I occasionally see posts from people who have increased medication and their bloods are reading as if they are overmedicated however they still feel like they are undermedicated because they have not had a reduction in fatigue and concentration (brainfog) symptoms. I just wanted to throw this in here so that people who are newer to adjusting their medication can realise that sometimes overmedication can manifest in the same symptoms they had when they were undermedicated so just because you are still fatigued or your brain fog is back it does not nessecarrily mean you need another increase. Sometimes a decrease works just as well. i hope this helps anyone who is struggling or confused regarding overmedication
Signs and symptoms of overmedication can vary, but some common ones include:
Elevated pulse and blood pressure
Anxiety, nervous energy, tremors
Feeling irritable, overemotional, erratic, or depressed
Difficulty concentrating
Difficulty sleeping
Fatigue
Feeling overheated, even when others are cold
Diarrhea
Feeling like your heart is skipping a beat or racing
Weight loss with no change in your diet/exercise routine
Increase in food intake with no weight gain
In some cases, symptoms of being overmedicated can, paradoxically, be similar to those when you are hypothyroid. You may feel more exhausted than usual, or achy and as if you have the flu; you may put on weight, despite feeling jittery and anxious.
In fact, it's not unheard of for a person to go to the doctor to get tested, certain that they require an increased dosage, only to discover that the symptoms they're experiencing are actually due to overmedication.
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Barbara S. Lougheed (author of "Tired Thyroid") says the same thing - that she has displayed several identical symptoms when being either under- and overmedicated, and that only two symptoms are consistently indicative of hypothyroidism: feeling cold (low body temp) and constipation.
Yess agreed. I think that it's all too common for the constant fatigue and tirdness to be put down to undermedication when the blood results say different.
Would you not class symptoms of depression and anxiety as low mood? Because I most certainly would. Anxiety is one of the most common symptoms of over overmedication. And I am speaking from personal experience of overmedication myself. But the great thing about life is we can agree to disagree.
People who are very hypo can get severe anxiety, as well. That is one of the first signs for me that I'm under-medicated. And I have been both under and over, during my long journey of experimentation and trial and error. So many symptoms can be both hypo/under-medicated and hyper/over-medicated that it is difficult to just go by symptoms unless you know your body very, very well. It's always best to have blood tests as back up. And, this is said on here over and over again.
greygoose thats exactly the point I was making in the post. Peoples bloods show overmedication but they think they need an increase because they are having "hypo" symptoms but overmedication can mimic those symptoms so going by the blood results and not always how you feel is a better option.
Minimol FT3 is important, but it's not the only piece of information that is relevant. How would you spot a possible case of central hypothyroidism for instance, if you didn't have the corresponding TSH result; or conversion problem if you didn't also have the FT4 result too?
Of course you’re right Maisie what I really mean is that for medics to perpetually avoid testing T3 just because T4 and/or the sacred TSH are ok is not enough
Yes, I know what point you were making. But you also said that anxiety was a hyper symptom. The mistake here is thinking of symptoms as being strictly hypo or hyper. Which is what doctors do, so patients tend to do it, too.
I was replying to the statement that low mood was only present in hypo made by another poster. I was stating that it can also be caused in cases of overmedication as in overmedication can mimic undermedication with similar symptoms but I never said it was not experienced in hypo symptoms.
Karenk13 I agree many symptoms can be indicative of both over- and under-medication, and say so quite often but I sense it is ignored lol, because members continue to describe being confused that they are experiencing "some hypo symptoms and some hyper symptoms at the same time". As you describe in your post, I also agree with you that being over-medicated can manifest itself seemingly as being under-medicated. But rather than suggest going by test results and not always by how we feel, I think it should always be both - but that requires time and application to carry out astute and intelligent mining down of all the underpinning facts, which we know is unlikely to happen when interacting with Drs. But it could, and should ideally happen here.
MaisieGray oh yeh totally agree and yes thats one of the reasons why I posted it because I also see you stating similar to this and it being ignored or dimissed. At least you get the intent behind my post thanks
I recall the only "good" GP at my practice, (who consequently you can never get to see, of course, and if you do, he always runs 2 hours behind ....) telling me a few years ago, that being overweight can also be the result of being over-medicated. I didn't want to hear it then of course because those were the days when you could assert that a Dr would have to prise your Levo from your dead closed hands before they took it from you, and get away with it
Yes I have much worse anxiety when hypo, I get panic attacks. When I’ve been over medicated before I generally feel jittery and fidgety and hostile. It’s different for each person
In my experience low mood or depression is only a hypo symptom, not to be confused with anxiety which can be a symptom of both hypo and hyper and over medication can only be determined by an FT3 test. But that’s just my opinion based on having been extremes of both hyper and hypo
My one known experience of overmedication (at the hands of a doctor) meant I was feeling fantastic! Lost weight, felt energised, no low feelings at all.
