Hi, I have just started 25 m levothyroxide in the morning..I am taking this one hour before my Omaprazole,..then have breakfast half an hour later.. The dr told me to ask the pharmacist when to take these...so I hope that seems ok..I also take Simvastin at night. IN fact I don't feel unwell as such, but although sleeping well find i am having half hour very very deep sleeps in afternoon and early evening..I fight to wake myself up ..I have always felt a bit cold just round my waist and also my hands seem colder than friends...and for years I,have had very tender wrists and inner arms..but am able to walk to town each day and home again up a hill, with my trolley. THe other most distressing problem is sever constipation (I've had op for prolapsed bowel 2'years ago) which is happening again caused by this constipation and bowel never emptying..then Imwas doing a bit better with Fibrogel Senna and Allbran, which I now take in the evening so as not to nullify the levothryoxine.
I did not ask dr for any details as I didn't know what they meant, just been researching these last few days..when I have my next blood test I 6 weeks I will ask for both lists.
I am on border of vit D deficiency,mono meds so trying to eat more eggs and salmon, and awaiting a bone scan.. Now I read I can't eat walnuts which I love..but any help of foods would be helpful,I don't know where to start..whenImgomformmym6 week blood test do I not take the levo before I go then.. MY sister has been taking this for a long time so maybe it's hereditary ..tho she sleeps badly, has thinning hair and gets very depressed and I don't get any of these problems, and wonder if I've had it for years and just not realised it. I weight just under 9 stone, would I put on weight with this complaint ? THank you for ready this..apologise for it being a bit boring but I just don't know really how to go about this especially diet etc
If,you have the time please reply ..thank you so much
HAther 😊😊 ps I am quite an old lady of 80 😊
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Hather
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I think you have done so well to find this forum and post about how things are for you. So Hello and Welcome
I am thinking that many of your symptoms are linked to your thyroid - so I think you are right - you may have been suffering for a long time.
Raised Cholesterol - linked to LOW thyroid. Statins will not help you - and research mentions that women do not benefit. We need cholesterol for our brains and hormones. Low VitD can be linked to Statins as the skin needs cholesterol to process VitD from the sun.
Constipation - linked to low thyroid too as the metabolism is slow - hence the bowel motility is also slow.
You are taking a PPI - I expect for stomach acid. Many people here suffer with LOW acid when Hypothyroid and the symptoms are mostly very similar.
PPI's - or Omeprazole - prevent the absorption of B12 - so that will also be low. How long have you been taking the Omeprazole ? I believe it is intended to be a short course.
Your 25mcg of T4 is a small starter dose and will need to be increased - according to your next results. When you next go to the surgery - do ask for your blood test results with ranges. You are entitled to them as your legal right. You can then post them here - in a new post - and it will help people to comment and help.
It would seem to me your GP has been treating many symptoms and not yet understanding the real underlying ROOT cause of your many conditions - which I believe to be all linked to the thyroid not functioning optimally.
Regarding diet - I think you can eat the things you love I was once undergoing Ayurvedic treatment in India - and the mantra was - if it doesn't grow - then do not eat it !!
If you have auto-immune thyroiditis - Hashimotos - then going gluten free can help to reduce the anti-bodies. However I doubt if your GP tested them.
When you are receiving better treatment for your thyroid - it is hoped you will feel warmer. Being cold is yet another Hypo symptom.
There is so much to mention but think I have said enough. I would look into taking B12 - a good B Complex - VitD - VitC - happy to give advice on brands and quantities.
Keep with the people here on the forum and we will have you well in no time. I am not a medic - just a fellow sufferer with a B12 issue
THank you Marz for replying..not very clever at getting round the forum, have to keep,signing in..not sure if that's necessary..When I got back to the dr after the next blood test I am sure being on here I will have a few more questions to ask..yes I could take the Omaprazole after breakfast, I,have been taking the Levo about 5.30 am, get up about 7 and breakfast about 7.30.. THe other thing I have is quite a swollen Tummy, though I am not really fat..thought this was after the bowel and hernia op..but maybe it's the thyroid..Oh yes and I've also had an scan to show multiple gallstones, but I only get a sharp pain occasionally and not other symptons, and IBS but trying to avoid another op for the prolapse vowel and gallbladder removal if at all possible, as I am coping..
I appreciate your reply, never realised it was so complicated and never asked the dr the right questions at the time..so will see how it goes I 6 weeks. Simvastatin was to reduce cholesterol which at one time years ago was about 7 I,think.its not down to 4 ..not sure of the breakdown..so I've been on that,and Omaprazole for quite a few years Hather😊
You do not need to reduce cholesterol - it is needed in the body and is not the cause of heart disease. It is the biggest scandal in medical history making billions of dollars for the drug companies. The only people to have a small benefit are those men who have had a heart attack - and then very small. That is due to the anti-inflammatory effect of a statin. VitD would do the same.... as would good levels in the blood of the thyroid hormone T3. Sorry to be sounding harsh but you have been on something for 10 years that was possibly caused by your LOW thyroid hormones. The new generation of statins now contain VitD - I wonder why ??
