I am at the end of my tether. Doctors turned their backs on me 3 weeks ago - all I had left to cling to, to try to find out what was wrong was an ECG at the surgery (sinus aryythmia but "no reason to worry") and a 24 hour ECG completed last week. No idea what has caused the aryythmia or the jittering and chronic anxiety and now depression. Can't take any antidepressants cos they are ALL a risk to my ocular problem and could cause glaucoma (the doctors did not believe me even though Out of hours Doctor told me to stop them - apparently they could not see my notes from there as were "private"?? Which I think is a lie). Mental health services are not going to stop the sore throat, ear pain, ribs pain, back pain and things are too busy for more appointments. I was denied to be seen by Endo, (my "blood tests were enough"), an ENT referral, but when for?? They just don't care. I try to carry on but I am SO weak. Even cleaning leaves me short of breath and seem to have developed allergies to products and short of breath. My inhalers are useless and are they making my throat worse? I just have no idea what to do no more. My husband is trying to help but all I do is cry or get angry.
How much damage has Omeprazole and Doxycycline ... - Thyroid UK
How much damage has Omeprazole and Doxycycline done to me?
Can you remind us (helps to put this on your profile)
Exactly how much Levothyroxine you are taking
How long at this dose
What brand of Levothyroxine?
Test results before starting on Levothyroxine
What vitamin levels
Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after each dose increase
For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies
Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .
Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)
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
Thank you - sadly just cannot afford private testing as very short of money.
i know I have been on here for months but I am scared of going to the doctors since 3 weeks ago when she SHRUGGED at me and said Endo refused to see me.
Exactly how much Levothyroxine you are taking
: 100 mg a day
How long at this dose
: About 10 years
What brand of Levothyroxine?
: Northstar
Test results before starting on Levothyroxine
: no idea as had it 11 years now.
What vitamin levels: no idea - had recently changed to a-z vitamin but seen no benefit.
I am sorry I cannot give you more information - they refuse to do other tests. I want them to do vitamin and hormone ones but they would lie that these were dealt with in Complete Blood Counts and "normal". All the tests done are bloody normal. Yet I am getting worse. I know at the moment, things ARE stressful, been a lot of events (and felt rotten at all of them) and Xmas coming up is always stressful for me, but other years I have felt fine and coped.
I cannot see why I suddenly have this awful stress, anger and anxiety but the fact is Doctors have had 8 months to help me and done sod all. A few scans (how have I got gallstones when I have lost half a stone with no effort this year?). ENT once. One XRay. I am sorry I am so angry - this is why I don;t want to live anymore. Yet the only things doctors offer are bloody mental health services (which would be 4 sessions, pointless, and no time to showhorn other appointments in now), or pills I cannot have. SSRIs and SNRIs are no good for people with ocular risks, it says so on EVERY site I have read, and ALL the antidepressants are the same.
Hi DeeFish,
I’m just wondering if you followed up on any of suggestions from your last post? I know you worried about asking GP for further tests, but it’s worth paying privately for these. I use Medichecks for thyroid and vitamins- tests are often discounted on Thursdays.
Just to reiterate , I too had heart and eye issues and only started to feel some improvement when both my thyroid and vitamin levels became more optimal- that’s why I’ve recommended to you before to test these. I, like so many others here, feel empowered by taking responsibility for own tests and seeing advice from forum members re results.
I wanted to but a whole lot of stuff broke that needed replacing at home and with Xmas on the horizon, we have no money. Maybe in the new year when saved up a bit. I don;t want people on here to think I ignore the advice given. If things were not so expensive and I had a job, but we are one my husband's wages only and that goes on rent, bills, food etc and we have never a lot to spare. I have a few savings which i have to keep for people's Xmas and birthday gifts, so cannot touch those. Iknow it sounds like weak excuses but it's so hard to explain
I understand that self testing is costly. Keep your eye on offers from blue Horizon & Medichecks as they both discount, which can save a lot of money.
Re mental health- I saw a psychologist, who helped with anxiety issues- especially mindfulness and CBT practices. Have you tried this route? It is available on the NHS. It’s not a quick fix, but does pay off. For me, Following a mindfulness app by Mark Williams (costs less than £5) has helped- I have it on my phone, so can use it anywhere!
