Post Hysterectomy Thyroid Woes

[overunbykids]

Hi all.

I would truly appreciate any advice you can offer before my next doctor visit in 2 days time.

After years of unsuccessfully controlling debilitating cramps and severe bloodloss, I finally relented to having a hysterectomy on Feb 13th 2019. I kept both ovaries, but after a 5 day stay in hospital, I was rushed back in and then emergency transported to the base hospital 3 towns over. I had developed an infection that eroded through blood vessels, causing internal bleeding and Sepsis. The sepsis progressed to septic shock and I spent 7 days in hospital, going under the knife again to drain both infection and blood, and wash out all infection. I had 8 courses of antibiotics to finally get on top of the infection, and had an iron infusion during the initial hysterectomy stay in hospital. During that time, the hospital refused to let me take my NDT for 10 days, but I have taken it daily without fail since. I am now recovered from both surgeries, but am suffering with hypothyroid symptoms. I have extreme all over body pain, hairloss, breathlessness and feeling faint a lot when I stand or get very active. I have numbness on the ends of several toes of both feet with nerve pain and prickling burning. I've also bloated right up and put on a little weight. My vision has also worsened and I am getting dermatitis flares, as well as dealing with stubborn insomnia which just won't respond to otc tablets, melatonin, or Temazapam.

My GP ordered blood tests which have shown such a negative change since my last thyroid bloods taken in February.

I take 3 grains of Thiroyd with water on an empty stomach, at least an hour or two before anything else. I had my bloods taken fasting, 11 hours since the last dose of NDT. I always get my bloods taken at the same time each time.

My Feb levels were below 1 for Tsh, range of 0.5 - 3.5, with T4 just below range. I felt great and strong.

Bloods taken 2nd May 2019

TSH 17 (0.40 - 4.0)

Free T4 8 (10 - 20)

Free T3 2.9 (2.8 - 6.8)

Iron 11 (10 - 33)

Ferritin 69 (20- 290)

Urate 0.37 (0.14 - 0.35)

GGT 80 (0 - 45)

All other levels were deemed ok by my GP. She is going to give me another iron infusion in 2 days time along with a flu shot. She is currently researching how best to handle my thyroid meds, wether to just increase the Thiroyd over 3 grains, or to start me on some T3 in addition to the NDT instead. My thyroid levels have not been this bad since I first started treatment 6 years ago.

She has instructed me to increase my D3 to 3000iu a day from the 1000iu my old GP had me on as my levels have not improved from 20 (50 - 150). I also take magnesium and K2.

Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated. Has anyone else had such a change in their thyroid after a hysterectomy?

Thanks for any help!!

[BadHare]

I felt dire when I had to ration NDT last year, so going without for 10 days would be dreadful. It took a few months to catch up, even though I'd added more T3, Hopefully you'll feel better with that regard soon!

Has your GP suggested HRT might help? Maybe have a chat & ask about bioidentical HRT. I tried this but prefer the synthetic type I'd already been using, but think I'd've been happy on bioidentical first.

Chelated/bisglycinate magnesium is best for bioavalability, though transdermal is absorbed even better if you can tolerate the skin sprays. I make my own with Mg chloride hexahydrate crystals & witch hazel to help reduce the stinging, but boiled water would be fine & even cheaper. Bath soaks with epsom salts or MG crystals are good as well as soothing at bedtime if you still feel poorly. We also need boron with Mg, D3 & K2 to help build new bone. I take a calcium free mineral supplement, but it;s found in chia seeds which I eat daily, that are also good for omega 3 oils.

[overunbykids in reply to BadHare]

Thank you for replying.

No, my GP hasn't suggested HRT yet as I still have both ovaries, but it is something I will bring up at the appt. She had me wait 8 plus weeks since the last anaesthesia before getting bloods done as it can throw off some results. I waited 9.

The house we have been renting for the past 11 years only has a shower, so no soaking in a tub, unfortunately.

The magnesium is amino acid chelate that I take, but it is in tablet form, so might not be absorbing properly. It is something I will have to look into. I haven't taken Boron before, but will seek it out. Thank you

[BadHare in reply to overunbykids]

You're welcome!

Some people take magnesium with food & others feel better taking it on an empty stomach which I prefer. I notice not having enough as I get cramp at night time, though I'm unsure how other folks can tell it's working. You still have the option of showering off stingy spray if it's uncomfortable.

[overunbykids in reply to BadHare]

That is so true about the shower, and made me chuckle. Yes, it took weeks before I started feeling even close to human again. I have to go back in again in 3 weeks for another general anaesthesia, but at least this is only day surgery to get an incisions herniaxrepaured tgat was stirred up by the hysterectomy. After this, I am hoping to never see the inside of a hospital from a patients point of view again.

