does levothyroxine cause stomach bloating

[Mishymoo22]

i have changed my diet a great deal thanks to the helpful advice and posts found on here

i have managed to lose a little of the weight i have gained but not all

i constantly have a bloated stomach despite drinking aloe juice and cutting out lots of fatty foods

it makes me really depressed and has such an impact on my clothes and well being every day

even my Hubby says that i hardly eat anything fatty or sugar laden

i would be grateful for any advice

thanks

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Previous post shows you have recently gone on strictly gluten free diet

This should help improve bloating

You need FULL Thyroid and vitamin testing 6-8 weeks after any significant change (like going Gluten free)

Joint pain and peripheral neuropathy can be mix of low vitamin D and low B vitamins

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 tested. Also important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially with Hashimoto's

It can be helpful to retest antibodies once a year......you may see TPO antibodies slowly dropping on GF diet

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

Last Levothyroxine dose should be 24 hours prior to test, (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).

Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies or all vitamins

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have special offers, Medichecks usually have offers on Thursdays, Blue Horizon its more random

[Mishymoo22 in reply to SlowDragon]

thank you for your informative response

when i stop working out of town which will be in 3 months time and life is on a more even keel i will get the blood tests done privately

thanks again

i intend to see a nutritionist and am looking for one in the birmingham area

i really want to decrease my levothyroxine as i am on 150 a day

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Mishymoo22]

Why do you think you need to reduce Levothyroxine?

TSH is often suppressed on Levothyroxine, most important results are FT3 and FT4

Guidelines on dose as minimum is 1.6mcg Levothyroxine per kilo of your weight

Essential to regularly test vitamin levels and frequently we need to supplement almost continuously to maintain optimal vitamin levels

Vitamin D at least around 80nmol and around 100nmol may be better

B12 at least over 500

Folate at least in double figures

Ferritin at least half way in range

Dr Toft, past president of the British Thyroid Association and leading endocrinologist, states in Pulse Magazine,

"The appropriate dose of levothyroxine is that which restores euthyroidism and serum TSH to the lower part of the reference range - 0.2-0.5mU/l.

In this case, free thyroxine is likely to be in the upper part of its reference range or even slightly elevated – 18-22pmol/l.

Most patients will feel well in that circumstance. But some need a higher dose of levothyroxine to suppress serum TSH and then the serum-free T4 concentration will be elevated at around 24-28pmol/l.

This 'exogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism' is not dangerous as long as serum T3 is unequivocally normal – that is, serum total around T3 1.7nmol/l (reference range 1.0-2.2nmol/l)."

You can obtain a copy of the articles from Thyroid UK email print it and highlight question 6 to show your doctor

 please email Dionne at

[e-mail]

Professor Toft recent article saying, T3 may be necessary for many otherwise we need high FT4 and suppressed TSH in order to have high enough FT3

rcpe.ac.uk/sites/default/fi...

New NHS England Liothyronine guidelines November 2018 clearly state on pages 8 & 12 that TSH should be between 0.4-1.5 when treated with just Levothyroxine

Note that it says test should be in morning BEFORE taking Levo thyroxine

Also to test vitamin D, folate, B12 and ferritin

sps.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploa...

[Mishymoo22 in reply to SlowDragon]

thank you for related articles and information. i have increased my vitamin uptake to 3 1 a day tablets but then i read on here that this is no good unless you take i think it was called K-A and that the additional vitamin D did not go towards teeth and bone but just lay in the muscle. i really want to see a nutritionist and get a balanced diet and also get my bloods tested. Again i read that it would be better to lessen levoythroxine as it goes straight into the liver and it makes the body hard to produce T4

it is all so complicated and not easy to understand as people react differently to treatments

i fall asleep all the time

i used to be so slender and active

also just have no mojo

i hate to moan and complain when other people are worse off then me. i feel with hasimotos that if i can get my diet and gut health sorted that the antibodies will go down and my thyroid will improve. thank y again for the articles and the email address so that ican obtain the reports

Mishelle

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Mishymoo22]

All I can say after finally getting well after 26 years of Hashimoto's....is only make one change at a time

Getting vitamins optimal very important and many need to be strictly gluten free

[Tginger]

I used to suffer from bloating along with diarrhoea, belching and heartburn. The GP advised I needed to find the triggering food by elimination. All my nasty symptoms disappeared once I'd gone gluten free. In your case it may be something different. For example, my husband reacts to eggs and lettuce. He found this by eliminating these foods for a week one a time to see if it makes difference to how he feels.

[Mishymoo22 in reply to Tginger]

thank you very much for your helpful response