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Avatar universal

aches and pain after TT

I had a TT back in Oct 2014 I have been taking the Levothyroxine ever since.  When I had my levels checked in December My thyroid level was at a 50, so they took my prescription from 75 mcg to 125 mcg.  Then in February, it had dropped to 40 so they increased me to 150mcg.  Then in march  2015, it had dropped to 25 so they increased me to 175mcg and just a few days ago i was at 11 so they increased me to 200 mcg.

My d3 levels were low so I have been prescribed 5000iu per day.  Recently my leg muscles have been hurting really bad.  So much so that if i sit on hard chair, i can barely take the pain.  It hurts in my upper legs the most.  Also my lower legs (from my knees to my feet) have been swelling more.  I have short legs that tend to tangle, so I deal with sometime swelling especially when i wear flats.. but now it is every day and the swelling is stretching my skin so bad that it is dry and itchy and a rash formed on my left leg where i was scratching.    My endo doesn't want to really look into that too much yet until they get my level normal and then see how it goes.

My question is can a level of 11 still be high enough to warrant this much pain and swelling?

I have noticed other symptoms too such as cold sensitivity, some minor hair loss and weight gain and my finger nails are brittle.  I am also tired all the time.

I am worried that I am never going to feel normal again, and my thyroid was only  removed due to a large node.  there was no cancer(which i an definitely thankful for).  

To top it all off. I also have severe muscle pain in my low back that i have had for going on 10 years now that no one can figure out and this is just making it worse.. before I couldl rely on my legs if i couldnt rely on my back.. now I cannot.
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Avatar universal
Is TSH the only thyroid test being done by your doctor?  If so, that absolutely doesn't work.  TSH is a pituitary hormone that is affected by so many things that at best it is only an indicator, to be considered along with more important indicators such as symptoms, and also levels of the biologically active thyroid hormones, Free T4 and Free T3.  You should always be tested for both Free T4 and Free T3, which are not the same as Total T4 and Total T3,  Free T3 has been shown to correlate best with hypo symptoms such as those you mention, while Free T4 and TSH does not correlate well at all.  In addition, when taking thyroid med, TSH is even less useful as a diagnostic.  

Hypo patients often find that their body does not adequately convert the T4 med to T3, resulting in relatively high Free T4 levels, with Free T3 levels that are low in their range.  Many members say that symptom relief required Free T4 at the middle of its range, at minimum, and Free T3 in the upper third of its range, or as necessary to relieve symptoms.  Symptom relief should be all important, not just test results, and especially not TSH results.  So you need to find out if your doctor is going to be willing to treat clinically as described.  If not, then you will need to find a good thyroid doctor that will do so.  

So if you have test results for Free T4 and Free T3, please post them so we can better assess your status.  If not, then you need to get those tested, and always make sure they are tested each time you go in.  Also, since hypo patients are frequently too low in the ranges for Vitamin D, B12 and ferritin, those need to be tested also.  
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Avatar universal
Is your doctor testing anything besides TSH?  If so, please post results and reference ranges (they vary lab to lab and have to come from your own lab report).  TSH is a pituitary hormone and an indirect measure of thyroid status.  FT3 and FT4 are the actual thyroid hormones and are necessary for a complete thyroid picture.

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