Basic background. I have experienced overheating for as long as I can remember. I'll be red faced and sweating when others are cool.
It's mostly in my head, face and neck but is now spreading down my body.
Yet still, while I feel that I'm dying with the heat, if anyone touches my body it feels cold and clammy. My symptoms are increasing and it's so hard to get medics to understand just how distressing this is, but I know others here will understand.
I have numerous medical conditions including high blood pressure, auto immune condition and degenerative back problems. I had significant hair loss some years back, which I think was a reaction to the stress of my other ailments. My hair has grown back but much thinner. I am also significantly overweight and can't seem to lose weight despite clearly not overeating. My weakness is fizzy drinks and juice.
However, my overheating started long before any of these conditions.
Gp recently prescribed pro banthine which has helped greatly and sometimes I feel almost normal. But I am having to increase the dosage for the same results and I'm concerned about its long term use.
I have just had yet another blood test, which doctor says is normal.
I don't know what to do with the information and I'm hoping that someone here can point me in the right direction or have any suggestions.
At its worse, like last night, I can't sleep, my pillow is drenched and I just don't know what to do with myself.
All help and advice will be gratefully received. Thank you!
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Valereee
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OK, so, I've just been reading your last post, and it's all a bit of a mess, isn't it.
All those tests above are OK - I think! - except for the FT4. That appears to be rather low, and your TSH doesn't correspond - I would have expected it to be higher than that with that FT4.
But those two on their own Don't mean much. It's the FT3 that is really important. Have you asked your doctor to test that? The NHS Don't usually test it (go figure!) but it is so important. It could be low, which would be causing most of your symptoms.
If your doctor won't test it, could you get it done privately?
You are taking so many things...
Why exactly did your doctor give you pro banthine? It lowers stomach acid. So, it's very unlikely that all the stuff you're taking is being absorbed.
In any case, the multi-vit is not going to address any nutritional deficiencies, even without the low stomach acid, because there's just not enough of anything in it, doesn't matter how good it is. And calcium really isn't a good thing to take for anybody.
Why are you taking Moducare? Do you have Lyme disease?
If it were me, I would be thinking of stopping everything - with your doctors co-operation, of course - and restarting from scratch. And by that I mean getting
TSH
FT4
FT3
TPOab
TgAB
vit D
vit B12
folate
iron
ferritin
tested. That will give you good basic information. I'm not a doctor, but it seems to me that most of your symptoms - the pain, the depression, the lack of internal temperature control - could very well stem from low T3 (the active thyroid hormone).
Given the low TSH, in the face of your symptoms, your doctor should be looking at secondary - or central - hypothyroidism, where it's the pituitary at fault and not the thyroid gland itself.
When you had your TSH tested, was it early morning and fasting (water only)? That is when the TSH is at its highest, which is what you want, because doctors only tend to look at the TSH.
To be honest, I don't really understand what the tests are, so I appreciate you writing something that I can show to my gp.
I'm not taking Moducare at the moment but was previously as I have an auto immune condition that I was trying to boost.
My main medication at the moment is Lyrica, Duloxetine and tramadol, for my back pain. (3 slipped discs on both sides), without them I'd be unable to get out of bed. I previously spent 6 months practically immobile.
I'm also vit d deficient and always borderline anaemic.
Everything else is self Medicated, depending on what's really affecting me at the time.
The pro banthine is also used for excessive sweating and is the only thing helping slightly.
If I showed your response to my gp, do you think he'd be able to understand enough to do the additional tests? He's been very supportive and I don't doubt that he would do the tests but he doesn't really understand and assumes I'm peri menopausal despite me having this problem for years.
I wondered if my adrenals could be out of whack due to the trauma to my body from my many medical ailments and the stress I have experienced over the last 8 or so years?
I think that if you show my reply to your doctor, he will probably laugh at you at best, and tell you off for going on internet at worst.
I'm not a doctor, so no doctor is going to take my word for anything, I'm afraid. They only listen to other doctors - and they Don't always do that!
What you could do is write out the list of tests and ask him for them. But I doubt if he will agree to all of them - and even if he does, the lab will probably refuse to do the FT3 and the vit D. Too expensive, you see! Money before patients! So most people have to get them done privately. But ask, anyway.
OK, so if you have one autoimmune condition, you possibly have Hashi's as well. But you'll only know by getting the antibodies tested - and you need both of them, not just the TPOab. The antibodies will cause symptoms long before the thyroid bloods become abnormal.
If you have autoimmune conditions then I'm not sure that boosting the immune system will do any good. Because it's already over-active. Boosting it could make things worse.
So, you need the pain meds for the back pain. OK. But what are they doing for the slipped discs - apart from the pain meds? Physiotherapy? Acupuncture? Have they suggested operating?
What are you taking for the vit D deficiency and the anemia? Forget the 'borderline' rubbish - that's just a doctor excuse for not treating something that is going to cost them money! Either you are or you aren't. You can't be borderline pregnant can you?
Your adrenals could very well be out of whack. But the NHS will only test cortisol at 8 or 9 am, which isn't very helpful, because levels change throughout the day. So, that would need to be a private 24 hour saliva test to get an accurate picture of your adrenal status.
