Hot flushes....too much iron ?

[artemesia3]

Hi All

I sent this huge set of results to Dr P, complaining that my (then) 75mcg of T3 seemed to be having little effect any longer - and that I had suffered from the odd pounding of my heart and felt as if the T3 wasn't getting into my cells.

He commented that my MCV and MCH show that I am short on iron and that I should increase my intake straight away and drop my T3 a little.

Well..rightly or wrongly, I dropped my T3 to 50mcg and have started taking 20ml of Floradix at night before bed (I was taking 1 sachet of Spatone). Does this sound ok ?

I ask because for a few weeks now I have been having hot flashes all day and night. They last just a few seconds and then I get really cold again. Yes, it could be the menopause of course - but I thought I was past all that. ! I wondered if it was connected to my taking too much iron ?

I'm also not sure whether to increase my T3 again. My temps are varying from 36.2-36.8 and my heart rate from 76-86 bpm.

I am seeing Dr P late July but - impatient as always - wondered if you could help !

Thanks so much..

Sharon x

Serum Copper Levels 19.0 umol/L (13.0-23.0)

Serum Folate 12.7 ug/L (4.4-20.0)

Serum Ferritin 101ug/L (29-470)

Serum Vitamin B12 848 pg/mL (180-900)

Serum urea level 5.4 mmol/L (2.5-7.8)

Serum inorganic phosphate 0.84 mmol/L (0.80-1.50)

Serum magnesium level 0.84 mmol/L (0.70-1.00)

Serum bilirubin level 10 umol/L (<21)

Serum alkaline phosphatase 62 IU/L (30-130)

Serum ALT Level 31 IU/L (5-40)

Serum albumin 38 g/L (35-50)

Serum sodium 142 mmol/ L (133-146)

Serum potassium 5.1 mmol (3.5-5.3)

Serum creatinine 60 umol/L (50-95)

GFR calculated abbreviated MDRD >90mL/min/1.73m*2

eGFR >90: Normal

Total white cell count 3.6 10*9/L (4.0-11.0) LOW

Red blood cell (RBC) count 5.37 10*12/L (3.80-5.30) HIGH

Haemoglobin estimation 142 g/L (115-160)

Haematocrit 0.43 (0.37-0.45)

Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) 79.3 fL (80.0-100.)) LOW

Mean corpusc. Haemoglobin (MCH) 26.4 pg (27.0-32.0) LOW

Mean corpusc. Hb. Conc. (MCHC) 333 g/L (310-350)

Platelet count 216 10*9/L (150-450)

Neutrophil count 1.80 10*9/L (1.80-8.00)

Lymphocyte count 1.29 10*9/L (1.00-4.00)

Monocyte count 0.22 10*9/L (0.20-0.80)

Eosinophil count 0.27 10*9/L (<0.41)

Basophil count 0.02 10*9/L (<0.11)

Serum TSH Level <0.020 mU/L (0.27-4.2) LOW

Serum free T4 level 5.1 pmol/L (12.0-22.0) LOW

Serum free T3 level 8.2 pmol/L (3.1-6.8) HIGH

They wouldn’t / couldn’t do Zinc, transferrin saturation% and Vitamin D

[Mikiviki]

Ever since getting hashimoto's 15 years ago I have been bothered with hot flashes. I realize through trial and error that it is the medication side effect for me, however it got really bad last week and a blood test showed me that normal t4 but high t3 and negligible TSH put you into the hyperthyroid state with the above stated problems. Personally I felt so bad I stopped all meds for 3 days and I am starting up again on low doses and feeling better. P.s. I also see Dr P. but as I live abroad I often have to take matters into my own hands. Here the docs are all about levothyroxine and there's nothing else. Anyway today feeling better! (But still sweating)

[bantam12]

If you have pounding heart and sweats then perhaps consider overmedication of thyroid meds.

[artemesia3]

Thank you both for replying. I did suspect overdosing myself, but have reduced my T3 from 75mcg to 50mcg without any real difference.

Mikiviki , interesting that you say it is a side effect of your medication. Last summer I remember experiencing a similar thing with hot flashes and I had only just started with 20mcg T3 with T4. Perhaps it is just something I will always experience with T3- or maybe I'm still overdosing on 50mcg?

Sharon x

[mstp]

I've been struggling in recent months to find the correct dose of T3. Two weeks ago Dr P told me I was taking too much. I had been taking around 125 and at one point had even increased it to 160. I had been changing my doses quite erratically because I really didn't have a clue what to do so I asked him exactly how I should proceed. I felt I really needed detailed guidance because I didn't trust myself at all at that point.

He said I should reduce my current dose by 12.5 T3 then remain on that dose (even if I don't feel right) for one week; all the time taking my heart rate and temperature measurements. Then I should reduce it by the same amount again and stay on it for one week. And so on and so on until my pulse and temps were down and I felt better.

Two weeks later I do feel quite a lot better and during the first week on the reduced dose I was quite surprised how my symptoms changed over that week. I expected to feel like I did on Days 1 and 2 for the entire week but I did gradually improve more and more. It was very reassuring knowing that I was doing what Dr P had told me to because when I felt a bit bad I wasn't tempted to alter the dose which is what I had been doing before then.

[artemesia3 in reply to mstp]

Mstp, thankyou. That is so helpful ! I feel like I have a plan now !

I , too, have been altering my dose willy-nilly - without any real idea of what I should be looking for. This gives me something to work on. i'm very grateful !