I have been taking my magnesium about an hour before bedtime so far as I had read that it can help promote sleep in some people. No luck that I have noticed in that regard so far, but I'll keep persisting. I haven't noticed any difference from taking my magnesium, D3 or K2 yet, but my current GP has just upped the D3 to 3000iu a day from 1000. Fingers crossed!

[BadHare in reply to overunbykids]

You won't be chuckling if it stings, the strong shop stuff made my skin peel as I didn't know I could wash it off! Ouch, ouch!

You've been run through the milll, & having to go back again is horrible. I hope it's the very last time!

Mg helps me sleep, & stopped my night time sugar cravings. Perhaps the increase in vitamin D will help. I'll cross my fingers for you, too.

[helvella in reply to BadHare]

general anaesthetics deplete the body's B12

It is specifically nitrous oxide (laughing gas) - not all general anaesthetics.

[BadHare in reply to helvella]

Aah, thanks helvella I'll amend my response!

I think that was pumped in somewhere to make his poorly appendix stick out or some such thing. My son was half way around the world when he was taken ill, & I was on the ceiling for much longer.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Being hypothyroid will significantly lower your B12 and folate

Anaesthetic also uses up loads of B12 and hides low B12

bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g52...

b12-vitamin.com/anesthesia/

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Numb toes and pins & needles suggests functional low B12, even if it doesn't show in test results

Has B12 and folate been tested?

You may benefit from sublingual B12 for a while to improve B12 levels

Supplementing a good quality daily vitamin B complex, one with folate in not folic acid may be beneficial too

chriskresser.com/folate-vs-...

B vitamins best taken in the morning after breakfast

Recommended brands on here are Igennus Super B complex. (Often only need one tablet per day, not two. Certainly only start with one tablet per day after breakfast. Retesting levels in 6-8 weeks ).

Or Jarrow B-right is popular choice, but is large capsule

If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 7 days before any blood tests, as biotin can falsely affect test results

endo.confex.com/endo/2016en...

endocrinenews.endocrine.org...

[overunbykids in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you so much for your help!

Yes, my B12 was tested in September and was:

B12 - 156 pmol/L (>150).

The test was then expanded to test the active B12 as the result was so low in range, and that result was:

Active B12 - 70nmol/L (>35)

I was deemed replete and not needing supplementation.

Folate was also tested in September.

Folate serum - 10 nmol (>7)

I'll look into sublingual B12. I know there is a small amount included in one of my other supplements, but not enough, and no Biotin.

I think I obviously need to get current vitamin and mineral blood work done and work on them.

Thank you so much for helping so many of us, SlowDragon. Your advice is invaluable and the so very appreciated.

[humanbean]

All the antibiotics you were given will almost certainly have severely damaged your microbiome - the bugs in your gut that actually digest the things which go through your gut i.e. your food and your meds.

I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions on how you can help your gut bugs to recover. Eating a varied diet that contains "real food" i.e. meat, fish, shellfish, vegetables, fruit, eggs, dairy, nuts etc may help. You could try prebiotics and probiotics too, although I'm not convinced that probiotics really help much. Prebiotics provide food for gut bugs so I would think they are essential. Don't include lots of insoluble fibre in your diet. Soluble fibre is kinder to an unhealthy gut.

I hope someone else can come up with something useful.

[SilverAvocado in reply to humanbean]

I would think that fermented foods (unpasteurised) are better for repopulating the gut than probiotic tablets. I'm not sure they work, either, but worth a try.

Sauerkraut is the easiest to make at home, as all you need is cabbage and salt.

Milk kefir is often said to be the best quality of bacteria. To make that you need to buy kefir grains, available online or even you might find people sharing theirs on things like freecycle or health food shops. This is made by adding the grains to milk.

[Rhsana in reply to humanbean]

FMT really helped me for this.

[humanbean in reply to Rhsana]

I had to look that up :

FMT = Fecal Microbiota Transplantation?

I've been tempted by this but I don't have a healthy donor living within reasonable distance and who I would want to discuss the process with.

[Rhsana in reply to humanbean]

Yes thats the one. But I didn't do it myself, I went to a private clinic. taymount.com/

[overunbykids]

Thank you for helping me with this

Yes, I always get a very unhappy gut from antibiotics and avoid them where possible as I am highly allergic to most families of them. But ith this, I was literally fighting for my life in the ICU with the sepsis and septic shock.

I had thrush coating on my tongue so bad when I got released that I was choking on chunks of it along the back of my throat. My stomach pain doubled me up and I had severe diarrhoea. I was given probiotics, yoghurt, and told to follow a Fodmap friendly diet for a few weeks once home, adding fermented foods as well. It has cleared the thrush and stomach pain, but I can still feel it in my gut. With IBS anyway, it is slow progress but moving in the right direction.