Newly diagnosed and feeling awful.

[Booho42]

Hi I'm new here,I was diagnosed with hypothyroid last week I'm living in Spain at the moment and don't know if my lab reading wil be understandable in u k.here goes,. TSH 5.1. T4free 1.25. Antibodies thyroid >1300.does this make sense. I was put on Levothyroxin 25 micrograms .i have taken them for four days and never felt so ill in my life.after about an hour and a half after taking the tablet I get palpitations,sweating and shaking I gets better after about an hour but leaves me feeling shattered.I am 74years old and wondering if all this is worth it at my age.any advise would be appreciated feel very alone and lost with this, Dr not at all helpful.

[Saggyuk]

Hiya Booho

You will need to put the ranges of the blood tests (the figures in brackets after the result) as different labs use different ones. At first glance it certainly looks like you needed them.

How did you feel before them. Sometimes, it can make people feel a little jittery at first as your body gets used to it but 25mcg shouldn't cause too many issues with most people, you could maybe try half a tablet for a few weeks and see how it goes and then increase if symptoms dissipate? I think it is also showing your thyroid antibodies to be high also which means you have autoimmune thyroid disease where your own immune system is attacking you. Many of us in this position find going on a gluten free diet helps with this.

Some people have a problem with different fillers in the meds and can be allergic so you could try a different brand if it doesn't improve.

Make sure you have your vit levels tested - Iron, VitB12, Vit D and folate as those with thyroid issues are often deficient in these and in m experience, thyroid treatment can make these worse at first.

Hope you feel better soon

[Booho42 in reply to Saggyuk]

Thankyou saggy,yes I should have put the ranges in brackets,

TSH 5.1 (0.4-4.5). Free T4 1.25. (0.85-1.8).

Thyroid antibodies <1300. (0.60). Will the Levothyroxin help with autoimmune problem? Thanks so much.

[Saggyuk in reply to Booho42]

I'm not so sure if I'm so definite regarding the antibodies now? was your result <1300 or 0.60? and which is the range??

I would be tempted to get a T3 test if possible for a clearer picture? have you had a bad illness recently as tsh can rise in such instances and might be worth a re-test without the levo especially where you're not seemingly taking to them too well. Although leave a few weeks as T4 can stay in your system for some time.

I would definitely get your vits tested as suggested as these are needed for your thyroid to function properly.

Were you having any symptoms before you started on the meds?

[Booho42 in reply to Saggyuk]

My antibodies result was <1300

The range was(0-60)

I was actually just recovering from quite a bad virus so maybe that threw things a bit haywire! Do you think I should test again? I think I will also give the gluten free a go.i am so grateful for your help,as I know nothing at all about this problem.xx

[Saggyuk in reply to Booho42]

Okay, it's still a little confusing to be honest as you would expect a number so high to be >1300 (unless you got the less than/more than wrong way round lol). For example if you result was <1300 (less than 1300), in a range of 0.60 then this could mean anything and could be 1 or 30 or 400 as all less than 1300. Whereas if it said >1300 (more than 1300), this would make more sense. I hope I'm making sense lol.

I'm thinking it was me who started this error in my first post looking back and has continued since then and it does in fact say >1300

This seems unusually high, then maybe even though your thyroid is under attack, it is still functioning and this can be up and down at first. Yes try the gluten free as this is best suggestion to dampen autoimmunity. Do you know whether this was TPO antibodies of thyroglobulin antibodies?

Although antibodies kind of make it definitive and is likely to get worse and you'll need the meds, I would retest in six weeks personally, especially if you just can't take them and showing signs of hyper and were okay before although others here might say differently. It's a hard one, you might just be having a hashi's flare I think they call it or there might be something else the matter.

Selenium can also help your thyroid and immune system.

Get well soon though

[Booho42 in reply to Saggyuk]

Oh heck I'm not functioning well at all,of course it was. >1300 not the other way round. Trying to translate the name of this test. Seems like,. Thyroid antibodies antiperoxid test.sorry to make this even more confusing with the language problem. My test result was > 1300 and the range. (0-60)

[Saggyuk in reply to Booho42]

Hiya, I think it was me that started that lol - Yes very very autoimmune then, it's a very high reading in comparison to the range. This would be anti-peroxidase antibodies more often known as TPO. THis means your immune system is directly attacking your thyroid and thyroid cells and you are likely going up and down with this level of attack.

