Have you experienced any extra weight gain with the Levothyroxin? I was told that I should not gain any weight with the medication and infact I should start to lose weight. That has yet to happen and I have been on the medication since January with the dosage increased at least once.

reply | quote

Yes I have gained weight. I thought this medicine was for underactive thyroid so it would increase my thyroid. Should you gain weight on this?

reply | quote

you should not gain weight due to the medication, however check to see what you are eating. I myself have found weight gain a problem on thyroid medication because if my dose wasn't right and I was tired... I turned to sugar. BAD ME, BAD ME. Once I replaced this with healthy energy producing snacks the weight came right off again.

If its still a problem and not due to food, you might want to check with your doctor.

reply | quote

I have gained about 60 pounds. I'm very small boned and now i have trouble breathing, walking, exercising anything that i have to move from point "a" to point "b" its not a happening thing. Im totaly pissed that my life as i knew it is gone.

reply | quote

What will happen if i stop taking Levothyroxin. My ins has run out and i cant afford it . I dont get assiants. What will happen to me if i stop. Please relpy.

reply | quote

My rx costs me 4.00 at wal-mart. Even without insurance this is affordable. Keep taking it!

reply | quote

my doctor found two small nodules on my thyroid and my levels also came back to show that I am underactive. I started taking levothyroxin (50mcg) Will this make me lose or gain weight??? gettin married in a month and only have one more fitting!!!!

reply | quote

read the side effects to this drug! Mine reads: ..."sudden unexplainable weight loss"

reply | quote

It will take 3 weeks to see a difference in a person taking this drug. Your body needs to ajust it self. It took many years for you to realize you had a problem. Give it time.

reply | quote

I took Armour Thyroid for 3 years, having intermittent return of symptoms. This week a new doctor put me on Levothyroxine (generic because I have no insurance). I am MISERABLE. He said that Armour is "unpredictable", which I'm sure is because T3 has a much shorter half-life than T4, but I'm thinking I can't do without it.
On another note, the other doctor is the first one who ignored my lab tests which, for years, had come back as "within normal limits" - normal for WHO? He had me take my temperature before I even got up to pee in the morning for several mornings. As he predicted, my temp was 2 degrees below normal! I'll try to stick with this new medication (increasing the dose) for a couple of weeks, but if it doesn't work - I'M GOING BACK TO ARMOUR!

reply | quote

My regular physical blood work came back and my doc said my thyroid was slightly underactive so he prescribed Levothyroxin 25 mcg Tab Mylan (Generic for Synthroid 25 mcg tab) for 3 months and will then test me again.

The bottle has labels on it that say, "Take in the morning. Take this medication at least 4 hours before taking antacids, iron, or Vitamin-Mineral supplements" AND "Take this medicine on and empty stomach--Take this medication with a full glass of water."

Since I am new to this (2 days), I am unsure how to take this properly. Obviously, I take it in the morning on an empty stomach with a glass of water, but how long to I have to wait until I can eat breakfast? Also, can I drink a cup of black coffee after I drink the water since it is a liquid--to stave my hunger? Will that inhibit the absorption?

Gees, I thought post-menopausal hot flashes and depression was all I had to worry about...didn't count on this new twist!

Any advise would be appreciated. Also, should I insist on Synthroid and not generic?

Thanks,
Nancie

reply | quote

I am Nancie and just registered as Katrina Victim Nancie. This is an addition to my above post.

I can swallow all kinds of big vitamin pills, but for some reason this little pill gets stuck in my throat and won't go down, even after a few glasses of water.

Can I take it with HOT water? Is it okay to eat a small piece of bread or a cracker or something small just to make it go all the way down? It just seems to stay stuck in my throat. Can I chew it and then drink a bunch of water or does it have to be swallowed whole for time release?

Thanks Again!

Katrina Victim Nancie

reply | quote

I was on levothryroxin from 2002-2004 and I never felt it did anything for me at all.. No energy no nada. in January 2005 I had to get my gall bladder out and decided not to take my thyroid medicine any longer. I was adviced not to do this (repeatedly) but I did anyhow. I had always had female problems and with 18 years of trying never conceived (3 miscarriages 15 years prior to taking thyroid medicine) After 2 years after coming off of thryoid meds I was pregnant. I tested my tsh levels and it was ok, little elevated and I should get back on meds. I refused. (I do not like to be on any meds especially one that I am told I will be on forever.) 9mths later I had a beautiful baby girl and extremely healthy.

