The THYROID Thread

[dischick4778]

Sorry for another rant but I want to be who I was 4 months ago, and I know that is not possible.

I feel like I say this very same thing all the time! I used to be such a calm, level-headed, reasonable, sweet person. Now I feel like I'm in someone else's personality and I cannot get out!

The new lower dose, 188, is starting to take effect but it is a slow process. I have noticed a bit more patience with things that I would have screamed about a month ago. But I am still not "me". Hmm, how long until I get used to the new me?mm

Stay well all!

 

[karajeboo]

Wait a minute.... so the thyroid affects personality? I've noticed over the years that I've turned psycho, seriously. I fly off the handle over the least little thing, and my husband told me over the weekend that I'm not the most pleasant person to be around! That, and the racing heart..... In fact, my dr started checking my thyroid when I was complaining of a racing heart, and the stress test came back normal.... that's when the nodule was found. So it's possible that my moods could level out after this nodule is removed?????

 

[kimmie]

dischick - I was a happy person until all of this too! I am better now, but I now take Lexapro
I am better now because things are starting to level off. Weight is still an issue with me.

karajeboo - I hope things are better for you once they remove the nodule. The thyroid is an amazing thing and DOES control hormones.
I am still very new to all of this but the others here can give you more insight.

 

[Christine]

I tried to post earlier but it got lost in space somehow.

If your nodule is affecting your thyroid hormones, then certainly your mood will be affected. If not, it is probably something else.

 

[dischick4778]

Wait a minute.... so the thyroid affects personality? I've noticed over the years that I've turned psycho, seriously. I fly off the handle over the least little thing, and my husband told me over the weekend that I'm not the most pleasant person to be around! That, and the racing heart..... In fact, my dr started checking my thyroid when I was complaining of a racing heart, and the stress test came back normal.... that's when the nodule was found. So it's possible that my moods could level out after this nodule is removed?????

Thyroid definitely impacts your personality. And depending on your synthroid dose after surgery that is a huge thing too. I was on such a high dose bc of the extent of my cancer situation that I was nervous and anxious and angry all the time - which is very unlike me. Now I am at a lower dose and finally feeling a bit normal, but man it has been a rough couple of years.

And I do feel badly for my husband bc I am not the person he married. And I know for better or worse, but no one expects the worse to come so soon. He is a saint for dealing with me through all of this. And I just want to be me again.

 

[karajeboo]

Thyroid definitely impacts your personality. And depending on your synthroid dose after surgery that is a huge thing too. I was on such a high dose bc of the extent of my cancer situation that I was nervous and anxious and angry all the time - which is very unlike me. Now I am at a lower dose and finally feeling a bit normal, but man it has been a rough couple of years.

And I do feel badly for my husband bc I am not the person he married. And I know for better or worse, but no one expects the worse to come so soon. He is a saint for dealing with me through all of this. And I just want to be me again.

Thanks everyone for the great info! I have my preop visit on Thursday so I hope to get a lot more info then, but I'm curious, will I be on meds with them only removing part of my thyroid? I was under the impression that the thyroid can "catch up" if part of it remains?

I am so sorry to hear of everyone's situations, but this is such a positive thread and I thank you all for posting your stories! It really makes me (and I'm sure many others!) feel better and have a much more positive outlook!

 

[Christine]

Thanks everyone for the great info! I have my preop visit on Thursday so I hope to get a lot more info then, but I'm curious, will I be on meds with them only removing part of my thyroid? I was under the impression that the thyroid can "catch up" if part of it remains?

I am so sorry to hear of everyone's situations, but this is such a positive thread and I thank you all for posting your stories! It really makes me (and I'm sure many others!) feel better and have a much more positive outlook!

Yes, half or part of your thyroid can do the work of a whole thyroid gland. They will probably want to monitor you very carefully after having part of it out to make sure that it's picking up the slack.

 

[lovemygoofy]

Hi everyone! I haven't been around in a long time. My life is so screwy I should have my own reality show.

I have a question for thyroid people in the know please. Can thyroid medicine just stop working or maybe having the opposite effect. I'm now up to 50mcg and I feel crazy again. My heart races, bad hot flashes, face flushes, my hair is falling out enough to make a curly haired wig, my sex drive is back down, and now my blood pressure is on the rise.

I googled synthroid and high blood pressure and got some interesting responses but wanted information from someone in the know.

