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euthyroid with symptoms

chinchristine profile image
22 Replies

Hi there! I’m new here. I stubbled upon this page while browsing about my condition. I was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism June of 2012 in the Philippines. I was on Carbimazole 5mg every day but after a year, my levels normalized so endo told me to take Carbimazole once every other day for the rest of my life. He told me that eventhough my levels are within normal range, there are cutoffs, if that makes sense. I was on Propranolol too for the palpitations by the way. I felt very good while I was on my meds. I moved in Canada in 2016 and got pregnant the same year. I met my new endo and he tested my levels and said I’m euthyroid and that I should stop taking Carbimazole. new endo monitored my levels during my pregnancy and until now. We test once a month and all results were normal and that I’m still euthyroid. 3 months after I gave birth I was diagnosed with postpartum depression. I was referred to a psychiatrist and she gave me different kinds of meds which did NOT work so I stopped it since it made my depression even worse. I am 8 months postpartum and back to work. 2 months ago I started feeling very crappy and tired. I thought it was probably work related but as time goes by, I feel very very tired and anxious. I have palpitations too that comes out of nowhere. I could not even take care of my son because all I want to do is lay down and sleep. I had bloodworks and a couple of tests done at my GP and everything came back normal. I don’t know what to do anymore. all I can blame is my thyroid because I felt these symptoms before. my doctor won’t prescribe meds because she said my levels are “normal”. Carbimazole was my maintenance med back in the Philippines and now my symptoms are back and I could not do anything about it. I don’t even have prescription for my palpitations so it’s so difficult to deal with my symptoms right now because I don’t know where to ask for help. sorry for the long post. I’m so lost. :(

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chinchristine
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22 Replies
Saggyuk profile image
Saggyuk

Hi there

Sorry to see you're feeling so bad. You can post your results here for a second opinion if you like. If you don't have them, you can get the doctors receptionist to print them out for you.

Did you have gas and air during child birth? This can completely deplete your B12 reserves and leave you really ill? Why they don't systematically test all woman who've had gas and air for this is beyond me!

Most of your symptoms can be caused by vitamin deficiency so you need to get your Vit B12, Vit D, Folate, Iron panel and ferritin tested and a full blood count is also useful. If they tested them already, it is worth posting the results as many docs do not know how to read these and often leave very deficient people very ill. This would be the best place to start working it out.

Hope you start to feel better soon, I know how you feel as experienced the same postpartum and also couldn't get out of bed much and it only came out much later that I was hyperthyroid and very deficient - they diagnosed me with depression too and gave me ADs which were of no use and I also stopped them - there was nothing wrong with my mental health :-)

Saggyuk profile image
Saggyuk in reply to Saggyuk

Oh just in case it suggested something I didn't mean. I'm normally hypothyroid but no one thought to take me off the increase in meds I had during pregnancy and I was in no fit state to think for myself with the deficiencies so ended up hyper for nine months!

christineejp profile image
christineejp in reply to Saggyuk

hi! thank you for the reply. I have no idea about air and gas during childbirth. I had laughing gas though when I was on active labor. my GP ordered me a complete blood count as well as chemistry. he said everything is normal. yes PPD was very scary I ended up in the ER twice because of panic attacks. the er doctors just gave me lorazepam to calm me down. It’s so frustrating that it makes me cry. I’ve got two jobs and because of the extreme fatigue, I have to give up the other one to allow my self to rest. I read articles that doctors don’t pay attention to symptoms very much when in fact it should be considered! some patients changed doctors because of this. when they found their new endocrinologist, they felt better because they don’t rely on bloodworks that much. they prefer to acknowledge the symptoms so the patients felt better after increasing their dose a little even when they’re euthyroid. 😭

humanbean profile image
humanbean in reply to christineejp

Laughing gas (nitrous oxide) is the substance that depletes vitamin B12. (And is also the gas in gas and air.) So you should definitely get your vitamin B12 level tested. And getting a result at the bottom of the reference range is not good enough, you need your level to be closer to the top of the range, most likely in the upper half of the range to feel at your best.

Nitrous oxide is commonly used in anaesthesia during operations as well as in dentistry and for pain relief in many situations.

Anyone who is given nitrous oxide when they already have very low levels of B12 is at risk of developing serious problems as a result of B12 deficiency. Another point is that people with thyroid problems often develop nutrient deficiencies as a result of gut dysfunction which is caused by thyroid issues, so it wouldn't be surprising if you were low in B12 without knowing about it.

christineejp profile image
christineejp in reply to humanbean

my B12 result was 443

reference range (153-655)

my ferritin result was 115

reference range (15-247)

these 2 were tken Sept of 2017. should I get another blood work? 😔

humanbean profile image
humanbean in reply to christineejp

Your ferritin is not bad at all, which is surprising - it is one of the more common deficiencies we see on the forum.