In days gone by - before thyroid testing in the 70's - people with raised cholesterol were treated with thyroid hormones.
If you are taking statins then your GP should have prescribed both CoQ10 and Vit K2. Why - because when a statin blocks cholesterol in the liver it also blocks CoQ10 which is needed as a spark in every cell of your body - to energise it. Also it blocks the production of K2 - a vitamin that sends calcium away from the arteries and into the bones and teeth. Calcium blocks arteries - or at least is part of the story. There is a research paper about this - published last year.
Please ask your GP to show you research that indicates that a statin can benefit an 80 year old lady - if not then I would consider reducing it with a view to stopping.
These are the Thyroid tests you need - TSH - FT4 - FT3 - Anti-TPO - Anti-Tg. Also FERRITIN - FOLATE - B12 - VITD - IRON.
If you Doc is not helpful you can have them done privately through Thyroid UK - do ask if here is helpful.
So I think what greygoose and I are trying to say is that many of your conditions that are being possibly wrongly treated are caused by your Thyroid running out of steam. Treat the thyroid correctly with adequate hormones and all will be well.
You sound a very bright lady - and yes it is a lot to absorb - so just read through the thread again and make some notes. We are here to help you as best we can.
My cholesterol was raised - which I ignored. It is now fine having adequate thyroid hormone.
Please take care and keep reading and posting. You are one very strong lady - and we need to keep things that way !
Taking your omeprazole one hour after levo is too soon. It needs to be at least two hours. Why are you on omeprazole, anyway? It's not a very good thing to be on. Do you have acid reflux? If so, you are more likely to have low stomach acid, being hypo, rather than high acid.
If you've had depression and constipation for a long time, then you've more than likely been hypo for a long time. Those are symptoms. But doctors don't know about symptoms of hypo, and just treat them all as if they're separate diseases. In fact, your bowel prolapse was also probably due to your hypo.
25 mcg is too low a dose to do anything much to help you. So, make sure you go back after six weeks, and get retested, and ask for an increase in dose. Your symptoms won't completely go until you are optimally dosed.
For the constipation, you could try taking vit C, and/or magnesium citrate - both to bowel tolerance. You probably have a lot of nutritional deficiencies being hypo AND taking omeprazole! So, ask your doctor to test vit D, vit B12, folate and ferritin. When you get the results, post them on here - with any thyroid labs you might have - with the ranges - and let members see exactly where you are. Oh, and if you are vit D deficient, you need to supplement. Just eating more eggs will not cut it!
There are over 300 symptoms of hypo - and doctors know nothing about them! - but no two people will have exactly the same symptoms. It depends on so many things. Not every hypo puts on weight - some even lose it. So, just because you haven't put on weight doesn't mean you're not hypo.
Forgot to say, why do you think you can't eat walnuts? Unless they upset you, there's no reason why you shouldn't eat them. As Marz says, eat what you like and what likes you! lol
HI Greygoose, thanks for replying so quickly ..Walnuts Imread about it on.. Net..NO I am not depressed..my sister gets depression, I am on the whole a happy contented person..but confused by all this..my dr explained nothing...she lots of blood test and said vit D was on the border line and that's all she said..so maybe I'm not too bad as I am on such a low dose, she has given me the form for the blood test I. Six weeks and said if it needed to be increased she would send me a prescription ..of course I now realise being on here I would need to go go and discuss a bit more..I had to ask her about the timing of the Omaprazole..she said ask the pharmacist, who said I could tak them together thou better half an hour so later...so I've done that..then then went to the Boots pharmacist as I realise,that the Omaprazole is a bit contra to what I am trying to achieve...I,have previously had osophatitis and reflux and can't eat large meals, I do eat quite well, cook for myself, plenty of veg and fruits but still get reflux.
I will ask for a print out in six weeks so I can ask for help,on here..I was doing better with Allbran and weatabix,in the evening sometimes, but pharmacist,said have it later in the day and not for breakfast..I,soak oats with milk overnight and add raisins in the morning. MY cholesterol is within normal limits, my diabetes test is normal and wonder maybe cause of my age perhaps they don't give too much info..but my mum live to 96 ..I lost my husband last year but have my own little flat in a retirement community so am not lonely luckily..
