Overmedication - skip dose or just reduce & wait? - Thyroid UK

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Overmedication - skip dose or just reduce & wait?

29 Replies

Hey there,

My ft3 was already quite high recently , but I still have decided to increase and now I'm suffering from palpitations, overheating, sweats, dizziness, stiff neck, hunger pangs, insomnia - the usual over stuff :)

Is the best practice just riding it out while reducing to the previous dose or do people recommend skipping the dose or two? It's the t3, my t4 stays where it is, which is mid-range.

Thank you so much as always,

Rita

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29 Replies
Lalatoot profile image
Lalatoot

When this happened to me I decreased T3 by 5mcg and then rode it out. Took 4 days.

sorry you are not so good today.

BUT you are so much better than you were....good times are just around the corner again. x

in reply to Lalatoot

Hey Lala, hope you're good today and thank you for responding :)

Thanks so much! I have reduced by 2.5, will bite my teeth and wait it out then.

I was just too greedy :) I was adding and adding endlessly without an effect and boom!!! I'm getting bloods done on Fri too, so I'll see where I am in general.

I am, indeed! Thank you for reminding me :)

Lalatoot profile image
Lalatoot in reply to

See if the doctor will give you a dose of patience! It is easy to keep upping - but the risk is that you miss the correct dose because things take time to settle and by that time you have increased again.

in reply to Lalatoot

He wanted me to go to 30 mcg t3 the other week, so I would have been in a hospital with toxicosis 😂 I still have upped slowly enough, 2.5 t3 every two weeks when I was on 10 t3 and got up to 17.5 checked bloods and thought let's see what happens . 20 t3 and now I'm feeling so weird. It will pass. Do you have any recollection when a dose kicks in for you more less?

Lalatoot profile image
Lalatoot in reply to

No can't help with when a dose kicks in as I am upping my levo to get it to a decent level and had to cut back my 20mcg T3 to 15mcg when the levo increase took effect.

Endos don't have a clue. My FT4 was only 60% through the range but she still cut my levo by 50mcg when we added T3. I am on 75mcg now and bloods next Thursday. Really think I need to be back on 100mcg.

We'll get to run that marathon in our high heeled boots yet.......

in reply to Lalatoot

I see, it is quite individual as well. I underestimated it, I thought it was a couple of weeks and that's it. I'd say it will take months to get back once levels stable.

Oh dear, by 50?? I mean I cut mine, can't have it above 70%. But that's a big drop...

To be honest it seems like it happens to a lot of people . This is one of my options too, possibly adding more Levo if symptoms linger.

Are you feeling better with Levo increases then?

I hope so Lala, I hope so :)

I'm 35, so I'm looking forward to feel like a 35 year old lol

Lalatoot profile image
Lalatoot in reply to

I'm 63 so looking forward to feeling 35 too! Just to be realsitic there is one lady on here who says it took 2 years of slight changes to find her best doses.

Again it is that P for patience word.

Yes I do feel better with the levo increase but like you symptoms linger and it is them you tend to focus on rather than the major ones that have long gone.

in reply to Lalatoot

We will be both 35 soon :)

I see, well, I have started adding t3 last May.

Have no patience 😂 today is day two in bed majorly, palpitations, can't stop eating, headache. The closest to ideal I felt on a slightly higher dose of Levo, somewhere between 112 and 125, but is that even possible? Maybe I need to alternate!

Of course, that's very true. X

in reply to Lalatoot

It's a bit better today Lala, I'll keep that going, bloods tomorrow. Hope you're well xxx

Lalatoot profile image
Lalatoot in reply to

Been thinking about you! I am knackered now as I went out this morning in the lovely sun and then did some shopping. But it is good to get out.

Keep going ...we'll get there!

in reply to Lalatoot

Oh good woman! It's sunny here in Dublin too today , I'll go for a walk. You did so well. And let's keep getting out of the house! We are already almost there x

Lalatoot profile image
Lalatoot in reply to

Its great to have these boosts from you! Keeps me going. I bought some wool material in a sale when I was out so am sitting looking for a coat pattern. Didn't know I could sew until I found myself stuck at home and not able to do much.

I try to go out every day. When it is warmer I will start gardening.

Enjoy the Dublin sun.

in reply to Lalatoot

And you will be getting more, we need to support each other, because we are doing our best! I'm feeling very positive today, it's great to appreciate many little things in life as we know how it is to be stuck at home and unwell.

That's a great and creative idea, I admire these skills, my mam is good at it, I'm the baker in the family.

Soon it will be warm and you could start, great for the mind I'm being told. I'm thinking of attending a bonsai workshop to learn how to trim our bonsai :)

You too Lala, enjoy xxx

in reply to Lalatoot

Hey Lala, how are you doing? I have a question...I've reduced my dose on Tuesday this week from 20 to 17.5, I felt overmedicated. Today, day 5, I am very dizzy, freezing cold, anxious. Did you have something like that when you lowered by 5? I have no idea what's happening...I start to doubt if I were overmedicated...my ft3 is somewhere between 60-70% on 17.5. so weird?

Lalatoot profile image
Lalatoot in reply to

I had 4 days of feeling hot, nose bleeds and sleepless nights when I reduced and after that I was okay.

