I'm 17 years old and I was diagnosed with hypo almost a month ago. I went to the doctors because I was underweight and they did a bunch of test and the only thingthat was out of range was my tsh. That was 8.09. My doctor proscribed me 25mcg. Ive been taking my medication for almost a month. I have 2 more pills in my bottle. I take them every morning at 6 on an empty stomach then go back to sleep for a hour.
Before I was diagnosed I weighed 87 pounds, sense I've been taking my medication I gained 5 pounds and now weigh 92 witch is good. I'm only supposed to weigh 100 to mabye 105 pounds. I'm only 5ft and very small framed.
For I think 2 or maybe 3 days now I've had a small pain in my left chest a little under/beside my breast. It's not a bad sharp stabbing pain it's just a small pain that's just there. it comes and goes sometimes but comes back after I eat still small though. A couple days ago my heart would have a fluttering feeling heart palpations I guess and a little short of breath not bad though. I used to be able to breath in more. I called my doctor and asked and she said those are all side effects and to quit taking levo for 2 or 3 days then start taking only half of it.
But what if it's something worse like heart disease or failure? All I keep thinking about is what could my chest pain be and go ogling it. Sometimes I feel like I wouldn't really notice it of I wasn't always thinking about it and scared about it. I'm a hypochondriac and thino things over to much. What's your opinion?
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ToriOwens17
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When's your next bloodtest scheduled? You need the thyroid function test done 6 weeks or so after starting the thyroid hormone. 25mcg is a nothing dose. Your doctor should have started you on 50 mcg and scheduled a blood test for 6 weeks.
Also while you are at it, get your full blood panel done, plus ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D. These can be quite problematic when people have problems with thyroid function.
If you want feedback, please post your results.
Also, some young women in England forgo the consumption of dairy products. These are the primary dietary source of iodine. When iodine levels are very low, the thyroid is hamstrung. Can't produce hormone and TSH goes up because the pituitary is busy trying to whip the thyroid into some sort of shape.
Other situations can disable the thyroid, like infectious mononucleosis (glandular fever) and there are other infections that can affect it as well.
You are very young and it would be a good idea to figure out if this situation can be remedied without taking thyroid pills for the rest of your life. If you have experienced an attack on your thyroid by your own body, there are blood tests to determine that. I'll let the rest of the experienced people on this forum go into those sorts of details. You may end up feeling overwhelmed, but it's really one step at a time.
I can tell you that I had numbers that were on the high side and gained weight, losing hair, fatigue. Then they did blood work again and said I was fine. DO not trust the Doctor's. Furthermore, I will give you a link to a Doctor who knows everything about this. Levo and one other synthetic hormone meds are not healthy and do not work well at all. Read his web page and follow his advice, You can mend your thyroid back to a healthy one....
It's unlikely you are having side effects from 25 mcg levothyroxine, especially are you are not elderly. Are you having symptoms of hypothyroidism? A TSH of 8.09 is a little high but I wouldn't assume hypothyroidism unless there are symptoms also, some people are OK with a slightly raised TSH, others are very ill with an normal TSH. Symptoms are more important than the blood test.
Your problems could be nutritional. It's important to have a healthy diet, including green vegetables (and tomatoes) which contain magnesium which is good for the heart and muscles. Your small pain could be muscular, or a minor gastroenterological pain. It's very unlikely to be anything non-trivial at your age. I'd monitor your pulse to see it's fairly normal. If it's really worrying you a ECG is a possibility but I think the best approach is to describe your symptoms to your doctor and ask their advice.
Tori, If the pain comes back after you eat it is most likely indigestion. Hypothyroid people often have low stomach acid which makes digestion difficult. Get some Betaine Pepsin from your pharmacy and take it before meals or try a couple of teaspoons of raw apple cider vinegar in fruit juice or honey sweetened water before meals. Both will raise stomach acid and improve digestion.
25mcg is such a small dose it is barely enough to do good or harm. The fluttering, palpitations and breathlessness may be due to your sluggish system waking up now you are getting replacement hormone rather than a side effect of Levothyroxine. Some people notice such effects when they raise dose but it usually clears within a week.
Edited to add raw apple cider vinegar underlined above.
Also consider low B12 and low iron (and low magnesium). Lots of young women have deficiencies (and old ones, too) Both can make you feel awful, jittery and breathless, and affect your heart's efficiency. It's important to have enough thyroid hormone for heart health.
A TSH of over 8 is not a good thing at all, but what really matters is your free T4 and free T3. You should get a dose increase at your next appointment. 25 is usually the starter dose given to the old and feeble, so isn't enough to do any good in the longer term. Don't forget NOT to take your levo before your next blood test (take it after).
Agree with Clutter about chest pain. Serious stuff could feel more like being pressed up against a fence, with nausea and possibly arm pain (apparently women present differently from men), not a sharp pain the chest after eating. But go to the doc if you are worried.
First, you will most probably realise by now your GP knows 'nothing' about treating a thyroid gland dysfunction.
No wonder you are feeling so unwell with a miserable 25mcg levothyroxine which is usually used only for incremental raising, i.e. start on 50mcg and get a rise after about 5 or 6 weeks with a 25mcg increase and so on until you feel good. Your GP has no right to tell you to miss your dose for a few days as that could make you feel much worse. The symptoms you are having are due to a very low dose. My heart struggled before and after being on levothyroxine and it took a while to settle. Because we are hypothyroid our pulse drops, as does our temp, therefore our heart isn't pumping as it should and we struggle. In fact, we can feel much worse if the dose is too low than before being diagnosed (as I did).
Get a print-out of your blood tests with the ranges and post on a new question for members to comment each time you have a blood test. If you haven't had a Vitamin B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate ask for these to be done next time.
We have to read and learn in order to get well, and you can do so, but we need good medical assistance if possible. I hate to say it but in the UK you'd most probably be better to look for a 'needle in a haystack'.
Don't stop your medication and take note of the make of levo and make sure you get the same one each time from the chemist. If you feel bad ask if there's an alternative which might suit you better.
When your next blood test is due, don't take levo before it, take it afterwards and make the appointment as early as possible as TSH is highest then and that's all the doctors diagnose by, usually.
Ask your doctor for an increase in medication to 50mcg as well as increasing by 25mcg every six weeks till you feel much better.
Email louise.warvill@thyroiduk.org and ask for a copy of the Pulse online article by Dr Toft. question 6 will give you some good information. and discuss it with your doctor (so she can learn at the same time as yourself). If your GP hasn't tested your antibodies, ask for these too.
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Unfortunately hypothyroidism affects cardiovascular health. My heart was skipping beats last year when I was becoming more and more hypo. I then ended up with very elevated heart rate as a result of not having enough thyroid hormones...and chest pain as a result. Some people are exactly the opposite and have very low heart rate. It should all stabilize once you are optimally medicated. As other HU members pointed out 25mg of levo is just a starting dose. I hope levothyroxine works for you. Take care
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