I have made an apt with my PCM because the reproductive endo and I have parted ways. I'm moving in less than 8 weeks and know that can cause stress but I just feel like something is wrong.

Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks for letting me jump back in for guidance.

 

[mrsklamc]

Tina- Yes, it definitely sounds like your levels need to be adjusted.

Just curious- has anyone noticed a seasonal affect on your levels? Mine has been lowered the last two Januarys- I blamed the thyrogen but I'm feeling kinda hyper-ish and I haven't had it this year.

There was an article in the local paper Sunday that mentioned how thyca is the 'good' kind of cancer to get. Boy did that Dr get ripped in the comments with people letting him know just how 'good' it is....

 

[Christine]

I have a question for thyroid people in the know please. Can thyroid medicine just stop working or maybe having the opposite effect. I'm now up to 50mcg and I feel crazy again. My heart races, bad hot flashes, face flushes, my hair is falling out enough to make a curly haired wig, my sex drive is back down, and now my blood pressure is on the rise.

Too much and too little thyroid hormone can often have overlapping/shared effects. Based on your heart racing, bad hot flashes, face flusing, and increased BP, I'm going to go with the thought that you have too much thyroid hormone.

Too little OR too much can cause hair loss, changes in sex drive. It's possible that being hypo could cause increased BP, but most often it goes the other way. With too little hormone you get bradycardia (slow heartbeat) which can often help BP levels. But having too little thyroid hormone also stresses the body so it could increase it.

If I were a betting woman, I'd go with too much hormone.

Tina--you're in the rotten position of still having your own (malfunctioning) thyroid gland that, on most days probably isn't working well enough for you but then periodically it might start working. When you are dealing with both a thyroid gland and supplementation, you get these problems. Many of us here have totally dead thyroid glands or none at all, so the supplementation process isn't quite the rollercoaster ride that people with funky thyroids get.

You probably need to get a quick thyroid panel done just to see where you are. Many, many years ago when I was first dealing with this, my biggest clue of too much thyroid hormone was my flushed face (and ears). It was awful. If the room even got the slightest bit warm, I had a face like a fire engine. Bumping down a dose helped immensely.

I have made an apt with my PCM because the reproductive endo and I have parted ways. I'm moving in less than 8 weeks and know that can cause stress but I just feel like something is wrong.

Sorry to hear you no longer have the reproductive endo--that sounded so promising.

Get thee to a doc and have that TSH done. You'll feel much better when you get this under control.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Tina - I am so sorry you are going all through this again

As the others have said, def. go and get a new blood test for sure.

Sorry to hear that you and the repro. endo were not on the same page about things. Hopefully you can find a new one after you move. Have you checked out those that are associated with a teaching hospital.

I know even when my own endo didnt know what to do about my bp problems, she honestly admitted to me that she shared my case with another endo since its a teaching hosp. and its a large staff etc. The other dr. told her to add a different bp med to the one I already take.

So in your case also it might help if there is more than one dr. looking at you, maybe a team or dept. etc. Wishing you all the best.

Just wondering if you are taking the name brand synthroid or a generic?

Also when everyone says face flushing, just wondring if its full blown face flushing etc. I always had my reg. md say I had rosacea etc.

Well I went for the sono today. They found nothing wrong except for a small fibroid they said. I asked why I had all these problems etc. They said sometimes peoples bodys just go crazy, as in getting cramping and bleeding 3 years after the tt which threw me into medical menopause as they call it.

So PTL, so far so good and I didnt have to hear the word cancer again.

Mon. is my endo visit.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

There was an article in the local paper Sunday that mentioned how thyca is the 'good' kind of cancer to get. Boy did that Dr get ripped in the comments with people letting him know just how 'good' it is....

Did you comment too Micayla? I know that is such a topic on thyca.org I too would like to give people a piece of my mind and actually can you believe the person at the rad. onc. when I made my first appt., said to me: "You know you arent as sick as some of the other people we have here". Yeah, gee thanks. So I guess my coma and almost dying post op didnt count right? Honestly this lady had a son in one of my ds grade school classes so I didnt say anything. If it was anyone else they would have gotten an earful from me.

People who say things like that really irritate me!!

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Hello ladies,

I am looking for a bit of advice and support. My thyroid has been plaguing my life for the last eight years. It all started after I had my last DD and I went severely hyperthyroid (post-partum thyroiditis). Well, then began the roller coaster of crap as I like to call it. My levels have swung back and forth till finally it settled on permanently hypothyroid. My meds used to be 139 mg of levoxyl and now I'm down to 112 because I was having hyper symptoms again this past summer.

