# Levothyroid



## sciontc89 (Apr 24, 2011)

Hi everyone

I wanted to know if anyone has any past experience with the subject prescription?

I've been on this prescription since I was 10, at first the medicince was working well. Now for the past 2 years I've been gaining weight, a lot actually. I've worked out, ate right and nothing. I asked my doctor to see if I can raise my dosage but she refused because she said that my levels were normal....obviously something isnt right...Anyone had this experience?

Also I don't have insurance right now, what happens if I got my pills somewhere else and raise my dosage can I get sick? sorry if that sounds like a dumb question but I'm desperate to lose this weight and for some reason I cant lose it!!! HELP!


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## sciontc89 (Apr 24, 2011)

I also have hypothryoidism


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## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

*do not raise the dosage without the doctor's express permission.* you will be inviting more problems.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

sciontc89 said:


> Hi everyone
> 
> I wanted to know if anyone has any past experience with the subject prescription?
> 
> ...


Welcome to the group!

First off, I would go doctor shopping and secondly, may we see your most recent lab results and the ranges? We must have the ranges; different labs use different ranges.

Which med are you on and how much?


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

sciontc89 said:


> Hi everyone
> 
> I wanted to know if anyone has any past experience with the subject prescription?
> 
> ...


Ask the doctor who tested you for your blood results and see for yourself. I never trust the doctor when they say "your labs are normal" because in range doesn't necessarily mean in rigt range for me.

For $85 you can have your TSH, Free T-3 and Free-T 4 tested at HealthcheckUSA.com


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## Piflay (Mar 12, 2010)

*Warning, slight rant included in the following*:anim_03:

I've been wondering about my dosage lately as well. I have my blood draw tomorrow so I'll post labs as soon as I get them, but I've been on 100mcg of Levo since December and can accept and realize that part of the weight increase was my body remaining in Hypo stage after RAI in August 2010, but my levels normalized by late January and they told me to continue with dosage.

Between late Jan and first week of April i gained 10 lbs, which seemed high to me considering i was "normal" range, working out hour+ every day, and eating 1200-1400 calories. I would have been happy with -2 lbs to be honest, but + 10 just doesn't seem like the right math to me. Endo suggested adding 30 min to my workout :sad0049: and then attempted to "comfort" me by saying that some people have body's that are just naturally large and find that to be the comfort zone for the body. I'm sorry, but 40-50 lbs overweight is not acceptable to me.

I see lots of people posting about their dosages being 125+, even my hypo friend is on 150 (she still has her thyroid!) so it leaves me questioning how they calculate what's right for your body.

My last appt consisted of them telling me I was at the bottom of normal, but still normal. The only reason they ended up increasing my RX was because I told them my husband and I would like to try for babies, result was increase of 12.5mcg.


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

Piflay said:


> *Warning, slight rant included in the following*:anim_03:
> 
> I've been wondering about my dosage lately as well. I have my blood draw tomorrow so I'll post labs as soon as I get them, but I've been on 100mcg of Levo since December and can accept and realize that part of the weight increase was my body remaining in Hypo stage after RAI in August 2010, but my levels normalized by late January and they told me to continue with dosage.
> 
> ...


Be sure to ask for the FT-4 and FT-3 tests and post along with ranges. Your weight gain does not sound "normal"


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Piflay said:


> *Warning, slight rant included in the following*:anim_03:
> 
> I've been wondering about my dosage lately as well. I have my blood draw tomorrow so I'll post labs as soon as I get them, but I've been on 100mcg of Levo since December and can accept and realize that part of the weight increase was my body remaining in Hypo stage after RAI in August 2010, but my levels normalized by late January and they told me to continue with dosage.
> 
> ...


We don't mind rants and welcome!

If you will; please get copies of your most recent labs and post the results and the ranges here. We must have the ranges. Different labs use different ranges.

Once some of us have a look at that, we can advise you better I believe.

Why the RAI? Hyper, cancer?


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## Piflay (Mar 12, 2010)

Well thanks to my awesome regular physician, I got lab results dating back to january 

January 20:
TSH: 4.238 (range .400-5.0)
T4 Free: 0.8 (0.6- 1.2)

March 30:
TSH: 3.187 (0.4- 5.0)
T4 Free: 1 (0.6-1.2)

May 4:
TSH: 1.077 (0.4-5.0)
T4 Free: 1.2 (0.6-1.2)
T3 Free: 3 (2.3-3.9)

The other good news is that two days after I had my blood draw I took a pregnancy test that came back positive and we confirmed it with the primary physician on 5/7 hugs7 this also means I have no delusions about losing major weight right now but rather a fear that I will gain too much since I'm def not down any from the beginning of the year either. Doc told me I'd be good if I kept weight gain around 10-15 lbs.

Reason for rai was hyper-graves that was not responding well on meth and concerns about pregnancy during continued adjustment phases on meth or other drugs.
Suggestions? Thoughts? Advice? All are welcome and thanks for always being such good listeners here. *hugs*


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## northernlite (Oct 28, 2010)

I have no advice for you about pregnancy and thyroid replacement but I did want to say Congrats to you and your husband!


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## lavender (Jul 13, 2010)

Whoa...Your TSH made a huge shift in like 6 days, which is unusual and makes me think that TSH is really not useful for you. Docs may disagree, but I happen to think Free T3 and Free T4 are the most important tests for those of us with no thyroids, or dead ones! When I look at your labs, your T3 tells the story. It's still pretty low in the range, which tells me that your body does not seem to be making enough T3 on its own like your doctors expect it to.

If you're taking levothyroxine, it only supplements T4, and the theory is that your body will convert it into T3. Mine doesn't and from what I have read, many of us without thyroids don't convert to T3. That means finding a med to supplement T3. Basically, your options are to add cytomel, a synthetic T3 to your current levothyroxine; or switching to a med that combines T3 and T4, like Armour, a med made out of pig thyroid.

I take Armour, but for some reason I have a felling that totally switching meds in early pregnancy is not a good plan. You don't want to make any major changes too fast right now. I would think that adding some cytomel, starting with a small dose, like 5mcg, waiting 6 weeks for labs, and adjusting slowly based on your labs, would help you feel better and function well, and maintain that pregnancy.

That's my unprofessional opinion. I would suggest talking this all over with a doc you feel comfortable with because you're trying to care for 2 right now, perhaps. I do know it's important to keep your labs out of the hypo range to maintain a healthy pregnancy.

By the way, Congratulations!


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