Glad you have found some way of help but counsellors do nothing for me. I have had them before. I have no idea what is causing the anxiety - it's something reacting bad in my body and not converting right. And it has been worse since that damned virus which they never worked out what it actually was after the chest infection had gone. They have had 8 months to help me and everything has come back so called normal which I do not believe, when the last thyroid one 6 weeks ago came back just satisfactory. I try to take on jobs each day from what the last counsellor told me to do = a couple of jobs, then a sit down/admin type job, and then a rest (which i try to do by checking my facebook feed) but i lose a lot of time to writing, crying and googling stuff, and then breaks get abandoned as so behind time.
I know mindfulness isn’t for everyone, but it really has helped me. There are loads of free apps to try, so do give it a go.
I’ve spent too long googling sites re health issues and sending myself into a downward spiral. Id recommend reading/ borrowing some positive books eg ‘the kindness method’ & try to focus on the things that make you happiest. Our mental health is just as important as our physical well being.
i try to do things I enjoy but am getting less pleasure out of them. Going out to concerts, leaves me short of breath and terrible back pains. I listen to so much music I love but a lot of time it washes over me or depresses me as it reminds me of when I was young and healthy and why can't I be like this again? I wish Doctors would look into WHY this anger and anxiety, exhaustion and pain from my sinuses down to my stomach is happening and connect it to meds I have taken the last 8 months. Why have I gallstones? Why the weight loss? I try to exercise but I am so slow and in pain and that frustrates me. I feel if I enjoy myself I get payback for it. My friend has died of cancer a week or so ago and another friend has terminal cancer I found out a week later after my friend died.
What kind of diet do you eat?
Pretty varied - low fat wherever possible, not so much veg as I hate it but eat fruit and drink lots of water. Do like my coffee but only have 3 cups a day and a decaff one in the evening. I like my dairy as well. Do not have much alcohol - about 6 pints of lager a month (we only go out twice a month and have 3 each time max).
Did you know that your brain is composed of roughly 60% fat? Eating low fat, despite what we've all been told for years, is not actually good for you at all. It often chokes up your gallbladder and fills it with gallstones. It increases your risk for getting depressed and anxious. It increases your risk of becoming diabetic. It's bad for your gut and increases the risk of heartburn. It increases the risk of gout, dementia, high blood pressure.
If you were to follow a Low Carb High Fat diet, it may take a couple of weeks to get over the initial adjustment period, but you would feel a lot better after you had become adapted to the diet, not just physically but mentally as well.
You should take a look around the following website :
Read some of the success stories :
dietdoctor.com/low-carb/suc...
Check out the health benefits for various problems :
I'm following this diet as well as I can, although I'm a carb addict who frequently struggles. But I'm seeing enough benefits that I consider it to be well worth it and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to try and improve their health.
A lot of people think a Low Carb High Fat diet is expensive. I've found that my food shopping is cheaper than it was.
Going to be hard as I love carbs. Eat a lot of pasta which I love, but do have a bit of fatty food like pizza and chips. But weight has been falling off me and no idea why. I love my chocolate as well but try to leave a big bar for weekends x Broken down crying so much today - i look at old photos of me and husband and we were so happy. Now we argue and I hate what this illness has done. I still blame (as per my original post) the antibiotics and those evil omeprazole.
If you've got weight falling off you it suggests something else might be going on other than thyroid problems. I know some people do lose weight when they are hypothyroid but it isn't that common. I hope you get to the bottom of your problems. You could give the diet a try. It wouldn't do any harm. I wouldn't go mad though - stick to low carb rather than a ketogenic diet, which is very low carb.
Thank you. Will see what the ECG results are and I dread them. Something has caused all this but they never look at the whole story. If they dont know why not send me to a specialist or 2?
