I am off to see the Endo later this afternoon and so I am just working out exactly what I feel and checking that I have not missed translating anything that may occur (Endo is French) and as the appointment is late in the day - I will have already become less than efficient!
I feel under dosed still after TT and on 137.5 levo. My recent blood tests showed very low TSH (T3 and T4 not measured). I ache and I am tired and not as sharp as I was (although, and this drives me mad - everyone around tells me they are the same and it is just getting older - it is not!!) My nails are all ridged (running down the length of the nail).
I think that my calcium, B12 an Vit D is a bit low (even though I do live in a sunnier place than the UK) and maybe this will prove to be the problem.
Over the last couple of weeks I have noticed, when I am still, so generally evening and early morning a slight fluttering of what I imagine is my heart. When I was Hyper (pre - op) I used to get this massively.
I am anxious now that if I mention this they will assume I am overdosing (given my very low TSH). On the other hand if I don't mention it - it may be serious.
Does anyone with hypo symptoms also get this fluttering???
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I always got this daily plus palps or tachycardia whilst on levo. Only proved this when I was given T3 and took this alone for a number of weeks with no affect on heart.
Yes, I have been to GP today. Bloods apparently 'normal' - TSH 0.04, free T4 21.2, free T3 4.8, but still having a range of symptoms, including palpitations (like yours, in the evening). GP said this was exclusively connected with overactive thyroid, but didn't have an answer as to why I am continuing to experience it alongside underactive symptoms of being permanently cold, hair loss, tiredness, foggy thinking, difficulty losing weight, aching joints etc etc........., and in the context of being 'correctly medicated'. I'm currently on 125mcg levothyroxine.
Tachycardia and atrial fibrillation have been the bane of my life. Since going on thyroxine and adrenal treatment they have calmed right down. My heart is still too fast most days, but it's gradually slowing down.
Well I have seen the Endo, she said that the tiredness I feel is not to do with my TT and neither are the pains in my limbs. My hair falling out and my nails etc were not symptoms she recognised and I now have to reduce my 137.5 levo down to 125 as she says my heart is too fast.
So not quite sure what to do now. She said there was no point in checking T3 or T4 as they are inaccurate measurements.
I don't understand this at all, I have no thyroid - I am 5' 11" and yet 125 is possibly to much I know people with partial thyroid on 200 - all to much to work out.
Going to have a cup of tea and think about all this - all too much to take in.
The pains in your limbs is more than likely your low Vitamin D and the hair falling out is quite likely the low iron or it may be lack of thyroid hormone getting into your cells......your blood and pituitary may be happy with the levels but this doesn't mean that your cells are fully infused with thyroid hormone of the correct type.....can you change your Endo as this one doesn't sound to be very 'clued up'?
Many symptoms of an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) are the same as those for other conditions, so they can easily be confused for something else.
Symptoms usually begin slowly and you may not realise you have a medical problem for several years.
Common symptoms include:
being sensitive to cold
weight gain
constipation
depression
tiredness *
slowness in body and mind
muscle aches and weakness*
muscle cramps
dry and scaly skin
brittle hair and nails*
heavy or irregular periods
Perhaps she should do a little more studying and update her knowledge on Hypothyroid symptoms. The above info came from an NHS site perhaps you could point her in the right direction:
+1 There's as the guys say quite a few possibilities that make it possible to be getting what is nominally enough thyroid hormone, but still feel unwell. As well as needing to be able to convert T4 to T3 if you're taking it, it's possible for e.g. under par adrenals, toxicity, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, absorbtion issues and who knows what else to mess with it too.
Not sure about the technical details on pulse, but if taking more hormone raises your pulse above normal it likely does suggest that you are (a) at least partially using it and (b) possibly getting a bit too much.
That's not to say the replacement regime is necessarily right at that - too much hormone will lift my pulse, but it wasn't until getting the dose, the T4/T3 mix and some nutritional stuff sorted that quite a few subtler issues started to fade. Problems with stamina, gut function, mood, motivation and the like.
It's surprising (and not appreciated by most doctors it seems) just how precisely (in my case anyway) that repacement needs to be tuned in to feel right - there's a lot more to it than just the elimination of gross symptoms that most seem to target.
If you're in the gross sense not getting enough, not absorbing or not effectively using the hormone then straightforward hypo symptoms would seem likely.
Lots of other conditions and situations/illness can influence it, so care is needed - but all else being equal my own experience is that resting pulse tends to be a very good indicator of what's happening with thyroid replacement.
Don't know the precise terminology or if my experience is typical, but if i get more than a little underdosed my pulse starts to drop below its normal slightly 69 - 70 BPM or so. Anything higher usually means too much - by say 74 i'm starting to feel a a little hyper.
It's not just about pulse rate - the character of the beat is also a dead giveway of what's going on. When everything is 100% the beat is dead regular, easily felt and 'punches' solidly - but if not (even if the pulse rate is about right) it can become quite weak, erratic and harder to feel - with occasionally missed beats and irregular timing.
I though for years for example that this irregularity was normal for me - I never took much notice of my pulse when healthy. It's mentioned in the odd book by a thyroid friendly doctor, but no doctor or endo i've ever seen has seemed to take much notice of these kinds of subtleties...
I do think you are underdosed. Combined with your other symptoms, it's either a thyroid problem or may be adrenals trying to help your thyroid problem. I wish everyone with problems could just switch over to natural thyroid at the correct dose.
i feel much better on 150mcg Levothyroxine a day. As soon as I have been on this dose for three weeks my heart starts messing about, it is SO annoying as it is a bit scary and I would rather not have it. If I cut down to 125mcg and 150mcg on alternate days I don't get it so much but neither do I feel well. It is a pain in the neck!
This probably won't make you feel better but I have been on Synthroid and finally went on Armour which I prefer. In fact, I would like to take T3 after fifteen years. More helpful as you age.
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If you do not have an active thyroid, surely your TSH level will not change?
I have been educating myself reading other posts on this fantastic forum and think I may have a T4-T3 conversion issue
Please looking for anyone who experienced these symptoms
Very low TSH and High T4
Do you ever lie to your doctor(s)?
