Posted by Victoria on April 14, 1999, at 13:58:56
In reply to Depression and Thyroid, posted by Lee on April 14, 1999, at 1:02:19
Your symptoms sound like the same ones I had before I was first diagnoses as hypothyroid and given synthroid. I had had borderline low thyroid for some time, but it took a while to find someone who would treat it since my levels were within the "normal" range. The doctor I have now manages my thyroid level by using the TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) test, rather than just looking at the levels of thyroid itself. The treatment goal is to keep my TSH about 1.0. It's made a big difference (though I still also need ADs as well). Why not go back on the Prozac-Lithium combo if that worked before?
> I am a 32 year old female who has suffered from depression almost all of my life. Seven years ago I was put on Prozac and Librium, and wow...I never felt better in my life. Obesity had always been a problem as well, and I lost a significant amount of weight and had enormous energy. But, my medication was stopped when I got pregnant, (though I had to return to taking prozac during the final phase of my pregnancy) and after I had my child, I developed hyperthyroidism. Medication didn't work, so I had to undergo radioactive iodine treatment to basically destroy the thyroid. Since then, I've been on synthroid, and the depression remains (though the thyroid is "supposedly" stable.) I've been on just about every type of antidepressant there is, all of the SSRIs, a few of the Tricylics, as well as Effexor (which I had a bad reaction to). I'm currently on Prozac and Xanax, and it's having no effect on me whatsoever. Obesity is once again a problem, even though I really don't eat much fat or high calorie foods. Migraine headaches, fatigue, agoraphobia and nonsocial behavior are also a problem. I don't understand why Prozac worked so well for me before, but now isn't working at all. I don't want to try any more tricylic drugs because of the weight gain side effect, and of course, I live in one of those parts of the country where there's neither a psychiatrist nor an endocrinologist to monitor my psychotropic drugs or thyroid disorder. So I've had to rely on the judgment of a nurse practitioner. I've heard that thyroid tests, although appearing normal, can still be abnormal. Could this be the reason for my constant depression, fatigue and inability to lose weight? Or could it have been the combination of Prozac and Librium that worked before? This has been going on for 5 years now, and it's sooo frustrating. Help?
poster:Victoria
thread:4835
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990726/msgs/4873.html