Hi everyone , kind of lengthy but it’s been a while. i had a thyroidectomy 9 years ago for papillary ca found by accident, labs normal, no symptoms. the pharmacist accidentally put me on 50mcg levothyroxin but even though I was that low I felt ok. The following month we noticed this and my Endo raised me to 150mcg, that’s when it all began. I had to quit my job, I was none functional. I had this horrible pressure in the back of my head and I felt like I was dying along with a horrible depression. 1 week later my dose was lowered to 137 which made me feel a bit better but still not functioning. We played around with nature thyroid and was up to 1 gram but I couldn’t handle it. A year later I ended up on 50mcg levó and 1 1/2 nature thyroid. I eventually ended at 137mcg synthroid and pieces of nature thyroid throughout the day as needed. Labs where alway normal but I had lingering depression and hypo symptoms. I could never increase my synthroid any higher than 137mcg without feeling bad. One day I noticed I was up to 150mcg of synthroid and an occasional naturethroid. I felt great i still had very mild symptoms that i delt with by increasing and lowering my synthroid as needed but no depression or foggy mind. My TSH was suppressed at .01 , free t3 mid range . I returned to school and graduated from Nursing school. I was a happy Rn working lots of overtime for 4-5 years.
In 3/2019 I had a endometrial ablation i felt good within three weeks i had 3 episodes of panic attacks so I decided to raise my synthroid to 175 which I had done before with no problem but this time I returned to a manic mess , anxiety, pressure in my head non functional all within one week. I returned back to 150 mcg with no relief. My Endo put me back on 137mcg synthroid and it helped but I was back to my debilitated self Im in bed , i can’t drive, can’t work. My TSH .03 my free t3 on lower normal and free t4 on higher end. I recently added 1/4 nature thyroid and feel so horrible someone please help! Please! I can’t go through this again.
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Brilliant answer, and would add that if you post results here people will advise. Being in range is not good enough, you need to be at the optimal level.
It sounds as if you have a conversion problem. In which case, keep raising and lowering the Synthroid isn't going to help. It's the FT3 that needs raising - it's low T3 that causes symptoms. And, Nature Throid contains very little T3 - 1 grain is 38 mcg T4 and only 9 mcg T3. Would it not be a better idea to take NatureThroid with added Cytomel, rather than Synthroid with added NT?
Did you have blood tests with all this raising and lowering? Do you have any to share? It may be that you've been on the wrong dose the whole time. You mention mid-range freeT3, that's too low for most people, usually we need it near the top of the range to feel well.
I agree with Slowdragon that vitamins need to be right, too.
These test are after they lower me to 137 mcg synthroid Free T3 3.3 , free T4 1.47H ,TSH 0.02 microtonal AB 0.6 hemaglobin 11.3 no ranges.
Prior to this on 150mcg synthroid TSH was 0.03
Free T3 2.8, thyroxine Free D 1.5 but keep in mind I also lost 15 lbs within the last month due to not feeling hungry and I’m not moving around like I use to.
I'm really sorry, I can't interpret these at all without the ranges, they're units I'm not familiar with.
It looks like the freeT4 has been marked high? I suspect this freeT3 is quite low, which would suggest a big conversion problem. It would be great to get hold of a complete set of blood tests, because if the issue is needing some T3 (which is quite common after being fine on T4 for years and then having a big medical upheaval and dise change), then that can be resolved fairly simply.
I have to agree with SlowDragon, sounds like you could be iron anaemic and possibly B12 /Pernicious anaemia deficient. Walks hand in hand with thyroid conditions, with similar symptoms and also vitamin D deficiency.
If you are suffering heavy periods, then I do feel for you. It can be horrendous and you can become very anaemic especially if your cycles are prolonged. Basically anaemia makes you bleed more and more heavily. It made me very very poorly. I had to have all sorts done including a D & C, nearly hospitalised twice for transfusions. I was also checked for fibroids , endometriosis and the C word. Thankfully none of the above.
I am also concerned about your thyroid levels especially if you have had your thyroid removed. I am personally on 200 mcg of T4 and 20 mcg of T3. I was born with only a partial none working gland, so been on meds all my life. But I know from experience, that not being on the right dose, can cause terrible headaches, with the depression on top.
Definitely get all the blood tests done for both thyroid and folate and ferritin levels. If one med is not at the right level, it can affect everything else.
You take care of yourself Backagain, we all understand.
I agree that nutrients are very important to help with our thyroid meds work better for us . In addition I would suggest that you have an adrenal /Cortisol / DHEA-S checked out too . It might be that Synthroid does not agree with you . The fillers in the thyroid meds can cause issues . Nature Throid of late since it was reformulated many have hypo issues with it .
Yes I think it’s a conversion problem, I think it had to do with the surgery because I was doing great on 150mcg synthroid alone even when I was heavily bleeding and had a hemoglobin of 7 I still felt fine no symptoms it wasn’t till two weeks after surgery that all this started. My hemoglobin is now 10 and ferritin 7 . Vitamin D calcium good. Another thing I notice is when I take my synthroid about 1/2 hr later I feel worst. When I take 1/4 of naturethroud I feel hyper but the pressure heavy feeling in my head goes away. Lately I have not had an appetite and I’m starting to feel nauseous. I have lost a total of 14 pounds within the last 3-4. Weeks. I will post current labs today after I see my Endo
Eating liver or liver pate once a week, plus other iron rich foods like black pudding, prawns, spinach, pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate, plus daily vitamin C can help improve iron absorption
These test are after they lower me to 137 mcg synthroid Free T3 3.3 , free T4 1.47H ,TSH 0.02 microtonal AB 0.6 hemaglobin 11.3 no ranges.
Prior to this on 150mcg synthroid TSH was 0.03
Free T3 2.8, thyroxine Free D 1.5 but keep in mind I also lost 15 lbs within the last month due to not feeling hungry and I’m not moving around like I use to.
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