hands, feet and face swelling, joint pain

[kellik77]

I have had Hashimotos for twelve years. Seems like my levels have never been "right".  I've tried Synthroid, Levo and Armour and nothing seems to keep my levels steady. I went to Dr four months ago with severe swelling in hands feet and face and severe joint pain and fatigue. My TSH was 34.  He switched me from levo to armour (90 mgs).  The first week I felt much better but started swelling again and had terrible fatigue.  Went back about two weeks later and he changed me to synthroid 150mgs.  The swelling got a little better but still fatigued and joint pain is always there.  I went to my gyno for yearly exam two weeks ago and they tested my TSH.  it was .05 so gyno lowered synthroid to 125 mg and told me to come back in eight weeks.  I'm feeling terrible again.. in bed today because of severe fatigue and joint pain and hands and feet are terribly swollen. Had anyone else had these symptoms with Hashimotos?  I'm wondering if it's the medication that's making me sick.

[Barb135]

Is TSH the only thing they're testing?  They should also be testing Free T3 and Free T4, which are the actual thyroid hormones, while TSH is a pituitary hormone...

It's not the Hashimoto's that's causing your symptoms; it sounds like the problem is that the doctors are focused on TSH, only... If you have results for Free T3 and Free T4, please post them, with their reference ranges, as TSH doesn't begin to tell the whole story.  

It takes 4-6 weeks for T4 med, such as synthroid to take effect, so I can't imagine your doctor switching your meds after only 2 weeks... Apparently, your doctors don't know a lot about managing thyroid conditions.