The ideal ferritin level is somewhere around mid-range (131 with your reference range) or a smidgen higher. Yours is pretty close, so you don't need to supplement. We often see results where people have a ferritin level well below 20, so yours is not bad.

If you want to support your iron levels with food, then you could eat liver once a week. Other options are liver pate or black pudding. If you hate liver then some people will disguise it in other stews or casseroles. I don't know what to suggest if you are vegetarian or vegan.

The reference range for your B12 result is dreadful. It seems the population of people that were used as the source of the range were all low in it! In Japan the reference range for serum B12 is something like 500 - 1300. You could look up a list of the symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency and decide if any of them apply to you.

For lists of signs and symptoms of a B12 deficiency from a reliable site see this link :

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

If you think they do apply to you you could ask for suggestions on whether to supplement from the Pernicious Anaemia Society. I'm not suggesting you have Pernicious Anaemia, but they are the experts on everything B12 related.

healthunlocked.com/pasoc

Since your results were not really, really bad I think the results you have are probably fine.

A couple of results that you really should get are for folate and vitamin D.

christineejp profile image
christineejp in reply to humanbean

thank you so much for the information! appreciate it! 💕

Saggyuk profile image
Saggyuk in reply to christineejp

Hmmm, the problem is that a serum B12 test which is what you would have had measures active and inactive B12 - active you can use and inactive you can't. Nitrous oxide pretty much renders the B12 you have in your system inactive and I can't find a definitive answer to is how long this inactive B12 hangs around before your body disposes of it and therefore how long it would give false readings in serum B12 tests so I'd want an "active B12" blood test to be sure. I've never found anything that positively answers this question.

Additionally, nitrous oxide can not only knock out what's in your blood but can also knock out a high percentage of the amounts stored in cells and liver stores which takes years to replace on normal diet. So it could just be a case that your B12 was much lower earlier after birth and body is now struggling to maintain blood levels and replace the stores in cells at the same time and speeding this process up with get you better faster

B12 is water soluble so it's one of the things you can take without risk of overdose or becoming toxic as you will simply pee out the excess so I would supplement anyway - high dose methylcobalamin - maybe 3000-5000mcg per day but others here can give you better info as to what dosage you should take. I think they normally advise a good B complex alongside.

I would still be suspicious of the iron as B12/Folate deficiency can cause falsely elevated ferritin - as can a few other things. My mum was in the exact same position with it showing similar ferritin levels to you. I would also retest iron after 2-3 months of months taking B12 supplements just to be sure as iron is not something you want to supplement without need but do try and increase it in your diet and increase vit c intake.

A blood count can help indicate some things but this can be tricky if you have both B12/Folate and iron deficiencies as they can mask each other - same applies to an iron panel.

Yes, you definitely need results for folate and Vit D also.

If docs refuse test, you can pay to get your own done at a reasonable cost so just ask on here if you decide that's what you want to do.

Please bear in mind that I am no expert and might be wrong, it's just my ponderings lol and I just think it's worth ruling this out properly.

Are you eating enough and looking after yourself well?

Muffy profile image
Muffy

Palpitations can also be a symptom of an under active thyroid. Have you got your thyroid test results?

martinpatrick profile image
martinpatrick

Hi .

You need your antibodies done to test for graves or hashimotos (underactive ). If you have these antibodies it means the reason for your thyroid problems is an autoimmune disease. If the doctor wont do these you can go to medichecks who are brilliant. thet are on thyroid uk. they are aprivate company but are really good. They have a thyroid test sale on Thursdays. they cost around £55 plus if you want to go to a hospital so they do it they will tell you which lab you go to. Results are ready in a day and you can get them read by a doctor. if you have autoimmune you should not be eating any gluten as it exasberates the problem. It costs an extra £25 to get them done at a lab otr you can do it yourself and post them. Ask your doctor first. Be persuasive say you want to know if you have graves disease and you want the test done.

Hillwoman profile image
Hillwoman in reply to martinpatrick

I think the OP lives in Canada, but there may well be similar facilities for private testing.

Nathalie70 profile image
Nathalie70

Hi,

I have read your posts carefully. I have Graves and I suffered twice from on overactive thyroid. The symptoms you described are not the ones of an overactive thyroid: you would feel a boost of energy and not feeling tired.

