Betablockers or change my thyroid meds? Daren't ask the doctor! He won't even discuss my thyroid!

[Cara20007]

I have been on 100mcg of levothyroxine but have now had three episodes of feeling faint, rapid heart, nausea, incredibly dry mouth, black spots before eyes while just strolling and hardly doing anything. I had to have a medic as I nearly passed out but my blood pressure was sky high at 190/95 it then changed down to 167/87 and my heart beat came down from 140 to 87. I had an ECG which he said was fine and blood tests fine. My doctor got in touch with cardiology after telling them i have episodes of fast heart rate ( I woke up one morning as my heart was 144 and I wasn't having a bad dream yet it stayed like that for about two hours!) who suggested I take a betablocker bisoprolol 2.5mg but I am really worried about taking the betablockers as it's more medication so wondered if anyone else had had symptoms like this? It was so so scary at the time and I felt I was going to die, horrible feeling when you're in a public place feeling this ill, I have a blood pressure monitor at home now and it swings from 177/88 70 146/79 and I still feel woozy at times.

The last Blue Horizon blood test I had was in July 2015 which was

TSH 1.37 (0.27-4.2)

Free T4 15.55 (12-22)

Free T3 4.47 (3.1-6.8)

T4 Total 88.9 (64.5-142)

The doctor tested my TSH only (april 2016) and said it was normal (about 1.7 something but I forget cos he told me in the surgery quickly)

The doctor doesn't seem concerned about my blood pressure as it was 135/80 when he tested it.

I was wondering if maybe I should be trying T3 aswell as T4 but I darent go back to the doctor to ask as he told me to take the betablockers for a month to see how i feel and I haven't taken any yet!

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Do you have Hashimoto's? (Auto-immune thyroid) - the most common cause of being hypothyroid.

This is confirmed by antibody test.

Have you ever had your TPO and TG antibodies checked?

There is very strong link between Hashimotos and vitamin D issues

So have you had your vitamin D levels checked?

Low vitamin D and low magnesium are linked and seem to be common hypo issues

Also look into low magnesium as possible cause of palpitations. (Good book on magnesium - The Magnesium Miracle)

If GP won't do more blood tests, you can do them privately at home (finger-prick test very easy to do)

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Blue Horizon -thyroid plus 11 includes vitamin D and both antibodies.

Read my profile regarding having Hashimoto's and also being stuck on beta-blockers (Propranolol). How full blood test, as recommended by Thyroid UK, finally revealed low vitamin D and how subsequent recent vitamin D supplementation unmasked a low magnesium issue (probably there right from start). Now supplementing magnesium and after approx 20 years I am finally about to ween myself off the propranolol completely. 😃

Propranolol also, as a side effect, lowers magnesium and also apparently lowers parathyroid hormone (PTH) affecting calcium etc.

Still not able to tolerate Vitamin D supplements due to severe leg bone pain.......waiting to see if Vit D level will increase, now magnesium level is going up, and finally reducing/stopping propranolol.

[humanbean]

Have you ever had your iron levels tested, and a full blood count done? Low iron can cause tachycardia (fast heart rate) and blood pressure problems.

And you might find this interesting :

stopthethyroidmadness.com/b...

[Hidden]

Please know that I am not a medic, but from my research I have read that when someone is admitted to hospital with racing heart etc they administer IV magnesium. Tests for serum magnesium are not a good indication of deficiency, because mg is so important for the heart, the body will always make sure serum mg is adequate, even at the expense of the body.

In the short term I would personally try Mg to see if this helps.

