Thyroid Problems leading to weight loss

In veterinary medicine there is a syndrome called "sick euthyroid" where the thyroid levels are off but not because of primary thyroid issues. It is because of another illness affecting the body. We do not treat the thyroid levels, but rather search for the underlying disease process. Perhaps this is a problem in humans as well? Something to discuss with your doctor? If the doctors say that your symptoms are not typical for levothyroxine reactions, then perhaps they need to be looking deeper for another non-thyroid problem? Just my veterinarian thoughts......

@sepdvm I have oft thought I would be better off with a DVM. I approached this with a specialist I was referred to and he told me I was making it up and forgetting to take my thyroid medication and wanting more testing that was not necessary. So much for that.

@parus I can understand the problem when the dosage changes. I have had that problem also. One time the dose of one of my prescriptions was increased so the drug store could not fill it because it was not time! The doctor had to write a whole new prescription and that had to be justified to insurance. It was a real nuisance.
Hopefully, you can get this ironed out and your insurance will kick in again.
JK

short back ground : been on synthroid or levothyroxin for over 15 years Was originally put on it by psychiatrist due to depression and low energy.
Fast forward to last summer. A year ago, I went to the Dr for my eye. It wasn't acting right,, seemed to be more closed. They said nothing was wrong. EVERY Dr appt I mentioned my eyes.. they were doing strange things. The answer was finally - to to the optometrist. SO, I went last week,, NOTHING wrong with my eyes. But, they are getting big. My friend said she doesn't like looking at them anymore. My eyes have always been the family joke - Terri and her squinty eyes. I ruin every photo!
About a month after that I was at my Dr's for shaking. Thyroid was off.. lowered dose, next visit,, thyroid was off... the other way.. BIG swing. she finally sent me to endocrinologist. she just kept lowering my dose as labs were off. Then, 1.5 weeks ago, I wake up with TERRIBLE shakes.. my BODY was shaking, not just my arms and legs. I was out of control. Very scary. Went to ER. At that time, we were not thinking thyroid as I JUST had a lab draw a week and a half before that and synthroid was lowered to 50 mg. Long story short... it was all Thyroid.. hyper.. all symptoms of hyper accelerated. Call to my endo. office in a bigger town said to stop taking my synthroid, labs were off.. ok,, wow. Stop!?? ok...

I have been really sick since then,, bad symptoms of hyper. And, I have been so stressed out, I blew my epidural I got last month... neck and shoulders back to pins and needles. Asked on another line,, and the answer back was :struma ovari - NEVER heard of this.
My Endo will not order any more labs, or tests until the synthroid is out of my body. ( I understand that). I am wondering IF I need to go to my primary and get my ovaries checked. 3 years ago they said I had fibroids... well,, wonder IF that was wrong... and it is this..?? also,, 2-3 years ago during a ultra sound for something else, they found a small nodule on my thyroid. Too small to worry about.. and I don't get another ultrasound for it till Aug.
And,, just to throw this out there: during physical therapy,in the last 2 weeks, when the therapist does ultrasound on the left side of my neck, I get a big reaction.. I cough, but the 'tickling' is not in my throat.. but on the side. Ultrasound does NOT do this on my right side.
Question is, do I go against my endo's 'orders' and get my ovaries checked by my primary?
Labs drawn are not complete thyroid labs,, just the basics.
Free T3 - 7.6 Free T4 - 2.1 TSH reflex to FT4 - 0

advice???? I am generally a patient person, but waiting 6 weeks is hard. today I finally had a good day - didn't feel 'sick', but still shook,, ( I'll take that)

I should also ad, that I have been thru an extreme amount of stress since Jan 9.

Hi @mcmurf2 that must be so frustrating to have these symptoms with no answers. You may have noticed I moved your post to this existing discussion on thyroid problems in order for you to see what others have said about thyroid issues. Simply click VIEW & REPLY in your email notification to find your post.

I wanted to tag fellow Connect members @parus, @contentandwell and @suzy37 as they all have mentioned thyroid problems and may be able to offer you support.

Back to you @mcmurf2, how long did you doctor say until the synthroid will be out of your system?

ok,, thanks for guiding me to the right spot.!!! My Dr said she could not give me an answer as for how long. She will just retest in 6 weeks. I have had just about 24 hours of NO sick feeling.. .. still shake.. but I'll take it.. I have actually gotten out to one of my gardens and did some work today. I am happy. Now, IF I can just get back to the horses... but I don't want them to feel me shake.. They may misunderstand and things could happen...... soooooooooooo I wait...

@mcmurf2 @ethanmcconkey I wish I could help, but I have been on levothyroxine for quite a while, but a very small dose, 25mcg, and have not had any problems with it at all. Thyroid problems seem to run in my family but mine are very minor. I was quite hyper a few months ago so I called my endocrinologist and he ordered a TSH test but it came back "spot on" as he would say.

My original dose of levothyroxine was stronger than my current dose is, so your body apparently can change. I wonder if mine may have because I lost weight. I never thought of that until right now.
JK

@contentandwell It could be since you lost weight what is your secret I cant seem to know matter I do. Anyhow when we lose weight you know that affects our blood pressure ,cholesterol so maybe the thyroid also

so,, with my recent hyper stuff going on,, I lost 30 lbs last fall and starting to go down again... but it is the thyroid doing it..so .. for me.. not sure if losing wt was my problem. This thyroid stuff is so confusing..

@lioness the secret for me was having a great motivation -- I knew my recovery would be easier from a liver transplant if I lost weight and got in better shape. Also, at Mass General they told me that other areas might be able to transplant at a lower MELD, Boston tends to be high so many people go there for transplants. When I looked into other places I discovered that some required a BMI under 30, which mine was not.

To lose the weight I used myfitnesspal to track everything I put in my mouth, I weighed myself daily on a digital scale so it even showed fractions, and I had a fitness tracker to make sure I was getting as much exercise as I should. I am trying to drop a few pounds now but not having as much success because my motivation is not as important.
JK