see what your Endo thinks.
I agree with the Endo (although I am not a fan of Endo's lol).
Hope all goes well.

[blsdnsvd]

Your Welcome! I'm new and learning about being "thyroidless" as well. Some endo's and surgeon'd do believe in starting the patient on a dosage that basically equals their body mass (weight). I'm glad that my doc did not or else i would probably be laid up somewhere (lol)....She did say that 25mcg wouldn't do anything for me, so 50mcg is where we started and i'm sure that 75mcg won't be my last stop, however, being gradually increased shouldn't effect us physically as much as being dramatically increased would. Good luck with the laptop. I will add you, to make it easier until you learn your way around....lol. Be sure to monitor all of your "new" symptoms as bring it to the attention of your endo.

[froggy0936]

Thank you so much for answering me! I'm new to this and not real sure of what I am doing lol. I'm going to follow your advice and the endos. Especially being that I see him this week. My pcp is a great doc but scared the hell out of me with his reaction to my bloodwork. Maybe some people as you and I, do start out on a low dose and need to gradually build up. I know I am blessed to still be here having survived cancer, etc. I guess I'm just frustrated with not feeling good and miss the kind of person I was. I hope that we can stay in touch! I wish you nothing but the best. I'm going to try to figure out how to add you as a contact or friend. I just got this laptop a couple of weeks ago and am still learning my way around lol. God Bless you!    

[blsdnsvd]

I also had a TT on 12-17-09 and was started on 50mcg/ 4 weeks post. I suffered from anxiety long ago but still have the "pleasure" of getting "panic attacks" on occasion. I never mentioned having anxiety to my endo because i guess it wasn't a present issue. Once my labs came in before i started the med's, my tsh was 39.51. My endo did not increase my med's until i told her that i was very exhausted. It was increased to 75mcg, which is my current level. I had another set of labs done last week and hav an appt on 02-23 and we will see what she says. Since i increased to 75mcg, i did notice having minor "panic attacks" and problems with my pressure and heart rate. I'm  not a doc, however i do believe in increasing at a slow rate because you can have increased symptoms if your dosage is drastically changed.  Also, it takes a while for the med's to take affect as well. Your endo and pcp must work together, not against eachother. I would take sides with the endo being that this is his/her field. Be Blessed!