Headaches

[Jenni7]

I have been getting headaches that seem to stop after I take my thyroid meds

just wondering if this is an undermedicated symptom or withdrawl?

thankyou

[greygoose]

Withdrawal from what?

Headaches can be a hypo system, but so many things can cause headaches that it's difficult to know. But, I don't think that just take a tablet of levo (T4) would make them stop just like that. T4 is a storage hormone, and doesn't do much itself. It has to be converted into T3, and that takes quite a while.

[Jenni7 in reply to greygoose]

Sorry

withdrawal from thyroid medication

just wondering if my body can sense when my next dose is due

[greygoose in reply to Jenni7]

OK, well, that's not really 'withdrawal', because you haven't stopped it. I don't know if your body can sense when your next dose is due. I would have said not, because levo is a storage hormone. But, we're all different, so who knows. Do you get a headache every single day, just before you're due to take your levo? What time do you take your levo?

[Jenni7 in reply to greygoose]

Thankyou

yes I get headaches every day just before I am due to take the levo and t3 together

I take them in the morning

[greygoose in reply to Jenni7]

OK, so you wake up with a headache.

So, what dose of levo and T3 are you on? Do you have a copy of your last results?

If the headaches are caused by hypo, then it would be the T3, I imagine, that is getting rid of them. I thought you were on levo only. Is it instantaneous, or does it take an hour or so for them to stop?

[Jenni7 in reply to greygoose]

I take 200mcg levothyroxine and 20mcg t3 moved up from 200mcg levothyroxine and 10mcg t3

May-2017

TSH 1.87 (0.2 - 4.2)

Free T4 13.3 (12 - 22)

Free T3 4.0 (3.1 - 6.8)

TPO antibodies 289 (<34)

TG antibodies >1000 (<115)

it takes about an hour for them to stop

[greygoose in reply to Jenni7]

Well, I have to say, your Frees are very low, considering the dose you're taking. And, your TSH is too high. So, you have an absorption problem.

Your do have Hashi's, so you should possibly be gluten-free. And, you probably need to work on your gut to heal it.

I don't, for the life of me, know why doctors can work this out for themselves! But, you're taking far more levo than you can use, so it should be reduced and your T3 increased. Your FT3 is way, way too low, so it's not surprising you're having symptoms, like headaches.

To feel well you are going to need to :

A) reduce levo and increase T3

B) adopt a gluten-free diet and heal your gut

C) optimise your nutrients, which I saw were low.

But, I'm not sure how much help you're going to get from your doctor. He doesn't seem as if he's got much of a clue.

[bubbatetley in reply to greygoose]

Good Day Gregoose, I hope you are ok I have been having violent daily headaches in the fore head now for 6 weeks.. They seem worse in the morning and last all day.

I am going back to see my Endo next monday, so as yet have no blood results.

Can you advise please.

Take care

Bubba😘

[greygoose in reply to bubbatetley]

Not on this thread, no. It's three years old for a start, and secondly, it is someone else's thread.

Nor can I advise anything without a lot more information:

* blood test results with ranges

* what you are taking and how much

* how long you've been on that dose

* when did the headaches start - did they correspond to an increase in dose, a change of brand or anything thing else?

I've been glancing through your past posts and the information you give is very confused and difficult to follow. But, it would appear that there has been no sort of system to your increases/decreases (ignorant endo syndrome), and they are far too frequent. The doctors you have seen - and you've seen too many of them, but all accounts - really don't have much idea what they're doing.

When did you last have your eyes tested? Do you wear glasses? Do you have any allergies? Humanbean suggested it might be something to do with your sinuses, but you didn't reply to her comments.

I know it's difficult, and you're not really in any fit state to do it, but it would help everyone help you if you could draw up some sort of a time-line. In that time line, starting from diagnosis, if possible, give blood test results, what you were taking at the time, if the dose was increased and how you felt/symptoms, etc. It would look something like this:

21/12/12: diagnosis

TSH 50 (0.2-4.5)

FT4 9 (12-22)

Symptoms: weight-gain; depression; back pain; hair-loss

Dose: put on 50 mcg levo.

