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Thyroid UK
89,085 members • 103,626 posts

Hashimoto's & high blood pressure

Hi everyone,

I wonder if anyone out there has Hashimoto's and high blood pressure. I recently had a NHS health check and I had high blood pressure 158/83 (my blood pressure previously has always been normal or low). Went to Drs yesterday to get it checked at their request. It's still high 150/80. He did another check to be sure, which was higher (to be expected as I was telling him about the poor treatment that I have received from my endo and his secretary - they keep cancelling appointments and don't reply to voicemail messages), hence the reason it went higher. He has referred me for 24 hour blood pressure check. Which has now got me worried.

I really don't want to have to go onto blood pressure meds along with everything else. I'm taking NDT 2 grains and LDN 3mls - can go up to 4.5mls but am worried about running out before my next prescription (although I've paid for 3 months I'm only receiving the meds once a month) , but not really feeling any benefits. I have been working with a functional health practitioner to try to get all vits balanced, but it's very slow progress.

Just wondered if increasing my meds from 2 grains of Thiroyd and 3mls of LDN would help. My TPA antibodies have doubled from 198.8 in July when I was on 2.5 grains to 609 in October when also on 2.5 grains and I'm not seeing any improvement in my symptoms of extreme tiredness and weight issues, although my eye problems have much improved since adding Omega 7s to my regime. I reduced to 2 grains in November following my last blood test as my FT3 went too high 18.1 (range 2.8 - 6.5). Would adding in a small amount of levo help? My TSH is 0 as I have hypopituitarism too.

I am really struggling with trying to go gluten free - I've never really eaten much in the way of baked goods, breads, pasta anyway, but I'm finding it in almost everything that we eat and I'm struggling with this.

Any help with lowering blood pressure would be really appreciated.

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28 Replies
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Raised blood pressure is often a symptom of something else going on in your body. Obviously the high FT3 would have contributed but you say you have reduced your dose.

How are your adrenals - are you stressed ? Maybe excess cortisol is one of the causes. There is usually more than one :-)

Have you tried taking Magnesium ? Excellent book - The Magnesium Miracle - by Carolyn Dean - she covers the topic well. Also drmyhill.co.uk

Also look at the website of Dr Malcolm Kendrick - drmalcolmkendrick.org

drmalcolmkendrick.org/?s=bl...

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Thanks for your reply Marz,

On the advice of my functional health practitioner, I have been taking 400mg of magnesium for months, recently increased to 1200mg (BioCare) and also using 2 cups of Epsom salts in daily baths for months too. I take a good vitamin B complex (Igennus). 300mg Ashwagandha, 600mg NAC for mucin (Swansons), 200mg of Selenium (Solgar) and advanced multi-billion dophilius (Solgar). I have run out of Methyl B complex (BioCare) and am awaiting a delivery. In addition, I alternate with Vitamin D, Dr prescribed at 20,000 every 2 weeks and some Solgar that I bought myself.

I have tried a couple of adrenal support meds, but they seem to be ineffective for me. My FHP thinks I do have adrenal issues, as I struggle waking and getting out of bed. Crash about 5p.m. and then am wide awake when it's time to go to be d. I have been having sugar cravings too and that is just not me.

I was taking licquorice tea and found that to be calming, but when my FHP discovered my BP was high, she stopped it and the adrenal issues have resurfaced.

I was also taking a daily dissolvable Vit C tablet 100mcgs, but my FHP stopped me taking it as she thought it was raising my Ferritin levels. I've had a cold since I stopped, which is a pain as I haven't had 1 for years since taking Vit C.

As you can see, I take a lot of supplements and I really don't want to take BP meds too.

I will have a look at your recommended reading. Thanks for your reply.

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Oh, forgot to say, I don't feel stressed at the moment, although I have had a lot of stress 4 years ago when my mother, and my husband died within 6 months and then I was made redundant (and other issues) all at the same time - which is when my Hashimoto's was diagnosed.

