I have hypothyroidism I take 100 mg of Levothyroxine each day. I have just had my blood check it appears to be ok?. However I am overheating throughout the day/night sweating so bad!!, cannot cool down?. I have brain fog most days I get palpitations and feel very low some days, and no energy at all !!
Yet my job demands a lot of energy!! As I work 10 hour shifts.
I have just started on kelp full strength to see if this helps?.
Can anyone please explain to me what’s happening to me as my Dr just says my bloods are ok?
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Caza12
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For goodness sake stop the kelp! It could make you ten times worse.
Did you get your iodine tested before starting it? Kelp contains a lot of iodine and excess iodine can cause all sorts of problems. And, you'll already be getting 65 mcg iodine from your 100 mcg levo.
Why don't you post your blood test results on here - with the ranges - and let us have a look? Otherwise, we can't know if the look ok or not. We can't really tell you what's happening to you without seeing them. But, it sounds like you're under-medicated. You're doctor says they're 'OK' because they're in-range, but just being in-range isn't good enough. You need to know whereabouts in the range they fall.
Thank you for replying but I really don’t understand much about my condition?. My Dr just asks for blood tests once a year and if they are ok I don’t hear anything. But I thought I was helping my condition taking kelp but on your advice I will stop it immediately. But it’s the over heating I cannot stand and I cannot afford to get Mind fig with my job!!, people at work are taking the mick out of my terrible memory now!!
It's a common mis-conception that all you need to do for a thyroid problem is throw iodine at it. But that is entirely wrong for all sorts of reasons. So, whilst I understand you were just trying to help your condition, it was probably the worst thing you could do.
The over-heating and brain-fog are almost certainly down to under-medication, so you really do need to post your results and ranges here.
Doctors don't explain about thyroid conditions because they don't know much about them. They just mechanically follow what they were told to do in med school, without understanding why. I've had some doctors attempt to explain it to me, but what they said showed they really knew nothing about it at all! I doubt your doctor would even know if your labs were ok or not, nor understand why. As long as the results are somewhere in the range, that's the extent of his interest.
Thank you very much at last I can talk to someone about it?? I will ask my Dr for the blood test results and I will post it on here so you can see them thank you. Carole
Ask for a print-out. It's safer. If you just ask someone to read them out to you, mistakes can creep in, and they often 'forget' the ranges! Ranges are hyper-important, because they change from lab to lab.
Your nutrients are low. Very low. So, you do need to supplement B12 and a B complex, and iron.
You also need your vit D tested.
There's nothing wrong with your TSH, but a TSH test on its own doesn't tell us much about your thyroid status. It is not a thyroid hormone, it is a pituitary hormone that is secreted to stimulate the thyroid to make hormone. Therefore, doctors believe, if the TSH is in range, the thyroid hormones must be alright, and therefore you are on the right dose. But, this can be very far from the truth. To really know if you're on the right dose, you need your thyroid hormones tested : T4 and T3 (yes, we always use letters and numbers to talk about hormones, rather than using the names themselves, because they're long and difficult to remember ).
You also need to know if you have high antibodies, because that will mean you have Hash's. And it's important to know if you have Hashi's.
The tests on there I know nothing about are :
Serum iron level (X76tH) Result 8 umol/L (5.0- 33.0)
Did you have your calcium checked before starting that? It's not really a good way to get your vit D3. It contains a lot of calcium - which is not a good thing to take - and not much vit D3. How long have you been taking that?
No but I’ve had 2 discs removed and I have 2 false hips due to arthritis, hence why they gave me that? But I also take omeprazole 40mg as I have a hiatus-hernia and diverticula Desease , as certain food sticks and is very painful, but the omeprazole doesn’t seem to be working very good either lately???
But I’ve been on Calcichew D3 forte for about 3-4 years now?
Then you ought to have your calcium tested as a matter of urgency. You aren't even taking vit K2 - MK7, are you? That makes sure that calcium goes into the bones and teeth, rather than building up in the soft tissues. Also, it's a myth that all bones need is calcium. They mainly need magnesium, and lots of other vitmins and minerals, too. Too much calcium just isn't good.
You should have your vit d tested, too. Because I doubt you are taking enough.
I’ve made an appointment with Drs for next Tuesday to discuss all that I’ve found out with them and to enquire about getting those extra tests fine with my blood? Thanks again
Meanwhile read up and learn about hypothyroidism, here is a link to Thyroid Uk website it will open your eyes.
greygoose is right, of coarse 🙂 you sound undermedicated. Have you had folate ferritin b12 and vitamin d checked? Usually low in hypos, they also need to be optimum not just in range.
Thank you I haven’t read up about it at all ?. However I have my test results now, but they said I’m short of iron and vitamins yet I eat a good diet I don’t u derstand it? They told me to get buy some iron and vitamin tablets?
