Low b12 need advice about my cold: Right i.ve had... - Thyroid UK

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Low b12 need advice about my cold

antonia26 profile image
7 Replies

Right i.ve had a cold since last year /january time runny nose etc only able to breath through mouth due to this i gather. Then 3 wks ago this wednesdsy i dropped off to sleep for about half hour and woke up cause i couldn.t breath through nose in or out and started having panic attacks didn.t sleep at all that night. I tried everything to help clear it but no help i couldn.t even blow my noses , went to doctors next morning and on the way thr cold cleared it and i could breath . It soon stopped while waiting to see the doctor. I.m 22 wks pregnant now doctor could only give me a steriod nose spray to use twice a day it helpes but took a fee days. I also bought sudafed nose block tablets which was brilliant i know not allowed to take them but i was desparate it not easy not able to drink or eat cause u catch ur breath when swallowing. Well thought everything was getting kind of better huh did it like hell. Thursday just gone my head started to work thought cause all i do is blow my nose and i mean all the time u can feel it build up but it don.t run also developed a horrible smell in nose when blowing. Well this headache turns into sinsus infection had antibiotics yesterday never been in so much pain ever my whole head hurt getting pain arounf m6 head and jaw and makes ur face feel paralised thought i was having a stroke. Now today got nothing going down my throat but developed a choking feeling like flem in throat and need to clear it constantly and its driving me mad starting to feel panicky again . I have a bad forbia about not able to breath and i panic . My b12 is 208 i take b12 spray and iron with b12 in it . On 50mg levo levels are fine they said few months ago but can.t kick this cold off and its just getting worse my head just kills is there anything else i should be asking the doctor to check all iron sugar vid d are all fine now as been on vid d iron for a long time bit being 22 wks pregnant and ill all the time is driving me nuts

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7 Replies
jezebel69 profile image
jezebel69

Hi - its isnt really possible to have a cold for that length of time but it is possible to make too much mucus especially if your thyroid doesnt function too well. I know that feeling of drowning when you lie down at night. Sometimes cutting dairy products will help but not for everyone. The secondary problem is that the mucus pools in the sinuses and infects. I'm sure you will hear from plenty of other thyroid sufferers who share this problem. I never found Sudafed helpful but washing out my sinuses regularly has helped me to keep my airway clear.

antonia26 profile image
antonia26 in reply to jezebel69

With out me blowing it don t come out thats my problem it just sits in my nose and u can feel the pressure of it up until that day my nose completed blocked it was constantly running i went out that day and it just got worse then by the night it was dry and blocked i tried everything was on phone to nhs direct and they couldn.t help me anymore cause i had tried everything possible . Just constant pressure at top of nose and head now thick choking feeling in throat.

shaws profile image
shawsAdministrator in reply to antonia26

Please Antonia, please get a print-out of your latest blood test results with the ranges from your surgery. We are entitled to them. If you've not had one for a while ask GP to give you a Full Thyroid Function Test, which is TSH,T4,T3, Free T4, Free T3.

Your 50mcg of levo is probably too low for you, even if it's brought your TSH into 'normal range'. Normal range isn't good enough for us, we have to have low TSH to feel better. 50mcg is usually a starting dose and is normally increased by 25mcg levo every six weeks approx until the patient feels well with clinical symptoms fading.

I would bet that you are underdosed. As you've had continuing symptoms, it would appear, since you've been diagnosed.

Your doctor might not agree to all of the above suggested tests but, in particular, the Free T3 is important as you might not be able to convert sufficient T3 (the active hormone which drives our whole system) from too low a dose of T4.

My God you are 22 weeks pregnant - what is your doctor thinking of. The baby will be taking your thyroid hormones now and you are supposed to be cared for. One of our other Admins is good on pregnancy who if she reads your post will respond. This is an excerpt and link.

Treatment during pregnancy is especially important because hypothyroidism can harm the developing fetus.

If you develop hypothyroidism during pregnancy, treatment should be started immediately. If you have hypothyroidism before you become pregnant, your thyroid hormone levels need to be monitored to determine whether the dosage of thyroid medicine is correct. During pregnancy, your dose of medicine may need to be increased by 25% to 50%.

