Hay guys, Recently had my bowels shutdown on me, nothing seems to want to get things moving. Tried senna and now on laculose but seems to be welded shut. Energy really rubbish and hair falling out again. Didn't do well on Eltroxin and gp wouldn't give me any levothyroxine so have missed a few doses but pharmacist gave me 28 tabs of 50mcg so had to make do. Don't know if Gp will prescribe any levothyroxine until he hears back from my endo who i see tomorrow. Only problem is if its like last time my endo wrote to my Gp it could take another two weeks for my Gp to act on any correspondence the endo will suggest. Any clues what i should do. I'm mostly house bound at mo and don't think i can go another two weeks on what I'm taking.
Bowel shutdown: Hay guys, Recently had my bowels... - Thyroid UK
Bowel shutdown
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Angelic69
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Sorry to hear about how you feel and the condition of your bowels. You may very well be undermedicated. Constipation, hair loss, fatigue are all signs of hypothyroidism. One definite way to get to the bottom of things is to have some thyroid function tests to include antibodies, as well as Vit D, B12, Folate, Ferritin. If your GP is not helpful, perhaps if you can do some private blood tests and go down the route of self-medication like the majority on this forum.
She has Hashimoto's. This makes me very angry that a doctor would abuse a patient like this! Take away their medication? What the??
I have been diagnosed but was on Eltroxin which i had problems with and couldn't take for very long. Gp would not prescribe me with my old dose of levothyroxine as he had received directions from my endo to prescribe branded T4 which was the Eltroxin, so my last prescription request was denied. Also because after receiving directions from my endo an autonomic prescription was issued and my pharmacy had delivered a batch of Eltroxin i did not order so i rejected them on delivery, they took them back. I informed my Gp surgery what had happened and to ask why a prescription i hadn't order been delivered but the receptionist did not know why. I made a verbal complaint to the receptionist and she said that this had happened a lot with some pharmacies that deliver. The pharmacy did not tell my surgery that i had rejected that prescription so on my records at the GPs i had already had my thyroid medication for the next month so didn't get any medication. I tried to get in to see my GP but could only be given a phone consultation but i do not have a phone so was advised by doctor via the receptionist to consult the pharmacy for advise. The Pharmacist had to give me a loan of my old medication levothyroxine but only would give 50mcg, my dose is 125mcg. I asked the pharmacy to contact my Gp to explain that i had not excepted the mystery delivery of Eltroxin and asked if they had recorded the issue, he said it would have been recorded but as the medication had left the chemist it would have been destroyed and counted as if i had received it. Ive since put in another repeat for levothyroxine but have not received any as of yet. I see my endo tomorrow but don't think he actually writes out any prescriptions so god knows what going to happen now.
Tomorrow is a big day! Try to be firm with the endo, present things in a very rational way, hard perhaps not to be emotional as well, indicating that you have been suffering a great deal and the quality of your life has been affected. Good Luck!
Thanks, today i was told my last results are perfect although i can not understand how or why apart from the fact ive just sat around for weeks. Not sure if ill have to do this all the time for my results to be good. All i can really remember is that i seemed to be moaning on about my bowels and was shocked to here that my results were normal and to keep taking what I'm on, i wish i knew the last month has been such a concoction with altering doses and back to levo.
Sorry, but your labs cannot be possibly perfect when you have all of those major hypo and Hashi's autoimmune symptoms, especially when you had days of no meds, 50 mcg here and there, 125 another day, maybe even more. There simply is no way. You said you were zig zagging all over the place with your dosage for the last month or two? Some days you said you had no medication, I recall? There is no possible way your levels are optimal. It takes 4 to 6 weeks for maximum therapeutic effects to take place, while on the exact same dosage every day. Yoyo/zigzag doses every day, not taking any medication for even one day will effect your levels.