For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4, FT3 plus TPO and TG thyroid antibodies and also very important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
Far too often GP only tests TSH or TSH and FT4. This is completely inadequate
Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies or vitamins
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. When on Levothyroxine, don't take in the 24 hours prior to test, delay and take straight after test. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, GP will be unaware)
Saturation of iron binding capacity (XaFvN) Result. Below range
13% (15.0 - 50.0) below low reference limit
Serum ferritin level (XE24r). Result. 62.7 ug/L (10.0 - 291.0) 19% of the way through the range
All the above results are related to your iron levels. Serum iron measures the amount of "free" iron in the bloodstream that your body can make immediate use of. Ferritin is where the body keeps "spare" iron - it's a storage molecule. The body transfers iron from serum iron to ferritin and back again as required. When iron isn't required it gets put into ferritin, when it is required it is taken out of ferritin and becomes "free" iron again.
The other results you've given are related to your body's ability to absorb iron into the blood and how saturated your blood is with iron.
I notice you haven't given a haemoglobin level. If it was available, based on the comments it is presumably in range but very low in range. Improving your iron level will improve your haemoglobin level. If you ever suffer from breathlessness then having a better haemoglobin level will help a lot.
The optimal results for iron are given on this link :
With the reference range you've been given, 55% - 70% of the range indicates you should, ideally, have a level of 20 - 25.
People on this forum and on other thyroid forums have found that they feel best with a ferritin level around halfway through the range or a little bit over, so with the range you've given you would be aiming to get your level up to about 150 - 180 (roughly).
To improve your iron you would need to take iron supplements. To get anything worth taking you would need to go to a pharmacy and ask, don't buy something off the shelf. If you get asked why you want it (it is at the pharmacist's discretion whether they sell it to you without a prescription or not) just say you are iron-deficient and your doctor has told you to buy your own supplements.
It can be bought online from many sources, or can be bought at pharmacies as I said earlier. Print out a picture of the packet and take it with you or show the pharmacist the picture on a phone. The brand you take doesn't matter.
When I was very severely iron deficient I took 1 tablet, 3 times a day which provided a total of 207mg of pure iron per day. I would suggest starting with 2 tablets a day rather than 3. You can increase to 3 if you can tolerate it. Take each pill with 1000mg of vitamin C. It helps to reduce the risk of constipation which occurs with all iron supplements. It also helps your body to absorb the iron.
You must test your iron levels regularly once you start supplementing - roughly every 6 weeks is a good idea. Your doctor won't do it for you, so you would have to pay for it yourself :
Don't let your ferritin and serum iron go over the optimal I suggested above - but pay attention to the reference ranges. If they change then you have to re-calculate the optimal levels.
I’ve been taking my meds the wrong way now for a number of years taking the Omeprazole 40mg with the Levo for a few years now nobody told me??? So today I’m taking the Levo separate 4 hours before the rest? Thank you for explaining that to me!!
Eek! Omeprazole will reduce the amount you absorb of everything, including your supplements and any other prescribed meds. Taking your Levo separately from everything else - medicines, supplements, food, tea and coffee etc - should allow you to absorb more of the Levo.
The most convenient way of achieving this for many people is to take it the minute they wake up, with a glass of water only (not just a mouthful), and then leave an hour before eating or drinking or taking other pills.
Some people take their thyroid meds at bedtime, but I couldn't do this - I'd have to go without my bedtime drink, and that would never happen!
Others get up in the night to use the toilet, and do so very reliably, so they take their thyroid meds then.
What prompted your doctor to prescribe Omeprazole? Do you have ulcers or a hiatus hernia or something else like that?
So you don't have any choice about taking the omeprazole. That's a shame.
Your best bet is taking your Levo with a glass of water an hour before breakfast, coffee and tea, and delaying your omeprazole until breakfast too. Or taking the Levo during the night if you regularly get up to go to the toilet.
Remember to take Levo with a glass of water at whatever time you take it. It swells up and can get stuck in the oesophagus until something else pushes it down. You want to make sure it reaches your stomach as quickly as possible.
Thank you for the tip the Drs don’t tell you anything like that!! They just give you the prescription!!. I’ve made an appointment for next Tuesday with A Dr to explain all this to them and to get my vit D calcium and B12 checked!!! I really appreciate all this help I really do!!!
Some doctors will respond politely to being told what their patients have discovered. Some of them get angry because they don't like the implied criticism that they haven't done their jobs properly. So try to be as diplomatic as you can be!
One thing that I do nowadays, if I have to say something that might annoy a doctor, is I take my husband to appointments with me. It's amazing how much more polite doctors are when I have a witness, and they are also less likely to brush me off.
I was very interested in your question as sweating is a symptom that keeps returning with me. I keep assuming that the sweating indicates I’m under medicated but I’m not really sure because some people say the same symptom occurs when you’re over medicated. I wish there was a way to know for sure.
So far increasing my Levo has helped only for the sweating to return a few weeks later. My TSH was really low and my T3 was at the top of the range when I tested in July but the sweating has returned recently. I feel an increase in Levo would stop the sweating because it’s previously worked but surely that can’t be right because my TSH is already too low? It would be good to know if anyone had a definitive answer?
I’ve read on the forum that as long as Heart rate and temperature remain in the normal range then it’s unlikely you’re over medicated but the information is sketchy. I had a really low heart rate and my blood pressure was extremely low, also my temperature barely hit 35 before starting Levo. At the moment my heart rate blood pressure and temperature are all completely normal. The only residual symptoms I have are low energy levels, painful Achilles’ tendons and the dreaded sweating! Hope someone gives you an insight that helps us both. 💐
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