<p>I had a lot of hair loss when I started medication also. It is a known side effect that you can find in the insert. I was very alarmed by the amount of hair I lost for about 3 months. I also had other symtoms of overdosage (also at 50mcg), but the doctor dismissed the symptoms since my blood test was “normal”. I almost quit taking the medication on my own, but I stuck with it and my body finally adjusted. I think some people need to “sneak up” on their dosage and you may be one of those people.</p>
<p>Sort of. Insurance companies can no longer decline you because of pre-existing conditions. However, they will medically underwrite, and there’s no limit to the premium they can charge.</p>
<p>That’s terrible that several of you were never told how to take this medication. But I’m also surprised that the pharmacist didn’t put that right on the bottle. Mine has a bright label - you can’t miss it. They also include a very detailed printout of how to take, drug interactions, possible side effects, etc. with every medication they dispense.</p>
<p>Terriwt - have you tried raising the head of your bed 4-6 inches up? I used to have issues with GERD and also lots of stomach pain, and took Prilosec, etc. After we raised the bed, the problem went away, and I stopped taking those meds. Amazing how one small modification can make such a large change!!! ;)</p>
<p>My typical MO is to avoid any food at least three hours prior to sleep. I think the reflux intensification in the last few days is that fact that I just don’t have a lot of food in my stomach, so the acid spends more time on the lining. Actually, I did not have it today, but I slept on the couch last night (fell asleep there unplanned), a bit more upright. I also took the beta blocker as close as I could to falling asleep, and I did NOT have the heart pounding this morning when I woke up, which was nice. My friend who’s a PA in Austin has had great success with betaine hcl, with digestive enzymes 15 minutes before meals with her patients. She said they often do better on that than the PPIs. I just don’t want to start changing too many variables at this moment but I will seek this route down the line. But I do think if I can just get food in my stomach, even a small amounts, more often throughout the day, it will help.</p>
<p>I’m also not quite convinced that 88mcg. will be the right dosage for me. If I was on 100mcg. and doing OK with up to half of the medicine not being absorbed when I took it with food and meds, then wouldn’t it make sense that I should be on half of that 100mcg dose that was working? </p>
<p>Since my cholesterol jumped so high in the last month, the endo wants me off the seroquel (which I’ve only been on for about a month) which has a side effect of increasing cholesterol (which lower estrogen can do also and we now know my estrogen has lowered). The most recent dose I’d been on the last few days was just 50mg, but it was time released. He gave me a few of the 25mg, which are not time released and I started that last night. I did notice just a bit of a difference today. I keep hoping that each day I get through, I’m closer to feeling somewhat normal. But yea, I’m not convinced that 88mcg. is the final answer, especially now that I’m officially perimenopause. The endo said most women need less levoxyl when their estrogen drops. Guess we’ll see.</p>
<p>^^ I think that is true. Although I’m “older” I’m apparently one of those later in life menopause women…inching slowly toward it but not there yet. My thyroid dose has slowly been decreasing over the past 5+ years right along side the estrogen decreases. My TSH has slowly been moving downward simultaneously even with lowering doses. I was at .3 last month so I’m guessing they will lower it again in 6 months and they told me to call if I start feeling hyper (I know how that feels). It’s a balancing act and my daily pill intake now includes D and Omega 3 and a B vitamin and Calcium and Synthroid. Last year I fought like cats and dogs but he added a low dose of Lipitor because my good cholesterol was decreasing. H and I laugh and say we’ll have one of those 7 day pill keepers before we even hit 60 just to keep track of the recommended vitamins and what we need to keep our bodies humming along. My T3 and T4 have always been fine so I don’t need/want Cytomel. But thyroid up and down is a bummer after decades of constant Synthroid dosing and feeling good. I told my doc after thirty years my Thyroid should simply be dead.</p>
<p>Thyroid newbie here. Just read the whole thread, but am still learning, so apologies in advance.</p>
<p>Have been struggling with weight loss for years, the extra 15-20 pounds just not responding to vigorous exercise or conventionally dieting. I will spare you the boring details I have already unloaded on the wellness thread, but long story short, managed to make some headway recently by switching to a low carb diet.</p>
<p>Just had some long overdue bloodwork done and the results seem to indicate good levels of good cholesterol, low triglycerides, glucose levels good, so no indication of insulin resistance. Bad cholesterol is high, but speculation is that that is probably the expected result of the low carb diet and the recent weight loss.</p>
