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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Excessive Weight Gain And Swelling In The Legs?

I am a 5 5 , 67 year old woman who has never in my life weighed more than 115 pounds and never had a weight change regardless of what I ate. In the last 6 months unexplained I have gained 33 pounds. My dr. did labs and saw thyroid level changes. He put me on 25mcg levothyroxine. That was 3 months ago and my weight continues to climb. I have so much bloating in my abdomen and swelling in my legs that the doctor did a vein ultrasound test which revealed a blood clot in my left calf area. He put me on Xarelto which I have been taking for 2 weeks. What do you think could be causing this weight gain and swelling?
Mon, 5 Dec 2016
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Dear Madam, Hi & Welcome.

You seem to be taking inadequate dose of Levothyroxine. However, other causes like heart disease or kidney problems should be ruled out.

The history given in your query is suggestive of hypothyroidism which is not controlled adequately with thyroxine replacement therapy.

I advise you to consult your treating physician to review the prescribed dose and possibly increase the dose of Levothyroxine and also to rule out other causes of weight gain and bloating like heart disease or kidney disease. Kindly repeat the thyroid function tests after 6-8 weeks to check the response of the medication.

The TSH level should be in the range of 0.3-3 mIu/mL.

Hope the advice given above would be useful.

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What Causes Excessive Weight Gain And Swelling In The Legs?

Dear Madam, Hi & Welcome. You seem to be taking inadequate dose of Levothyroxine. However, other causes like heart disease or kidney problems should be ruled out. The history given in your query is suggestive of hypothyroidism which is not controlled adequately with thyroxine replacement therapy. I advise you to consult your treating physician to review the prescribed dose and possibly increase the dose of Levothyroxine and also to rule out other causes of weight gain and bloating like heart disease or kidney disease. Kindly repeat the thyroid function tests after 6-8 weeks to check the response of the medication. The TSH level should be in the range of 0.3-3 mIu/mL. Hope the advice given above would be useful.