Over Christmas and the New Year I made a few changes which have resulted in quite a lot of good progress in my overall health but with the improvements have come Hyper symptoms - like pounding heart, occasional chest pain, high pulse, too much energy . Does anyone know why this is happening and how I can stop these horrible symptoms please?
The changes I have made were 4 x weekly 24 hour detoxes, excluding Potato's from my diet, taking liquid trace minerals, getting on the exercise bike once a week for 15 mins and yoga at least twice a week.
I have had lots of improvements but really don't like these hyper symtoms. No adjustments have been made to my liquid T4 as I only take 0.7 1/2 mls once a week, which is clearly not enough but is the most I can tolerate. I have been Gluten Free for over a year and I am a vegetarian
Best wishes
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Kitten-whiskers
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I hope someone knowledgeable will answer your post.
But to my limited knowledge seems you went too fast on too many health kicks. Also I believe that too much exercise will deplete t3. But you say you are getting hyper symptoms but they can be hypo symptoms. So hopefully someone can give you some good advice to help you out. I am sorry I cannot be more help to you. Hope you are better soon.
Thank you Win_4ever, it is a very complex illness and all these symptoms I have suffered before, but it doesn't make sense when in other ways I have improved quite a lot. Maybe the stress of all that change and in a short space of time like you said, has had an effect, the detoxes were extremely stressful. I will increase my Vitamin C and change nothing else for a while, until things have completely settled down
I would reduce your thyroid hormones down slightly to see if it relieves your hyper symptoms. Too fast a pulse, too much energy etc aren't good for you.
It might be you have overdone things with detoxes, exercise etc. We can only do these when we have been on an optimum of meds (that we feel perfectly normal health). T3 as you probably know is the active hormone which runs our whole body and exercising reduces T3 - which may be alright if healthy. but with severe detoxing too must be a strain on our bodies. When our body produces T3 normally and the above sounds like a punishment to me and I doubt if we supplement with T3 that we can restore T3 quickly enough as a healthy body would be able to.
I am not medically qualified so don't read the above as a definite. It's just my point of view, having suffered severe palpitations and feeling awful.
Good morning Shaws, I will never be able to take enough medication to feel well, I only have a very small amount once a week, that is why I thought of exercising - to increase my metabolism, I guess that was the wrong line of thinking.
My T3 levels and T4 levels were always within range, it was just the TSH and Anitbodies that were high, does that mean it will be save for me to exercise a bit? I have not had a blood test in well over a year
Good morning to you and what a lovely one it is. Sun shining brightly and nice and cold invigorating. Lovely for a brisk walk. When trying to recover health, exercise is required but it is to 'tolerance' (what we can manage) and gradually working up.
I'm sorry you have a problem taking meds and I don't know how you manage at all from day-to-day.
T4 is usually always included in blood tests, sometimes the T3 but it is the Free T3 (different from T3) which is important. This is an excerpt (and whole explanation is in the following link):-
FT3 = FREE T3
T4 converts to T3 and is the only thyroid hormone actually used by the body's cells.
The approx. reference range for Free T3 is 4 to 8.3
We at Thyroid UK believe that you need to know your Free T3 level too because this will often show low if you are not converting, and high if you have blocked receptor cells. Even if you are converting, the body needs the extra T3 that a normal thyroid produces. There has been some research to show that people feel better on a mixture of Thyroxine (T4) and Triiodothyronine (T3).......
and
With all of these tests, your results could be anywhere within the range and you would be classed as "normal". If you are at the very edge of the range, either at the bottom or at the top, you could be classed as "borderline". Neither you nor your doctor truly knows what your normal is, if you did not have a blood test done before you became ill. There are also particular reasons why the blood tests remain in the normal range. If you are not converting from T4 to T3 or if your cells are not taking up the T3 normally, your T4 levels and your TSH levels will still show as normal.
To read the whole item about FT3 this is the link.
It is such a beatiful day, I do love winter - when I go into the back garden to feed the birds & other wildlife, they are all so keen and I can get so close to them - it's lovely to see.
