In Feb I was sent to the ER for HR of +130bpm and hot flashes/ cold chills within seconds of each other. Blood tests showed I was severly low thyroid.
Anyways, 6/7 weeks into medication (Levothyroxine 50mcg) & I am now having extreme anxiety, high heart rate and semi-high blood pressure. Went to the ER again yesterday & they did blood work and chest X-ray & said that I was just having anxiety. All blood, including thyroid came back and were fine.
I don’t feel fine though... I literally have anxiety & racing heart most of the day, that gets worse (or seems worse when I try to relax/ lay down. I also am super fatigued but can’t sleep due to my anxiety. Even typing this I am dozing off and “coming too”.
Anyways, if my ER blood work, Ekg & chest X-ray came back fine, why do I have a racing heart/ anxiety? Will it go away? Is my dose too low/ too high? I just know that I can not keep living like this. It’s so bad that I can’t even hardly eat... or is that from the Levi too?
Thank you for any help/ advice❤️
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Redefining_Randi
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It's hard to be certain. One scenario is that your levo is now fully being used because the half life is two weeks and it takes a few weeks to raise to a certain level. And now you need to increase because you are hypo again. Often the adrenal gland will rev up and you will have adrenaline rushes. This might also be causing anxiety. Adrenals also can raise your blood pressure if necessary. it's a shame they do all the bloodwork and none of the hormone work. stopthethyroidmadness.com/a...
Thank you for the info & link! I was wondering if something was wrong with my adrenals, so I asked the doc to test them when I went in the day before my ER trip. She didn't have me do a saliva th though, just blood and 2 breath bags? So can adrenal issues be found in either of these ways, or just the 24hr saliva test?
The saliva measures ACTIVE hormone so much more indicative. Hmmm breath bags? Were they for methane or ???. There are three of them that are useful for finding SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth). There are a lot of things you can try to help your adrenals, certain nutrients and supplements. Do you think you have issues with gluten or dairy? Also sometimes certain people do not do well in converting their levo to FT3 and the addition of T3 helps. Also get your test results and post them here so we can evaluate because the ranges they use are too wide.
One way to test for H.pylori is to do an antibodies test and if there are no antibodies at all then that proves you have never had it. I was once told to take 3 antibiotics in a row because a naturopathic doctor presumed something looked like H.pylori in a live blood cell analysis and my GP knew better and did the antibodies test on me and it came back negative. So that proved I had never had it, up to that point in time anyway and I had wasted my money on those antibiotics and not done myself any good at all by taking them. But I had not met my GP until after that incident, so it wasn't that I was choosing between two opinions.
I still think that live blood cell analysis can show indications of issues, but it can't be totally taken as proof as it is based on the opinion of the person doing the analysis and it can be wrong, as it was later proved to be wrong. But that does not mean it is always wrong to use it as a technique of investigation into the state of your blood's health.
Hi there 👋 thanks for responding. I love in America, am 26 and am new to all of this thyroid stuff. Lol. Can I get private thyroid blood work done here? Lso, What is blue horizon? Sorry i am so ignorant. I appreciate your help💜
Blue horizon is a U.K company that offers private blood tests.
I didn’t realise your were based in America, as you have posted in the Thyroid UK forum, not a problem but, the health care process is very different to the USA.
I’m sure there will private blood test companies in the USA that offer similar, perhaps google this.
Presume you have private healthcare in the USA, so can you access your existing thyroid blood results they say are normal?
As you are from the USA they have NDT ( natural thyroid extract) called Armour, you may do better with this.
Many people on here, UK, self medicate as the thyroid medication on offer here Levothyroxine people don’t get on with it.
They either purchase it from the USA, (Amour) at there own cost and can be very expensive, or they purchase NDT from Thailand which is cheaper.
However, you need your thyroid results first. Your vitamin levels need to be checked, iron, vitamin D, B12, calcium.
If your vitamin levels are low your thyroid will struggle even with medication.
I take, vitamin c, vitamin d, iron, selenium to support my thyroid.
I had very similar to you on levothyroxine - I was forever in and out of the A&E. Cardiologist was also puzzled and I also felt far worse that before I was diagnosed with a TSH of 100. Bloods 'fine'. doesn't mean optimal.
My problem improved when T3 was added to T4 but best of all all symptoms disappeared when I took T3 alone. I haven't been to the A&E since
Sometimes I think we have a sensitivity to the fillers/binders in thyroid hormones.
Never accept the word 'fine' with regard to blood tests as they don't inform them of how unwell we still are. The 'fine' for blood tests is when TSH is 1 or lower with a Free T4 and Free T3 in the upper part of the range. The latter two are hardly ever tested but if you can afford it, we have two labs which will do so and they are home pin-prick tests and make sure you are well-hydrated a couple of days before. I don't know if your surgery will draw blood for you.
Thank you for responding! Yeah I have read about people not being able to convert T3 well and having to be out on a T3 as well. Is Armour a T3 by chance? I hear many good things about people on Armour
Armour or any other natural dessicated thyroid hormones have been in use since 1892 (in various forms) and were the only replacement hormones up until the introduction of blood tests along with levothyroxine.
NDTs contain all of the hormones (T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin) a healthy gland would do and as they are made from pigs thyroid glands, seem to be more suitable for many people.
The following link may be helpful and although it is about Naturethroid, it would apply to any NDTs including Armour which I believe was one of the very original NDTS.
If we are newly diagnosed and on levothyroxinem as dose is increased the patient should begin to get relief from clinical symptoms.
No matter what choice we make, it is always trial and error and we have to be patient and allow increases until, hopefully, our symptoms are relieved. Doctors shouldn't stop increasing dose due to the TSH alone. we need it around 1 or lower.
Chopping and changing may not get the results we want. You are due a 25mcg increase.
Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have money off offers.
All thyroid tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting and don't take Levo in the 24 hours prior to test, delay and take straight after. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, GP will be unaware)
If antibodies are high this is Hashimoto's, (also known by medics here in UK more commonly as autoimmune thyroid disease).
About 90% of all hypothyroidism in Uk is due to Hashimoto's
Bloods should be retested 6 weeks after each dose change
Thank you so much for these links to the private testing. I love in America and am currently on Medicaid, so getting the test done isn't a big deal, but getting the results I guess I need to speak up about. Lol.
Hi Randi, Also, to me, the word 'fine is very generic. What is fine to one may not be for someone else. If it were me, when I have lab work, esp if I'm told it's fine or normal I ask for a copy so I have specific numbers-preferably a copy. You are entitled to this. One thing I use it for is to compare later lab numbers and see if, even though a value is 'within normal limits', the numbers are drifting up or down , I can catch a problem earlier. Drs aren't usually checking current lab numbers with previous ones. Also, something I've seen posted here more than once is we should be treated according to how we feel and not by 'the numbers.' Can you still ask for copies of your most recent labs? There are many knowledgeable people on this site that have good info to share if you post your specific lab values. Take care. irina
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