Just taking vits and mins because you 'think' they might help, is not the way to go about it. I'm not surprised you haven't felt any benefit. And, I think, it's those you should stop and wait until they've cleared your system, and then start again in a more scientific manner. By getting tested to see what you need, and how much you need, and working up from there.
OK, so whilst I can fully appreciate the attraction of juice and fizzy drinks, they should only be kept for special occassions. Not drinking water can cause all sorts of problems - and could account for some of your weight gain. The body needs water to keep things balanced - electrolites and stuff - and also to get rid of all the toxins that build up in the cells and the blood. If you're not flushing all that out with a good daily dose of water, you're going to cause all sorts of problems for yourself - especially with all the medication you're taking.
So, number one step for you, I think, should be to get rid of all the juice and fizzy drinks, and drink more water - you could sometimes drink fizzy water, that's very nice! And, stop all the self-medication of vits and mins and goodness knows what (pro gest???) and detox from it all. Then, get tested. OK?
You mention fizzy drinks and juice as your downfall. Scientific evidence shows that both can cause weight gain. Juice, we think as very healthy, but if we eat one apple it is very good for you. If we drink apple juice there may be as many as 8 to 10 apples used to provide a carton of juice and by drinking this which is mainly fructose our livers cannot process fructose quickly enough and it is 'sent' out into our blood stream which then results in 'fat'. Excerpt:
10 reasons to limit fructose consumption
Fructose can only be metabolized by the liver and can’t be used for energy by your body’s cells. It’s therefore not only completely useless for the body, but is also a toxin in high enough amount because the job of the liver is to get rid of it, mainly by transforming it into fat and sending that fat to our fat cells.
Excess fructose damages the liver and leads to insulin resistance in the liver as well as fatty liver disease. In fact, fructose has the same effects on the liver as alcohol (ethanol), which is already well known as a liver toxin.
Fructose reacts with proteins and polyunsaturated fats in our bodies 7 times more than glucose. This reaction creates AGEs (advanced glycation end-products), which are compounds that create oxidative damage in our cells and ultimately lead or contribute to inflammation and a host of chronic diseases.
Fructose increases uric acid production, which, in excess, can cause gout, kidney stones and precipitate or aggravate hypertension
"I am not a medical professional and this information is not intended to be a substitute for medical guidance from your own doctor. Please check with your personal physician before applying any of these suggestions"
Thank you so much for the info. I know juice and soft drinks are bad for me and I have never really drunk water. However, I was unaware of the damage it could cause to my liver, so may try to cut down. I don't go through litres a day, but if I'm having a drink, that is what it would be. I will try to add some water into my diet.
Do you think this could have an effect on my bodies heat regulation?
Despite the pain in my back and joints, I would actually prefer that to the overheating, as it's so distressing being hot and cold at the same time and being unable to relax and avoiding public situations as I appear so odd sweating when others have got heavy clothes on! Just imagine permanently having a hot flush!!!
I am not medically qualified but this is from a link from a site of an holistic doctor. An excerpt which might or not apply to you:
Adrenergic manifestations
Shakiness, anxiety, nervousness, palpitations, tachycardia, sweating, feeling of warmth, pallor, coldness, clamminess, dilated pupils (mydriasis), feeling of numbness "pins and needles" (parasthaesia).
Symptoms of hypoglycaemia
Hypoglycaemic symptoms and manifestations can be divided into those produced by the counter-regulatory hormones (epinephrine/adrenaline and glucagon) triggered by the falling glucose, the neuroglycopenic effects produced by the reduced energy delivery to the brain and the fatigue from reduced energy delivery to the body.
hi valeree, just wanna say.. I am burning up when everyone is cold and when they're hot I am freezing.. sick to death of having to change clothes and sheets at night.
Something else I have been wanting to ask you all... does anyone feel brain fog all the time? I'm beginning to think it is dementia.. am unable to concentrate and when learning anything new cannot comprehend the most simple things. I feel utterly worthless and stupid.. desperate and depressed.
Haras, if you want any answers on this problem, you should post a new question - not many people will see it here, tagged on the end. BUT if you post a new question of your own, you will no doubt get lots of answers.
Don't forget to include your latests labs - with the ranges. If you haven't got a copy, then ask your doctor, you are legally entitled to have a copy. And also tell us how much thyroxine you are taking.
It sounds as if your dose is too low - most people have brain-fog when they are un/Under-treated. Depression is another symptom. Also, the thyroid gland acts as our thermostat, so if your gland is damaged in some way, the thermostat no-longer works correctly. Getting on the right dose of the right thyroid hormone replacement FOR YOU, should help enormously.
Doctors often Under-treat us because they know very little about the thyroid, Don't understand the labs, and have no idea what the symptoms of hypo are.
Well, I Don't know if you're using a PC, or what, but usually, in the top right-hand corner, there is a green button that says 'Write a post'. If you click on that, it will take you to a page that you just have to fill in, with the title of your post, the text, and then click on 'Submit', at the bottom. And your question will be posted!
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