Thank you very much for the information, I wll get my blood tests arranged : > and slow down with my exercise
That should not be too difficult, last time i saw the doctor I asked if he would test my antibodies - he said "the test is meaningless, it doesn't matter whether you have one antibody or one thousand, it just shows you have hashis, there is no cure for it, it is just how you are wired"
I am amazed at how they get away with being so ignorant and how heartless they can be : <
It is amazing: so a person prescribed levo assumes she is hypothyroid. However, will she not be surprised to swing between hypo/hyper (due to antibodies): believe its because levo is too high and could reduce it .
I do not think he even gives it much thought to be honest Shaws, he has come up with some suprisling daft ramblings - this is why I normally avoid the surgery. The only time I ever see him (my doctor) is when we both happen to be shopping in the local supermarket, then he gets the hump when I am not overly pleased to see him - I am not sure what he expects.
He promised me the earth when I changed back to that surgery and as soon as he read my notes and got the hump because I saw Dr Peatfield, then he just turned to me and said you probably have Graves and Fibro - nothing can be done so goodbye.
I think maybe just out of his depth and completely unaware of how bad you feel. He is doing as he was taught, take note of TSH only and T4. No knowledge of symptoms I should imagine. That's how many begin to self-medicate.
Very true, there is so much information about these days, if they wanted to look. They Judge Dr Peatfield, label him as dangerous but it's them and there lack of knowledge thats dangerous.
I will get me health back, with or without them. Thankfully we all have this fantastic site and lots of wonderful authors, like Leon Chaitow but strangely he doesn't seem to get mentioned much.
Thank you very much for your reply, you are probably right - I have got carried away and over done things, I just want to be well. I will always remain undermedicated because my body has always reacted (flared up) to any form of thyroid meds even though I need it, that is why I have been trying these other things to improve my situation as medication will never be the answer for me.
I haven't has a blood test for well over a year so I will go and get one done
That is a really good point about the adrenals pumping out adrenaline - I never thought of that
You sound as if you're in a very similar situation to me.
For years I could not tolerate any thyroid meds. I just felt as though I was dying. I moved over on to NDT because my body seemed to tolerate it better. However they changed the make up of my NDT and I had to go back to thyroxine.
I started at 6.25 mcgs and raised by the same amount every 6 weeks. It was painful. 14 months later I am now on 106.25 mcgs levo and 15 mcgs T3. You could go even slower.
At one point I did try liquid thyroxine because my GP was getting desperate.
I am now under the care of an endocrinologist who seems to handle a lot of tricky cases.! Mostly people who just can't tolerate Levothyroxine. But your body can do it because I am living proof. I am by no means levelled off yet but I'm on the way.
Have you ever seen an endo?
You really need to because they may work out a plan of action.
You possibly need a synacthen test to check that you are in fact making enough cortisol to cope with the thyroxine.
What are your symptoms when you try to increase your dose?
You really should be having blood tests more frequently too to see if you're utilising the hormone your putting in.
Truly I never thought I'd see the day when I hit 100mcgs. So much so that when I did I put a POST up on this site!!😊
I've received such fabulous support here. We are all different. Some of us are too sensitive to these meds but I can assure you, if you have any sort of thyroid disfunction.....you are going to need the meds. It just doesn't go away..sadly.
There is the mantra....START LOW AND GO SLOW.
well some of us need to start VERY low and go VERY slow!
Do you have your last bloods to post??
Every dose increase made me feel worse for about 2/3 weeks. Horrid. I thought I was being poisoned. Everyone here gave me the support I so desperately needed to continue raising. No one lost their patience. They just gently encouraged me to keep heading in the right direction, spurring me on. It may take till the end of this year before I hit my final dosage but when I hit rocky patches I just shout out and someone offers pearls of wisdom which really have been like the wind beneath my wings.
I've just looked at your previous posts where you have stated all the side effects from levo.
I can catagorically state that they were the SAME as mine.
All the symptoms of being HYPER.
Looks as though your body is acutely sensitive to raises in meds.
Are you tolerating the dose that you are now on??
If so....this is an indicator that your body can indeed learn to tolerate these meds.
Thyroxine is strong.
It is like petrol and when our bodies are severely hypothyroid and you are overtly because you had a TSH above 10 than it is vital that we crank that metabolism up slowly!!!
Initially thyroid meds make us even more hypo because they shut down the feed back loop to the pituitary before our meds have had the chance to convert into something usable. However introducing them to the body can also make us feel HYPER. Hence we end up with symptoms of both!! DREADFUL!!!
