Panic and agoraphobic feeling.

[lucylocks]

Hi

The last few months I have been suffering from panic attacks and an agoraphobic feeling when out and also panic feelings sometimes in the house.

My recent FT4 level is over range, could this be the reason for how I am feeling?

March results.

Inflammation

CRP HS 1.77 mg/L (Range: < 5)

Iron Status

Ferritin 106 ug/L (Range: 13 - 150)

Vitamins

Folate - Serum 8.45 ug/L (Range: > 3.89)

Vitamin B12 - Active 91.200 pmol/L (Range: 37.5 - 188)

Vitamin D 56.6 nmol/L (Range: 50 - 175)

Thyroid Hormones

TSH 0.011 mIU/L (Range: 0.27 - 4.2) *

Free T3 5.07 pmol/L (Range: 3.1 - 6.8)

Free Thyroxine 23.000 pmol/L (Range: 12 - 22) *

Autoimmunity

Thyroglobulin Antibodies 93.600 kU/L (Range: < 115)

Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies 28.5 kIU/L (Range: < 34)

I take 132mcg. levo. daily

Any advice gratefully received.

Thank you.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Your Vitamin D needs improving to at least 80nmol and around 100nmol may be better

Are you supplementing any vitamins at the moment?

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. Last Levothyroxine dose should be 24 hours prior to test, (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw). This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

Is this how you did this test?

Are you on strictly gluten free diet?

[lucylocks in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you for your reply.

I did take my last dose of levo. 24 hours before blood test, fasted for 8 hours.

Test was done through Medichecks.

I have not been taking supplements because I have been getting hives, mainly when out in the cold, so I stopped them all in case they were over stimulating my immune system.

I am not gluten free as I was told I do not have hashi's even though on one test antibodies were 115 range <115

When I saw the Immunologist about the hives, I did mention hashi's to him but he said the antibodies would need to be in the thousands for it to be hashi's.

If FT4 is at it's lowest after 24 hours of last dose of levo. and mine is 23 does this mean it would be higher during the day?

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to lucylocks]

Hives and Hashimoto's can be linked

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

Does your daughter have Hashimoto's?

Trying strictly gluten free diet for 3-6 months is always worth trying

Your antibodies are high enough to be suspicious

[lucylocks in reply to SlowDragon]

My daughters Anti bodies were very low when she had them tested, but she has been gluten free for years as she has celiac disease.

Does FT4 rise during the day, as I am now thinking that as it was over range at 8.20am. when I did the test, then if it does rise, then it would a lot higher during the day and may be the cause of the awful feelings I am getting.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to lucylocks]

Your FT3 is already pretty low

Lowering FT4 will likely lower FT3 further

[lucylocks in reply to SlowDragon]

I wondered if the high FT4 was causing reverse T3.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to lucylocks]

Possibly....RT3 is expensive test though

[HLAB35]

Panic attacks are a possible sign of low electrolytes. They get pee'd out if you are on diuretics or stressed which just compounds the deficiency. The electrolytes I am referring to are Magnesium, Zinc, Sodium and Potassium as well as vitamin C. Low electrolytes make thyroid hormone conversion far more difficult. Using Celtic Sea Salt in cooking can help a bit, so can diet, especially for potassium, but a real deficiency in Magnesium or Zinc is probably best handled with supplements as they are both vital for adrenal health, hormonal balance (Zinc) and for the uptake of Vitamin D (Magnesium).

[lucylocks in reply to HLAB35]

Many thanks for your reply.

That is interesting re the electrolytes, when bloods where done last year my Potassium came back below range, when tested again two weeks later it went up to just above bottom of the range, so the Doctor did not do anything about it.

I do take a blood pressure tablet and some days do pass lots of urine.

I understand it is not a good idea not to take Potassium supplements unless prescribed so do not take any.

I have not been taking any supplements for a while but need to re start them.

I do have some Sea Salt so will start to use also.

Do you thing the Adrenal cocktail would help?

Taken from Stop the thyroid madness, it is,

1/2 cup or more Orange Juice (for its Vitamin C)

•1/4 – 1/2 tsp of Cream of Tartar (for its potassium content–this can go low for some)

1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp of Sea Salt (for sodium, since one’s levels might be low due to low aldosterone. Himalayan salt is also workable.

Both provide some extra minerals in small amounts; processed table salt doesn’t. )

Thank you.

[HLAB35 in reply to lucylocks]

The Adrenal Cocktail idea is pretty much what I do, but weirdly I don't have low Potassium - possibly because I eat a lot of Sweet Potatoes and other Potassium rich food. Sodium / Magnesium / Zinc are a problem for me regardless of how much Lamb I eat for zinc, or leafy greens for Magnesium. If you take small amounts throughout the day it should help.... Celtic salt is great for its Magnesium content. You may want to go easy on the Himalayan as it is loaded with iodine which is not a good idea if you are already taking Levo.

[lucylocks in reply to HLAB35]

Many thanks for all you advice.

I have the orange juice and sea salt, just need the cream of tartar.

I do like sweet potatoes so will eat more of these and get more potassium rich foods.

I am now thinking I may get a test for electrolytes to see what my levels are now.

[HLAB35 in reply to lucylocks]

Just bear in mind that Magnesium probably won't be very realistic from a serum test. Most of our Magnesium is in bones and muscle and only 1% is in the blood which is maintained at this amount at the expense of cellular levels as low serum Magnesium could cause a heart attack. The best blood test for Magnesium is the RBC test but few places offer it. Look up symptoms of low Magnesium and read some of Carolyn Dean's blogs.

[lucylocks in reply to HLAB35]

Thank you,

I will have a look at Carolyn's blogs before ordering tests.