Palpitations: you have to check your heart rate with an heart rate monitor as this a subjective feeling. I sometimes have the feeling to have some, I grab my monitor and my heart rate is only at 67 bpm.

As all your medical results are good and your thyroid in range, I think you should stop blaming your thyroid and look for other causes, including depression. I'm sorry to be a little bit harsh.

Take care.

Hillwoman profile image
Hillwoman in reply to Nathalie70

Well, that is harsh. And we haven't yet seen all of the OP's test results, so it is impossible at present to reach the conclusion that you have.

Valarian profile image
Valarian in reply to Nathalie70

I certainly felt tired when I was at my most hyper. I would do something for part of the day, return home, and sometimes just fall asleep. I didn’t really experience the boost of energy you mention until my thyroid levels began to come down. Anxiety (as opposed to depression) is also something lots of hypers feel.

I’m not saying you’re wrong about the need to consider other causes, because I think it is quite easy to blame the thyroid for everything once it’s begun causing problems, but I do think we need to recognise that both ends of the thyroid spectrum can lead to a wide range of symptoms, some of which may even overlap.

Cathead profile image
Cathead

Your intuition should not be ignored. Try progesterone, a whole non-hormone thyroid extract or hypothalamus extract or support. Try progesterone first!!

Emerita Pro-gest Cream, 4 Oz. Tube (Packaging may vary) amazon.com/dp/B000IMQE5U?re...

Allergy Research Group Hypothalamus - 100 Capsules amazon.com/dp/B000152HZK?re...

Allergy Research Group - Bovine Thyroid Tissue Nutricology (Allergy Research) 100 VCaps amazon.com/dp/B006L7T61U?re...

Natural Balance Happy Camper, 120-Vegetarian Capsules amazon.com/dp/B000K1BC2Y/re...

WishGarden Herbs - Baby Blues Mood Support, Organic Herbal Postnatal Supplement, Emotional & Hormonal Support for New Mothers (1 oz) amazon.com/dp/B006H9QZES/re...

christineejp profile image
christineejp

the thing is I have Prolapse Mitral Valve prior to Hyperthyroidism diagnosis, hence, the Propranolol. I believe my GP did check my chemistry and I think everything is normal and fine because that’s what he said. as for depression, maybe. maybe not. because my endo in the Philippines kept prescribing me Carbimazole eventhough my levels were normal just to prevent the symptoms from coming back. I felt really better while taking meds. and now I’m miserable while off meds. I’m tired from work but the fatigue is so overwhelming eventhough I stay in bed all day.

christineejp profile image
christineejp

@ Nathalie70 my endo in the Phils told me that it doesn’t matter whether you are hyper or hypo, symptoms are pretty much similar and present vice versa. my uncle is hypo and he’s thin. they said hypo would make you fat. I’m hyper but I kinda have extra weight. I don’t wanna rule out depression because I’ve tried different kinds of pills and nothing worked. I just woke up one morning feeling better. I’m a Paychology major by the way so I know how depression works. 😊

christineejp profile image
christineejp

*Psychology

typo..

christineejp profile image
christineejp

and my endo here checked my antibodies prior to giving birth up until now but she said everything’s fine. I remember when I met my Maternal Fetal Medicine Doctor when I was still pregnant, she told me to ask my endo because my thyroid levels are pretty elevated eventhough it’s whithin normal range. so I told my endo about it and she said I was fine. sooooo go figure.

whispers60 profile image
whispers60 in reply to christineejp

When a doctor or endo says your results are fine all it means is you are in range, if you are feeling ill then you are not fine and neither are your results, I think to help you further you need to get your thyroid results on here so people can have a look and give you further suggestions, I do hope you feel better soon

christineejp profile image
christineejp

I will be having my bloodwork done mid feb so I will post my results here. thank you @ whispers60 ✨

Samy3 profile image
Samy3

Hi chinchristine sorry to hear u not feeling well I have graves disease and I'm in a remission from graves and mine started two years ago when I had my youngest one but I had all the symptoms which u r having and yes tired and lethargy were included with anxiety and depression my GP was keep saying before the diagnosed that I have post natal depression I was not convinced and guess what the day I was diagnosed he admitted that it was all bcs of thyroid ..when ur thyroid is overactive ur body loosing lits of minerals and vitamins in my case it was true but GP always said that all normal they only become normal when I got help from the ppl here and another forum I know another lady from the other forum she s from Canada too and still on a very low dose of carbimazole even she is euthyroid if u want I can send u a private message abt that ..hope u feel better soon I know its really hard with a young child when u not well ..samy

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