Levothyroxine and pmt

[tinkerbell22]

Does anyone else find that levothyroxine increases their symptoms of pmt? And anyone got any solutions?

[milkwoman]

What is pmt?

[tinkerbell22 in reply to milkwoman]

It is premenstrual tension

[milkwoman in reply to tinkerbell22]

Oh, also called PMS. I have not experienced an increase in this with Levo. Perhaps others have and will respond.

But I will ask, have you as your sex hormone levels tested? An imbalance between estrogen, testosterone and progesterone can cause all sorts of issues.

[tinkerbell22]

Yes that's it yes just tested sex hornones (although missing the progesterone part currently). My testosterone and oestrogen are low but mostly in range. Seems like everything is a bit sluggish.

Had a cortisol saliva test too and that is mostly low

[milkwoman in reply to tinkerbell22]

The levels themselves are actually less important (somewhat) on their own. It's the balance between all of them. I am estrogen dominant and require additional progesterone to feel "normal". Without it, I'm very angry and on edge (all the time). For years I applied custom compounded transdermal cream (50-100mg/ml applied nightly). When I hit menopause, I switched to oral progesterone - 200mg daily. I couldn't live without it. Hubby would agree. 😊

I'm also on an estrogen patch as well as a compounded transdermal cream with progesterone/testosterone. I have to be very careful with the testosterone as I seem to be very sensitive and levels can jump upwards quickly.

Sex hormone levels work in conjunction with thyroid hormones so all need to be in optimum balance to feel well. My endo and I are still trying get everything in balance but things are better than they've ever been.

[tinkerbell22 in reply to milkwoman]

Thanks so much this is really helpful! I'm so sorry to hear you've been struggling though.

I only get these extreme pms symptoms (anger, anxiety, breast pain and boils!) and migraines when I'm on levothyroxine. I was on levothyroxine from January till May this year 25-50mcg and got this awful reaction. I couldn't bare it I tried switching to a natural desiccated thyroid and all these horrible symptoms vanished! But I can't take enough of the natural thyroid and my TSH is worse than ever as a result of this experiment. So I'm forced to go back on thyroxine I'm Very worried about these hormonal effects returning.

The low oestrogen and low testosterone results were just from the other day (while I've been off thyroxine)... I'll retest if the symptoms return.

[milkwoman in reply to tinkerbell22]

Wow - those side effects are horrible!!

Hmmm, have you tried different brands of Levo? I can only take Tirosint as I did not feel well on (any) generics. Must be the filler/incipient ingredients. I do very well on Tirosint and felt the difference immediately.

Also, you seem to only have tried very lose doses of Levo. Most would consider 25 - 5mcg to be starter doses. I didn't feel well until I went up to 100mcg. You could also be a poor converter of T3, which is why you felt better (at least initially) when on NDT.

Why can't you take enough of NDT? Can you supplement the NDT you are taking with Levo? (Again, here I would stress that you try different brands of Levo to find one that doesn't cause the side effects you've experienced. I'm not in the UK so I cannot advise you on which brand to ask for. But I know that topic has been widely discussed on TUK so there are posts out there).

My endo follows the treatment protocols of Dr. Kenneth Blanchard (she took over his practice after he passed in April 2017) so therefore, she feels that the ratio of T3 to T4 in NDT is too high, so adding in straight T4 (Levo) *could* even things out for you.

If you post your blood results (latest as well as ones when you were on levo alone) along with your dosing amount and the symptoms you experienced, I'm sure you get some really great advice.

I wish I could help more but I'm not knowledgeable in NDT. I know some do really well on it while others do not. Thyroid issues are quite complicated and it really does suck that there isn't that one magical treatment plan that works for everyone. Sigh.

[tinkerbell22 in reply to milkwoman]

Your endo sounds great milkwoman! Wish I could find a general doctor let alone an endo lol.

Thank you sooooo much for all your replies. I've only been on thyroxine for a few months so not really had chance to experiment much but I have seen others say about the differences between brands. I am SO Very sensitive to ingredients that this could be the problem. I'll have to test and see.

The thing I worry about most is that my poor mum has Hashimoto's too and she suffers with terrible migraines. I don't remember her having the migraines before starting thyroxine and that was years and years ago she started! For her, raising the dose didn't reduce the migraines. Her migraines last for days. Mine are so far brief, but I fear higher throxine may mean longer migraines... Also my mum ended up with fibroids and needed a hysterectomy after being on thyroxine. I can't help wonder if there's a connection, like the thyroxine triggers or upsets sex hormone balance.

Yes I agree I've only been on starter doses so far. I'd hoped to increase further but the side effects got too intense so I desperately leaped to natural thyroid.

"Too much" natural desiccated thyroid leads my head to race, again unbearably so. And I get intense muscle rigidity. So I think that may be me being sensitive to T3 in the natural thyroid. That's interesting what you said about the T3 T4 ratio in natural thyroid! I read that if you have low iron or adrenal problems then T3 can cause a racing mind and I do have both these issues which I'm working on. So it could be in time I can try the natural stuff again.

I have posted my results in two other threads recently but not had much response. I'm wondering if everyone's on holiday or if I've offended everyone somehow lol! But everyone's too polite to say!

Thank you so much for being there. It really helps to talk xx

[milkwoman in reply to tinkerbell22]

I was very fortunate to find a private endo who treats patients based upon symptoms in addition to blood results. If I had not found Dr. Blanchard when I did, I don't know where I'd be today. He saved my life and now, after his passing in April of this year, his predecessor is carrying on where he left off. I am in good hands. I am also fortunate to have an excellent GP who has been taking care of myself and my family for over 20 years. Good doctors are hard to find (and I've had my fair share of crappy ones!) so I hold onto the good ones with both hands.

It took me about 3 years to sort things out (my situ is complicated as I also have lupus and Sjogrens and have tested positive for APS antibodies). I also went into menopause last summer but didn't start HRT until November so that complicated things a bit. It really is a process of "trial and error" (unfortunately). No one size treatment fits all.

I hope you get things sorted out. I see that on your test results post many feel you have severe adrenal issues and before that is sorted out, no amount of thyroid medication will help. Makes sense. I really feel for you - I went through 2.5 years of feeling just terrible before I was diagnosed. I was (am) very fit and active and at the time, wasn't aware of any family history of autoimmune disorders so it was pure luck that one test led me to those diagnoses.

Question: you have high level of thyroglobulin antibodies...has further testing been done to figure out why that is? Also, have you had any other rheumatological blood testing done? Is it possible that, like me, you have something autoimmune going on here?

[Babette]

I hadn't had pmt for years but it all came back when I started taking levothyroxine. Sorry - I have no suggestions and just put up with it.

[tinkerbell22 in reply to Babette]

Thank you Babette. I'm sorry you had this happen too. Is it bad for you and what dose of levothyroxine are you on?

I've started taking evening primrose oil as that used to help me with pmt years ago (way before thyroxine days). Pmt got better over time but then returned Badly with thyroxine

[Babette in reply to tinkerbell22]

I had problems with levothyroxine (went up to 100 mcg) so went onto liothyronine (20 mcg). The symptoms continued on T3 only. I've agreed to try levothyroxine again and currently taking 25 mcg levothyroxine and 30 mcg liothyronine.

[tinkerbell22 in reply to Babette]

Sounds like you're at a similar point to me, after bad reaction to levothyroxine, quitting it and then returning to it. I swapped thyroxine for natural thyroid but that didn't work out so now I'm back to thyroxine. Have you had sex hormones checked? See conversation above with milkwoman.

[thyr01d]

Hi Tinkerbell, I do have a solution to pmt/pms symptoms. I'll PM you