As the passing out /deep sleep for 20 minutes has just occurred AND for the first time ever I managed to measure my temperature before I crashed, I was hoping someone might have some answers or suggestions.
This feeling - slight nausea, strange look in my face, discoloured eyes - occurs most often when I eat. It does however occur somewhat randomly, as it did today.
My basal temperature this morning ( underarm, digital ) was 35.8. (This btw is a up by 1.4 degrees since starting Thyroid Gold mid-Dec.) At 10.30 I was feeling quite strange. The thermometer this time read 33.4 under my right arm and thinking there must be something amiss I put it under my left to be sure. That was 33.8. Seconds later I lay down and was out for 20 minutes.
Temperature under my right arm was back to 35.8 - as it had been at 6:30am.
I always feel shaky after these episodes, disoriented and a bit emotional. I have NEVER thought they could be down to a sudden (?) drop in temperature to such a ''hypothermic'' style degree. I thought they might be blood sugar related but checks suggest otherwise.
I was, for the record, once diagnosed as narcoleptic. I didn't believe it and still don't, really. I work as a teacher ( though it is getting harder and harder and I am SHATTERED even doing half days, as thankfully I am today). I don't fall asleep at work. But crash with head on kitchen table on my return.
Any advice or similar experiences? I confess I find these episodes to be the most distressing aspect of whatever it is that is not functioning as it should.
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catrich
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I cannot answer your question but hopefully someone whose had a similar experience will be able to.
If you've not had a blood test recently, I would ask for a Full Thyroid Function Test, i.e. TSH, T4, T3, FT4, FT3, Vit B12, Vit D, iron,ferritin and folate.
Make the appointment as early as possible and fast. Don't take any levo for approx 24 hours before your test and take it afterwards.
Get a print-out of your results with the ranges and post on a new question.
I intend to do a blood test when I am back in the UK in 10 days. I haven't done one since taking Thyroid Gold in mid-Dec. If necessary I will post the results. I was hoping someone here might have experience of ''passing out'' in such a manner - it may or may not have anything to do with thyroid problems, of course.
Could it be epilepsy? It sounds as if you need to be checked out thoroughly. Imagine if you had an episode while you were driving or carrying a saucepan/kettle full of boiling water.
Thank you - but the signs don't correspond to any epilepsy that I am familiar with. It occurs after intense exercise, after eating sometimes and randomly, like today. I had an MRI 14 years ago which showed nothing. I don't drive - for this very reason. All of this began some 18 years ago - accompanied by big loss of weight and then, a few years on, a slow steady weight creep in the opposite direction. I have tried talking to various doctors about it but never got anywhere.
My mum has 'hot water epilepsy'' if she showers in water that is too hot she can have a seizure where she doesn't pass out but feels sort of transported or disoriented. She had one incident unrelated to hot water and had an mri to see if she'd had a stroke but everything looked normal. My point is that epilepsy can take unusual forms which can be hard to diagnose. (We wonder if she was only diagnosed because her neurologist is Asian and there is a higher incidence of it there.) So because of the nature of the symptoms it does sound like you should be referred to a neurologist even just to be given the all-clear.
Thank you for these replies. Epilepsy can indeed take various forms...some people can experience an isolated attack I believe, then nothing more. I know extremes of temperature can spark an epileptic attack of whatever kind . It's fortunate that your mother found a doctor who could diagnose it.
The MRI I had was ordered by the neurologist who came up with the narcolepsy/cataplexy notion. I could go back to him I suppose...sigh. Another MRI will be mighty expensive. I still maintain, however, after nearly 18 years and all the related thyroid problem signs and symptoms and Hashimotos diagnosis that this aspect of my body's behaviour is just one more to add to the list. The drop in body temperature is significant I think.
I used to be like that, with terrible nightmares, doc explained that I was going into nighttime sleep during the day and my brain was releasing the chemicals that paralyse the body during dreams so that we don't hurt ourselves acting out our dreams.
Unfortunately I don't know how I've recovered, but it never happens now and I don't even fall asleep on the table like you do. I will tell you what I can remember that I have done that might have contributed.
