# Newbie



## KGraper (May 6, 2014)

Help! I am so overwhelmed! I was recently diagnosed with Hashimotos and hypo in March after a HUGE meltdown that led to blood work and my diagnosis. A few years ago I actually had subacute thyroiditis, and my endo didn't prescribe anything because he said most people recover (sort of "level out" were his words). After this meltdown recently, I had been seen by another endo at a hospital who actually told me that my thyroid wasn't functioning properly. She did start me on synthroid 137 mcg and I followed up with my endo. He examined me and said that my thyroid is enlarged, took a look at my TSH level (from the hospital blood work), it was 28, and said to continue taking the dosage prescribed and he would see me in JULY.

I began having side effects (awful tremors, heart palpitations, always hot, vision problems....I even felt kind of "drunk" at times). I called the office back and went to get more blood work done at which point I was told I was now taking too much synthroid so to stop taking for a week and begin taking 112mcg. Since then, the side effects from the medication went away but I feel as bad if not worse then I did prior to taking anything. I feel exhausted/sluggish all the time, cold, my hair and nails are so brittle, brain fog, irregular periods, and most recently, TERRIBLE joint stiffness (that's a new one). Additionally, my last two fingers on my left hand began to go numb a couple of weeks ago. Since then it has progressed into pain in my left shoulder blade/back, and left arm when breathing. I can't get comfortable laying or sitting down. Is this related? I've been taking the new dose (112 mcg) for about a month now. Is it still too soon to start feeling even a little better? Ugh.....sorry for the rant....just frustrated.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

It is critically important that you get copies of your lab reports. If you get them and can post them here, we can be much more helpful.

That said, starting your dose at 137 is pretty surprising. That's a dose people would start on if they no longer had a thyroid. Even 112 is pretty big for someone with a thyroid still.

Make sure you have antibodies tested and ask for an ultrasound of your thyroid ASAP.

I'm sorry you feel so poorly!


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

TPO (antimicrosomal antibodies) TBII (thyrotropin-binding inhibitory immunoglobulin), Thyroglobulin and Thyroglobulin Ab, ANA (antinuclear antibodies), (thyroid hormone panel) TSH, Free T3, Free T4.

You can look this stuff up here and more.........
http://www.labtestsonline.org/
(Copy and paste into your browser)

Trab
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17684583
(Copy and paste into your browser)

Okay.....................first and foremost, welcome!

Now...................it is very important for you to get some antibodies' tests for you may no longer be hypo; you could now be hyper. The Trab will be important as you will see when you go to the link.

You should be tested for Lupus. Some of your symptoms could be Lupus such as the shoulder pain (possible pleuritis) and the peripheral neuropathy which is painful. Also, Teitze's Syndrome (inflammation of the sternum and ribs) are symptoms of Lupus. It is entirely possible you have more than one thing going on here. Test for Lupus is Anti-dsDNA.

And I highly recommend an ultra-sound of your thyroid if you have not had one.

I feel for you and I hope that we "all" can be helpful to you! Push hard for that ultra-sound!


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## bigfoot (May 13, 2011)

I read through your post and was mentally saying, "check, check, check..." If anything, the silver lining here is they caught it and are dealing with it. hugs6

And I agree with the above posts. It sure sounds like they started you on perhaps a little too much T4 medication out of the gate (hence the hyper symptoms), and then ramped you back to perhaps too little (hypo symptoms). Usually they start folks at 50 mcg or so, increasing at 12.5 or 25 mcg at a time, and all the while running labs every 6-8 weeks. So it's really hard to say exactly where you stand without lab work. Remember that between 137.5 mcg and 112 mcg is a gap of 25 mcg, which doesn't sound very significant, but in the world of thyroid-land that can be huge.


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## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

Totally agree about the high dose....way too high, too soon. Also......this business of waiting until July for the next appointment is silly. I think you should have new bloodwork in 6 weeks and review then.

I appreciate that your doctor's goal is to knock it into range.......but gee...........at the risk of palpitations and other symptoms?


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