I went back to the Dr when she turned 6mths old. I was just exhausted and my body hurt, joint pain and was told I really need to get back on meds my levels are very high. So I have been back on levothryroxin now for about 2 1/2 mths. My body hurts still hurts but now I itch, my hair is coming out horribly and I have gained weight. (they say you are supposed to loose some right, uh huh sure) and yes I seem to be a little short on temper when it comes to the opposite sex. LOL well maybe that isnt the meds/thyroid problems that could just be the opposite sex.

I will stay on this med for 3 mths just to get retested to show I was a good girl. I will not stay on it. There has to be other positive ways to help the issue besides being on a med for life.

I am searching for a remedy that we can all agree on (dr and me). Keep posting ya'll and lets see if we can solve these issues together..

but geeesh I hate the itching and it seems like the floor is getting its hair brushing more than me (LOL)

reply | quote

I have been on levothyroxine for 5 years the dosage level has differed from 25ml to 150ml and over the years I have put on two English stone (from 11stone to 13.5 stone)and no matter how much I try I can not shift the excess weight (recent attepts include joining weight watchers)I exercise madly but tire easily, my hair is dry and often fulls out, my skin is still dry, I have very heavy periods, mood swings and suffer with constipation and have had recent surgery to repair the bowel as a result. Most mornings I wake and I have heavy bags under my eyes and my fingers are so swollen I can not take my wedding band off. I have approached my Doctor who insists that I should stay on this medication as you can see from my list of symptoms I am seeing no real benefit from this medication and am desperate just to feel like a healthy and sexy woman again and not a huge hippo that I am now.So if anyone can help it would be great.

reply | quote

I just started on Levoxyn a week ago - the first thing I noticed was that the high sodium made me feel terribly bloated. I also have the bags under my eyes and my rings sometimes cannot be removed.
I'm on 100 ml.
I was wondering if there is any other med for hypothyroid treatment that isn't loaded with salt?? Maybe I need the sodium but I feel icky from it, as if I'd eaten a pepperoni pizza and chased it down with a can of chicken noodle soup and maybe just turned up the salt shaker. Ugh. I've never been a real big salt user anyway.
I think I'm responding to the Levoxyn positively otherwise so I am going to give it another week or two. I had been having severe muscle pain with exertion (walking), and had put on (yet another) 10 lbs since the radioactive-iodine treatment in May. I cannot stand any more weight. I'm so pissed off at family for making fun of me for getting this fat. I'm pissed off at myself for not trying to figure out what was going on sooner. I just attributed it to menopause.

GeekLady

reply | quote

my doc. told me today that i have low thyroid and im takeing the same med so i tried it today before i whent to work.it mest me up my heart started to race,headache,i didnt feel like myself at all. im not takeing it no more that was my frist and last pill.i dont like meds either. im also looking for another remedy myself.

reply | quote

I'm on 250 mc of Levothyroxin and lost weight at first, but have pretty much got back down to normal. I think for me it hasn't really changed much, but my levels are improving. I say if the doctor says to take it we probably shouldn't quit. I'm not a doctor but it seems that the numbers are important.

reply | quote

reply | quote

My thyroid tsh was 1.9 less than 6 mths ago. I began to feel extremely fatigued shortly after that. Finally, I asked for a thyroid test to be done & my test came back 6.33. I started on 50 mcgs. levothyroxine one week ago. I am hoping that I will feel better soon. I am 50 & my body is going thru lots of hormonal changes. I have only been able to go to work & come home & go to bed around 7:30 for many months now. Hope to gain my energy back for a normal life.

reply | quote

The Dr. just put me on 300 mcg of levothyroxin. 300mcg+50mcg. Is this normal? My level is 3.3. I am trying to find some help here. I feel like the Dr. just keeps upping my meds.

