Still struggling.....I went from 125mcg levo to 100mcg to 88 Mcg
My Thyroid has been gone for about a year now, when I am on 100 or more Mcg of levo I start having anxiety and extreme panic attacks, it's a horrible feeling. My Dr lowered me to 88 and the panic attacks are gone but the weight has come on faster, my hair is falling out, my skin is dry and I am tired all the time. My Dr wants to raise me back up to 100 Mcg levo but I am so afraid of the panic attacks.
I am starting on bio identical hormone replacement therapy, it is called BioTe pellets, they place them under your skin and they release estrogen and testosterone for a 6 month period....they are not covered under insurance so they are pricey but at this point I will pay anything to feel better and lose this extra 30 lbs I have put on it's so depressing!!!
Written by
Jillybean1
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I am in the US and Armour is an option, I just never thought about it because the Dr here really push Levo...I will see what my endocrinologist thinks.
Your Endocrinologist may have the 'modern' viewpoint. This is the link I said I would post to you yesterday. In the main, the research is that if we aren't given sufficient medication to prevent clinical symptoms, weight gain is only one of the many and is the most common question on this forum - unexplained weight gain and patients are told to diet, exercise, etc. which they have done to no avail and the medical profession are completely unaware of the reason.
Unfortunately, for us Dr Lowe died accidentally 2 years ago and is great loss to everyone. You can pick any of these topics, some may not be accessed as the website is now archived.
Just to say that I have read that the ATA and the Endocrinologist/doctors in general push levothyroxine alone because they get monetary incentives for doing so.
An excerpt:-
Dr. Lowe: I respectfully disagree with your endocrinologist. Studies indicate that T4 is of no use to anyone except, figuratively, as a storage unit for the metabolically-active thyroid hormones T3, T2, and possibly T1. When T4 ends its long ride through the circulating blood, it enters cells. There, enzymes convert it to T3, and, after a while, other enzymes convert T3 to T2. The T2 becomes T1, and eventually T1 becomes T0 (T-zero). T0 is just the amino acid backbone(called "tyrosine") with no iodine atoms attached. Because it has no attached iodine atoms, T0 is no more a hormone than is T4.
If you read his question/answers you will see that adjusting medication according to the TSH gives the patient more problems. We have to read and learn if we want to get well. Listen to our bodies and be aware when something isn't right.
For those of us who don't get well on levothyroxine. We have to have an alternative. NDT has been in use since 1892 with success and safe. Read the answer to the question dated August 22, 2005 on the following link:
Weight gain is a clinical symptoms of hypthyroidism, and may be the first thing the person is aware of. If you aren't on sufficient thyroid hormones your metabolism wont be raised sufficiently for you to lose excess weight. My personal opinion is that your panic attacks etc could be due to levothyroxine and lowering the dose wont help you with weight gain. This is a link which may be helpful. I would ask your GP to prescribe 20mcg of T3 in place of the 125mcg levo, so 88mcg of levo plus 10mcg T3 (equal to approx 40mcg levo) equal to around 128 mcg levo may help you better. I only improved as I dropped levo and increased T3 and am now on T3 alone. Some doctors don't think they can prescribe T3 due to the guidelines of the BTA but they can.
When doctors do prescribe thyroid hormone for an elevated TSH, they prescribe only the prohormone T4 (Synthroid®, Levoxyl®).
T4 must be converted to T3 to become active. They typically will give inactive T4 in low doses that just "normalize" the TSH to any
value within the reference range. The result is nearly universal undertreatment of only one kind of thyroid insufficiency--thyroid
gland failure."
The other link I wanted to give you, the website is under maintenance so as soon as I can access, I will give you a copy.
The pity of this whole saga is that it would appear that we have to find the way through the maze ourselves as we have to read and learn when, it would appear, we are failed by the inexpert knowledge of how metabolism is energised.
How about treating the adrenals first, acute anxiety can be a symptom of poor adrenal function. My specialist believes that sorting the adrenals out will bring about an improvement in thyroid function. I believe Dr P follows this train of thought also.
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it's so depressing!!!
T3 every other day
Panic attacks
Strange panic attacks...?
Weight gain on Levothyroxine
Anxiety & Panic attacks.
