JScott,
It takes a few weeks for the synthroid to take effect. It can also take several months to get the dosage correct. You want to get as close to your old TSH level as before. Do you know what that was? What was your old TSH and what is your new? What dosage synthroid did they put you on?

Take care,
Eileen

J Scott

It took about 2 weeks to notice an improvement but it was small. It wasn't until my doctor bumped me up with dosage that it was really noticeable. It's the blood tests that tell the story. My endo feels she gets better results with Levoxyl than from Synthroid but they're supposedly the same according to their web sites.
Finally, I am trying an experiment where I take my Levoxyl at night before bed rather than having to wait an hour or more after taking it in the morning before having breakfast. I was getting up at 4 am and taking the pill just so I could eat a regular breakfast (okay - not eat, but syringe in two cans of jevity mixed with coffee) with my wife.
I've had zero problems and in fact like it better. The literature indicates they recommend it in the morning before breakfast only because some participants in the FDA study approving it had difficult sleeping if they took it at night. I sleep even better now. My next blood test will be the proof of whether it's working as well.
Charm

D

Like Jackhoar, I had great success with plain carbonated water. I used the Safeway Seltzer cans. They were cheaper than club soda and the cans kept the fizz while the big bottles were worthless once I opened them.
I avoided a PEG the first time around because the Seltzer was so effective in not only removing the mucous but also cleaning out the mouth sores (mucositis) and I alternated a swig of Ensure with a swish of selzter so i could keep swallowing. It helped with the dry mouth and you can just type seltzer in the search box to see prior posts of mine and others who swear by Seltzer water for mucous.
Charm

Thanks for the info, they have me on .025MG, dr said they will probably have to adjust it in 6 weeks, not sure if it was tested prior to this to be honest, I will have to check and see if they have. The more research I do the more symptoms I have including low blood pressure which I think has been causing some of my dizzeness, there again I have been blaming it on my MS meds. This will be the third new med I am on now and I start to feel better I on't be able to say which one really helped.

What was TSH level on your last blood test? They should have done a TSH test for a base line before you started rads. Check with your RO.

.025 is a really low dose. You must not have been very far out of line. I doubt you will see much effect from that.

Charm, I was told to take the meds 2 hours before or 4 hours after taking anything with Calcium or Iron. I take mine in the morning when I get up. I drink Ensure Plus for breakfast and never thought about the iron or calcium in it and it doesn't seem to have affected the meds. I just don't take my Centrum or OSCAL until 6 hours later.

Take care,
Eileen

Eileen,

What brought this all about is a lump on the front of my neck in the area of my thyroid, some days it is more swollen than others, It is always swollen when I get up in the morning, once I got looking into things and doing some research is when I came across thyroid problems and the syptoms which I have all but one of them. I have checked with my GP and Nuero but they haven't run any TSH level tests, I will call the RO tomorrow and see if they did it, that will give us a base line to work from. Again thanks for the info. By the way there must be something in the Jersey Water, I was raised in NE jersey

Eileen and Charm.

Got a copy of my labs today, TSH level is 8.27 so that is most likley the cause of my fatigue and weight loss. I have checked with both my RO and Onc office and niether one has any record of it being checked prior to treatment, GP office just called back and said it was 1.71 about 6 months prior to radiation. Case closed now just have to get it back down to normal. Again thanks for the info.

Way to go JScott. Now you got the info you need to resolve this. I think .25 Synthroid is way too low a dose. My normal TSH is around 2.5. They started me on .50 and and am now on .88 5 days a week and 1.00 two days. This keeps me in the low twos.

It ain't the water in NJ. My thyroid chugged along just fine for 4 years after radiation. However, it got pissed when they decided to take half of it out when they did the larygectomy. A month later my TSH 33 and change. Had I not been having it checked regularly at the recommendation of my RO, I could have gotten very sick very quickly and had no clue why.

Take care,
Eileen

Way to go JScott. Now you got the info you need to resolve this. I think .25 Synthroid is way too low a dose. My normal TSH is around 2.5. They started me on .50 and and am now on .88 5 days a week and 1.00 two days. This keeps me in the low twos.

It ain't the water in NJ. My thyroid chugged along just fine for 4 years after radiation. However, it got pissed when they decided to take half of it out when they did the larygectomy. A month later my TSH 33 and change. Had I not been having it checked regularly at the recommendation of my RO, I could have gotten very sick very quickly and had no clue why. No one told me they had removed part of it.

Take care,
Eileen