Why am I so hot all the time?

[GentleOrange]

I'm hypothyroid (though I suspect I have hashimotos) on Cynomel, about 75mcg a day, taken four times a day and built up over months to the dose I feel most well on. My last TSH result was 0.5.

I do feel well, I definitely don't feel exhausted anymore. I now only have three health problems -

1) neck muscles that go into spasm, which may be related to my hypothyroidism or may be to do with an old neck injury,

2) I am still very overweight despite never being an overeater (probably the result of being under-medicated and wrongly medicated for over a decade) and that shows no sign of melting away on it own as I hoped it would!,

3) the over-heating. I think I'm too young for it to be the menopause and anyway, the over-heating is my only symptom. All of a sudden I go bright red and start sweating, I feel unbearably hot. Even when it's cold.

Does anyone have an explanation or theory for my issues, particularly the third one? It's so depressing. Everytime I think I'm on the right track, here comes a new health issue to deal with!

[galathea]

Try eating every 3.5 hours.... Set an alarm.... I tried it and the hot spells just went away.... It has, I think, got something to do with insulin levels. The wright is dropping too since I started eating regularly.

G x

[GentleOrange in reply to galathea]

Thank you. I will try that. Actually someone recommended that to me ages ago as a diet method, but I didn't see how eating so often could help you lose weight. But what do I know? I'm 17 stone now! I will definitely give that a go, starting from now!

[Clutter in reply to GentleOrange]

GentleOrange, have you had your FT3 checked? If it's over range you'll feel hot.

Low B12 can cause sweats and folic acid can help with hot flushes.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/252...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/252...

[Hidden in reply to galathea]

Sorry, being a bit thick here but eat what? By splitting meals? Would you say that you suffered with low blood sugar levels?

I'm finding that my portion of porridge for breakfast is getting smaller as I'm feeling full but a couple of hours later I'm eating hot buttered toast and marmalade cos I'm hungry!

Thanks!

[galathea]

I am just eating more. Funny enough I was looking through some sheets where I recorded my food intake, from several years ago. ( another go when I failed and gave up after 6 weeks).... I was eating just porridge or cereal, followed by a bit of fruit for lunch, a sack bar for Mid afternoon and then meat and salad for tea..... And I totally failed.

Am now having a full cooked breakfast, then meat and veg or salad for lunch and Spaghetti Bol, or curry and rice, or meat and veg for tea. I still have leeway for a couple of snacks... It seems an awful lot of food compared to how I have eaten for the past 10 years.... Seem to be losing a coupe of pounds a week... Woo hoo! makes no sense, other than that my metabolism must have realised I am not starving.

[greygoose in reply to galathea]

Yes, it does make sense. If you haven't ingested enough calores, then you can't convert your T4 to T3 etc. Don't know what anybody is taking here, levo or what, but you need calories for every single thing your body does. Digesting, breathing, etc. If you cut the calories, that doesn't necessarily mean that the body is going to use the calories you have stored, it will probably go into starvation mode and save everything you eat, just in case... It's not going to use those precious calories converting stored fat.

Even if you're taking T3, you might not be taking enough. And besides, what about converting to T2 and T1? I know there's a lot of controversy about T2 and T1. Do they really exist? What do they do? But I have heard the theory that T2 is involved in weight loss, which would make it even more difficult to lose weight because first they have to satisfy the bodies need for T3, then if there's any left over, convert it to T2!

So, up shot is, people often find they lose more weight when they eat more, rather than less.

[Hidden in reply to galathea]

Thanks for your reply galathea. Excellent that you're losing weight but notice you're eating a fair amount of protein. Seem to remember reading articles that stated most people didn't eat enough protein, I definitely need to sort that out.

[galathea in reply to Hidden]

Have always eaten protein and veg... I struggle to eat bread, potatoes, pasta... I don't much like them. I do have a terribly sweet tooth which makes me absolutely crave sweet stuff ... However I don't crave it if I have enough protein. My weakness is fruit jellies... I don't care for chocolate.

g x

[Spareribs in reply to galathea]

nope chocolate doesn't cut it for me either (fellow office workers think I'm strange)

peanuts/twiglets/crisps - different story - luckily no-one brings them in... ever (well I do bring twiglets at Xmas, some traditions have to be honoured) J

[greygoose]

GentleOrange. At you stage of the game, the TSH test is absolutely meaningless because it cannot tell you how much of your T3 is getting into your body cells. It only tells you that the pituitary cells are happy with what they've got. So...

1) The thing with your neck could be because you are deficient in magnesium. Most hypos are because they have trouble absorbing nutrients from their food. Stomach acid is often low.

2) The fact that you have a low TSH does not mean that you have sufficient T3. That could be low too. And if your T3 is too low FOR YOU, then you will not lose weight.

3) Your theromstat is broken. It is your thyroid that controls your temperature. Most hypos go cold. But I, like you, used to be hot all the time. Until last year when I suddenly became so cold in July that I had the heating on continuously until this May. I don't know if the thermostat can be repaired by treating your hypo. I suppose it dépends on why you are hypo and if your thyroid is still working. Mine has very little function these days, due to Hashi's. I am still colder than everyone else around me.

So those are the best explanations I can come up with. Now I will read what other people have said! lol

Hugs, Grey

[GentleOrange in reply to greygoose]

Thanks, you've given me plenty to think about. I did think my T3 dose was quite high, though I don't feel I'm getting any hyper symptoms. Out of interest I'll try and find out what a safe max dose is!

[galathea in reply to GentleOrange]

The British national formulary lists the dose of Liothyronine as being anywhere between 10 and 60 mg, so, three tablets per day max. Or it did last time I looked at it.

[greygoose in reply to galathea]

Yes, but! On only 60 a day I would be comatose! We're all different and what is a good dose for one, is not a good dose for the next person. And that doesn't take into account how much of the T3 is getting into the cells. One could be on a huge dose and still feel hypo because it's not getting into the cells. I wouldn't set too much store by that.

And what is going to happen if you exceed that dose? You get hyper symptoms, so you reduce a bit. End of. Even my dozey GP was willing to prescribe 75 and he wasn't exactly known for his daring.

Don't worry, GentleOrange. if you take too much, you'll know about it. Then you can reduce. Simple as that.