Post thyroidectomy ACNE!

[sistajr]

Hi there Dr. Lupo,

I am 29 and I had my thyroidectomy done in 2010 due to Papillary Carcinoma. I also had the Iodine radiation and now am taking thyroid replacement. They started me on .15mg and now i am on .175mg. This entire experience is has changed me for the better for the most part, metabolism and sleep habits, BUT I have the WORST cystic acne all over my face and neck and it is painful and embarrassing!!! I have tried FEMed products to try balancing my hormones, many topical treatments, dietary changes, and now a pill called Pentothen. I am losing hope that i will ever have a clean and pretty face again. Have you seen this is others? Do you know how to resolve? I have asked my doc and he doesn't seem to think its related.. What are your thoughts?

PLEASE HELP  

Jess

[sistajr]

also yes, i am on Synthroid and only being treated based on TSH.

Here is an article i came across which was helpfull...

http://thyroid.about.com/od/thyroiddrugstreatments/a/t4t3combojcem.htm

[sistajr]

Hi gimel,  and thanks for all this information! I looked at the list and I have a lot of the symptoms listed in the list!!! A LOT!  I will look into the article you mentioned as well and it looks like a need to make an appointment with the doc. Seems strange he wouldn't have thought of this the last time i asked him about it...

Tammie thanks for your recommendation as well. I will look into both items to see if they are right for me and if so try it out.

I need to get to the bottom of this!
jess

[tammie250]

try witch hazel and ihle's paste mix the two together and it should help but if there is redness you might need a different med from your doc.

[gimel]

I meant to include that having a low-in-the-range Free T3, along with a high-in the-range Free T4 is not at all unusual.  It occurs because of inadequate conversion of T4 to T3.  Since Free T3 is the hormone that largely regulates metabolism and many other body functions, Free T3 in the lower half of the range frequently results in hypothyroidism.

[gimel]

This is the Forum for thyroid patients.  When the Doctors' Forum is not accepting further questions, they sometimes end up here.  To get your message to the Doctor you will have to keep trying to get through to the Doctors' Forum.  

I am curious about whether you are being treated based on only TSH.  If so, that doesn't work.  If you are interested in learning more about the possibility of being inadequately medicated, you might find my recent post to snickets to be of interest.  Inadequate testing and treatment of hypothyroid patients is a very common occurrence.  If you take a look at this list of typical hypo symptoms, do you find any others that you have?

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/basics_starthere/a/hypochecklist.htm

Even though you are taking a large dose of T4 med, you might find that your Free T3 is very low in the range, which is frequently associated with being hypo, and could contribute to a problem like yours.  Acne is often associated with hypothyroidism.