The key is ARE YOU TOLERATING WHAT YOU ARE TAKING AT THE MOMENT?
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN ON THIS DOSE?
Your blood work looks good from your previous posts. But the TSH was very high.
Bless you Joesmum for taking the time and effort to help, you have know idea how wonderful it is to here that there is someone like me :>
a number of people thought it was in my head, until it got to the stage that my pulse was so high, I was burning up and unable to breath.
It sounds like you have a good medical team, sadly I do not have that back up, it is even a real battle to get a blood test.
I have seen two endo's - the first one was awful, we had a blazing row and that was that, the second one was nice but had no suggestions and was no help at all, never made an effort.
I do tolerate the dose of liquid T4 I am on at the moment - sadly it only works out as about 1 microgram every Tuesday, normally I am desperate for that dose and count the hours before I can take it, I have been on this dose about 10 months.
When I started the liquid levo I took a daily dose of 5 micrograms and I felt really well and then on day 9 it all caught up with me and I was extremely ill and had to come right of it for ages - that does happen with every thyroid med i have tried.
I am so pleased you have got up to that dose, it is so impressive.
I was thinking to taking a little more but I had been so worried about if it went wrong, it takes so long to recover but now hearing your story I think I will increase my dose on a Tuesday.
I did have adrenal fatique - diagnosed by Peaty's ASI test - five years ago, I have recently seen a nutrtionalist who said only one of my adrenals is struggling now.
I have always had a high pulse rate, which is the opposite of what it should be with our condition, do you have that?
Your post has really helped, thank you so much
I would love for you to change your GP. Your case sounds so desperate and extreme. Fresh ears are what you need.
You need a GP who will state your case and fight your corner. I have had to change my GP because my other one was so unsympathetic.
A new GP might just realise what a poor state you're in and find you the best ENDO that they can to send you to.
It is a minuscule amount of levo that you are taking.
You need a full investigation.
I did note that your PARATHYROID HORMONE was quite high in range even though your calcium was normal.
Usually with a normal Calcium reading your parathyroid hormone would be fairly low in range. It is the parathyroid glands that control how much calcium is in the blood?
I'm not medically trained so these are only hunches I'm afraid but when you're as poorly as you are EVERYTHING hormone should be investigated.
All pituitary hormones should be tested.
Your parathyroid glands.
Your thyroid profile.
Please push. Please change your GP.
There has to be a reason why you are so intolerant of these meds.
I noted that you did not show an FT4 result or an FT3 result.
It would be worth sending off to Blue horizon for a thyroid blood test. TSH, FT4 and FT3. All are important.
It's a simple test. I finger prick test where you collect blood into a little phial. A very small amount. If you the thyroid UK discount code you'll get £10 off. I think it will be amount £80 but my goodness will it be money well spent. I think the code is TUK10 or 10TUK?
Don't take meds the morning of the test and do it about 8am. Post it off. You will get your results back in about 2 days. Then please post them on this site.
We will be waiting for them.....I'll keep a look out!
Without the FT4 and FT3... We don't know how to evaluate your TSH.
I did change my surgery and I have been thinking about doing it again - I did question my hormones as things are certainly out of whack and have been for years but apparently nothing came back showing a problem.
From memory I think my FT3 & FT4 were always in "range" - not that it means an awful lot.
The Thyoid dose is tiny but if i don't take it, i really miss it, normally in agony and struggle to move - I know it doesn't make any sense, only theory is that all the other medical issues are more of a problem than the Thyoid.
The first endo said that 4 % of the population are intolerant of thyroid hormane replacement, which of course makes no sense, it's another get out clause for them, hence why an arguement broke out, my partner who came with me said he though the endo was going to hit me, he was shouting at me and waving his arms - when I left there I felt so happy, I really got under his skin and he really hated the truth, could not dispute what I was saying just had to shrug his shoulders. One to me
I will be requesting blood tests and will be post them up and I will see if I can find a better surgery
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invigorating. Lovely for a brisk walk. When trying to recover health, exercise is required but it is to 'tolerance' (what we can manage) and gradually working up.
Hypo to hyper...
Feeling so down......
Hyper symptom cause
so confused.....