Definitely check your vit levels as you will need this to use levo properly. You will need the meds at some point soon regardless but maybe go back and speak to your doc

[Muffi]

Hi, your tsh is to High, and That is why you are on meditation. You should not feel the Way you do after taking your medicine.

Please go to your GP for some other medicine like ex Thyroid.

Best Regards

Tina

P.s. When starting new medicine it takes about 6 weeks before it's in the body.

[Booho42]

Thankyou.x

[Booho42 in reply to Booho42]

Dear saggyuk just googled antiperoxid. And it comes up in English as. Antiperoxidea

[cazlooks]

sorry you are experiencing this, it makes me sad to hear it. You should go to another doctor, or even better, a nice nurse, who can explain it all. It would also help everyone on the forum to help you if you could ask your doctor for the ranges used when assessing you. Your thyroid may be up or down - but unless you know the ranges to compare it with, we can't help. Having said that, thyroxine is a miracle drug, and the feelings you are having may just be your body kicking in after too much inaction! And hypothyroidism does cause problems - constipation, tiredness, underactive immune systems etc. It's an all over body experience. So it's worth putting up with the drugs side effects sometimes. You may also want to ask the doctor to check your blood pressure, if you start taking thyroxine it will make your blood pressure rise, and these symptoms could be that. It may be you need a little blood pressure regulation medication in conjunction with your thyroid meds. Or you may need to exercise enough to use up the thyroxine!

However, at the end of the day these drugs are not for everyone, I found them great but insufficient, so I use naturethroid in conjunction with lyothyronine and levethyroxine. I'm 57 and it's taken me years to get a balance between them.

[Booho42 in reply to cazlooks]

Thankyou Carlos it's a lovely forum everyone is so helpful,before this I felt really in the dark,I am 74 years old and finding it difficult to understand,but I will keep trying.xx

[Booho42 in reply to Booho42]

Sorry. Cazlooks got your name wrong.

[Katepots]

Definitely worth it!

You are hypothyroid as TSH is high but you also have Hashimotos Thyroditis which is Auto Immune.

Your body should get used to the T4 fairly quickly. 25mcgs is a starting dose though so will need to be increased every six weeks until you feel better.

I'd advise trying a gluten/ casein(in cows milk) free diet as will start to get the Hashimotos under control.

Gluten and Casein look like the thyroid to the body (molecular mimmickry) so when ingested and they leak into your bloodstream (via leaky gut) the body sends T cells to attack them but then mistakingly attacks the thyroid too.

Quite complicated sorry!

Research leaky gut. Chris Kresser website is good. 90% +of people with Hashimotos have it. Actually most people with with auto immune conditions.

Izabella Wentz (a pharmacist) has a website and a new book called the Hashimotos Protocol. Very good.

Dr Datis Khazzarian has brilliant Hashimotos books too.

Susan Blum MD has a book called The Auto Immune Recovery Plan which is very good re diet.

It would be worth getting Folate, Ferritin, B12 and vitamin D tested as some if not all are likely to be deficient as runs hand in hand.

B12 needs to be over 600, under 500 can start to cause neurological changes. Due to Hashimotos and your age(sorry) it's pretty certain that you'll need to supplement B12.

Vit D around 60 no less.

Folate and Ferritin mid range.

In a previous post I've listed all the things that I find help that others have added to. May be worth a look.

You are not alone now you've found this site!! Ask any questions no matter if you think they are silly, we are all here for one another and all continually learning 😀

[Booho42 in reply to Katepots]

Thankyou so much katepots,I will look for the reading on Hashimotos.xx

[MariLiz]

Hi Booho, it might be a good idea to ask your doctor to do a blood test for VitB12, ferritin, folate and VitD. These can all be at low levels if your thyroid is struggling, and we need them to use the thyroxine you are being given. As you had a bad infection that is another reason they could be low.

Best wishes MariLiz

Ps, I realise the language issue might make this hard to explain to your doctor. Perhaps there is an English speaking nurse at the surgery?