The last few months I feel even more hyper. I can't sleep, my heart races, multiple bowel movements (including d.), I'm hot all the time and my periods are very light which is abnormal for me. Last time I had my TSH, FT3 and FT4 checked, I was borderline hyper but my doctor felt that if he lowered my dose, I'd swing hypo. I'm miserable, weepy and trying to hold myself together.

My question is this: Can some of you who still have thyroid glands and are taking levoxyl or synthroid describe your symptoms of hyper? My doctor seems really hesitant and is kind of disregarding my symptoms. I had bloodwork yesterday and am awaiting results. Thank you so much for your time and this thread.

 

[mrsklamc]

Did you comment too Micayla? I know that is such a topic on thyca.org I too would like to give people a piece of my mind and actually can you believe the person at the rad. onc. when I made my first appt., said to me: "You know you arent as sick as some of the other people we have here". Yeah, gee thanks. So I guess my coma and almost dying post op didnt count right? Honestly this lady had a son in one of my ds grade school classes so I didnt say anything. If it was anyone else they would have gotten an earful from me.

People who say things like that really irritate me!!

Actually since it had been thoroughly covered I commented on the fact that the article said you could have part of your thyroid removed if you had been diagnosed & that's no longer considered appropriate treatment.

 

[mrsklamc]

I can't sleep, my heart races, multiple bowel movements (including d.), I'm hot all the time and my periods are very light which is abnormal for me. Last time I had my TSH, FT3 and FT4 checked, I was borderline hyper but my doctor felt that if he lowered my dose, I'd swing hypo. I'm miserable, weepy and trying to hold myself together.

My question is this: Can some of you who still have thyroid glands and are taking levoxyl or synthroid describe your symptoms of hyper? My doctor

What you describe plus I'm always tired but can't sleep, and I have anger issues....

A start would be switching to synthroid rather than levoxyl. This is the one med where, yes, generics have to be within a very small window of active ingredients, but our bodies are sensitive enough to thyroid hormones that 'extremely close' isn't good enough.

 

[Christine]

What you describe plus I'm always tired but can't sleep, and I have anger issues....

A start would be switching to synthroid rather than levoxyl. This is the one med where, yes, generics have to be within a very small window of active ingredients, but our bodies are sensitive enough to thyroid hormones that 'extremely close' isn't good enough.

Just wanted to say, Levoxyl isn't a generic. It is often priced as low as a generic but it is not a generic. I've been using it for over 5 years now when I became sensitive to a filler in Synthroid (povidone). I TSH is *slightly* higher on the same dose of Levoxyl as it was on Synthroid. Instead of always being at 0.3, it hovers at 0.5 on the same dosage.

 

[mrsklamc]

Just wanted to say, Levoxyl isn't a generic. It is often priced as low as a generic but it is not a generic. I've been using it for over 5 years now when I became sensitive to a filler in Synthroid (povidone). I TSH is *slightly* higher on the same dose of Levoxyl as it was on Synthroid. Instead of always being at 0.3, it hovers at 0.5 on the same dosage.

I did not know that! I wonder if my endo would let me switch.

 

[kimmie]

Levothyroxine is the generic, not Levoxyl, right?
I cannot take levothyroxine. As mrsklamc stated, my body is just too sensitive to the generic dosage.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Just curious, does anyone celebrate their cancerversary??

I got the idea from the breast cancer sistas.

Mine will be a week from tomm.

The other year the one ds made me a cake to celebrate.

I usually say the day is the date I had my surgery to get these tumors out etc.

Some people say its when treatment is over etc.

I dont do anything special to celebrate etc. I just feel that me acknowledging it makes me deal with it better etc.

 

[Christine]

I did not know that! I wonder if my endo would let me switch.

Your endo should be happy with you on any of the brand names: Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothroid, Tirosint, to name a few. All brand names, all proven effective, and they won't vary month to month.

I actually started out on Levothroid because they made a dose that Synthroid didn't. Levothroid was also $10 per month cheaper for me. Then Levothroid went up in price and, somehow I got on Synthroid. I don't know why. But I took that for years. Once I discovered I had a sensitivity to povidone and it was in my Synthroid, I looked for a thyroid med that didn't have it. That was Levoxyl. And it runs me $10 per month on my insurance or $20 for a 90-day supply.