Cut out tap water (my body has always hated chlorine, made me vomit when pregnant), I drink only bottled spring water (my body was trying to tell me this, I used to only drink boiled, cooled water, but thought it was just fussiness)
Rest more, noticing my body/mind tiring and resting before it forces me to.
Established a good sleep routine, this took years, gradually easing myself back from sleeping for hours during the day, little by little decreasing the day-time sleep and increasing the night-time sleep. Now I rarely need to sleep in the day and often go through whole days without needing to rest, as long as I go steady.
When sleeping in the day, properly tucking myself up in bed, not fighting it by trying to have a short nap on the couch, but really letting my body go deep.
Moved away from a road, I'm sure fumes make me worse, journeys in cars/trains/buses can bring on the sleep as do trips into town.
Stopped working in town (could be tricky for you).
Eat carefully, fresh and organic as much as poss, chemicals make me worse
Avoid air fresheners and household cleaners other than those as natural as poss (I use and love Astonish products which are not tested on animals
Use only natural crystal deodorant, no scent
This one is tough but it's helped - no make-up, no hairspray, no perfume. It took me a long, long time to give up lipstick but as soon as I use it now I go downhill.
Followed advice from here, especially about ferritin, B12, D, selenium, zinc and the other one, someone else will tell you which other is important.
Take Vitamin C to bring my ferritin levels up.
Change my work pattern, this may not be possible for you I know, but instead of working 9 - 5 I work an on-off pattern which can start at 9.00 am and finish at 9.00 pm but because I rest properly in between it works.
There's a lot there but now I enjoy some quality of life and am not struggling through in a state of misery, it's all definitely worth it.
Best of luck, I hope you find what works for you and I'd check the vitamins etc first.
Thanks for this thyr01d. It seems as if your journey has been a long one too.
I didn't mention 'daytime sleep' nightmares to you ..how strange you should speak of it. That's what prompted my diagnosis of narcolepsy - though your doctor's explanation sounds very plausible indeed. I don't have them anymore...thankfully. Like you I have made enormous changes over the last decade in particular in what I eat, what I use in the house, etc. Even my toothpaste is carefully selected - no fluoride. My amalgams long since removed. Clean with baking soda, etc. ( Though boy, do you need to rinse rinse rinse!¨)
Your hairspray, perfume comments too are interesting..... I cannot abide the smell, or the sensation, usually of either. Nor petrol fumes. A homeopath suggested once that the root cause may well be some kind of poisoning - along the lines of herbicides/pesticides, etc. There's no space here to repeat what he said but it certainly got me thinking.
Most of us here have made such enormous changes to the way we live, eat, etc - as you say, to achieve a quality of life that isn't perfect but a whole heap better than it might be without such changes.
Thanks gsmith13 . I think you may be on to something. I made the decision yesterday to stop Thyroid Gold and didn't take any today. I also dug out my copy of the Adrenal Reset Diet which I remember skimming through a year or so ago.
I don't believe everything is a coincidence - but chance encounters and comments from people over the last couple of days, yours included - have got me thinking that I might be attempting to plaster over the cracks. I felt very sad yesterday, thinking the ''old stuff'' was starting again - the mid-morning crashes, the exhaustion. The OPPOSITE was supposed to be happening!! I could add the awful breathlessness too...though I have been trying to ignore it. Determined that Thyroid Gold was going to work!
I shall be in the UK in 10 days again and will try to organise an adrenal stress test.
Thanks again for the input.
Catrich, Sorry for the delay in replying but I just caught your message.
This sudden drop in temperature could be very serious and a sign of Myxoedema Coma. Often in untreated severe hypothyroidism and the body's inability to cope with the deficiency of T4 and T3 becomes overwhelmed and shuts itself during which all major organs including the brain, heart, lungs, kidney and gastrointestinal tract become affected.
The resulting state is referred to as 'myxoedema coma' despite the fact that the patient may not be comatose or display the skin changes of myxoedema (hence the alternative term 'myxoedema crisis').