1/2/13: taking 50 mcg levo

TSH 25 (0.2-4.5)

FT412.9 (12-22)

Symptoms: weight-gain stopped, but haven't lost any; hair-loss stopped; back pain eased; now constipated

Dose: increased to 75 mcg levo.

The above is purely ficticious, but you get the idea. That helps people pin-point what might be going on - and might even help you to do the same. Then, post it in a new thread.

[humanbean]

Has someone told you that thyroid medication is addictive? I'm puzzled by your use of the word "withdrawal".

People get symptoms when their dose is too low or they have other issues that prevent the body from making proper use of their thyroid meds. But they don't get withdrawal symptoms.

Nobody ever says that an insulin-dependent diabetic, who needs increasing doses of insulin as they get older, is suffering from withdrawal. So nobody should say it about someone who takes thyroid hormones.

[Jenni7 in reply to humanbean]

Thankyou

I might have gone without it a few days before

doctor suggested withdrawl

[humanbean in reply to Jenni7]

Your body needs thyroid hormones every day. If you don't take it regularly your body will get very confused indeed, and blood tests won't reflect your actual situation.

If you took your thyroid hormones regularly you might be able to reduce your meds.

[Saggyuk in reply to humanbean]

I do get headaches when I left it too long for my next dose but I'm on T3 only so is a little different. as suggested above, it might be the T3.

You are on rather a large dose, do you have absorption/stomach issues or resistance issues - I used to need a higher dose before I went gluten free - this ended up being the main cause of all my health issues.

You may also want to get B12, Vit D, Folate and Ferritin (iron) tested too as man of us are deficient in these.

[Hidden in reply to humanbean]

@ humanbean,

as Jenni takes 20mcg of t3...maybe she should take one 10mcg in the morning, one in the afternoon? with the gap between the supplement, ?

as t3 is fast absorbing and stays only ca 12h in the blood maybe that is what she should do.

i can not advice her, as i myself just start to learn the ins and outs of thyroid disease.

xx

[greygoose in reply to Hidden]

T3 stays in the blood for 12 hours, but it stays in the cells for several days.

[Hidden in reply to greygoose]

thanks ggoose, i thought it depleats and is gone in 12h.

[greygoose in reply to Hidden]

Gone from the blood, yes.

[humanbean in reply to Hidden]

It would be an experiment worth trying, to break the T3 into two doses (or maybe even more) and take the doses a few hours apart.

When I first took T3, I split it into 3 or 4 doses because my heart played up when I took it in fewer doses, due to severe anaemia. Over several years I have experimented with all sorts of dosing patterns, I would settle with one for a few months, then would have to start experimenting with different dosing as my dose changed and my health changed, and my heart started going too fast again.

There isn't one dosing pattern that works for everyone, we each have to find out what works for us.

[Hidden in reply to humanbean]

thanks humanbean, for the answer. that is exactly what i did now. started last night, taking the 20mcg t3 at night. i tried to cut them in half, but it just crumbled a bit. one was half, the other part was 1/4 with dust.

my GP wants me to take just half a t3 but it ist too hard for it not to break into dust. (Thyroid-S)

maybe, with my vitamins, the body converts the t4 into t3 better now. didn't we say in here " when the vitamins are in the high range the convertion is better, and we can down size our medication" ? i think that has happened to me here! 60mg tyroid extract in tyroid-s and 40 t3 liotyronine (Tertroxine) was too much of a good thing. i feel better now, don't know why, maybe it is the black seed oil i am taking for the last 4 days?? horrible stuff!!! but we need to try everything once .... don't we ? if it doesn't kill me.... it might make me better. 😏 x

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Have you got recent tests for vitamin D, folate, B12 and ferritin? If not ask GP to do tests, or can get privately via Medichecks or Blue Horizon if GP unhelpful

Do you have any gut symptoms

You have Hashimoto's, so hidden food intolerances are likely, most common is gluten

Your taking a high combined dose, but it doesn't appear to be doing much, this suggests poor absorption issues, and low vitamins likely.

Have you been tested for coeliac?

High percentage of us with Hashimoto's find we have gluten intolerance. There's no test for this, you just have to try it for 3-6 months. Needs to be strictly 100% gluten free.

When do you take Levo? Do you take T3 as divided dose?