I am also Hypo. I believe I my thyroid was "damaged" by a particular medication that I shouldn't have been on. I originally gained 18lbs in 16 days. Extreme fatigue, hair falling out, bloating, joints hurting..... I am on Synthroid as well but am looking to get on Armour instead. I have since gained over 60lbs going from a size 4 to a 16.

Something else to look into is getting a food allergy test done. Having them test the norms but also test for soy... (google soy, soy/cancer..scary) you will be surprised at how similar the symptoms are. We don't think of food allergies unless we have hives and our throats are closing in on us... just a thought!

I hope you don't have anything to do with hypothyroid or hyper for that matter. It is in my opinion one of the hardest things I've had to go through... and still going through. Its hard to explain it to others because you don't necessarily "look" sick.

I agree wholeheartedly with you on that! I thought I must have some really sinister disease at first. The doc was treating me for a dozen different symptoms before we finally figured out it was my thyroid. Then I got to stop all kinds of meds and just go on thyroid replacement hormones. I have had my thyroid gland completely removed so I am on full replacement meds. Still it is never just right. My labs are always off a little and some symptoms linger. It is 100 times better than it was so I don't complain too much.

I take Armour Thyroid, but there is some weird shortage going on right now. It is hard to find. My pharmacist is supposed to be getting some more sometime this month. I hope so as I will run out soon. If not though, there are other alternatives -- Naturethroid, Westhroid are both natural like Armour. Or you can add Cytomel to your Synthroid to give both the T4 and T3 combo.

I really recommend anyone with thryoid problems that are not being optimized, check out about.com/hypothyroidism site by Mary Shomon. She wrote the "Everything You Aways Wanted To Know About Hypothyroidism But Were Afraid to Ask." Lots of good info there. Be careful there are usually some fringe posts too but for the most part there is excellent care advice.