Hi

[Leah234]

Pls I was diagnosed of hypothyroidism last week and was placed on 100mcg per day but bcos it's my first time taking such drugs and am also on omeprazole for gastritis, I reduced my dose to 50mcg per day. Hope am not making any mistake?

[Leah234]

I mean 100mcg of levothyroxine per day

[Marz]

Omeprazole is a short term treatment and should only be taken for 8 weeks. It will deplete your body of vital nutrients - including B12. You need acid to digest proteins.

100mcg does seem a big starter dose - it's usually 50 and you should then have another test after 6 weeks. Do you have any results of your thyroid with ranges - that you can post ? People will then comment. Are you taking any other medications ?

Are you taking supplements ? You will need to have B12 - Ferritin - Folate - Iron - Vitd tested as these are so often LOW when HypoT.

When is your next blood test due ?

[Leah234 in reply to Marz]

Thank u so much marz for such swift response. I was taking omeprazole for gastritis for the past 2months, now I have hypothyroidism low TT3=60.67 as against 70-195 normal range. TT4=36.80 as against 64-155 normal range. TSH=1.61 against 0.5-5.0 normal range. I was placed on 100mcg levothyroxine per day and solotone plus 1 per day, but I reduced levo to 50mcg per day. Should I continue like that or increase it to what the doctor had written?

[Marz in reply to Leah234]

I asked you when is your next blood test ? It should be about 6 weeks after you start on T4. Why did they test TT4 and TT3 instead of FT4 and FT3 ? Do you have anti-bodies ? Have you had the other things tested I mentioned above ? Sorry do not know what Solotone is. You could try increasing the levo after a week and see what happens. Why did you reduce it ?

[Leah234 in reply to Marz]

Next text is next month. Anti body? I was told my body mistakenly attacted itself and that's d cos of my gastritis and hypothyroidism. Solotone is a multivitamin drug containing vit A, b1,b2, b6,b12 and D3. I reduced d dose cos am afraid my body reacts to many drugs so is just have to go for priming dose before d main dose. Besides am taking omeprazole, just being careful.

[Spareribs in reply to Leah234]

Hi Leah

Most of us Hypothyroid folk have 'Hashimotos' - the autoimmune variety, testing TPO and TG antibodies confirms diagnosis - although treatment is the same.

It's tricky, I understand your caution - I myself was prescribed 25, 50, then 100 - (so I took 75 for 2 weeks).

Depends how you feel, really.

Most of us take vitamins although testing is recommended first - to rule out deficiencies - B12 is especially important as it can lead to nerve damage, and being on long term PPIs like omeprazole stops absorption of B12 & other nutrients.

An informative link about B12 testing ..... J

b12deficiency.info/b12-test...

[Leah234 in reply to Spareribs]

Pls what could be the reason for heavy headedness, pain all over my shoulder and chest as if am pressed down with load. I feel very hurt inside my head especially back of my head. My face and neck looks normal in d mirror but feels swollen within me. Hot flash coming from my spin. Is this symptoms of hypothyroidism or another thing?

[Willowluv]

Found this for you on webmed.......dont know if itll help you....

Those patients needed a higher thyroxine dose when they started taking omeprazole, the study shows.'Low levels of stomach acid may bump up the required thyroxine dose, the researchers write. Their study also shows that patients generally followed recommendations to take thyroxine while fasting and wait at least an hour before eating or drinking to avoid having the drug interact with food.

If you're taking thyroid drugs and you have condition that affects stomach acid or you are taking medicines that affect stomach acid, consult a doctor with any questions about your drug doses. Never change drug doses on your own.'

[Spareribs in reply to Willowluv]

Seems sensible, of course we should consult a doctor about changing dosage, yet 100mcg does seem a big starting dose (as Marz says) - even if omeprazole inhibits absorbtion.

PS Polly - have you got a link to that interesting study please?

probably why lots of us are underdosed J D

[Willowluv in reply to Spareribs]

I googled thyroxine and omeprazole and it was the webmed site.....sorry my computer skills only stretch as far as a copy and paste lolol! Bad I know. x

[Willowluv]

webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/ne... highlighted but this was the one! x

[Spareribs in reply to Willowluv]

found this too...

medscape.com/viewarticle/74...