HRT Patches

[Jodiedebs55]

Gp prescribed me HRT patches which I started using on Monday, by Thursday I was feeling terribly ill, sluggish, chest pain , afib , light headed , nausea , was taken to hospital and had blood tests for heart disease and sent home none the wiser , I'm currently taking 75mcg T4 and 10mcg T3 iv been feeling fantastic for months so I'm guessing it's the HRT patches as I was fine until I started them , anyone else had a bad experience with these ? I'm not putting another one on until iv spoken to my gp next week, scary days 😳

[Greekchick]

So sorry you have been so ill and how scary for you too!

Greygoose just posted and you can see it in the feed today - the effects of HRT/estrogen on thyroid medication and it’s absorption. If you are taking levothyroxine or liothyroinne, estrogen inhibits their absorption and you will need a medication adjustment. It is really a shame that MDs and pharmacists are not picking this up when patients present prescriptions or receive them! This is well known and documented.

I would not take the HRT until you speak to your MD - bring him the info that greygoose provided, and get your pharmacist to figure out the right dose for you.

Best of luck and hope you feel better soon. All the best.

[Jodiedebs55 in reply to Greekchick]

Thankyou il check out grey goose post now , yes it was a shock to literally feel so ill almost hours after applying the patch I'm definitely not putting another one on until iv done my research and spoken to gp .

[Jodiedebs55 in reply to Greekchick]

Iv looked through the feed and on greygoose page I cant find her post ? I shall try again thanks again

[Greekchick in reply to Jodiedebs55]

Let me see if I can find it

[Greekchick in reply to Jodiedebs55]

So sorry, it was a response to someone with the same question and there are too many posts now for me to find it! ☹️ But it is well documented and if you put in estrogen and Synthroid on google search you will find all the references. Hope this helps!

[Jodiedebs55 in reply to Greekchick]

Thankyou so much

[Batty1 in reply to Jodiedebs55]

Endos and Doctors don't think Estrogen (pills,patch) interact with thyroid medication even though its talked about in govt medical sites....just sad. I take my Armour Thyroid and Estradiol many hours apart since I can't get med increase.

[Jodiedebs55 in reply to Batty1]

Thanks , mine is a patch and has to be put on for 4 days at a time changed twice a week so I just took thyroid meds as usual , I don't think they suited me as iv stopped using them and no symptoms since

[MaisieGray]

They all sound like you've had a reaction to the patches - have you checked the PIL for the side effects of whichever particular patch you're using?

[Jodiedebs55 in reply to MaisieGray]

I did read that it effects the absorption of thyroid meds but I was hoping to get my bloods next week as I'm due a check as iv been on T4 and T3 now for 10 weeks so I'm keen to find out how or if they differ from when I was on armour, will be interested to see the results I was feeling almost normal again and maintaining my vit and supplements I was doing so well

[MaisieGray in reply to Jodiedebs55]

A quick read of the PIL that came with your patches will show if your symptoms correlate with the possible side effects that can occur.

In the quote that greygoose posted, referred to above, it states that there 'may' be an indirect impact on thyroid hormones, which if I remember what it said, is that there may be an increase in thyroxine binding globulin ie the protein carrier to which T4 is bound. If this happened there would be a reduction in unbound ie 'free' T4. Therefore FT4 levels should be monitored; but not that it would definitely be a problem nor to the degree that meds would have to be adjusted. It is definitely a 'may' not a 'will'; but in any case, that process of reducing FT4 levels is unlikely to have any noticeable effect in 4 days, nor to the degree you experienced, I would have thought.

[Jodiedebs55 in reply to MaisieGray]

Yes I agree it seems strange as it was only 4 days in and yes I read all that in the leaflet and was expecting some feeling of maybe nausea at best but not to the extent I experienced now I'm wondering is it something unrelated to the patches ? I will hold off wearing one until iv seen gp the symptoms have not returned since I took the patch off , appreciate your reply thankyou so much

[jamesal0]

Hi Jodi. I am a 52y old male and take TRT (Testosterone Replace Therapy) and NDT. TRT made a huge difference to the amount on NDT I could process and the amount of extra thyroid I could take each day. I imagine you will have to re-tune your Thyroid mix a little after starting HRT. Just experiment a little, add or remove 10-15 percent of the T4 for a few days and see if you feel better. Or cut the HRT patches in halves or quarters and start on a smaller dose. Go go up/down for a week, feel better, go up/down more etc. But But and it's a big but, make sure you only do one thing at a time or you will get lost . When I get lost I always try and go back to the last thing that worked although my body doesn't always co-operate.

Without Testosterone I can just tolerate 60mg NDT per day but with it I can do 180mg. These hormones all interact with each other and you have to work out from symptoms and side effects the best mix for yourself. The GP can not do this for you, they can only put you in the ball park and then you have to do the fine tune. You can cut pills in half or pull capsules apart, you can take an extra bit every 3rd day, there is many ways of tweeking the dose. T4 is a long acting drug, (GPs experiment on their patients over about 40 days) . Good luck

J

[Jodiedebs55 in reply to jamesal0]

Wow thankyou so much for this information I was actually thinking of starting my patch again tomorrow as I found out my episode last week was related to anxiety attacks and not a heart condition as first thought , I panicked and thought it was the patches but obviously not , I'm nervous of the effect it will have on my thyroid meds I'm having my thyroid bloods done next Thursday im currently on 75mcg T4 and 12mcg T3 I self medicate as gp refuses to scribe T3 , so you think I may need to increase T4 ? This is my problem i won't have a clue what to increase or decrease ,

[Angelic69]

healthline.com/health/menop...

[Angelic69]

Ive read that high Tsh can signify low estrogen.

[Jodiedebs55 in reply to Angelic69]

Thankyou il check out that link I don't know what levels my estrogen is at as I was prescribed HRT Evorel conti patches for menopause