Human bean is absolutely right. I was loosing my hair with Hasimoto’s thyroiditis until I started on Paleo diet. The high protein high ( good fats) made a huge difference. My immune system was thrashed because of antibiotics. You didn’t say why you needed to take them. Antibiotics have done more harm than good for some of us “ older women” your hormones get out of balance and eventually your immune system is fighting everything and thinks you are allergic to practically everything. I broke out in hives every time I ate carbs (especially with sugar) and my arthritis was really bad, I was depressed to the point I wanted to shoot myself but instead, I went to church and found a lovely group of ladies . Then I got some really good advice. It came from this website as well as a few others who were suffering with similar issues. I live in the states and our healthcare is a bit better than what I’ve read from your webpage but regardless, we can all learn from each other. We are very much into vitamin supplements and I found probiotics to be the best thing I’ve ever purchased. When your tummy and intestines are pushing all that food through, YOU WILL FEEL A LOT BETTER! Guaranteed!!! There are drugs that will depress you also . For me it was gabapentian ( not sure if you guys have this drug but it’s a bad one and is widely prescribed for nerve pain) turmeric and cinnamon work just as well if not better and won’t depress your nervous system. Also hops if you can buy it there. It will help you sleep as well. Alcohol is your enemy when you are in pain. It makes everything worse. So, hopefully this helps. For thyroid I take armour thyroid , as synthetic levothyroxine makes my joints and muscles hurt. Keep asking questions. We’re here for you, GOD BLESS
Thank you for your kind words. I was on Clarithyromicine at the start of April for one week for a chest infection (that is a standard antibiotic given). Normally these clear it, but it didn't. 2 weeks later went back and was given Doxycycline. I took the pills correctly (not laying down and having with pint of water), but these are where my problems started. The infection went but had a knock on effect on illness after illness and now my mental health in the last 2 months. In this 8 months, I have developed gallstones (whichis being ignored as the doctor says they arent a problem), constacondritis, pleurisy, (which are still playing me up) and never being fully diagnosed with anything. They gave me omeprazole to calm my anxiety and that has made it worse, Thought I had silent reflux (ENT did not agree), glandular fever (blood tests never showed it by Doctor said I could still have it), and other ailments. I just want to be better and improve.
Dee, NHS will never look at your "whole story". To do that you need a functional medicine practitioner. Your traditional tests come back "normal". You can fight NHS and get even more frustrated and angry or you can take responsibility for your own health and start as suggested with diet, detox etc. Educate yourself.
Have a look at this book: Gut and Psychology Syndrome: Natural Treatment for Autism, Dyspraxia, A.D.D., Dyslexia, A.D.H.D., Depression, Schizophrenia - lots of mental conditions are connected to gut disbalance.
As you feel very weak, it could be caused by a range of conditions: Vit B12 deficiency, Estrogen deficiency, Celiac, Gluten intolerance, Lactose Intolerance etc.
Try to exclude all dairy for 1 week and see how you feel. Then exclude Gluten for 1-2 weeks and see how you feel - and so on.
In any case, my point is: you have to do something and stop waiting for a magic pill. There is none.
I am not asking them to look back on my whole life history - just these last 8 months. My point being, if you see another doctor who not seen before, they want to know how it started and then you waste 10 mins of the appointment telling them and then time's up.
Ask for a longer appointment with GP - and by ask I mean get it.
It's obvious that drugs and antibiotics you took caused damage to your body. But you cannot fix that damage with more pills.
My surgery dont just give timed appointments - and the one I had been seeing does have me in there longer than I should be, but other ones who don't know me hardly spend any time, and once they know I am anxious/depressed, they just switch off to the rest of the stuff I write on a list to ask. I wish it was just one thing to go for, but there is so much affecting me, and mentally too. They just will not accept that the meds this year have caused the anxiety. I was not too bad before this cold/infection started in March. I have had celiac tests and all normal. My doctors is like a lottery - you can get one or 2 nice receptionists, but some are awkward and it's hard to get appointments, as always have to call first thing to get in, and I wish I could get appointments in advance.
Again, as you are anxious and/or depressed, have a look at the book I recommended: Gut and Psychology Syndrome: Natural Treatment for Autism, Dyspraxia, A.D.D., Dyslexia, A.D.H.D., Depression, Schizophrenia.
Anxiety and Depression have biochemical cause, it's not something in your head.
Regarding "normal" tests results - from what you said so far, all or majority of your tests are "normal". But you feel sick, not "normal", correct?
I have had celiac tests and all normal.
I had tests for coeliac disease in 2010. I was told everything was negative. As a result I didn't change my diet.
Five years later I had read over and over again that going gluten-free helped lots of people with thyroid problems. So I (very reluctantly) bit the bullet and went 100% gluten-free. It was extremely hard for the first few days. People can get withdrawal symptoms from giving up gluten. But I persevered and on day five it was almost like the sun came out. One of my mood problems before I went gluten-free was a horrific temper that scared even me. It's gone, and it has never come back. My anxiety disappeared, rarely to be seen again. My depression also reduced.
For a long time I resented having to go gluten-free, but I've never regretted it.
Just remember it isn't a life sentence to give up gluten. If you try it for, say, three months, and you get no benefits then you could go back to eating it if you want to.
From my own recent experience, I suspected hypo (which I still might be) - had low energy, fatigue, joint pain, brain fog - not to mention brittle hair and nails.
