Thyroid med problems

[Theresa72]

I had a question it seems like every since they upped my medicine 88 mg I have been having sleeping problems waking up all through the night and Nightmares also my hair has been falling out alot do you think this is because of my meds increase

[puncturedbicycle]

Hard to know, it sounds so similar to symptoms of being undermedicated. How long have you been on the higher dose? And what were your test results like before they increased it?

[Theresa72 in reply to puncturedbicycle]

Ive been on the higher dose for 4 or 5 months now was in 75mg without med i was 6.1 dont know the level when i was on 75

[puncturedbicycle in reply to Theresa72]

Ok, do you mean when you were diagnosed your tsh was 6.1 - ?

Without test results everything is guesswork, but if you want to experiment you could try alternating a slightly reduced dose and see if that helps. Your resting heart rate, temperature and gut activity may reveal more. Do you keep an eye on those?

What's your iron like? That can affect hair.

[Theresa72 in reply to puncturedbicycle]

Yes that was the level before I got put back on the medication levothyroxine I was off that for 3 months then went back to my thyroid specialist she put me on 88mg but the thing of it is when I got there she wanted to put me on a hundred then she remembered she gave me 88 over the phone when she called me I don't keep an eye on my heart rate or my gut or my iron

[Theresa72 in reply to Theresa72]

My medical doctor wants to take me off the medicine completely and do a full group thyroid panel I'm just so confused I don't know what to do

[Theresa72 in reply to Theresa72]

He thinks I don't need thyroid medicine or to see a specialist

[puncturedbicycle in reply to Theresa72]

Ok you will need to get all your test results and start keeping an eye on your physical stuff (temp etc).

I suspect you must have had a borderline result and now you're running a bit close to being on too much medication and that's what's making your doctor resistant.

How do you feel now as opposed to when you were diagnosed? Any improvement?

[Theresa72 in reply to puncturedbicycle]

I feel the same fatigue depression anxiety slight weight gain hair loss nothing has ever changed and I've been on it for more than 10 years they only took me off at because I wanted to go off it to see if I even needed it the med and I did that was my regular doctor but didn't really trust him so I went to a thyroid specialist not being on the medication and that's where it read 6.1 should I do with my medical doctor ask to completely get off it and do a full thyroid panel but I don't know if I can trust his readings because he said it was normal my readings and my thyroid specialist said it wasn't

[puncturedbicycle in reply to Theresa72]

Hmm, it sounds like you should trust the specialist. If your tsh was over 6 that isn't normal, whether or not the meds were entirely out of your system (and if you were still on meds that is high for anyone on meds).

Not many of us are overmedicated, it seems harder to get enough meds to stay well, so odds are that you're undermedicated, but you have to stay on top of results and check for yourself.

Get in touch w your specialist and ask for a copy of your last results. That will get you on the right track.

[Theresa72 in reply to puncturedbicycle]

In your opinion and yes I know you're not a doctor what level do you think I should be on weigh 123

[puncturedbicycle in reply to Theresa72]

That's a 'how long is a piece of string' question. You can't necessarily dose by weight, you need to know how well the thyroid is working (or not as the case may be).

There is a calculator here but I'd take it w a grain of salt, it is no more than a rough calculation: globalrph.com/thyroid_calc.htm

[puncturedbicycle in reply to Theresa72]

Ok, when you say you were put back on the meds, does that mean you were on meds and then they took you off them?

If you want to get to the bottom of it you may have to get a copy of your results and start keeping track of your heart rate, temp and gut.

[Theresa72 in reply to puncturedbicycle]

How do you check your heart rate and gut

[Theresa72 in reply to Theresa72]

I already know that I think that I don't process vitamins well I can tell I get a vitamin B shot every now and then

[puncturedbicycle in reply to Theresa72]

You sit resting for 10mins and check your pulse in wrist or neck (use fingers, not thumb) w a stopwatch or timer (there's an online timer, you can google it). You can do 15 seconds and multiply by 4 or 30 seconds and multiply by 2 etc or you can just sit for a minute. If your pulse is upward of 90 it's too fast and you're overmedicated. For more info google 'how to check resting pulse.'

When I say 'gut' I mean how many times a day you have to use the toilet. The thyroid meds speed up your metabolism and you may find yourself on the loo a lot (w loose bowels/diarrhoea). When underactive or undermedicated you may struggle to go at all.