It doesn't mean you aren't too bad because she's only given you a small dose. It doesn't work like that. Maybe she gave you a small dose because of your age, but not because you aren't very hypo. Hypo is one of those things that you either are or you aren't. Borderline is supposed to mean without symptoms, but you do have symptoms : you're cold, you have to take statins, you have acid reflux, you had to have a prolapse operation, you're constipated, etc etc etc - probably a lot of other things that you haven't even made the connection to. You are not 'borderline', you are hypo, and you will need an increase in your dose after six weeks.
Your doctor didn't tell you much, because she didn't know much about it. How long have you been taking omeprazole? They are supposed to be taken for a short time, not a permanent medication. I think maybe you ought to investigate to see if you have low stomach acid or high stomach acid. Because if it's low, then PPIs are really the wrong thing to be taking. And if your cholesterol is normal, why are you taking a statin? (Sorry about getting confused with the depression. )
When you go for your next test, make it as early in the morning as possible. Fast - water only - and leave 24 hours between your last dose of levo and the test. Make sure you ask for a print-out of your results - with the ranges - and let us have a look.
Oh, and there's absolutely no reason to stop eating walnuts if you like them! This is no time to be depriving yourself. The only thing you absolutely must avoid, is any form of unfermented soy.
Hi again Greygoose, ok I accept that I am Hypo now you ha explained, thank you...Omaprazole ..been on it for about 10 years had endoscopes last showed healing, said I no longer had a hiatus hernia but to keep on same medication.. I do still,uncomfortable in that region, mostly feeling full up and not very Hungary..tho,I,do eat quite well,but now read things like no cabbage, sprouts etc which I love... Been on Simvastin about 10years also as de said I,was on high risk so,should be on them..a consultant put,me on Domperidome two,or,three years ago and was told to keep on them at an annual,review, but this year was told by,another dr to come off them..when I,look it up said,elderly could,drop,dead, which was discord in 2014 Can't think why I am still so,cheerful LOL. I am learning quite a lot, this time last week I really,hadn't got a clue what all this meant..
OK, so you've been reading about Goitrogens... Well, you know what they say, you can't believe everything you read on the internet! And never was that more true than in the case of goitrogens! Have a look here to see how it really works :
There is absolutely no reason for you to give up cabbage and sprouts etc if they don't disagree with you. As I said before : if you like it, and it likes you, then eat it. Only cut it out if it makes you feel bad.
The only exception to that is unfermented soy, which is pure poison - although I know a lot of people disagree with that!
As it is, you are going to have a lot of nutritional deficiencies, having taken omeprazole for ten years. The fact that they keep telling you to stay on the same dose, in no way means that you need to keep taking it. It just means that you're a good little earner for them! You bring them in lots of funding points, or whatever they're called. Of course they don't want you to come off them.
Please don't think that your doctors have your best interests at heart when they are prescribing. For most doctors it's a case of lets see how many drugs we can get her to take! I know I sound cynical, but that's my experience. You do not need the statin, and I doubt you need the omeprazole. That will be doing you more harm than good. Next time you have your meds reviewed, tell them that you do not want to stay on them. Ask them for proof that you need them. See what they say.
You are so right greygoose about the Omeprazole - that was going to be my next post. Didn't want to give out too much information in one reply It is just another big earner for Big Pharma. 10 billion dollars in 2010 I have read.
Am sure Hather is of the age group that knows about a bit of bi-carb in warm water when there was indigestion after cheese and pickled onions So why a PPI ? Only for the reasons you have mentioned. Amazing really that GP's make assumptions that someone has HIGH acid without any testing ...... no wonder the home test websites are popular.
I'm not sure I call it ingestion exactly, originally the endoscope showed inflammation of the gullet, small hiatus hernia, and I had a choking episode, now they said no hernia..didn't know that hiatus can repair itself? And a heavy full feeling now and reflux with taste on waking.. Today I decided to take the Omaprazole An hour before lunch .till I can talk to dry after next blood test.. I don't go to Drs that often, just twice last year....Marz and Greygoose, I am noting both your comments with great interest and trying to understand your comments and relate them to my situation. It's all so new to me and never realised all the implications at all
Well, you're describing the symptoms of low stomach acid - confusingly enough, they are the same as high acid! Doctors don't learn about low acid, so they always assume that is is high and prescribe something to bring it down. That's what PPIs do, lower stomach acid. And doctors love to prescribe them!
There are four Big Pharma big earners that just about every hypo will be offered at some point : antidepressants, PPIs, statins and beta blockers. The hypo in question rarely needs any of them, just a decent dose of thyroid hormone replacement and optimal nutrients. But there's no money in that. Medicine these days is a business, and has to make a profit! Rarely is it in the best interests of the patient.
