Recently diagnosed under active thyroid, palpitations, anybody help please?

[Timbob49]

Hello everyone, I have recently been diagnosed with an under-active thyroid (3 weeks ago) my blood result was 19.6, please don't ask me any too in depth questions about bloods because as I say I'm new to this, all I can tell you he did a wide spectrum of blood tests not just specifically for the thyroid. The doc put me on 50 micrograms of Levothyroxine and I felt like I was speeding, I was getting rushs up and down my body, pins and kneedles on the backs of my hands, I felt really high and my heart rate was well up. Anyway he halfed my dose the next day and I've been on 25 since. The problem I've got is heart palpitations on a night (it's 03:15 as Im typing this) it's not every night and it's accompanied by a churning stomach. Sorry to waffle on, I have spoken to my GP and been to the walk in centre and they are saying it's my body getting used to the meds, I do feel much better in myself apart from this. Any help would be very much appreciated, thanks. Tim

[waveylines]

Sorry to hear of your diagnosis and the problems youve had starting meds. Am glad you are starting to feel a bit better on 25mcg of levothyroxine. Palpitations are also a sign of an underactive thyroid and as they raise your meds, usually in stages with several weeks gaps between dose increases , your palpitations should settle. The meds have to be raised slowly as it takes several weeks for your body to adjust. This means it will take several months to get your thyroid hormones better balanced and for your symptoms to settle.

50mcg is the usual starting dose so 25mcg is low. How long have you been on 25mcg?

[Timbob49 in reply to waveylines]

Thankyou for the reply, I've been on them about three weeks, I was due to see doc Tuesday next week but I've rang in work sick today and got an appointment for this afternoon

[SlowDragon Administrator]

You will need to get bloods retested 6-8 weeks after each dose increase in Levothyroxine

Levothyroxine can affect stomach. Certainly on low starting dose.

When hypothyroid we tend to get low stomach acid. This can get worse when only on a small dose of Levothyroxine. It may improve as dose increases

It may just be that a different brand might suit better. Many people react to different fillers in different brands

Many people find different brands are not interchangeable and it's very common for Teva brand to upset many, unless lactose intolerant

Important to know if cause of your hypothyroidism is due to autoimmune thyroid disease by testing both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies

Low vitamin levels are extremely common. GP should test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12.

These could be tested now, along with thyroid antibodies

[Timbob49 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thankyou for your reply, I've rang in work sick today and got a docs appointment for this afternoon, hopefully they will do the tests your talking about. The funny thing is with my stomach it was better than its been for years the first week of taking the meds now its all over the place.

[Timbob49]

It's all a bit overwhelming, would you suggest just buying the vitamins and taking them anyway or waiting for doc to get bloods and results?

[Timbob49]

Thankyou, will do that

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Timbob49]

Don't supplement any iron unless full iron panel via GP shows Anaemia

Don't supplement any B vitamins, until B12 and folate have been tested

Multivitamins are not usually recommended on here. Too little of what we do need and often cheap difficult to absorb ingredients

Push GP to test thyroid antibodies, if these have not been tested

If antibodies are high this is Hashimoto's, (also known by medics here in UK more commonly as autoimmune thyroid disease).

About 90% of all hypothyroidism in Uk is due to Hashimoto's.

Hashimoto's affects the gut and leads to low stomach acid and then low vitamin levels

Low vitamin levels affect Thyroid hormone working

Poor gut function can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances.

Most common by far is gluten.

Dairy is second most common.

According to Izabella Wentz the Thyroid Pharmacist approx 5% with Hashimoto's are coeliac, but over 80% find gluten free diet helps, sometimes significantly. Either due to direct gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)

Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal and slowly lower TPO antibodies

Ideally ask GP for coeliac blood test first or buy test online for under £20, just to rule it out first




Trying gluten free diet for 3-6 months. If no noticeable improvement then reintroduce gluten and see if symptoms get worse

chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

amymyersmd.com/2018/04/3-re...

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

scdlifestyle.com/2014/08/th...

drknews.com/changing-your-d...

restartmed.com/hashimotos-g...

[Timbob49 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thankyou, hopefully the doc will offer up these tests but if not I've written them down so I can ask if not, I will read through those links when I've got more time, off to docs now. Thanks again

[Timbob49]

Thankyou everyone for your advice as I'm sure your all well aware its alot to take in and a bit overwhelming, I'm off to the docs now, I'll check back and let you know how I went on, thanks again. Tim