Fatigue is awful, cortisol normal

[abbymeg]

I posted about my symptoms and it was recommended I get a cortisol check. It came back as normal.

I've been feeling worse over the past few days - totally exhausted, really bad muscle pain especially my thighs, headaches, dry eyes, thirsty a lot. I'm starting to think I'm overmedicated. I asked for a dose increase but didn't take into account that I was changing my diet and starting supplements.

I have finally got an appointment with an endo, but it's a month away.

Should I drop my dose back down or stop for a few days? I'm hardly functioning at the moment. I've been in bed for most of the day for the past week.

[Jazzw]

Was that a salivary cortisol check? The one off cortisol check offered by doctors won’t tell you very much...

[abbymeg in reply to Jazzw]

Yep, 4 samples over the course of the day.

[Jazzw in reply to abbymeg]

And all 4 normal? That’s quite surprising, given the way you’re feeling!

I see your vitamin and mineral levels all seem good too.

How long have you been on 175mcg now?

Could it be the brand of levo you’re taking, I wonder? Some find they feel awful on particular types. Or you may find the only thing that’s going to help is T3.

[abbymeg in reply to Jazzw]

I was really surprised at the result! 15.5 on waking (6-21) which amazed me given how rubbish I feel when I get up. Then 5.38 at noon (1.5-7.6), 6.9 at 4pm (0-5.49) which was a little high but I'd napped as I couldn't get through the day, so this might have affected the result, then <1.5 (0-1.99) at bed.

I've been on 175mg for about 3 weeks. What worries me is totally new symptoms - the fatigue is the worse it's ever been - I shut my eyes the other day and woke up 4 hours later! I feel like I'm walking through concrete when I move around. The dry mouth is definitely a new thing. I'm also getting night sweats, which I forgot to say in the first post. This is why I'm very suspicious I'm on too much levo now. If the supplements and change in diet for the past 6 weeks had helped to improve my numbers (impact not seen on bloods yet), then taking more might have tipped me over.

In my panic about being ill, I have done the very stupid thing of changing too many variables at once and I've made my situation worse. Essentially, I've been losing a lot of work and money worries have created a lot of pressure to get better quickly.

I take Mercury because it was the one I felt best on. My husband is an analytical chemist who works on levo from time to time. He told me one brand and stick to it, so I've been on just Mercury for about a year now. Activis made me ill and Tevo was awful, hence requesting and sticking to Mercury.

[Jazzw in reply to abbymeg]

I think your husband is very wise - good call to stick to one brand of levo.

Following that line of thought along - you’ve mentioned before you’re taking lots of supplements.

So, what are you taking? I’m wondering whether to take this back to basics - to stop taking everything except the levothyroxine. I’m not so convinced you’re over medicated, actually. If you were, it wouldn’t just be night sweats, it would be a rapid heartbeat, palpitations etc. But if you felt better on 150mcg then do go back to it.

And is it possible that having cut out so many food groups that you now just don’t have enough energy to get through the day? What do you eat on an average day? I’m not talking about re-introducing gluten, though - I think from what you say you need to stay off that. I do too.

The night sweats could have something to do with the abnormal liver function test results. Has your doctor done any further checking with regard to those? Does he/she have any theories about why they’re abnormal? It doesn’t seem good enough - no, let’s rephrase - it *isn’t* good enough for your doctor to be ignoring those. I think I’d want that followed up and some ruling out to be done. Have any liver scans been done? A test for TB? If it wasn’t for the abnormal LFTs I’d be suggesting perimenopause but don’t let your doctor jump immmediately to that conclusion...

It’s horrible feeling relentlessly poorly, isn’t it?

[abbymeg in reply to Jazzw]

Thank you for this - it's really helpful. Fatty liver I think - the beginning of it. They were high last year but settled down with dietary changes. I did have a scan then. Unfortunately, I didn't stick with those changes The tiredness creeps, then the apathy, then the pizza! I have learned the hard way that I have to stick to it.

Diet now is like paleo but I am having occasional carbs too as I did wonder whether this was making me worse. No gluten though. I've had quinoa, rice, some gluten free pasta and bread. I don't have it with every meal.

Supplements - loads and loads! I was low Vitamin D so will stick with them, but also selenuim, zinc, magnesium, well woman tablet, B1, B12, vit D, co-enzyme q10, iron, vitamin C, vege epa caps, cod liver oil, liver support tablets. I think that's all of them. Maybe I should pull back a bit?

Thanks again.

[abbymeg in reply to Jazzw]

I've posted again. Symptoms today definitely suggest overmedication. I feel like such an idiot for faffing about with stuff too much this month and making myself worse. I think you speak a lot of sense and I do appreciate your help.

[trelemorele]

What dose are you on and what are your thyroid blood results?

[Jazzw in reply to trelemorele]

See Abbymeg’s post here: healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[shaws Administrator]

I have looked at your past results and both your FT4 and FT3 could be higher. The fact is that many feel an improvement with a combination of T4/T3.

[Aurealis]

Those are symptoms I’ve had when overmedicated