hypo and blood pressure

[cupidcashier2]

anyone have input ,on being hypo and have rising blood pressure. on t4 only...

[Jazzw]

Well, high blood pressure is a symptom of undertreated hypothyroidism. My OH's BP always used to be high until she started taking sufficient thyroid replacement. We used to assume it was because she only had one kidney - but apparently not!

Many GPs appear to think that thyroid hormone increases blood pressure but that certainly wasn't our experience.

How much T4 are you on?

[cupidcashier2 in reply to Jazzw]

I alternate 112 ,synthroid 5 days and 125 2 days....I have had thyroid removed 6 yrs ago .. latest labs were tsh 3.670 (r.r)0.450-4.50 ft3 2.5 (r.r.)2.0-4.4 ft4 1.58 (r.r)0.82-1.77 ...thank you

[Jazzw in reply to cupidcashier2]

I would suggest you're not on enough thyroid replacement then. Your TSH is in range but high, and your FT3 is languishing at the bottom of the range. How high is your BP?

[HIFL]

Blood pressure can be high when hypo OR hyper. It might depend on having adequate T3. If you're on T4-only, yours might decrease if you added some T3. Likewise, someone with high BP on NDT might lower theirs by lowering their NDT and raising T4. This explains it better: tiredthyroid.com/blog/2014/...

[Aurealis]

In my experience if thyroid hormone levels are too low both blood pressure readings are elevated whereas if levels of thyroid hormones are too high just the upper reading is elevated. GPs don't recognise this.

[cupidcashier2]

thank you, for your answer..... My dr(endo) just added 5mcg t3 so hopeful that this works for me...

[Aurealis in reply to cupidcashier2]

I hope this works for you, but many of us need much higher doses of T3 so if it doesn't lower your blood pressure, seek a dose increase. It might be worth investing in your own machine so you can monitor the effects of the T3 on your BP at home.

[gabkad in reply to cupidcashier2]

Did they just take 1 reading or did you have you sit there for 20 minutes and take a reading every 5 minutes? Because my blood pressure goes all over the place (I'm hoping it's better now that I'm properly medicated)... I think when hypo the heart is working hard because it can't contract properly. After I'd sit quietly my blood pressue would go low. Struggling heart. Also if you are overweight, blood pressure will get higher.

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to gabkad]

I agree, I was part of a survey recently and it involved having practically every part of my body measured including my (normally highish- inspite of taking bp meds) anyway I had my bp taken sitting well back in a comfortable chair, my arm was measured for the correct size cuff, I was told we ( the nurse in charge) and I would not be talking while it was being done ( very important!) and my bp was taken three times at accurately measured five minute intervals - think she had some sort of timer telling her when it was time to do it again. In between we talked and completed forms etc. Result? The machine averaged out all three readings and when I received the results I had a beautiful, lowest ever BP reading in spite of being in a hospital and in a penitentiary stressful situation. So as gabkad says how your BP is taken can make a huge difference to the result.

[SmallBlueThing]

Interesting to hear of talking to get over the "white coat" effect, as the usual advice is not to talk. My GP was of the opinion there could be a self-induced white coat effect, even at home, perhaps from seeing a high reading. I usually experience a steady drop. I don't relish putting on a cold cuff, and keep myself wrapped up as much as possible during the process.

For home monitoring, we're supposed to sit and relax for five minutes, discard the first reading etc., but more recently the medical profession is getting interested in the high readings (potential for stroke), so I take five readings, starting as soon as I've sat down. On occasions when my BP hasn't dropped during measuring sessions, and stayed elevated for days, a trip to GP has resulted in overnight hospital stays, with waits of as long as ten hours!

I've found I can consistently get a drop to a near-normal reading by having my head back and supported. It's actually probably not back, but in a better position than I have from years of desk and screen work.

There was an interesting discussion about posture between two physios on the radio:

bbc.co.uk/programmes/b054pfn5

Anyway, you need to keep your BP under control, or else the extra pressure further stiffens the heart and blood vessels.