Managing this disease does seem to stress me out thought to be honest, because it's very frustrating dealing with Drs and endo's who don't seem to understand the disease. Maybe that's why my BP is raised!

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Wow - that is too much for one person to cope with.

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We had a terrible time with my mum as she was profoundly deaf and the medical profession don't understand how to deal with deaf people. My sister and I were sleeping on the floor in the hospital to protect her. Then my husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer of the small intestine and given 6-9 months. I supported and nursed him and he passed away 3 months after diagnosis.

A month after that, both myself and my daughter had breast lumps, mine was a cyst which was drained and my daughter's was a lump which she had removed as it was causing pain (had to battle with the surgeon to get this done as she said the pain was unrelated). Suffice to say the pain went wen the lump was removed!! Then she had to move back to Sheffield and then my next door neighbour moved who had been really supportive after my husband passed away.

Six months after my husband passed away I found out that my team and I were being made redundant and had to keep it from them until the company had sorted out a transfer of business and I had to deal with this other company too, knowing that they were taking my job. At this time I had optical migraines brought on by stress. I was made redundant 3 months later. I took them to an industrial tribunal as I believed the consultation process was a sham!! I didn't win, but did get a minor payout to shut me up!

2 days ago I received a letter from the council advising me that a neighbour has just applied for planning permission to build 2 4 bed properties right next to my house, which will have a detrimental effect on my property, so I'm having to deal with that now.

For the past 3 and a half years, I have travelled 102 miles a day for work. The Autumn statement on Tuesday, will impact the company that I work for so that they will have to re-engineer the whole business.

So I don't suppose it's a surprise really that I have high blood pressure at the moment. It's frustrating as it's always been really low to normal.

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All those things together must be very stressful. Hope you can do something that soothes and relaxes you over the weekend ......

I sometimes find coping with the Greek bureaucracy frustrating and sometimes stressful - as there are new rules everyday and I do not read Greek well. Life was simpler when we moved here in 2004 - but now everyone is suffering as the government are trying to satisfy the IMF and are hell bent on filling BIG black holes. On balance though life is good .....

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Yes, I had a lot of plans for today, but I'm just taking it easy. I'm starting to learn not to push myself too much - it's not easy though. I'm used to pushing myself quite hard and looking after everyone else. I'm still learning to look after myself.

Tomorrow I have a Big Sing with the Rock Choir that I'm a member of. Where 5 choirs run by our leader come together. It's usually brilliant. There'll be about 300 of us all singing and dancing together wearing our Christmas jumpers. We're having mulled wine and cakes. Then going to my friend's for tea, it's really lovely of her to invite me.

Oh gosh, you're lucky to live in Greece, but I can imagine the bureaucracy will be impossible. I'm amazed that you can read any Greek - I'm very impressed. The financial situation in Greece must be difficult to deal with too.

Thank you for your support. Hope you have a good weekend too.

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That sounds a very impressive list of goodies. Hope you are soon bouncing with health and without the meds for blood pressure 😊

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Thank you.

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High blood pressure is a hypo symptom. Doctors just don't seem to realise this. In fact, I've been told I can't possibly be hypo (despite the very high TSH) because my blood pressure is high, and that's a hyper symptom, not a hypo symptom! lol They are just so dumb!

But, yes, it most definitely is a hypo symptom, so blood pressure medication is often ineffective. I have taken it in the past, but it made me feel worse, rather than better.

Try drinking hibiscus tea, rather than licorice tea.

motherearthnews.com/natural...

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Oh thank you Greygoose.

I didn't realise that high blood pressure is a hypo symptom too. Thanks for the tip about hibiscus tea I didn't realise that would help. I thought that by drinking fruit teas and eliminating caffeine that I would be helping things. Some fruit teas give me acid reflux, so it's been difficult. It's so frustrating when you're cutting loads of things out and not making much progress. I only really drink sparkling water and fruit teas so I'm really missing my licquorice tea. I'll give hibiscus tea a try.