With severe untreated hypothyroidism, some medications, even diuretics may precipitate this as well as sudden non life threatening illnesses like the flu or UTI
Patients with myxoedema coma are commonly hypothermic with core temperatures less than 35.5°C
That's scary MelanieLondon. Especially as this has happened to me before. Could it be a protective mechanism? Body cooling down to protect the brain? I think I need to speak with a doctor once I have done my blood test. Thank you.
You are welcome - It is best to do full investigations and to have a referral to a specialist consultant. This will address this issue and hopefully will put an ease to your mind.
Just a thought - have you had a blood test since starting Thyro-Gold? (Is it Dr Lowe's Thyro-Gold you're on or is this a different product?) I tried it and went dramatically hypo, lost a lot of hair etc even while having some funny hyper symptoms. It didn't agree with me. (I don't like to say negative things about it because I think it's great that it's on the market but it just wasn't for me.)
Hi - it is Dr Lowe's product, yes. I plan to have a blood test when in the UK in a week. I have stopped taking Thyroid Gold now -the experience the other day was too alarming. I was rigourously following instructions regarding dose increase, and was happy to see basal temp had increased, heart rate up to 62 and blood pressure starting to fall ( from 140/90) to 128/80) . But my weight wasn't decreasing - sudden increase in the last few weeks in fact and my lungs felt small. I was more and more breathless which is not a symptom I am used too, being relatively fit. So...blood test and a rethink.
When people try ndt they sometimes have to make the rounds of a few different brands before they decide whether or not it's going to work for them, so you may well find a brand that is a better fit. TG contains forscholin and some people here have said they had side effects from it. I got a flushed face which I worried meant I was overmedicated but in the end tests showed me to be undermedicated; my tsh rose and I wasn't well.
I've experienced a similar thing - i was woken in the middle of the night with electrocuting pains going through my anus and vagina! Never EVER in my life has this happened before. I was groaning and moaning, couldn't get comfortable with the pains being so severe.
I needed to pee, got that done - then back in bed...still the pains continued. I suddenly got really hot, sweating intensely, so i stripped and then immediately vomited until empty. Then i suddenly got freezing cold, tried to wrap up but collapsed. My boyfriend covered me up - he took my temp orally, it was 34 degrees. I couldn't talk, when i tried it was very slurred. I couldn't move my body, couldn't feel my body, just aware of my thoughts in my head, but appeared unconscious.
An hour later i was able to move. (Im very rural, an ambulance takes an hour to reach me so i didn't even bother, who wants to be revived with brain damage?)
You might think it was the pain and something like internal bleeding which made my temp low. Might have been.
But i've had more episodes of low body temp, and collapse, without internal pain. One night i was wrapped up in a duckdown duvet all cosy and suddenly i start shivering. These 'attacks' come on very fast. I always have the nausea and urge to vomit with them. Temperature goes down to around 34 degrees every time.
I also have very low BP, Loss of weight down to 6.5 stone, 5'7" female, low cortisol, low estrogen and progesterone (no ovulation), low dheas, all low hormones except testosterone, which is super high, so don't mess with me LOL *joke*
When an illness becomes systemic you have more symptoms than you can possibly cope with, and more symptoms than they can possibly give you pills for, so depending on your doctor, you get some help, or they turn you away to 'rest'.
Find a decent doctor - i know you shouldn't have to fight to get help from a doctor but you will have to, if you've still got fight in you.
The hypothalamus regulates body temp and other functions. Have you had a brain MRi? Hypo pituitary and hypo-hypothalamic dysfunction symptoms overlap.
I'm a uk citizen also, living in ireland which has an awful medical system compared to the NHS. I have no answers as no doctor can believe a person under 65 could possibly be ill. Truly, ageism is rife here. I was offered no help but to come back in 2 weeks if still no better, despite me being ill for 4 YEARS! So Ireland will kill me but please OP, push for endocrine testing and brain MRi for starters. The UK NHS is not as negligent as Ireland's HSE.
Just out of interest, a gene test i had showed a leaning to narcolepsy. Im often completely exhausted now so i wouldn't know a narcoleptic attack. I get episodes of my limbs giving way on me....they start shaking and my legs go from under me. Numb legs.
Not sure if the narco and the low body temp/hypothalamus might be linked?
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