Levo=T4
Eltroxin=T4
Would be interesting to see what this doctor thinks are "perfect" FT3, FT4, and TSH, plus the latest antibody levels. Is that what was tested? Can you post these "perfect" results and the lab ranges? Maybe this will show why you have all of your hypo symptoms.
I will ask for them to give me a print out, no antibodies were checked on that test can remember tsh was 4 i think ft4 was 26 highest its ever been and cannot rember t3 but will ask Monday for print out and post them. Was meaning to ask but my mind just went blank when they said they were perfect results. I done nothing but lay around all month i think that's why they are better. I used to do yoga, pilates and cycle before this past month and may well have overdone things resulting in crappy low t4 and t3.
These are your "perfect" lab results? Like, for real? Sorry, but not another incompetent doctor. Why were your antibodies not tested? You have Hashimoto's. It is important to see how much your antibodies have increased through all of this.
Do you realize that those levels are severely hypo? A 4 TSH means a too slow thyroid and you are quite hypo. Your FT4 26 is probably way over the high end of the range (very bad for you and lots of symptoms), which it's pretty safe to assume your FT3 is way at the bottom or below range.
Then there's the severe's mistreatment of your Hashimoto's. Even with regular hypothyroidism, when on the right medication, TSH will be suppressed under 1.0. If it's not, the free's are probably not both at optimal. With Hashimoto's, your TSH should be suppressed even more and your free's should be optimal, to help lower antibodies. The higher your TSH is, the more hypo you are, the more out of balance your FT3 and FT4 are and the more symptoms you'll have.
Are you okay with these hypo levels, all these hypo symptoms, and all the autoimmune symptoms?
For comparison, I have Hashi's, I keep my TSH under 0.50 (although it's currently below that, which is normal for Hashi's), my free's both at optimal. I have barely detectable symptoms and haven't for years. This is how all thyroid disease patients will be if they are properly treated.
When i first started taking levothyroxine i got side effects that i immediately reported to medical professionals. I was not given any other option and did not know at that point that there was alternatives for those intolerant to some of the fillers which are present in levothyroxine, i was simply advised to take more. I trusted these professionals and took more although the side effects were terrible. Since then ive discovered that there are lots of different kinds of levothyroxine some that are prescribed for patients that have had side effects like myself like Tirosint which hasn't any inactive ingredients. However for what ever reason i was told by my then GP that levothyroxine was all that there was. I was told there was no branded versions, i was told that Eltroxin was the only branded version, I was told about Tirosint another branded version. I was told i need T3 and then i don't need T3. All i have learned is that lots of lies and untruths have been told. I have been given medication that I'm told is exactly the same as levothyroxine but then found that it is not. Then had to play silly games with an idiotic receptionist to discuss this dose issue with the GP who said, I QUOTE, i don't know what to do, because her computer didn't have that bloody answer and who then finally said i could get into see the GP to discuss this dose issue in two to three weeks. These people are so unprofessional and really lack any levels of care you would expect from a health profession. The same receptionist informed me two weeks after my last consultation with my endo that his letter still had not been received so it was pointless making an appointment. I then phoned university hospital who informed me that it had been on the doctors surgery intercom thingymabob for a while but because it wasn't on the receptionists one she had sent me away. wtf.
Rant over, so yes my levels are crazy, the lies are crazy, my symptoms are crazy, am i okay with those levels i suppose whose guidelines are being followed as it doesn't really matter if I'm happy does it only if I'm too happy seems to be an issue.
Stimulating the Vagus Nerve may help ! Gargling is one way ....
Whilst sitting on the loo trying or prior to visit lol
... probably as often as possible and it will take time to work. Google the vagus nerve and have a read - it is a nerve like an octopus and comes from the old part of the brain and spreads through the body - into the stomach and gut ....
LOL! Yeah, right before your visit. (Oh. She changed her comment, so I'd better change my response. I deleted the second half. It was really rather obnoxious, anyway. 
