Some background: I'm a 38 yr old female who has been suffering from some form of thyroid issues for at least 7+ years. I originally had graves disease and went through radioactive iodine treatment several years ago to "kill" my thyroid. Since then, I've been struggling to find the right dosage of medicine.
I'm 5ft to 5ft, 1" tall. My ideal weight is 115 lbs. I've slowly been creeping up and am now 130 lbs. I suffer from fatigue, sluggishness, lack of concentration mostly, with a few other symptoms thrown in every now and then. But these three are the worst. And when I say worst, I mean I'm at my freaking wits end with feeling like sh*t all of the time. I've pretty much resigned myself to never feeling "normal" again.
I originally started out of Synthroid. My endo tried higher doses, adding an extra pill on a day or two a week, etc. We've been "experimenting" with doses for several years now. About 2 years ago, we thought we got it right. I was on 50mcg synthroid and added cytomel. I was back down to my "normal" weight of 115 lbs. I felt pretty decent, was sleeping better, etc. Then within the last year or two, the weight has been creeping back up. I'm tired all of the time, with no good reason. Even when I get 8-10 hours of sleep, I still can't seem to make myself get up in the mornings and push snooze several times. At work, I can't concentrate. I lose my train of thought easily. My memory is suffering. Some days, I want to go to my vehicle on my lunch and take a nap. Speaking of naps, I take 2 hour naps every Saturday and Sunday. It's to the point that when I don't get a nap, I feel terrible.
Last week I went to my endo for my 6 month visit. I told him I feel like I'm back at square one, where I was several years ago when I first became hypo after the radioactive iodine treatment. I told him that I feel like I need a higher dose of meds because of the symptoms, how I feel, etc. I got my labs back yesterday. They said I have too much thyroid hormone in my body, so they are taking me off of Synthroid 2 days a week, but adding an additional 5mcg of Cytomel each day for a total of 15 mcg a day (he is hoping that, even though we are removing 2 days a week of Synthroid, that the addition of an extra Cytomel each day will help with the weight, fatigue, etc.).
Here are my labs from this last week:
THYROID PROFILE
Test Name Result Units Flag Reference Range Specimen Source
3100 - T-4, Total 8.4 mcg/dL 4.5-12.5
3110 - T-Uptake 30.7 % 25.0-35.0
3120 - TSH 0.11 ?IU/mL Low 0.30-4.50
3130 - T-7 (calc.) 2.58 1.20-4.30
I'm not understanding how, if I have too much hormone, why I am still gaining weight instead of losing it and still fatigued all of the time!! And I exercise on a regular basis, count calories, etc. I'm doing everything I can to help. In the past, when I had too much hormone, I lost weight (too much in fact). I just want to feel normal again. This feels so hopeless. I will say my endo is awesome. He's always willing to try different things. I know a lot of endos scoff at the weight issue, but it IS a big issue! I have a small frame, and this added 15 lbs makes a huge difference in how I look, how I feel, stamina, etc.