<p>My pcp also had them test TSH. The only symptoms I have of hypothyroid are slightly dry (but not terrible) skin, periodic hairloss (again nothing dramatic) and the weight thing.</p>
<p>Test came back at 5.07</p>
<p>Any thoughts on how I proceed? I have had no comments on any of my lab results from my doc.</p>
<p>While 5.07 is probably within the normal range for TSH (the range varies by lab) some physicians consider anything over 3.0 as evidence of possible hypothyroidism. My latest TSH was 2.5 and my Gyn said for someone with known thyroid disease (life-long, started out with hyperthyroidism in my twenties, burned itself out, was diagnosed with hypo 10 years ago),it’s better to get the TSH closer to 1.0. Some people feel better at even lower levels. My PCP refused to adjusted my thyroid meds saying it was normal. I went to my GYN because my hair is falling out by the handful and thought maybe it was hormones. She said that’s not due to hormones but it could be thyroid and adjusted my medication.</p>
<p>The problem is many physicians feel as long as the TSH is within normal lab limits there is no reason to treat it. You might want to get a second opinion from another md. It’s hard to get many physicians to take this seriously. Good luck.</p>
<p>^^^^An endocrinologist would also diagnose and prescribe for what MomLive is describing. The Triple Whammy Cure, by David Edelberg, MD has a good discussion of treating a hypothyroid condition with elevated TSH, as well as other hormone issues re to adrenals, seretonin, etc.</p>
<p>Have not read the whole thread, but definitely support those here recommending seeing an endocrinologist. And…the best one you can find. Do your research. I struggled needlessly for years after a PCP misdiagnosed me, ruling out a thyroid issue by misreading a bloodtest. It was finally caught by a nurse, but I then landed in the care of an endocrinologist who…well, let us just say that my current endo found his treatment alarming. I finally have an endocrinologist worth his weight in gold and I feel SO MUCH BETTER. He does the right tests, he listens to me and we collaborate. To answer the initial OP, I ended up not on Armour (though he would have prescribed it - I asked) but on a combination of a T4 and a T3, tailored over time to exactly what is right in my particular case. Oh…and keep an eye on your kids. It is often genetic - 4+ generations here.</p>
<p>With a 5.07 it’s possible your physician might check for antibodies (to see if you have Hashimotos), he/she might check t3 and t4, if your t3 and t4 are within normal limits your physician may not do anything and recheck in 3-6 months…it’s difficult as physician’s seem to do all sorts of things. I feel best around 1 but I bounce around between 1 and 8 and we don’t adjust my dose and I don’t take Cytomel, just the Synthroid. If I fall below 1 I do get heart flutters. If you are prescribed it’s good to read up on the drugs and understand the pros and potential cons and make an informed decision that is correct for you. </p>
<p>Also each person has different combinations of symptoms when they are out of range on the high end. I was very, very “ill” when I was originally diagnosed and was in college thinking I just had mono because of the extreme fatigue, now I recognize the symptoms quickly. For me my legs become very heavy and I am extremely fatigued and alittle depressed, and constipated. Increased hair loss happens to, but that is usually a week or so after I notice I’m not in range. The symptoms can be very similar to low iron and I’ve been anemic off and on so generally get checked for both. The ability to gain weight easily is a bummer, but I have lots of 50-something friends who are not hypo who are gaining weight easily so we’re all in the same boat there and I don’t attribute it specifically to the hypothyroid because when I was diagnosed in my early twenties I was a normal weight.</p>
<p>My physician did tell me that after thirty years of hypothyroid there are some things typically seen…increasing glucose and decreasing good cholesteral. I have both now. Still in normal range for glucose but it has risen 1 point a year for many, many years from very low normal to now high normal and my good cholesteral is just south of where they want it to be and has been sinking for years. It seems to be stable now, but less than what the docs like. I noticed last year the physician wrote metabolic syndrome on my dx along with the usual myxedema which has been the dx for 3 decades.</p>
<p>“Metabolic syndrome” would tend to be progressive over time, chiefly associated with slowly progressive insulin resistance as we age. The best proxy measures for insulin resistance/metabolic syndrome are high triglycerides and low HDL “good” cholesterol numbers on a cholesterol lipid test. I don’t think it would necessarily mean anything in terms of thyroid, although thyroid is related to energy storage/burning issues.</p>
<p>My thyroid TSH test reading was 23 and my doc said that was nowhere near the highest he’s seen. 8 months into synthroid, it’s now in the 4.5 range and my doc hasn’t made a peep about further adjustments.</p>
<p>Thought I’d add my two cents in here for what it’s worth.</p>
<p>Have you also had your estrogen checked recently? My new endo says when your estrogen decreases in peri-menopause, it’s common for cholesterol to rise. My cholesterol shot through the roof over the last two months when my estrogen dropped due to peri-menopause (and I was barely eating anything, and what I was eating was healthy).</p>