)
A back up in toxins that are normally eliminated can make you feel very ill. Many people take magnesium oxide every day to help move things through. Many people start with two, with water. More pills is not better because you could end up with liquid spasticity, unless your body is ok with three pills. Some are, some aren't. Things should start to move within 24 hours, more or less. Drink a healthy amounts of water to help wash things out. Get up and walk, even if it's just around the rooms of your house. Drink water while walking. Eat fiberous foods. Salads, oatmeal, fiberous vegetables. Apple pectin can help things move, too.
Yes my eyes have gone a wee bit yellowish to and i do feel ill, Ive been eating salads and so much water you wouldn't believe. It just will not open. I will try to move a bit more thank you. I have got some iron which has magnesium within it, would that be suffice.
Hi Angelic69. Iron can be constipating. Best if it's straight magnesium oxide.
Sometimes if things aren't moving for me, I get on my treadmill at home. I drink at least two 20 ounce bottles of water while I walk and stop to urinate frequently. If you don't have a treadmill, walking around your house, up and down stairs will suffice. Even walking in place with lifted knees can stimulate your GI tract.
I hope this helps and this get moving very soon for you!
Hi Angelic69!!!!! <hugs!> Yes, that can happen when you are under medicated and when you have Hashimoto's, as your TPO levels state. Wait, what? You were on levo, then your doctor took you off? What on earth? If you do not keep taking medication, you will get much, much sicker! You will become very very hypo, as you are starting to experience. Your antibodies will increase possibly a lot, your TSH will increase, FT3 and FT4 will go way down. Please do not let this happen, because it can take a long time to get your levels to where they should be. Once your antibodies increase even more, more damage is being done to your thyroid, and you might never get your antibodies to reduce again because it is not easy to do so.
What are your current levels? TSH, FT3 and FT4? By reading your symptoms, do not be surprised if your FT3 is very, very low. You likely could stand for taking T3, not just T4.
If these doctors are not treating you correctly, please consider purchasing medication on your own, as many people in the UK have had to do when they are being mistreated by their doctors. Many people have to get private bloods done, since doctors are not run the correct tests. You can ask others on here where they get their tests and where they get their medication.
Please do not hesitate! You will only become much sicker!
I will find out my levels tomorrow but i know they will be bad and yes it did take years to start feeling ok and only just achieved this for such a short time and this happens. I will post results of levels after tomorrow. My endo thinks i should be on a higher dose of levo and has also said a trail month of t3 at 10mcg but with what dose of levo I'm not sure. This was discussed at my last appointment but the letter that the Gp got states otherwise and thinks t4 only would be preferable but a branded version. I'm a little confused at this game that is being played. I'm happy to go with 125mcg levo and 10mcg t3 which he thought may work as even when tsh 0.06 t3 still very low which we had discussed and may show that I'm not converting. Just takes the piss really, I'm so cheesed off with this malarcy.
Hi Angelica69. It will not take years if you are on the right level and type of medication. If your levels are so poor as expected they might be, once starting medication, you should start to feel better within days. It should not take more than 4-6 months for your levels to become optimal, if medication is increased if your bloods show that you need more.
How long ago did you stop taking medication? Depending on how long it has been, you might be able to immediately start to work up to your previous dose within a few days or weeks. Otherwise you might have to start back at the standard starting dose, 50 mcg. You might respond well to T3, too, as some of your symptoms sound like low T3 symptoms.
That is wonderful news that your endo thinks possibly a higher dose of levo and also some T3. This will depend upon your current bloods. If your FT3 is very low, taking too much T4 won't necessarily be the answer if it hasn't previously worked. You don't want T4 to get too high. Depends on your T4 level. Your dosage all depends on your bloods and symptoms.
Even after years on this medication i was always cold that never went away and my hair fell out for ages after, was only after a few years it stopped falling out. My levels have never been optimal, ive always had low t3/t4 but really low tsh 0.06 still with crappy T3/T4 levels and symptoms. If i take 150mcg for several days in a row i look like ive got graves with gapping bulging eyes.
