I'm without hope

Hi,

I had my thyroid removed nearly 4 years ago and at the moment I have been put on 125mg of levo a day instead of 175mg.  Still get pins and needles in my hands and cramps in my legs most days but doctor's have advised this is something that I will have to get used to, my main grievance is the amount of weight I have put on since having my thyroid removed, I too wish I had never had it removed!

Hi Sharon, I'm so sorry you are going through this. How you feel is completely normal because your body is trying to recover from invasive surgery, total removal of a vital organ, and also having to adjust to a chemical replacement for that organ - ALL at once! When I had my thyroidectomy due to a cancer nodule 5 years ago, I felt exactly as you did. I had leg pain, no energy, night terrors etc. This WILL get better in time. You need to remember that your body is trying to cope with so many things at once, and it took me about 6 months to a year before I felt anywhere near how I used to feel energy wise. All you can do is rest, eat well, and keep drinking fluids while you heal. In October when you go back for your appointment, explain how you are feeling, and see if (after bloodwork) your medication can be reduced. I did this, and they reduced it to 125mcg, which has been stable for me ever since. Like I said earlier, its been 5 years now (I was 43 when I got the operation) and I am walking on average 4 or 5 miles a day. You WILL get back to how you feel, it just takes time. Getting it removed was a good thing, although it probably doesn't feel like it now. All the best

I'm sorry you are feeling so sick. Been there also. It has been 14 years since the removel of my thyroid. I have done a lot of reading on the tyroid been to a lot of md and endos too. I am no Dr but it seems like a very high dose for you to be put on at the very start I was put on 25 mcg and worked up till they found the right dose but I was diagnosed with graves disase not sure if that matters or not BUT your symptoms are ones that clearly say on the perception label if your expernice these symptoms see a Dr you could be in a tyroid Strom. Are you sure this dose isn't too high for you? I wasn't put on 150mcg till 5 or 6 yr. I think you should not wait to see your Dr even if you have to go to your md the headaches I get are when my dose is too high when my dose is too high. The gagging all your symptoms are not normal you could be allergic to this or dose too high please see your Dr a tyroid Storm is serious. Read your warning on the med you get and you will see you are experience some of the warning signs difficult breathing etc.. I have had all of these at some point. After my dose was lowered I felt a little bitter also I tried different brands I paid attention to the difference I figured the genric brand works best for me but it upsets my stomach more than the next brand I also experienced all the symptoms your having now when I switched back to genric they went away for the most part. It does take a while to get on your feet but please when your having symptoms like this you need to see a Dr . There are lots of days I wish I never would have done the surgery but now all I can do is move forward I'm not an expert on anything to do with the tyroid all I know is how we suffer with it the hardest part for myself is I never have any energy and weight gain but those are mild compared to what your feeling right now I know. Please see your md and let us know how you are doing.