[Valmac]

It seems to me that there is room for an increase with your levo or even adding a bit of T3, before I switched to NDT I had the same problems as you, the rapid heart beat, dry mouth etc, through blue horizon I had the thyroid + 11 ( £99 at the moment ) ( which includes Vit D B12 ferritin & folate tpo and the other antibody one which has slipped my mind ) which gave me a bigger picture of what was going on, I was deficient in D3 and folate and low b12, I have been supplementing these things and find my dizziness & fast heart has subsided, when starting D3 it is advisable to take magnesium with it ( as the D3 depletes your own magnesium ) it's also advisable to take K2 when supplementing with D3, I was also advised that I would get shin pain and joint pains, which I did I could hardly walk with out pain, but the longer I took it the more it subsided too, I'm still following the Vit D3 protocol and no longer have bone pain, my D was at 39 which was pretty low it's now at 72 and I'm feeling so much better, I find as many do, the more you get your D B's etc to a good level the better what ever it is you take for your thyroid works, selenium is a good supplement for helping T4 convert to T3, I have a brilliant video ( about 20 mins long ) that makes so much sense and really helps anyone to understand what's going on I will see if I can add it, 😊 Good luck Cara, X

[Cara20007 in reply to Valmac]

Sorry what's NDT? I take levothyroxine 100mcg. Would my Levo have to go down to add T3? Thanks for your help

[Valmac in reply to Cara20007]

Hi Cara20007, NDT is 'natural dessicated thyroid' it contains both T4 & T3 it's what people were treated with for 100's of years, successfully, until some silly person came along and made a synthetic drug ( levothyroxine) which only contains T4, some people can convert T4 to T3 themselves, but not everybody, so 1000's of people have either switched to NDT or added a T3 to the T4 they are already taking, I have to say though that until we've got our D3, B12, folate & ferritin levels raised to what they should be any thyroid treatment won't work 100% as the thyroid needs these vitamins and more to actually help the T4 convert to T3, that's of course providing there isn't an issue with converting, I am so desperately trying to add this link so you can watch this video you will see what happens from the start to finish of the production of T4 and how it converts to T3, I will carry on trying, will let you know if I'm successful 😊

[Valmac in reply to Cara20007]

Sorry I didn't really answer your question, if you were thinking of adding T3 then yes you would need to drop your T4 😊

[Valmac]

It won't let me add a link I wanted you to see, I had this trouble the other day but I managed to share a link in the end, so I will keep trying 😊

Http://drbradshook.com/understanding-how-your-thyroid-works-start-here/

Cara20007 the link I've put in above just won't work, but if you either copy & paste it or type it in to the browser bar it will work, then just scroll down until you see the video called 'How your thyroid works' it really is a good video, the first time he goes round the board it seems a bit complicated, but second time round it's more detailed in exactly what we need from start to finish, 😊

[Cara20007 in reply to Valmac]

Thank you SO much! That video is brilliant! Much appreciated

[Cara20007]

Thank you Valmac!

[marigold22]

I remember reading somewhere that beta blockers are dangerous if you have a low thyroid. x

[Cara20007]

Well I went back to the doctor yesterday and expressed my concern over the info on the levothyroxine that said it could cause fast heart rates as a side effect; he said the make wouldn't make any difference as it was like buying petrol from BP or Shell. I asked if maybe I wasn't converting my T4 as my TSH is 1.7 but he said obviously I was as my TSH is 1.7 ( I was hoping for a reduction of T4 and have T3 added.)

He then asked if I had anxiety issues so I said I just wanted to get better and didn't want to take betablockers if it was my hypothyroidism that was causing my high blood pressure so he told me to give the betablockers a try for a month. I told him I was worried it would make my heart rate drop too low but he assured me it shouldn't. He told me to take them at the same time as my levo no problem and didn't even check my blood pressure! I took my betablocker this morning and my pulse rate dropped as low as 43 so I know I will be really scared going to sleep :/

I might try a private test for TSH and T3 T4 but don't know whether it will do any good anyway as I can't really discuss stuff with my doctor as he really intimidates me.

Thank you for everyones help on here at least it helped me go back to the doctor yesterday...oh he also told me not to do research on the internet :/

Does anyone know if you can take Berocca with bisoprolol and Levo as I could do with some energy?