All this has happened within the last month, four weeks. I switched to Eltoxin but 100mcg kept me up all night so i tried to get in to see GP to ask what i should do about the dose but could not get in to see him, i was told two to three weeks wait. I started taking only 50mcg Eltroxin that was to low so i took 75mcg and soon became ill. I stop taking it and felt better after a couple of days. I probably didn't have any meds in total for just over one week. I had some 25mcg of levo so just took six of those instead but started to feel really weak.
When the chemist loaned me the 50mcg i took two a day so that's 100mcg daily but have none left and don't know whats going to be delivered if any at all. Ive only had 50mcg today as that is all i have left. Tomorrow i see endo I'm hoping he can write me a prescription.
That's probably because T4 alone was not the right medication for you and you've needed T3 all along. Low TSH is not what's causing the symptoms. It's your low thyroid hormones, T3 and T4. A patient should never go years, or even over 6 months, with persistent symptoms and keeping FT3 and FT4 too low.
All these medications you're talking about are only T4. If your T3 is too low, you will have all kinds of really bad symptoms, as you've discovered.
Playing with the dosage up and down, stopping the medication, starting the medication messes up your thyroid and your system even more. No wonder you are feeling so poorly! This is especially true with Hashimoto's. Not only is this making your FT3 and FT4 toggle up and down, but it's making your thyroid antibodies react, too.
I really hope you can get stabilized on the right dosage and right type of medication very soon, so you will be on your way to feeling better.
Thanks shooting stars i think the meds build up in the system. In my case after so long probably three months or so i start to look like I'm over medicating, wide starry wind blown eyes like you see with graves. When this happens my t4 and t3 have still been very low along with my tsh, my energy was good although i couldn't recognise myself anymore, I had crazy blurred vision and insane brain fog and mostly walked round in a haze like i was on auto pilot. My hands, face always felt really cold and i had to wear several layers to keep a constant body temperature. My skin and hair have always remained extremely dry, 125mcg did nothing to alter this condition. I did regain strength in my hands which had become very weak and was able to empty my bowels which i used to struggle with before taking levothyroxine.
Although ive had a rough month on altering doses of both Eltroxin and levothyroxine today my endocrinologist said my result were perfect and that i did not need any T3. I will ask for the printouts as i cannot remember what he said they were as i was to busy moaning about my bowels, lol.
Ive had a month on the sofa without any visits to any gyms or yoga ect which also may be why my levels are better, perfect was the word used and i did try to mention that i hadn't been active for the past month but i think my consultation was already over after my perfect results was displayed. No doubts if i ever become active again they will soon fall way down low again. He has arranged for me to see him again in a few months and will write to my GP to see if i could try Tirosint and to allow me to alter straight back if i have any problems.
The good news is today i smoked three fags and thereafter emptied my bowels strange but true, hopefully i wont have to smoke anymore to empty them again.
You're welcome Angelic69. Medication cannot build up in your system for months. It does not have anywhere near that long of a half life. Low FT3 and 4 supports this. Ya, sounds more like Hashimoto's symptoms: low free's, fatigue, facial edema, swollen eyes, cold intolerance, bowel problems.
You're right. If you are only taking T4, you aren't converting well, your free's are both too low, then no amount of T4 is going to fix it. Eltroxin IS T4, just as levo is T4. So you're only getting T4. With all of your symptoms and several being tied to lack of T3, it would not at all be surprising if you FT3 is no where near the optimal zone.
You smoke cigarette's? No, that is not good news at all. 
That probably contributed a lot to your thyroid disease. Cigarette's contain many toxins. Toxins lead to a situation where you are primed to get an autoimmune disease. Cigarettes can lead to hypothyroidism.