My blood tests were confusing, but, on a separate topic, I insisted on HRT, and even though what I got is just a basic HRT with very lose dose, it made a huge difference practically overnight: my brain started to work again, I am full of energy, have better sleep, my body aching is gone. My hair looks great, my nails are much better. And that's without taking any thyroid hormones.
I wonder if that's what I should have - I am not quite at the menopause yet but around the right age. Want my hormone levels checked (my periods apart from one really odd one in April which lasted a month with 2 weeks of that being stuck inside me and not flowing out are pretty regular), and my mood swings are awful and so angry, crying a lot, numb, then happy - they switch about 20 times a day.
I can guess your hormones will be "normal" again - as they measure "normal" range against your age group, and it's "normal" for estrogen and progesterone to decline with age. I didn't do any tests - just based on my symptoms I insisted on HRT and got Vagifem. You can clearly ask based on your symptoms - ideally you should get both estrogen and progesterone - however, it's easy to buy good quality bio-identical progesterone online.
Low fat is not good idea when hypo
Changing diet to full fat milk, butter, full fat yoghurt, grass feed meat, olive oil, coconut oil etc and cutting out gluten can all bring astonishing improvement
New Diabetic diet is now low carb, high fat and plenty of protein
This frequently is what we need when hypothyroid too
Strictly gluten free diet helps thousands ...you won't know unless you try it
Like humanbean i found joining here ....that gluten intolerance was mentioned every day .......despe two negative coeliac blood test results, twenty years apart.......endoscopy revealed extremely gluten intolerant
More on my profile
Important to get actual results and ranges on all blood tests
To see exactly what tests have been done and equally important what hasn't been tested yet
You are legally entitled to printed copies of your blood test results and ranges.
Best way to get access to all blood tests, recent and more historical is to get registered for online access to your medical record and blood test results
All UK GP practices are supposed to offer online access for blood test results. Ring and ask if this is available and apply to do so if possible, if it is you may need "enhanced access" to see blood results.
In reality many GP surgeries do not have blood test results online yet
Alternatively ring receptionist and request printed copies of results. Allow couple of days and then go and pick up.
Come back with new post once you get some results
That is a very good idea. I should have thought of that. My husband says I’m a witch when I don’t use an estrogen patch. It definitely helps with panic attacks and PMS during peri-menopause
Won’t your GP test your thyroid levels? It’s possible your hyper now and cause for some of your issues like breathlessness although this can also be a hypo symptom.
It just seems odd you have been on 100mg for 11 yrs without a thyroid test or did I misread about your thyroid test?
I do have regular tests - last one about 2 months ago, and it was once more passed as "normal" even though I thought the TSH at 0.26 was too high. I say about hashimotos to the doctor and it's like she does not hear me. Too obsessed with trying to put me on antidepressants.
Your TSH may fall into the normal range but that doesn’t mean that your body likes that TSH spot for you. I also take Prilosec stomach pill but I take it many hours away from my thyroid meds as well as any vitamin.
I hope you get answers because it stinks to feel like garbage everyday.
Your doctor probably doesn’t know about Hasimotos. They almost have to be trained in endocrinology to comprehend what it does to your thyroid gland. It’s called Hasimotos Thyroiditis, which means it’s an inflamed thyroid gland. Autoimmune disease. Your body ( probably because of the antibiotics, is attacking your thyroid gland.
i told her that - and she IGNORED ME. I was so hoping for 3 weeks that I would get that referral to Endocronology and she deflated me by saying they didnt want to see me "as my blood tests were normal". They hate it when you research stuff and i have had a feeling I am hashi or Ord's thyroid. Once more, it's left. I wish I could go to another Doctor but I can't.
Hi,
So sorry to hear how you're suffering, your story sounds similar to mine. Proton pump inhibitors like lanzoprazole and omoprazole deplete magnesium stores in the body. Unfortunately serum results don't reflect that as a negative feedback response maintains serum levels at the cost of all organs and soft tissue. Eventually calcium levels fall as well. Medichecks do a red cell magnesium test which is more accurate. (They have 15% off their test prices today.)
It's worth getting a serum test alongside a 24hr urine test for magnesium and calcium just to find out what's happening to your biochemistry. If your calcium is low you need to ask then for a test for your parathyroid as magnesium depletion can affect the function of these glands causing a drop in calcium. Whatever you do, don't start any supplements before you get the tests done. If you decide to get the tests done, PM me and I can tell you what to do next. It's important to get magnesium stabilised before dealing with the thyroid issues as it's easier to correct whilst still hypo, in any case some of the symptoms mimic underactive thyroid. I do hope you manage to get this sorted.
Best wishes xx
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