You also may need treatment if you develop hypothyroidism after pregnancy (postpartum hypothyroidism). You will be retested for hypothyroidism if you become pregnant again. In some cases, hypothyroidism will go away on its own; in other cases, it is permanent and requires lifelong treatment.

med.umich.edu/intmed/endocr...

Your B12 is horrendously low and why hasn't your doctor given you either injections to bring it up and take care of you and baby.

Make your blood test as early as possible and don't take levothyroxine that morning, leave about 24 hours approx between your dose of levo and blood test.

Get in touch with your surgery tomorrow and get and urgent appointment.

antonia26 profile image
antonia26 in reply to shaws

Had my thyroid tested beginning of pregnancy never been a problem with my thyroid results always in normal ranges its my hashi.s that we found was causing my problems . They won.t do full tests but due bloods next wk at antenatal will ask if i can have them there cause won.t get booked in for bloods for about 3 to 4 wks at the surgery. I hate needles so decided on the spray instead only recently started it was on tablets its working going to try this for a bit and get retested and see how i am if still not rising i will have the injections but have been told that i don.t absorb b12 so what ever i have won.t make a difference. Also asked last wk if my low b12 can harm my baby and they said no. Now this is my 10th baby only diagnosed december 2013 so just over a year had a load of problems with colds and coughs on previous pregnancy in 2013 its taken me many years to get diagnosed but not much as been done at all not even seen a endo just a neurosurgeon who believes everything i.m experiancing is to do with b12 and after baby is born i.m to have a mri scan to see if its caused me any damage

shaws profile image
shawsAdministrator in reply to antonia26

All your symptoms could be due to low B12, no doubt. But Hashimoto's antibodies are attacking your thyroid gland and Dr Toft of the British Thyroid Association recommends a dose of thyroid hormones to bring your TSH down. This is an excerpt and I would see your doctor to get a proper dose:-

2. I often see patients who have an elevated TSH but normal T4. How should I be managing them?

The combination of a normal serum T4 and raised serum TSH is known as subclinical hypothyroidism. If measured, serum T3 will also be normal. Repeat the thyroid function tests in two or three months in case the abnormality represents a resolving thyroiditis.2

But if it persists then antibodies to thyroid peroxidase should be measured. If these are positive – indicative of underlying autoimmune thyroid disease – the patient should be considered to have the mildest form of hypothyroidism.

In the absence of symptoms some would simply recommend annual thyroid function tests until serum TSH is over 10mU/l or symptoms such as tiredness and weight gain develop. But a more pragmatic approach is to recognise that the thyroid failure is likely to become worse and try to nip things in the bud rather than risk loss to follow-up.

Treatment should be started with levothyroxine in a dose sufficient to restore serum TSH to the lower part of its reference range. Levothyroxine in a dose of 75-100µg daily will usually be enough.

So I still think they have to look at the two important issues, 1. Sufficient Thyroid hormone replacements to and 2. B12.

If you want a copy of the whole Pulse article to give to your GP by Dr Toft, email louise.warvill@thyroiduk.org.

Zephyrbear profile image
Zephyrbear

It may also be of benefit to find out whether you have nasal polyps. As jezebel69 says, it is not possible to have a cold that lasts that long. However, nasal polyps will have exactly the same effect. I have had mine for the last 4 years now and it started in the same way. A runny nose that just wouldn't go away. Over that time I have had the nasal wash-outs (which just bunged me up completely for 3 days) steroid sprays (which didn't even touch it) steroid drops (Flixonase nasules) which worked for a while, but have now stopped and courses of steroid tablets which relieved it for a while before they came back. For some unknown reason, they completely cleared up for two glorious months at the end of last year but then came back with a vengeance and are now worse than ever... I am seeing an ENT surgeon next week to ask for surgery before I resort to either sticking a red-hot poker up my nose or sniff acid! I can't remember what a full night's sleep is and am found quite regularly at 3am trying to position my head in such a way that I can clear at least one nostril... Please get yourself checked out for this and do something sooner rather than later.

antonia26 profile image
antonia26 in reply to Zephyrbear

Thank you and i will hate it how u can.t breath through ur nose

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