I am beginning to understand your comments, on a couple of occasions earlier in my life I have asked for anti depressant help, and even when dr said ok but could get hooked on them ..I assured them I would not and took myself off them within 2 weeks no problem, luckily I try to always look on the bright side though I don't know what's round the corner so am not over confident it's a bit scary trying to get a point over to a dr in 10'minutes consultation, but I am learning a lot on here thanks to people's comments, and after my 6 week blood test I won't accept a posted prescription without a consultation to go with it...do they ever refer to a consultant, maybe I'm a bit old for that if it's just for discussion .
What sort of consultant? You mean an endocrinologist? I wouldn't bother with endos, if I were you. They don't know much more than GPs. Some know less. It's rare to find one that specialises in thyroid, they're all about diabetes.
Thanks Jose651.. Well I could ask for two appointments, always feel a bit guilty taking up their time..But I've got 6weeks to sort out my thoughts about it ..IfmI known about Omaprazole slowing down the process of elimination, years ago, then maybe I wouldn't have suffered an op for prolapsed bowel, followed by a hernia on the repair site. And the prolapse has reoccurred now..and I,would,have understood more why I am never hungry, tho I make sure I do have good food, even when aka don't really want it..Not one dr or consultant ever mentioned this to me.. My osophatitis always feels heavy and uncomfortable, tho I wouldn't call it indigestion . EVen the pharmacists didn't give me clear,answers and when I queried about Bran could cause lack of absorption of,the levothyroxine maybe, she hadn't heard that and had to go and kindly look it,up and came back and said yes it's better to take Allbran in the evening instead of breakfast ..A couple,of,years ago a consultant also,prescribed Domperidone to help with the nausea and slow process three times a day, on review I said I only took before,breakfast, was told to take it,properly then this year another dr said I should not be on it so,long and took it,off..I looked,it,up and the consequences for my age were quite s scary, so at least I'd only been using it once a day instead of the three times.
I!have been with my Drs for over 50 years, and I am ok with them , but I suppose they are inundated with patients now and the days when a dr. Remembered you before,you even knocked on their door has long gone unfortunately..I don't think the computer,has,helped, cause,the,ten minutes time includes,no,eye contact while they use,the computer and understandably it's very important they,type in the correct info..judging,by,my,typing !!
I can understand why they can't look at you,at,the same time😉 Sorry to waffle thanks for your,reply😊
Sounds MUCH more like LOW acid rather than high. A very common problem that Docs treat wrongly. When you have low acid the food breaks down more slowly - especially proteins - as we need acid in the stomach for this purpose. That could explain why you feel full. When undigested food remains for too long in the stomach it begins to ferment and the upward funneling of the fermentation can be unpleasant and cause problems.
Taking 2000 mg of VitC before sleep could help the gut fermentation. I have Crohns and take this too.
Click onto my name and you can read my Profile - the edited one I have only found wellness by taking care of myself and learning from others who know more than me ....
Have a feeling you will draw a blank with your GP if you raise the points we have discussed here - sadly.
Absolutely agree. Your GP obviously knows very little about all this. She probably does not realise the implications of all this any more than you do. She gets her information from drug reps, and they obviously have their own axe to grind. They are only thinking about their sales figure and do not know the ins and outs of different patients. Thank goodness you found this forum!
Yes I feel dr won't want to into things too deeply..sorry about your Chrones, my 21 year old Grandson has this.. I will see if I can find your info..I am not too computer savvy .but I'll have a go. I think your comment re my feeling full makes sense, which is a point I will raise in six weeks, I am on 40 gms .
Hi Marz, I have found your info, I feel quite a fraud when I read all what you have been through, but I can see you are a strong kind person to help us on here and am very grateful for your input, although I don't understand all of it ..I certainly am more informed than I was a week ago. .
thanks again will,keep popping in here ,so grateful for thus site
Back in 2005 I didn't know anything about the thyroid and the problems it can bring. So I too have been on a steep learning curve and have had to read lots It all comes together eventually - especially when you start to feel better .
Thanks for replying, thing is except for having deep sleeps pm, and one or two other things, I feel fine, so that's probably why it's low now..I didn't understand anything about it when she told me, but I've got the form for a blood test in six weeks and learning a lot more now and will ask more sensible questions then. She decided to do several blood tests on my annual check up..so will read up and learn more, I've been on Levo just a week and feel,the same..a lot of people my age. Do have after noon naps but it is the deep sleep,that seems odd, I can hardly wake myself up..fine waking up,in the morning and don't actually feel tird when out and about and don't get depressed either..so it was a bit of a shock to,say the least..don't know,if Drs refer one to a socialist, probably not at my age tho.
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It is just another big earner for Big Pharma. 10 billion dollars in 2010 I have read.
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