Starting off !

[Sexychick]

Morning folķs Please to meeþ ù all ! This is my fìrst time on here so just bear with me....i have reçently being diagnosed with Hypothyroidism which was a relief to know, i have been feeling very unwell since 2011. I always said to people that felt Chemically unbalanced but the doctors put it down to the menopause and packed me off with anti-depressents and Hrt i get the symptoms of hypothyroidism and the menopause are similar but i still felt reaĺly unwell mentàlly an physcally. My anxieties and weight gain became a whole different level. Been on levothyroxine for 3 weeks now and im sooooo tired, when i first started on them my anxiety stepped up a notch and i ached all over now i feel incredibly tired. The anxiety is still there so now and again i take my Propranalol which make feel crap at the best of times....i just wanna know when do i start feeling like the old me again! I'm taking 100mg sertraline, hrt estraderm MX25, Propranalol 10/40mg tablets, omprezole capsules, mebeverine,bucca tabs,domperidone and levothyroxine so im a rattler !!.

So basically could any of you guys tell me does it get better....will i lose this weight and will anxiety disappear? Everything else i can cope with thankyou pleased to meet you all x

[greygoose]

Hi Sexychick, welcome to the forum.

So, you are at the beginning of what can be a very long journey. Nothing happens quickly in the world of hormones. And, it sounds as if you've been hypo for a very long time before being diagnosed. 3 weeks is a very short time in thyroid-terms. Your levo won't even be fully synthesized in your body until at least six weeks after starting it. And, very often we get worse before we get better, I'm afraid. Especially as you were started on such a high dose. The normal starter dose is 50 mcg. But, that might save some time.

The protocol is to get retested after six weeks, and increase the dose by 25 mcg. And to repeat that process until all the symptoms are gone.

Did your doctor tell you how to take levo? On an empty stomach (usually first thing in the morning), with a large glass of water, and leaving at least one hour before eating or drinking anything other than water. Leave at least two hours between taking the levo and taking any other supplements or medication. And I see you have quite a long list of medications, there! Most of which you probably won't need once you are on the right dose of levo!

Why are you taking omeprazole? The chances of you having high stomach acid are pretty low. Hypos usually have low stomach acid, so taking a PPI will make things worse, rather than better. But it will impede the absorption of your levo, so make sure you take them well away from each other, taking the omeprazole after the levo, so that the levo has time to be absorbed. Same goes for mebeverine.

And you probably won't need domperidone once you get off the omeprazole - are you taking it for nausea or constipation? Constipation is a hypo symptom, but there are better, safer things you can take than that to help. Nausea would probably be due to low stomach acid, and food fermenting in the stomach.

Depression and anxiety are hypo symptoms, so you may be able to wean yourself off the sertraline.

Is your HRT patch, cream or tablet? If tablet, then leave a gap of four hours away from levo.

What is bucca?

When you go for your next test, make sure that you go early in the morning - before 9 am - and fast over-night. Leave a gap of 24 hours between your last dose of levo and the test. And, most important of all, make sure you get a copy of your blood test results, after. If you live in the UK, it is your legal right to have a print-out.

[jimh111]

Hi sexychick! (would loved to have the nerve to say that in my teenage days). It would be very helpful if you could post your thyroid blood test results. If you don't have them ask your doctor for them and keep them in a file for future reference.

It's not clear but I think you are on 100mg setraline and you haven't said how much levothyroxine you are prescribed? The modern approach is to start patients off on a reasonably full dose of levothyroxine, usually 100 mcg but many doctors still do it the old way starting on 50 mcg and gradually working up.

Looking at the medications you are on they treat a lot of conditions caused by hypothyroidism. I'm sure some of these conditions will improve when your hypothyroidism recovers and you will be able to wean off many of these tablets.

Very Important !!! Propanalol is a beta blocker that affects thyroid hormone. It inhibits one of the mechanisms that converts thyroxine (T4) to 'T3' which is the active form of the hormone. Indeed propanalol is used to treat some patients with an overactive thyroid. I would go along to your doctor and ask them to reassess you and prescribe a different beta blocker IF one is needed. Sometimes patients with autoimmune thyroid disease (the most common form) have a period of hyperthyroidism before they become hypothyroid. it's possible this caused a rapid heartbeat and led to the propanalol prescription. You may now find your heart rate is slow and so no longer need a beta blocker. Whatever is decided you should no longer be on propanalol. If you look at the patient information leaflet that comes with the propanalol tablets you will see references to thyroid.

[Sexychick in reply to jimh111]

Thankyou very much for replying much appreciated i will speak to my doctors on Tuesday. I'm on 50mg of levothyroxine will know more after my 8 week blood test. No idea what my thyroid blood test are but that i will find out jimh111

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Sexychick]

As Greygoose says most hypothyroid patients have low stomach acid, not high. But your GP may not even recognise low stomach acid as a condition. Also you absolutely must not just stop PPI (omeprazole) suddenly.

Links about low stomach acid

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/hypochl...

scdlifestyle.com/2012/03/3-...

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Very important to test vitamin B12, folate, ferritin and vitamin D. Very important these are all optimal, not just in range.

Omeprazole may have lowered B12 and magnesium

pulsetoday.co.uk/clinical/m...

gov.uk/drug-safety-update/p...

Propranolol may also lower magnesium. (According to book The magnesium miracle)

Very important to find out if you have had. TPO and TG Thyroid antibodies have been tested.

If either TPO or TG thyroid antibodies are high then this confirms the cause of being hypothyroid is due to autoimmune thyroid disease also called Hashimoto's. It's by far the most common cause of being hypothyroid

Anxiety is a common symptom of Hashimoto's, levels of thyroid hormones jump up and down which is possibly why you were prescribed propranolol. You mustn't just stop propranolol it has to be weened off incredibly slowly and only when ready (not yet most likely)

If you have Hashimoto's gluten intolerance is common. you may find changing to strictly gluten free diet reduces anxiety as it may reduce thyroid fluctuations and improve gut function

verywellmind.com/gluten-and...

hypothyroidmom.com/12-shock...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Personally I have Hashimoto's and was stuck on propranolol almost 20 years, until went strictly gluten free (negative for coeliac)

Getting settled on to Levothyroxine, testing and improving vitamins will both help a lot. Then, if you have Hashimoto's, you might really want to consider changing to strictly gluten free diet

Ask GP for coeliac blood test first

With thyroid conditions we should only ever change one thing at a time, and wait a time least 2-3 weeks to see any reaction. So if vitamins are found to be low after testing you only add one supplement at a time

Similarly if/when dose of Levothyroxine is increased make sure to stay on same brand of Levothyroxine.