I do think that smoking caused it too but found out too late and now i have hypothyroidism. Ive just had a very stressful few months and started to give up hope that i would feel well and thought why try to be healthy, eat healthy ect when i still feel like crap. Stupid i know but i couldn't see no light. Today is an off day tomorrow i will be smoke free again.
Doubt that i will get any T3 after my latest results as they have come back better than ever so not sure what will be over the next few months but ill try to stay hopeful that the symptoms resolve. I never had the facial oedema, swollen eyes or cold intolerance until i started taking levothyroxine. Just felt weak and tired and constipated always had dry skin, hair.
I see.
That is too bad. It does not sound like there is anything you will do about it all, so will just have to live with the symptoms and such. Oh well.
It would be so nice if hypothyroid and especially Hashimoto's symptoms spontaneous resolve themselves with out the right types of medication, right levels of hormones, diet and lifestyle. If only it was another way! If that was the case, then none of us would bother with taking medication, take both T3 and T4 when we need it, keep our levels optimal, eat an autoimmune diet, eat no nightshades and all the other things that are done to have the least symptoms.
Certainly. Less than optimal free levels and especially FT3 will create those symptoms.
I was eating all the right stuff and had lost a few pounds, eliminated bloat and was feeling great for about three weeks, that was about two months ago. I thought they had given me some blind test of a version of levothyroxine, i was so positive the first time in years. Then everything went to pot it seemed like the levo wasn't working and my short lived feel good experience was gone again. I thought it was some cruel trick that i had no control over. Lots of negative draining experiences occurred that i had no control over and found myself financially strapped and could not continue on the diet i was on so fell back to the starting point. It seems that every time i reach a level of health were i start to feel well some out of the blue scenario will turn up on my doorstep or through the letter box which creates a dark doom and just consumes me every time. I'm beginning to think I'm cursed seriously. I really believe that when I'm doing well something wishes me bad. When I'm down again it seems to disappear but as soon as I'm hopeful and actively promoting good health for myself back it comes. I really don't know how to stay healthy in the environmental aspect of triggers that impair good health. Taking the meds i can do, eating healthy i can do, eliminating environmental triggers or over coming them i die a death every time.
I have done everything that i know to become healthy, ive taken and tried every supplement that promotes wellness i don't just do nothing, ive read tons of books, searched every piece of information that i can find on health issues that are effecting me but when I'm faced with limited access to attain these things or faced with factors that are do not remain stable how can i stay stable.
Angelic69! <hugs!> No, it is not your fault. It is that your doctors are not treating your Hashimoto's anywhere near how it's supposed to be treated.
If you are not receiving the right thyroid hormones and the right dosage to put you in the optimal zone of each range, you can do everything else you can think of and your levels will be all wrong, creating all of those symptoms as you can attest to.
Ok, so how to get you to where you need to be? You want to be symptom free, right? Your doctors are not doing it and you are no where near where you should be yet.
The Sad Fact Below.
1) Going from good to bad is exactly what happens with Hashimoto's. Medication has to be adjusted when this happens. When it's not, you will suffer.
2) You are severely hypo. None of your levels are optimal. This is why you have all of your symptoms. You are severely under medicated, otherwise you would not have all your symptoms and your hypo blood results.
3) There are two thyroid hormones, not one. You sound like you are T3 low or deficient, and this causes symptoms. But, your FT3 is not being tested. Your FT4 is too high and is causing symptoms.
4) I hope you can follow me on this one: The lower one or both free's become, the higher your TSH becomes. If one is really high and one is too low, this is still hypo and TSH still increases. The more hypo your become when you have Hashimoto's, the higher your antibodies go. This makes you fee even worse.
Possible Solutions for You to Consider.
1) Get a new GP who knows how to treat Hashimoto's. People here can recommend one.
2) Get referred to an endo who knows how to treat Hashimoto's. People here can recommend one of these, too.
3) Forget these doctors who keep harming you. Go get private testing of TSH, FT3 and FT4. People here can direct you as to where to go. Then you will know your exact levels, no messing around.