Thanks for the advice.

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You're welcome. :)

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Hi, have you tried to cut out the liquorice, it can raise BP and deplete potassium which in itself can raise BP? Do. You have a home monitor if so It can be very helpful to take BP 3 times a day for 7 days 3 reading at each sitting,then average it out.its reckoned apparently that gives a truer reading.

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Hi Soppysal,

Thanks for your response. I stopped liquorice as soon as I had the high BP reading more than 3 weeks ago. The Dr told me home BP monitors are no good as they have a small cuff and can give a false high reading, so for this reason I'm going to wait for the 24 hour test in a couple of weeks.

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Omron monitors are popular, but supplied with a cuff that seems too small for the average Westerner. My monitor (much cheaper) came from Lloyd's Pharmacy, and the appropriate size of cuff was chosen at the time of purchase. Mine was validated by the British Hypertension Society, but has now been superseded. This one is the same price: lloydspharmacy.com/en/blood...

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Thanks for your advice SmallBlueThing. I have ordered one. Hopefully it will be useful.

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Good luck! I should've recommended visiting a branch, to get the right size of cuff.

I needed 10 minutes seated (even if I'd been seated, beforehand) to let things settle, before getting a set of readings. Discard the first, and then take the average of three. I do record the first, assuming that daily activities contributing to hypertension would impinge on my health, but since getting better treatment my first readings are much less of a concern.

With the 24hr monitor, ask when it's timed to take a reading (on the hour and half hour?), so you can avoid being over-stressed or engaged in an activity that could stop the reading being taken.

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Hi Smallbluething,

Thanks for your reply and the very useful advice, which I will take on board.

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Hi Rita it's quite staggering ,the differences between advice given by gp's, mine thinks they are a good idea and encourages his patients who need BP monitoring to get one as long as it's calibrated by the surgery to be correct in its reading then he totally is for them! We can't win can we haha

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Have to say in his defense, my home readings are always spot on with his !

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Well, that's brilliant for you.

My GP doesn't interfere with anything that I'm doing. I'm on self-sourced NDT and LDN. He told me he's heard of LDN, but doesn't know how it works and he can understand why I want to try it for Hashimoto's disease and hypopituitarism as I want to regulate my immune system to prevent developing other auto-immune diseases. So while he's not actually helping me to get these things, he's not trying to talk me out of them either.

Sadly, I think that's a result as my other GP said she was not prepared to lose her job by prescribing me NDT on a "named patient" basis.

He's arranged for my hospital blood test results to be done at the surgery as I've been having real problems in getting the blood forms off the hospital to get tests done for an appointment on 6th December. I've also had 2 endo appointments cancelled this year.

It's a long road and sometimes we have to take matters into our own hands when it concerns our health. Good health to you.

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You may be on too much thyroid as well. My BP went up to 160/110 and resting pulse 95. Halving my T3 dose dropped my pulse to 68 and BP to 130/75.

I had significant lethargy and brain fog, and it became abundantly clear I did need the 30mg/day of hydrocortisone my doctor had prescribed, because, like you, my body's been under incredible stress over the past 4 years, and my adrenals have given up.

I'd do a 24 hour saliva cortisol test, a full thyroid panel, including free T3/T4 and reverse T3, and adjust meds accordingly, using T3, T4, or NDT - I doubt you're on the right dose.

Go on an adrenal support program, de-stress, eat a nutrient dense, whole food, gluten free diet, exercise moderately daily, get good sleep, and take nutrients to support adrenals - Vital Nutrients Adrenal Support is a good one.

Good luck!

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Hi Learner1,

Thanks for your reply. I do think I'm on too low a dose, but when I was on 2.5 grains of NDT, my FT3 was 18.1 (range 2.6-6.5) which is why I reduced to 2. However, I've been keeping my basal temperature and pulse for 3 months and it's patently obvious that I need adrenal support, my average temp over that 3 months is 36.0, but it's been as low as 35.5. My pulse is all over the place, ranging from 66 - 100, however the endo doesn't believe in adrenal fatigue, so I'm fighting a losing battle.

