Is giddiness a symptom?

[bristolboy]

My hypo flared up a couple of years ago, with the usual symptoms of inexplicable weight gain, extreme tiredness, tinnitus, feeling cold etc. I'm currently on 150 per day levothyroxine, and still have those symptoms. Two days ago I started to get very brief feelings of giddiness, and being slightly wobbly on my feet. Is this a hypo symptom, or do I have something else to worry about?

[waveylines]

Yes it most certainly is! I kept feeling faint & dizzy, & fell down some steps fracturing several ribs.....all before I was diagnosed!

[Marz]

Do post your latest test results with ranges. Have you had B12 - Folate - Ferritin - VitD tested ? They all need to be OPTIMAL for thyroid hormones to work well.

How do you take your Levo ? Any other medication ?

Sounds like LOW B12 to me. Result needs to be over 500 to prevent neurological issues ....

[bristolboy in reply to Marz]

Many thanks to all of you for your replies. It looks like hypo might also explain my tinnitus as well (which I'd always attributed to many years as a young lad spent at loud music gigs in the 1970s!).

MARZ: I'll list my latest blood results below (from February 2018). B12 looks to be at the top of its range?

TSH: 0.881 (range 0.27 to 4.20)

Free Thyroxine: 18.5 (12.00 to 22.00)

Total T4: 98.3 (59.00 to 154.00)

Free T3: 4.63 (3.10 to 6.80)

Thyroglobulin antibody: 31.200 (0.00 to 115.00)

Thyroid Peroxidase antibodies: 269 (0.00 to 34.00)

Active B12: 161.00 (25.10 to 165.00)

Folate (serum): 6.25 (2.91 to 50.00)

25 OH Vitamin D: 70.4 (50.00 to 200.00)

Ferritin: 213 (30.00 to 400.00)

B12 seems to be near the top of the range. I take a multivitamin tab in the evening with food. It contains some B12.

I've been told that Vit D could be higher. For some time I've been taking a daily tab of 1,000 units, so I'd have expected the Vit D to be higher? As the thyroid antibodies show I have Hashi's, I wonder if my stomach isn't absorbing the Vit D?

Since I was advised to raise my Vit D (about 2 weeks ago) I've been taking 3000 units per day sublingually, as a spray. Oddly, this coincides with my dizzy spells beginning - could there be a link?

I'm intending to start on a Vit B Complex, and also on Selenium, but I thought "one change at a time" - and that's the Vit D at the moment.

Any further advice from Marz or anyone else would be greatly appreciated. I'm 62 years old, and all these symptoms are dragging me down so much that I've pretty much decided to retire from work (from a job that I enjoy). Nick.

[silverfox7 in reply to bristolboy]

Vit D really needs a booster dose to get it up there and a maintenance dose once you are where you need to be. Are you taking the cofactors Vit K2 and Magnesium? K2 directs the calcium in your blood to the bones and teeth and Magnesium locks it in. When taking Vit D our calcium rises as well so we are more of a rise of getting fall and kidney stones but the K2 resolves that. Have a look at SeasideSusie's posts on vitamins etc. She's nailed it!

[bristolboy in reply to silverfox7]

Thanks silverfox7.

[Marz in reply to bristolboy]

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

Scroll down in the above link to view the neurological signs of LOW B12. Tinnitus tops the list. Your B12 test result would have been skewed due to the supplement. MMA and Homocysteine tests - if raised - can indicate that B12 is low in the cells - where it is needed.

The serum B12 test gives a result of both bound and unbound B12 in the blood. The Active test you had tests only one of them - the one that can reach the cells.

One thing at a time is good - but do not forget the co-factors that go with VitD as mentioned earlier.

[bristolboy in reply to Marz]

Thanks again Marz 🙂

[TSH110]

I had it very badly on standing up from squatting or bending down low and straightening up, when I was overt and untreated and even when optimised on Levothyroxine - possibly due to low blood pressure but I must have had all sorts of deficiencies too. It has rectified since taking NDT. I also passed out whilst cycling - not great - I was ridden over by the person behind causing more injury than the collapse itself and I am sure that was related, it happened about 8 years before diagnosis when I was already suspicious I had it.

A friend has hypo and she discovered she also has meniers disease that affects balance but it is quite rare, so hopefully it is not that but a deficiency you can rectify.

[Afshan64]

I used to get repeated bouts of “ middle ear infection” which cause exactly the symptoms you describe, sometimes it used to come on after I’d had a cold but often there was no clear reason. I also have hypothyroidism and I thought for a long time that the two are connected. In fact I had the balance thing a lot before I was diagnosed with hashimotos .

Lie down flat and carefully turn your head to one side and then the other. If you get dizzy then that’s what it is. It’s caused by movement of fluid in the inner ear which has dislodged and can be corrected by a physio . There are also videos ( or there used to be) on YouTube how to correct it yourself. On the plus side I haven’t had it for a long time since I started to take thyroxine then vitamins and changed my diet (b12 and d in particular and cutting out gluten )

[bristolboy in reply to Afshan64]

Thanks Afshan64.

[Musicmonkey]

Yes. I used to get Labyrinthitis until I started on combination therapy (i.e. more optimally treated) and haven't had it since. But as Marz says it can also be a symptom of low B12.

[ju01749]

I occasionally get giddy/dizzy spells that last a day and come out of nowhere. It can also come about sometimes in the supermarket in certain areas which is strange!but others have told me they get this also.... maybe lighting or something to do with the energy in fridge/freezer section? Weird

[eeng]

Yes, I feel lightheaded and have to grab onto the furniture if i'm undermedicated.