Under medicated - as now, but endo still insisting I am over! and depressed! - I have constipation, low pulse, slightest exertion leaving my forehead and hair wet with sweat, missing outer eyebrows, hair thinning/loss, emotional I admit, but mainly frustrated at losing my quality of life based on a paper figure when symptoms show much more!
I most certainly am NOT depressed, and even if he thought I was, surely an Endo should be referring me to a suitably trained professional and not throwing anti-depressants at me!? Oh, and he’s a diabetes specialist too!
Yes my blood results have shown high in range, TSH flatlined, but I felt happy, healthy and capable. Not buzzing, not flying, and no eye bulging. Surely after 58 years you’d think I’d know ‘me’ better than a doctor of 12 months acquaintance?
There’s a lot more to the story but for me the effects of overmedication don’t mimic undermedication.
Hi and yes, by their results on 250mcg with 28 for T4 I was over medicated. Never mind T3 because they don’t test that, or if they do they don’t tell you, but as I have felt healthy (ie lost weight when I chose to!) and had my eyebrows and a full head of hair for many years I’ve been quite happy with my lot on that dose.
Sadly in 2012 my life was blighted by arrogance and ignorance and in 2014 I suffered a fall from which I still suffer today. I sent a picture of my facial and leg injuries to the Endo at the time and he in turn told my GP that “...she thinks she has a problem...”! At that point my meds had been reduced to 150mcg.
Overseas at that time I had the good sense to seek help and restore my health. (Now retired and in UK.)
Unfortunately my current UK Endo has reached the end of his checklist and so all he can throw at me is antidepressants!
Couldn’t agree with you more Zippy! I’ve had a similar journey and am exasperated with medics saying things like the thyroid is a great mimic and all symptoms can be attributed to something other than hypothyroidism. Defies logic to be looking elsewhere for several different problems when they’re all on the same symptom list for an under active thyroid.
Indeed, Minimol ! I’ve recently had my GP tell me I’ve had spinal stenosis from birth (!) which accounts for the times I have fallen from childhood to 2014 (last bad fall)! Idiot! Why then has increasing my meds resolved the issue over the years? It’s done B-all for my stenosis! 😂 That has come about as I have spent 28 years looking after my disabled daughter and is ‘wear and tear’ on my body.
I think it’s necessary to take into account all symptoms and make decisions based on the balance of probability. To start with you might rely on a published list of symptoms occurring with elevated and depressed levels of hormone but with further experience of your personal response to over or under treatment a more personalised list can be arrived at. Hypo and hyper symptoms often do appear at the same time because different body systems respond at different rates.
Exactly right - I was losing my hair - unable to summon up the energy to go and have a shower - sweating you name it I had it - then realised it was over medication.
Thanks Karenk13, I tend to ignore the fact that I'm usually over medicated according to the blood results. However the reality is - I think over medication causes anxiety (even if I'm not actually or very worried or anxious about something).
I think over medication also triggers my IBS - even though somewhere in the back of my mind I think that having more medication onboard would help with digestion. I'm seeing the error in my thinking now.
I need to pay more attention to the blood tests and aim for balance - not rely on the thyroid medication to do more than it's supposed to (ie: 'fix' my digestion issues and make me feel good). Gosh does that make sense?
Anyhow, your post here was very helpful, so thank you.
Hi Karen. I know this is an old post but thank you for your comments and insight. It has helped me with issues I'm having over my dosage and echoes what I was thinking about symptoms of over/under medicated . I know you haven't posted in a while, hope you are well.
Hey Lulu2607 thanks so much for the comment I am super well on a dosage thats working for me 😊. Mentally I took a break from the site as it was leaning towards a very one sided point of view to dosages and always being undermedicated or needing to be in the uptmost ranges of everything even when the person was feeling ok symptom wise. I still read the posts but reserve my comments to when I can genuinely help 😉
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