reply | quote

reply | quote

well i have been going to the dr a while now and my level started off at 29.9 which is very high i started off on a low dose of med,and now my level is 11.9 thats a big change,i can relate to alot of u women on here i have not seen any weight change im still very large i was told i would lose weight and im very disipointed that i havent,i also feel very tierd and moody,im a young women and i have two young childern so its upsetting when i cant do what i want with my childern,i often wonder if the dr even knows the truth behind this medicince they put us on,but i do know i have done alot of research and your thyroid is something u should take very serious and stay on ur meds it can be very harmful to u in the long run if u dont take care of it now,do some of ur own research ladies and see what works out for u ,i just know i want to take care of it now not when its to late,good luck to u all...hope everyone gets better soon and god bless u all

reply | quote

Use virgin cocanut oil. http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/virgin_coconut_oil.htm?s=gad
get it at this web address read info.

Dr. G

reply | quote

You can get it at walmart for $4.00 without insurance. You do not want to stop taking it.

reply | quote

I was on Synthroid for 1.5 yrs, it caused me sleeplesness, dry skin, continually chapped lips, and made mt hair so dry and brittle it was falling out (Lost most of it on my head). I kept telling my doc for a year but he said the drug didn't have any side effects, it was the condition. Finally he increased the dosage a little from .1mg to .125mg, that made things much worse! I stopped taking the Synthroid and those symptoms went away, my hair grew back. I got rid of that doc, the next one sent me to an endochronoligist who did a sonogram and said my thyroid was atrophied (smaller then it should be), I told him about the synthroid so he put me on Armour and Levothyroxine which worked well. My company recently changed prescrip carriers, they sent me Synthroid and the symptoms returned, not quite as bad at only .025mg but still enough for me to say Synthroid sucks! If you are having side effects insist that your doc listen and change meds!

reply | quote

I have been disabled since 2-14-01 with progressive multiple sclerosis- I was 125 lb. then at 5'8, full time worker,volunteer and smoker-
today I am 65 lbs, heavier, non-smoker still perminatley disabled with multiple sclerosis-
I ordered online without a prescription for 150 pills from Panama 150 levothroid 100 mcg. tablets.
They came today-
I always said I'd rather be dead than fat...and since I cannot do anything anymore I figured my only hope to loose weight was thyroid meds. I do not have any hypothroid problems,even though my symptoms are there of having it. I have a very mild cardiac myopathy caused by my MS avonex use for 4 years.
Wish me luck in NJ. I'll turn 50 on Thanksgiving this year-maybe I'll drop from a size 18 back to a 14 by then.

reply | quote

Be very careful taking T4 with heart problems. Too much will cause lots of heart problems. You say you are not hypo. What is your TSH level. The symptoms occur at a much lower TSH with some people than with others. Also, 100 mcg is too much. You need to start at 25 and increase at 6 wk intervals. If you take this it will probably shut down your thyroid, not to mention a whole host of hyper symptoms that can be as bad or worse than hypo.

reply | quote

I have lost weight on Levohthyroid. But i did change my diet and start a excersise regimen

reply | quote

I have lost weight on Levohthyroid. But i did change my diet and start a excersise regimen

reply | quote

Thought I would interject one male's experience with thyroid medication. My entire thyroid was removed due to a large nodule that was discovered during a routine physical. They couldn't tell during the surgery if it was cancerous or not, so to be safe, they removed my whole thyroid. Turned out not be be cancer.

That was eight years ago. I have always been on Synthroid. It took about a year of fine tuning to get the right dosage. During this fine tuning period, I couldn't tell any difference between the dosages. I have always swallowed the litle pill every morning while I'm getting ready for work, w/o water. Then I always eat breakfast right after that. Maybe not the best method, but I'm consistent and I've been very healthy during this time. (No hair loss, hair dryness, moodyness, or other symptoms I've read about here.) The only symptom I've had is constipation, but I don't think I can contribute that to Synthroid, probably just from aging. (I'm 45). I've always been althletic and I continue to run 5Ks and windsurf whenever I can.

Since my Dr. said I'm so healthy, she said that, even though she's a big Synthroid fan, she would be fine with me trying the generic form. I'm thinking about doing that only because I'm such a cheapskate!

reply | quote