4) Once you have your results either from doctors or private tests, post them here, along with the laboratory ranges. People will be happy to interpret them for you.
5) If you doctor won't prescribe the medication that you need, if you want to feel better, you have no choice but to purchase them on your own. A lot of people in the UK have to do that because they receive improper treatment from their doctors. People here can tell you where to get medication for the best price.
Leaving the other stuff aside and focusing on your immediate problem, I think I’d be minded to get some Vitamin C. Taken in excess, Vitamin C is very good at loosening bowels, and - other than that being a side effect, and one you want - there are no other side effects.
Could someone get you a pot of 500mg or 1000mg Vit C tablets? And then you take a couple every hour until - well, you’ll know when to stop.
Ive been taking 750mg for weeks and no joy, my bowel has completely shut down.
Hi Jazzw. Vitamin C can be a tricky one to use to induce elimination, whereas other options like magnesium, increasing fiber and water, and gentle exercise don't have such adverse effects.
What is the danger of excess Vitamin C? What it does to iron absorption. Vitamin C can greatly increase iron uptake from food and any supplements, so some people need to be careful here. There was a time when I was taking 1000 mg Vitamin C per day, eating fruits and veggies containing C, but I was taking no iron supplements at all, and I was not eating any red meat. Imagine my surprise when my ferritin level more than doubled! Of course with that increase in ferritin comes an increase in all other iron components of an iron panel. Mine were borderline toxic levels. I stopped taking the C and my iron panel components all became optimal again.
Other options to increase elimination that don't have such potentially harmful side effects are increased magnesium consumption, increased dietary fiber, increased water consumption and gentle exercise.
Milk of magnesia (15-30cc) is a fall back unless you have had gastrointestinal surgery in the past (& could be having a adhesion). In the old days they use to add 5-10cc of cascara. This was called a “Black & white.” It can be taken in the evening to avoid thyroid medications, as it works slowly overnight. My companion used stewed prunes. Hope your thyroid medication gets sorted out soon.
Thank you i will give it a try asap.
Prunes and dried apricots both Work well. When really desperate I will eat a whole bag of dried apricots.
Hi Angelic69,
It is never easy when you suffer at all but hope that your Dr sorts it quickly for you. For the sluggish bowels I have taken for a while Detox and Cleanse by Lindens lindens.co.uk/detox-cleanse... I find these work for me. They use herbs and probiotics to help move things along without stripping your stomach and bowels of the much required good bacteria which it also replaces what is removed. I have tried a fair few different products but find after taking these at night the uncomfortableness has gone.
I hope that you find something that works for you quickly as it does make you feel much worse when your stomach hurts.
Things that may help :
1) Vitamin C
2) Magnesium citrate
3) Dulcolax Pico Liquid : chemist-4-u.com/media/catal...
4) Amitiza/lubiprostone - prescription only, and is very expensive - I only got it on a small trial from a hospital doctor :
bnf.nice.org.uk/medicinal-f...
5) Psyllium seed husk powder - must be taken with masses of water
6) Lactulose - I was taking 45ml at night but only occasionally
7) Picolax - difficult to get, even though it isn't prescription-only as far as I recall.
8) A very long list from the BNF :
bnf.nice.org.uk/treatment-s...
9) Senna tablets - the night before a colonoscopy I was prescribed 10 senna tablets to be taken all at once, plus taking two sachets of picolax a few hours apart.
Thanks ill increase my lactulose and can i take the senna as well together? but ill wait till ive done my travels to the endo as i have to go by bus and its a long way if things start to move along, i don't want any more embarrassments. lol
I suggest reading up about lactulose and senna before going for high doses. There may be reasons why high doses aren't a good idea for you.
In decreasing order of effectiveness, best used in combination, especially the first three (I try to avoid medication) - Hot fresh orange juice, coffee with caffeine, running, chocolate, soup, banana, porridge, yoghurt. If necessary suppositories.
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