[Summer64]

I've suffered for over 30 years on and off and until recently made no connection with my thyroid. It would last a day and then, with medication, go away and I'd forget about it. Since having my T3 stopped though and changing to a foreign brand I started getting it every day. After 2 weeks I realised it was the meds doing it and left them off and it went. The patient information leaflet (PIL)for that brand state dizziness top of the list. I changed to another brand and same thing started and that PIL lists it at the top too. The English one doesn't and I didn't have this happen with it. Another reason I really want my Mercury Pharma T3 back.

[mtcorr]

When I was at my worst and before I started NDT, I would get terrible bouts of dizziness whilst I was sitting. It just felt like the room had spun. Weirdest sensation.

I would highly recommend getting your bloods done.

[Raventhorpe]

Hi bristolboy have had dizziness and balance issues for years now I have thought it's due to the hypothyroidism even though on paper my levels are all good on levo I am still symptomatic have just been referred back to endo and they have given me a trial of t3 to see if that helps, I am hoping this will finally get rid of it but early days yet as only been on it a week.

[jamesal0]

Hi bristolboy All your stuff is all about not enough T3 getting to your organs. You can take T4 (Levo) until the cows come home but if you are not converting sufficient of it to T3 you are effectively under medicated. Taking more T4 (Levo) will not help, you need T3 in some form. More T4 will only cause T4 side effects and pooling etc.

I personally use Natural Desiccated Thyroid (NDT) but you can get synthetic forms of T3. Two years of NDT and everything you have is cured in me, apart from the Tinnitus which appeared as soon as I started raising the NDT dose from the entry/beginners base 60mg. I suspect it's a chemically induced tinnitus as it is loudest just after taking NDT.

james

[bristolboy in reply to jamesal0]

Thanks James. I've got a GP appointment next week, but I'm not holding out much hope of anything positive coming from it. My plan all along has been to get my vitamin levels correct and then, if my absorption/conversion doesn't improve I plan to source some T3 and try that. Nick.

[endomad]

This would usually be one i scroll past as i have never felt dizzy except today!! i am unsteady on my feet, feel odd and deff dizzy, i wonder if reading the heading earlier did it lol joking aside its not a very nice feeling so i am having a lie down.

I went out to do my usual morning routine of topping up the bird feeders, the feral cats food , clean the fire grate and bring in wood, i was wobbling all over the place, head spinning and feel slightly nauseous this has never happened to me before and hope it is not a new symptom. Happy monday to everyone x

[jgelliss]

How is your blood pressure ? Did you have adrenal /Cortisol DHEA levels checked ? Nutrients need to be checked too . You might need lower T4 and add some T3 into the mix . Either Synthetic T3 or NDT .

[bristolboy in reply to jgelliss]

Hi jgelliss, I don't know about my blood pressure, and haven't had adrenal/Cortisol levels checked either. I'm due to see my GP next week (appointment was booked before the dizziness started). I was going to mention T3 (but not very hopeful, may have to source privately on the internet) and now I'll mention the dizziness and blood pressure. Nick.

[Hidden]

I stopped taking my hormones and fell 10 times in 2 weeks and broke an ankle. My head was swimming.

[Amade]

Hi,

I have had the symptom of giddiness on 3 different occasions: initially, when I was diagnosed as hyper thyroid back in July; I was then treated on carbi, my TSH was just above 1and all the giddiness disappeared on its own but as I was doing "block and replace" treatment, at that stage levo was added as a massive dose of 100 all in one go. Dizziness returned and stayed until levo was halved. It was then gone for a couple of months. I was warned that with 50 levo and 40 carbi I could go hypo from hyper. Indeed, this is what happened. Giddiness / dizziness returned when my TSH was 8,2.

My conclusion on reading lots of posts on the topic of giddiness / anxiety / panic is: whenever the thyroid is out of sync regarding the medication and / or B12, etc. somehow adrenalin gets released, creating the symptoms of giddiness which is also related to anxiety. If the person then becomes sensitive to these reactions, such as I am, it adds on as fear of a fear, adding that to the initial symptoms. I am not a medical person, but this is what I think is happening at least in my case: wrong meds - dizziness - fear - anxiety - panic loop. Until the meds are sorted or I manage not to pay as much attention to the bodily sensations. Otherwise why would the giddiness come and go as described above, when the meds were in sync?

I am on the 2nd week of the increased dose of levo. Will have a blood test in a few weeks.

I have found Dr Claire Weekes' books and audio recordings extremely helpful in explaining the symptoms of anxiety and panic.

I hope it helps!

[bristolboy in reply to Amade]

I've noticed that it seems to go away if I can manage not to think about it (or I get distracted). I suppose that's a fairly obvious, and simplistic, thing to say - but I'll practice the "Try not to think about it" approach until I can get my vitamins and minerals balanced. Nick.

[Amade in reply to bristolboy]

I agree. I think a lot depends upon one’s reaction to it: when we react with fear the dizziness seems to increase, which makes me think that it is the anxiety that is triggered by the disbalance of thyroid.

Hope you feel better soon.

[Countrykitten]

That's interesting. I've suffered from dizziness for years but never associated it with my hypothyroid. I also feel quite 'spaced out' sometimes, rather detached from the world around me. I've just learned to live with it all but it would be good if something could help.