<p>I’ve now been off of levoxyl for 25 of the last 29 days; had some blood work done at two weeks off and my TSH is now 3.99 - higher than I’d like to see it. When it was 2.166 back in April, I felt a bit fatigued. I’m still fighting fatigue, but I’m also still trying to gain strength back from my miserable fall and losing 25 lbs. I have gained at least 10 lbs. back, too, which is to be expected, only because I now have an appetite again, and I also just returned to working out the end of last week. </p>
<p>My internist wants me to see the endo mid-January, but when I called for an appointment, the soonest one was end of January. So starting mid-January, I’m going to start calling every day to check for cancellations (they do not keep a cancellation list). I am fairly confident the endo will have me go back on the levoxyl, but at 88mcg, 6/7 days a week as he suggested back in December. Also, my gyne spoke to both my internist and endo about putting me on bio-identical hormones, but she and I played phone tag last week, and I’m just going to wait until after the holidays to try to reach her again; but I think she wants to add estrogen as well as progesterone, so if I’m getting estrogen replacement through that, I’m hoping my cholesterol will come back down a bit.</p>
<p>Glad you’re feeling somewhat better, teriwtt. Hopefully, you will be fully back on track soon.</p>
<p>I do have a question for those on estrogen…my GYN says there is no point in testing hormones because they fluctuate from hour to hour, day to day so a blood test really doesn’t tell you anything other than what your estrogen (or other hormone) was at that particular moment. I’ve also had two other physicians tell me this. She uses your symptoms as a guide for prescribing HRT. A friend’s alternative med MD had her do daily salvia tests for a month to get hormone levels (doing it at the same time every day for a month supposedly gives you a truer picture of what’s going on). Her doctor also said that a blood test is basically useless.</p>
<p>Just like the thyroid issue, there seems to be a LOT of controversy regarding HRT and testing. Am just wondering what others have been told about this. Sigh. I don’t understand why this stuff can’t be more straightforward. What a mess it is for a patient to have to navigate all the controversaries and different opinions!</p>
<p>???Maybe we should start a new thread (linked to this one in a post) about HRT???</p>
<p>I am very curious about the bio-identical approach to HRT… is it really better?
My endo says the only things to avoid is the premarin (from mares’ urine). I find that ironic, btw, because premarin IS naturally occurring! I have just avoided dealing with these things for fear of cancer, but I am always curious!!
I have a 20 yr old D who may have to go one HRT, so I am also interested for her…</p>
<p>Anyway, I am looking for rational middle-ground perspective on that particular HRT issue.</p>
<p>P.S. My endo has seen (and it even happened with my tow teen D’s) that low thyroid DOES lead to High Cholesterol. I am not sure if it s direct connection, or a result of higher blood sugar/onset of metabolic syndrome, which occurs when the body stops burning as much as it should, no matter what/how much we eat or how much we exercise, as in hypo.</p>
<p>This is all very confusing because hormones interact with each other. And their levels do move around a lot. And we probably each do well on a certain set of levels unique to us. Thus, relying on blood tests is probably not appropriate… My endo definitely uses our symptoms and well-being to judge. He also does old- fashioned things like checking reflexes and body temp and the thyroid glands size, shape and bumpiness.</p>
<p>I’ve done a lot of research on the bio-identical HRT issue. I’ve never taken any HRT (other than some OTC progesterone cream) but my BF has had a heck of a time with peri-menopause and she started telling me about bio-identicals and I got curious and started scouring the medical journals.</p>
<p>To date, there are no studies about the safety of bio-identical hormones although a lot of people would have you believe they are safer. My current position on HRT is take it only if you really, really need it (and some women really do have unbearable Peri-menpausal symptoms) for the shortest amount of time possible. It really comes down to the risks vs. the benefits. For some women, their quality of life is so poor that it’s worth taking HRT even if there is a health risk associated with them.</p>
<p>Bioidenticals don’t have research studies because there is no money for Big Pharma to make off of them - bioidenticals can’t be patented. </p>
<p>Their benefit is that the side effects are less - not that they are better. However, who wants to take a daily pill made of horse urine?</p>
<p>A negative to the bioidenticals (the main one) is that their effect on osteoporosis hasn’t been tested - though there is no reason to believe that they are less effective than horse urine.</p>
<p>The pharmacies that compound the bioidenticals have been raised as another concern. There are several that sell online. It is better if you have a local pharmacy for whom your physician can vouch.</p>