# 5 doctors can't get it right...



## jcc80 (Jun 9, 2010)

Hi everyone, new here, and I am posting this on behalf of my wife because I type faster.  She has been hypothyroid for a long time, but it has been particularly bad in the past 2 years since our son was born. She has been to 5 different doctors, and she's never been quite right. Currently she is on 150mcg levothyroxine.

She is experiencing:
extreme fatigue
achy joints
irrational thoughts
depression
very emotional/crying
short temper
inability to lose weight despite not eating much
hair falling out
numb, tingling hands

It seems like everything points towards needing a higher dose, but here's what bothers us. She'll stay on her meds until she runs out, feeling lousy the entire time. Then, before her prescription is refilled, she will feel bad for two or three days, then she starts to feel BETTER without the meds! This goes on for a week or longer until she hits a peak, then she starts to go downhill again.

Then she will refill the prescription, start again, and begin the downhill slide all over again. She continues feeling worse and worse until she stops the meds and the whole cycle repeats. Bizarre, eh? Anybody else have a similar experience?


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## chopper (Mar 4, 2007)

Hello and welcome.

Im going to take a stab at this and say she's OVERmedicated. I would need to see some labs however.

She takes her meds and feels like crap and then skips her meds and her levels start to fall to a more normal range and just as her levels normalize she starts taking meds again and making her levels too high.

150 mcg is a high dose - that is a pretty standard dose for someone with no thyroid at all.

I would really want to see some labs. I'll bet she's getting too much meds.


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

FYI The labs that will tell the most are

TSH
Free T 4
Free T 3

Ask for all copies of labs already done - it's your right to have these or shall we say your wife's right


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## GD Women (Mar 5, 2007)

It might be a delayed reaction from her not taking meds. I mean by the time she starts back taking the meds., the delayed symptoms starts at the time she starts back taking the pills or thereabouts, so therefore all is blamed on the thyroid meds. when it's actually not taking her pills. She can't keep doing this or she will never feel better. It takes time for the medication to build up in the system enough for it to work. It sounds to me she doesn't take her meds long enough foe the process to take place, to feel better or get well.

Her listed symptoms can be caused by other health issues. But you will never know if its thyroid or not unless she sticks with taking her meds. and has test on a regular bases to monitor her levels and thereby meds. adjusted accordingly. Her symptoms are more to being under medicated and still being hypo or not taking her pills regularly.

Until she follows thyroid poetical, I assume nothing can be done&#8230;her body, her life.

I am religious with taking my thyroid pills. I had very minor hypo symptoms after RAI and I don't want to go through that again. I prefer being hyper, so I take my pills.


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## jcc80 (Jun 9, 2010)

I probably should have posted the labs, eh? 

TSH- 8.48
Free thyroxine- 0.9 (ref 0.8-1.8)
total t3 (didn't test free)- 98 (ref 76-181)

Just find it strange that she gets progressively worse as she stays ON the pill, then a brief window of energy/mental clarity shortly after getting OFF the pill.


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## GD Women (Mar 5, 2007)

Med dose need to be upped. No wonder she is having thyroid health issues. 
Retest after 6 weeks and readjust dose as necessary until her TSH reaches around mid Labs or 1. Does are adjusted low and slow so not to overshoot goal level. But she has to take her meds. every day - no excuses. No gaps of not taking meds. and then taking. This is hard on the body and well never heal.

It takse a long time for the body to heal once levels are at normal range. Hair and nails take the longest to heal and are the last to heal of all the other thyroid symptoms.

The sooner her levels get to normal the soon healing starts.


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## HeidiBR (Apr 4, 2010)

Wow. She really needs some more medication with levels like that. If I had those levels, I would be in bed asleep all day. Good luck!


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## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

In addition to apparently needing an increase in dose, she needs a good physical and blood work to see if something else is going on concurrently.

I have no children, but I'm willing to bet that if I had a two year old, I'd be ready for the looney bin.


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## happysunshine (Sep 25, 2009)

whoa that TSH level is really hypo


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## chopper (Mar 4, 2007)

Ok...thanks for the labs. Here's what's probably going on now...her thyroid is obviously dying off or quitting...it could be sputtering out on/off on/off.

She clearly needs the meds. I know a lot of people here feel like crap sometimes on meds until they find that magic number and then presto...they feel well all of a sudden. She will probably need an increase to feel better all the time.


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