Carbimazole and liver problems

[LauPalm]

Hi, im new to this site and hoping someone out there may have advice! I was diagnosed with Hyperactive thyroid and Graves disease back in 2007 and after treatment it went into remission until 2015 when it returned with a vengance after my last pregnancy. The endo encouraged to opt for thyroidectomy (which i'm still not happy about!) and referred me to surgeons last year who I am still under. They've found it really hard to stabalise my thryoid but finally in the last couple of months its started to normalise and drop becoming slightly hypo. The surgeons have now got me on block and replace at 30 mg carbimazole and 125mg levothyroxine. The last few months however, i've been feeling unwell, frequant dizzy spells, swollen glands, sore throat, aches and pains in muscles and also recently quite noticable yellowing of the eyes. Ive been to gp who thinks (and has done for the last few months) that this is all part and parcel of thryoid problems etc :/ I'm worried that they are missing something though! I'm having a FBC and liver function test this week although gp wasn't to happy to go down this route!! I guess my main query is anyone with experience of any liver issues after taking carbimazole (symptoms etc) and how did the doctors investigate/sort it out?? Thanks in advance for reading 🙂

[deesbees]

Hi,

I stopped carbimazole after having the probs that you describe and went onto PTU. In spite of the potential liver problems this stuff can cause, I tolerated it far better than carb and have it to this day. Carb caused -

Yellow eyes, itching, muscle pains,joint pain, sore they, lymph glands up, digestive issues and loads of others, and so i rang the endos and said i refused to use carbimazole any more....got a quick appt (!) with them for a week later courtesy of the lovely secretary and bingo, now rolling along nicely. I also refused the block and replace regime as it sounded like a nightmare... Same for surgery...no thanks to all that! It was horrible for about 3 years on and off, and now I'm fairly ok mostly. I think id rather feel a bit pants continuously than struggle with a thyroidectomy and its aftermath or block and replace with all the fun of a few years attempts to find the right balance... Deffo check out Elaine Moore ! Good luck honey xx

[deesbees in reply to deesbees]

Ps i said the carb was causing liver problems and they did a few tests - lft etc but as lft is fairly limited in what it can tell us it revealed very little. The issues vanished over a few weeks and ptu caused NO issues other than a bit of generalised pain for the first week and I continue to tolerate it well...totally different actions but i also ensured i ate well, took a few supplements (iron, vit c,d, b, magnesium selenium etc) and felt better fairly quickly.

Its a horrible thing for a bit but changed for the better for me. Hope all this helps xx

[Fruitandnutcase]

In my case it wasn't part and parcel of Graves, once I was being treated I gradually started to feel a better. If it's any help the day I started taking carbimazole (40mcg daily) my pharmacist told me to take a high dose vitamin C along with it so I always took 1000mcg slow release vitamin C with zinc. Didn't have any of the problems you're having.

If the whites of your eyes are turning yellow that's not normal - well not unless you live on carrots - I once dyed my first baby yellow by feeding him too many carrots - so I can't see why your doctor doesn't want to check your liver. Hopefully the FBC and over tests will throw up useful information.

Make sure you get and keep a copy of all your blood test results alongwith their ranges.