Low blood pressure

[Valdug]

I had radioactive iodine 10 years ago and have been on synthroid ever since. I had Hashimotoes and Graves. Since all the problems started with my thyroid, my bp has been low but normal according to th Drs. Now my TSH is 3.5 and my bp is around 90/60. Any suggestions??

[jamesal0]

You need more Thyroid (T4,T3), take an extra 25 Levo or extra 30 NDT per day. Keep an eye out for Hyper symptoms. Your TSH should be between 0-1.

j

[teenarocks]

Your TSH is too high. How are you feeling? What kind of symptoms are you having? I suffered from low blood pressure for years when I was under medicated. I found the docs never thought that low blood pressure was a problem. It didn't matter that I felt weak. They only worry about high blood pressure. Now that I am better medicated (with T4 and T3) my blood pressure is more normal.

[posthinking01]

Drs really annoy me whe they say low blood pressure is fine....................not really - it is a sign of the adrenals being low.............

[shaws Administrator]

Welcome to our forum and I'm sorry you've been unwell for 10 years now.

First, we have to read and learn in order to recover our health My personal view is that anyone who has had their thyroid gland RAI or removed deserve a combination of T3/T4.

You are taking Synthroid (T4) (also known as levothyroxine in the UK) only and I have my gland but could not get well on levothyroxine - in fact I was far worse than having undiagnosed hypo and a TSH of 10 0.

You need the addition of T3 (liothyronine to Synthroid) and research has shown that many feel much better with a combination than levothyroxine alone.

Blood tests should be at the very earliest, fasting (you can drink water) and allow a gap of 24 hours between last dose and the test and take afterwards. This helps keep TSH at its highest and may prevent the doctor adjusting dose unnecessarily.

Always get a print-out of the results with the ranges and post if you have any queries.

Also you should have B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate at the same time as deficiencies in these can also cause problems.

[Raventhorpe]

Hi valdug you definitely need an increase in meds as 3.5 is definitely too high, my story is very similar to yours I also have graves and had Rai 7 yrs ago and I'm on levo I also have low/ normal blood pressure but as you say gp's are not bothered about it. You really need your tsh at1.0 or below and t4/t3 needs to be in top quarter to top third of their ranges, get the pulse magazine article by dr toft by emailing louise at

[e-mail]. show your gp article especially Question 6 : what is the correct dose of thyroxine his answer: the appropriate dose of levothyroxine is that which restores euthyriodism and a serum tsh to the lower part of reference range- 0.2 -0.5mu/l , in this case free thyroxine is likely to be in upper part of reference range or even slightly elevated -18-22mol l/1 most patients will feel well in that circumstances. Dr toft is an eminent endocrinologist and past president of the British thyroid association so hopefully your gp will accept this and give you an increase in your meds. It worked for me, my tsh was at 1.74 and I felt like death I feel better now it's at0.01 and t421.4 ( 11-22.00) and gp happy to leave it there.

[tccanno]

I had low BP and I took more salt with my food. this did take about 2 years but now my bp is normal

Check with you Dr to see if this is for you

[Heloise]

As others mentioned, low BP is not necessarily healthy. Your adrenal glands and vagus nerve control blood pressure as well as kidneys. I'd say your low bp is a sign of weakness somewhere. When your TSH is too high, the adrenals become stressed since they have to put out adrenaline and cortisol. It's a wonderful system but you don't want to live in a high stress state for too long. This man explains it.

youtube.com/watch?v=T_Re4ja...(Not working as expected?)