Still searching for answers as to why for 10yrs on 150mcg I had no obvious fluctuations or dose alterations, then everything went down hill last autumn when I found this group and started to learn about the disease I have and discovered I had been doing things wrong as regards taking my Levo.
Well for pretty much the last 10yrs I had been taking my 150mcg Levo every morning with water along with my antidepressant. On many occasions over those 10yrs I had also taken my Levo in the mornings with milk!! Obviously since coming here I learned that the above was wrong because both milk and antidepressants can affect the absorption of Levo, so maybe for the last 10yrs I wasn't actually getting the full 150mcg into my system. My annual bloods also came out within range.
Since doing things the correct way (morning with water and take my antidepressant about 2hrs later), my last 3 readings since October have come out over range in T4 when I lowered my Levo by 25mcg each time and I still feed overmedicated on 100mcg which I reduced to about 2wks ago.
It makes me think that my suited dose (doing it the correct way) is lower because I wasn't absorbing the full 150mcg for the last 10yrs, hence it seemingly being OK for me until last autumn when things changed (maybe menopause related).
Just a thought!
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Jefner
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I am glad you were able to understand what I was trying to say cus it took me ages as my brain isn't working today. I now often wonder how much of my 150 I managed to absorb.
Still suffering very badly with the anxiety, although I missed taking a tablet this morning, felt rubbish for most of the day but the anxiety has subsided a little tonight.
Reduced my dose again down to 100mcg 2 weeks ago and a couple of days later I felt fine again, all the anxiety/palps/panic just disappeared overnight, like I had never had them!!!! BUT then a week later I started to go downhill again, all the symptoms back and that's how it has been going now since October. There seems to be a pattern in that when I reduce my dose I feel better for a few days and then I start to feel like I am overmedicating again. Wondering whether to reduce down again to 75mcg. But having Hashi's this is the first experience for me in going hyper. My T4 results two weeks ago were 28.20 (12-22). My antibodies also came down especially my thyroglobulin from 4000 to 275.3!
yes hon, I most definitely do that right now lol which I never did before, I always used to go for my tests around lunchtime after I had had my Levo and eaten
Jefner, I think taking 150mcg with ADs and milk will have substantially reduced the amount absorbed. There has been research demonstrating that taking Levothyroxine with coffee reduces absorption by up to 40%.
so it sounds like that even though I was taking 150mcg, I wasn't absorbing it properly and if I had been doing things properly all those years ago I might have been on a lower dose anyway? Now I am doing things correctly (including bloods) maybe even the 100mcg I am on now is still to high for me
Normal doses nowadays are between 100 and 200mcg. Before that normal doses were 200 to 400mcg so don't be in too much of a hurry to drop at present. You have to allow a reasonable time for any change in dose to take effect, i.e. I think a couple of months at least.
But my body is telling me that either levo no longer suits me or i am still overmedicating as the anxiety disappeared last night cus i missed my dose yesterday morning. Reading my body, each time i have dropped i have felt better and severe anxiety just completely disappears for about a week and the bang, out of the blue comes back again with a vengeance. I feel i am still overmedicating
I then tried Natural Dessicated Thyroid Hormones and was fine on it too. GP wasn't too keen (UK) so he prescribed T3 only and I also feel good thankfully.
sorry for all the questions. I have my first Endo appointment on Saturday and just trying to gather lots of info of anything that might help me. Not holding my breath cus it will be NHS but I have been ill for so long now I am desperate and I will fall to the floor of his office in tears and beg if I have to. The anxiety has been that severe and beyond anything I have ever felt in all my 53yrs on this planet and I have had a lot of anxiety in my life.
I am wondering whether the menopause has also changed things for me (post meno now). I am buying tests galore to try and pinpoint why things have changed for me. I am even going to purchase a mercury test as when I was growing up I had a crappy dentist who, every time I went according to mum, he did a filling. And also growing up I remember having anxiety and panic attacks as young as 10 and have had problems on and off ever since. From what I have been reading about mercury in amalgam fillings (and I still have many that are over 30yrs old) it could be related so for peace of mind I think it's a test worth doing. It was one of Dr David Clark's videos in the States that I picked up on it
I still have some mercury fillings but we will do/try anything in order to get well. We exclude this/that but nothing will work unless we have a thyroid hormone which works for us. The new Endo might be o.k. in Prescribing some T3 for you, I hope so.
I remember how unwell I felt and thought 'this isn't possible when you're taking medication' and it isn't when you get the right one for you. They should at least try something different.
Yes i know i am getting paranoid but with so many things linked to thyroid i am just trying to cross a few things off the list like tests for adrenals and leaky gut. Amalgam fillings are to look at later
I don't think they had symptoms just thought it best to have it removed. You need a specialist dentist - not all might be efficient. I do have fillings but thought it best not to bother that's because I'm well now on my thyroid hormones (makes a big difference).
This is from research done by the American Thyroid Association - re NDT or Levothyroxine:-
SUMMARY OF THE STUDY
This was a study of 70 patients with hypothyroidism who were treated with either desiccated thyroid extract or levothyroxine for 12 weeks followed by a switch to orgthe other option for another 16 weeks. The participants were "blinded" during both phases – they did not know the type of pill they received. After each treatment period patients were weighed, had blood tests, underwent psychometric testing and were asked which therapy they preferred. The researchers report that 49% of the patients preferred desiccated thyroid extract, 19% preferred levothyroxine and 23% had no preference. Desiccated thyroid extract use was also associated with more weight loss. There was no difference in the psychometric testing or in any symptoms. Both types of thyroid hormone were able to normalize the abnormal thyroid blood tests.
WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS STUDY?
Although desiccated thyroid extract is not widely used, this study showed that many patients preferred this option as compared with levothyroxine. This result was observed despite there being no differences in thyroid function blood test and psychometric test results, although use of desiccated thyroid extract was associated with some weight loss. These results suggest that there may be a certain number of patients in who desiccated thyroid extract might be a reasonable treatment option. Further research is needed on this topic to confirm which patients this might benefit the most form desiccated thyroid extract therapy.
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