Depression medication

[Tiredmum75]

Hi everyone just a question about medication for depression and anxiety can it cause thyroid disorders to get worse the doctor put me on Zoloft when I was in hospital last week and I’m not sure wether I should take it any answers would be appreciated

[MissFG]

Hi I can only speak from personal experience recently do hope this helps.

8 weeks ago I went on sertaline to help me with severe anxiety, I’d tried everything else so it was a last resort.

I’ve recently increased my T3 (10 days ago) from 31.25 to 37.5 as I had started feeling unwell and I checked and my temperature was low. Since increasing my dose I feel so much better again so I had become under medicated.

I’m unsure if this has anything to do with taking sertaline or if it was just a coincidence. However my anxiety has improved on sertaline and as I still have active hashimotos it maybe then over time I might need to keep increasing my dose I haven’t a clue.

I would advise if you feel depressed and anxious and need help then don’t be afraid to take the medication prescribed. An easy way to monitor and check if your thyroid dose is correct is to check (every morning first thing) your temperature and monitor this and any change in symptoms.

You’ll find if you do become under medicated you’ll notice quickly by a change in temperature and how you feel by thyroid symptoms (ie my thyroid swells, I become fatigued etc) and can adjust your dose if necessary.

Sometimes we need help to get us back on our feet and depression and anxiety can be seriously draining on our bodies and we just need a break to recuperate and have a rest!

[Tiredmum75 in reply to MissFG]

Thanks for your reply I have decided not to take due to my t4 increasing and T3 reducing . I also have a high reverse T3 so I should fix the cause first

[adin]

Yes i also had problems because of that, ssri dropped my ft4 level. Maybe you'll need a readjustment of the hormones dose.

[Tiredmum75 in reply to adin]

Thanks I got my blood test results today that suggest that

[sunsetalley]

I think antidepressants make hypothyroidism worse...

[Hidden in reply to sunsetalley]

I agree. One way is because the antidepressants mask the thyroid symptoms long enough for you to feel better. But your thyroid symptoms will return because they haven't been dealt with.

[Tiredmum75 in reply to sunsetalley]

Thankyou your opinion is appreciated

[Angel_of_the_North]

For some reason doctors seem to think that anti-depressants can make up for poor thyroid treatment and they prescribe them with no scientific evidence to back up their use. Could be the fact that they get extra money for prescribing them? Surely not! They can interfere with thyroid treatment and I'd want to be very sure that I had a serotonin deficiency before taking them as too much serotonin can make you very ill and cause social anxiety.

[Tiredmum75 in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Thankyou

[Hidden]

In my personal experience and what I have seen with other patients thyroid problems very often cause depression and anxiety plus other mental symptoms-brain fog, memory problems and others. Often when we list these symptoms to our doctors there is a knee-jerk reaction to prescribe antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs.

This seems an easy fix from some doctors' viewpoints as you will probably feel better in the short term.

But it doesn't address the root cause of your symptoms. If it were me I'd hold off on the antidepressant route and fight for a complete thyroid workup as advised here including vitamin and mineral levels.

More often than not the answer is to correctly treat the thyroid and lose the mental symptoms.

Not a fun skirmish but we get more effective thyroid care when we learn how to stand up for ourselves regarding our care.

Good luck and take care. irina

[Tiredmum75 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Irina have decided not to keep taking them due to high t4 and low T3

[MissFG]

Following on from the others comments I’d like to say that I did request to go on sertaline.

I’ve had some very traumatic incidents over recent years which I think the stress contributed to my causing my hashimotos.

I’m pretty much after 2.5 years got my thyroid under control as best as I can with the hashis still being active despite going gluten free and doing all I can to heal.

I think stress triggers hypothyroidism so it’s a viscous circle. I would continue having times of symptoms when I’m under stress despite bloods being optimal. So I needed to get my stress levels and anxiety under control and it has really helped me.

When I asked on here some were also recommending against taking antidepressants but a few who understood the difficulties I was experiencing were supportive and their kind words helped.

It’s a personal decision but if your not coping well then there is no shame or guilt in having some help so you can focus on improving the rest of your health and thyroid levels / symptoms.

It would also interesting if anyone could share medical evidence where ppl have stated that antidepressants affects either thyroid meds or causes hypothyroidism.

I hope this helps and you feel better soon x

[Tiredmum75 in reply to MissFG]

Thanks

[Sg14 in reply to MissFG]

Hi MissFG, I know your question was a while ago. But after taking sertraline (generic form of zoloft) for around 8 months, I had my thyroid tested for the first time in my life as the depression which was supposed to be helped by sertraline had not improved. I got a TSH of 5.22 mIU/l (range 0.27 - 4.2) and Free T4 of 15.9 pmol/l range( 12 - 22). My sertraline was increased from 100 to 150mg to see if that helped and was told that we will monitor the thyroid numbers.

Two months later, I was tested again and had the numbers 8.34 mIU/l (range provided is 0.27 - 4.2) and Free T4 of 14.0 pmol/l (range 12.0 - 22.0). This is clearly some sort of hypothyroidism. I was put on levothyroxine starting then and another two months later, the TSH was 3.36, Free T4 16.1 (same ranges). It is important to mention that my liver numbers Aspartate Transferase and Alanine Transferase were pretty darn high too and had increased dramatically since the increase of sertraline dose so I went off sertraline as well as levothyroxine because I was sick of putting stuff in my body which was causing other stuff to mess up.

Two months after going off both sertraline and levothyroxine, I was tested again and my TSH was 3.10 and Free T4 15.2 and liver numbers well within the ranges. So my conclusion from all of this was the sertraline messed with my thyroid and liver. Hope that helps.

[MissFG in reply to Sg14]

I tried sertaline for 3 months. The first 50mg felt ok no difference to my thyroid levels. But when I went into 100mg I went into a very dark place so weaned myself off and felt so much better.

They obviously didn’t suit me. I’ve just been diagnosed with another autoimmune disease which can cause depression so battling anxiety and depression I think goes hand in hand with AI diseases.

Unfortunately when I was diagnosed my TSH was 147 so I’m on T3 for life. Sertaline didn’t affect my thyroid levels but I wasn’t good on it.

I’m now being looked after by a great rheumy and I’m a great believer in treating the cause not the symptoms. So trying my best to get this new disease under control.

My thyroid is stable and if necessary I would try another antidepressant again if necessary. I think theres many interactions between medication and supplements so research is essential if you want your help to improve.

I’m glad your levels have improved and I hope your feeling a lot better now