I do have extreme lethargy, lack motivation, brain fog, I keep losing things, I've lost 2 expensive pairs of glasses in the space of 6 months!

I have tried a couple of adrenal supports, but they haven't agreed with me. Thanks for your suggestion, I'll try the one that you recommend. I'm trying to follow a nutrient dense diet, and also take a wide range of supplements too. I'm struggling with going gluten-free, which is surprising as I don't really eat much gluten - been getting gluten cravings since trying to go gluten free. It's crazy.

I've got an appointment with the endo on 6th December, so I'll mention all this to him. I'm just really worried about getting other auto-immune diseases.

Glad to know that you're doing well now on some adrenal support.

Take care.

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It's a journey and takes a long time to fix adrenals. Educate yourself as vest you can - it's the key to getting well. Try the book The Adrenal Fatigue Solution.

We tend to crave what we'RE allergic to. I found when I got off gluten that I had to retrain my brain to go for protein or healthy fat when I got cravings. And dark chocolate. Stick to it, gluten is not doing you any favors. These days, I eat a Paleo Diet - there are lots of great cookbooks and recipes these days.

I have literally been a new person after taking T3 and thyroid, when I'd been lethargic and brain foggy. For awhile at least... 😉

You might have your catecholamines checked, too, especially dopamine. Supplements with tyrosine might be helpful, as long as blood pressure doesn't go up further. Selenium and iodine, too.

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Thanks Learner1,

I think I've got an adrenal book (I've got so many books about thyroid and adrenals now) not sure if it's the one that you recommend though. I've never heard of catecholamines (that's some research I'll have to do). I've heard of tyrosine, I'll have to see what supplements have that in. I already take Selenium. I thought that people with Hashimotos shouldn't take iodine as it causes problems??

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On iodine, you need the right amount. In the US, widespread iodine deficiency is linked to Hashimotos. Dr. Yoon's study in Korea, which recommended iodine restriction was based on test subjects consuming huge amounts of iodine, so it went a good study for us to depend on.

I have trouble pasting into the reply box, but Google "Jeffrey Dach 2014 iodine Hashimotos autoimmune thyroid" for the complete discussion of the research.

Catecholamines are dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine...

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Sorry...auto-correct... Dr. Yoon's study was NOT a good study for us to use as Koreans eat a very high iodine Diet, which most Americans and Europeans do not.

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Hi Rita-D

Totally empathise with your story. In fact yours and mine are exactly the same in your first paragraph but my GP was told by local jiA&E to organise a 24 Tape and my GP refused saying "there's nothing wrong with your heart". She then sent me on my two week Dominican Republic holiday leading me to believe I was just stressed. On return I found I had a90% blockage in my left artery!! Had to have a stent thanks to Thyroxine overdose!! (It does increase your cholesterol).

Prior to this my Endo had been upping my Thyroxine to as much as 250mg but I wasn't converting T3 to T4.

My advice to you is this. Go gluten free (It's hard but it really IS worth it!), eliminate all other inflammatory foods where you can. (Good for all health issues is an anti inflammatory diet. Supplement with turmeric (with added bioperine - black pepper) and find coconut oil (! It helps with brain fog!)! Also suggest you read up about Dr Mark Hyman (re:Heart) and Dr Isabella Wendy (re:Hashimoto's). Both have Facebook sites. These people inspired me...There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Ps...I stopped taking Thyroxine in September in favour of Thyroid-S (NDT) and my cholesterol has gone down from 9 to 7 and my TSH from 9 to 0.08. I feel a lot better, 98!0 !! Still needs improvement but that was just from changing medications and adopting anti inflammatory diet...and my usual dog walking.

I dropped my statin, beta-blocker, ramipril in May as they caused me more trouble.

I hope this helps in some way and good luck on your journey xx

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