The problem is that undermedicated and over medicated can feel the same so it is difficult to judge.

Once you have made a change though you need to quickly decide if it was right for you or not and then stick with it for 6 weeks.

So are you going back to 20mcg or are you going to stick with the reduced dose?

I

in reply to Lalatoot

Oh my goodness, nose bleeds? I had higher pulse, but actually now the pulse is also a bit higher, just very cold and spaced out. Doesn't make sense to me at all.

It's very hard to know, I really have no idea.

Edit: I have reduced by dose by another 2.5 mcg of t3, possibly 2.5 mcg t3 6 days ago wasn't enough. I will hold it for 6 weeks.

Lalatoot , fingers crossed! :) Sunny day here today, going to the farmers market to get some groceries

Lora7again profile image
Lora7again

Can you afford to buy NDT? Some of us find it suits us better than artificial drugs .. pigs are the most similar to us did you know that? I found that Thyroid S suited me better than Levothyroxine which is full of fillers like a lot pharmaceutical drugs. Just my opinion and I am not medically trained.

science.org.au/curious/peop...

in reply to Lora7again

Hey Lora, I was on ndt for years, ratios don't suit me unfotunately, it seems I need a bit higher t4, and less t3 so I'm on combi now and it's much better, thank you though x my Levo is the cleanest possible, it's a brand from Germany, I take with German thybon. Quality -wise they are very good x

Murphysmum profile image
Murphysmum in reply to

Hidden and Lalatoot

I have nothing to add to this thread but to say if you've read (and I know you both have at som point) any of my posts, you know I'm in exactly the same boat.

it feels like you're nearly there but yet so very far away sometimes!

Hugs... we'll all get there eventually x

Lalatoot profile image
Lalatoot in reply to Murphysmum

As I said to ritatita we tend to focus on the symptoms we still have rather than thinking about how many symptoms we no longer have.

Murphysmum profile image
Murphysmum in reply to Lalatoot

so true. I was telling someone else this the other day. you forget what normal is.

I had put in my "resume" that I did feel significantly better now than I did. And thats true. But I feel now like I'm fine tweaking.

It is a long slow process but yes, we have to remind ourselves how far we've come

in reply to Murphysmum

This is why it's great to have your support and others to remind yourself that you have gotten so far!

I feel the same re tweaking. It seems like now it might be coming down to little tweaks. At least I know - my t3 dose is somewhere between 12.5-17.5 t3, most likely near middle, t4 is somewhere between 112 and 125. Still loads of combinations and waiting, but hey :)

in reply to Lalatoot

Correct! I really recommend making a list, this is what I have done the other day thanks to you Lala x

in reply to Murphysmum

Totally, it feels like a slap on the face, but in all fairness, my ft3 was top range with 17.5, what was I doing taking 20 :) it's done now, and now recovering from it.

Hugs Murphysmum xxx we will get there. But it's interesting that I have found my limit lol I thought I was able to increase t3 with no ill effects endlessly x

Murphysmum profile image
Murphysmum in reply to

I did the same a few months ago.. I fact I probably posted on her about it!

I felt horrible, my resting heart rate was up and I felt anxious and awful. It took a couple of days to return to normal but it spurred me into reducing my dose and seeing if i'd overshot my sweet spot. I now believe I did and my symptoms have improved again.

Its all trial and error isn't it?

I just hope my endo thinks the same!

Hope you feel better soon

in reply to Murphysmum

I think you might have, I did read almost all your posts lol it's a great way to learn :)

Yes, same my pulse went up to 90 at some point, was breathless, and almost felt worse when I reduced the dose itself! I mean, will I ever learn, I have overmedicated myself a good few times now because of my impatience, where is my Zen master 😂

How are you feeling on that reduced dose now? Is this what you referring too?

It is trail and error all the blo*dy time :) I'll get my endo to call your endo if he thinks otherwise! So hope he behaves :)

Thank you, it's really much, much better today. I also slept for about 10+ hours, was so tired, well, Xanax helped, I got it from my doc in case of overdose

Murphysmum profile image
Murphysmum in reply to

You sound like you have a very good gp.

The reason for my bloods and my “resume” to my endo is my, well “a” gp threatening time remove my T3 as he doesn’t understand by his own admission what I’m doing.

My reduced dose is better. But I still have periods of crazy chest/neck/head pressure which I think is low T4. But I’ll just have to stick with it and see if it resolves. I AM NOT increasing my T3 until I’ve tried fiddling with my levo. I’m emphasising this for my own benefit!

As I said in my email to my endo, my gut feeling is that I need around 45-50mcg T3 and somewhere between 25-50mcg levo but I suspect the lower end of that.

Yes, months of “tweaking” lie ahead but onwards and upwards...

Murphysmum profile image
Murphysmum in reply to Murphysmum

Forgot to mention, I keep getting some crazy ectopic beats too and I’m sure that’s because of the lower T3 but I’ll just bide my time with that and see if it improves with better T4 levels 👍🏻

in reply to Murphysmum

Brilliant, so happy to hear.

These pressure feelings, I have them too, they happen to me when I change doses, also when my dose it too high.

Yes that the spirit, try to see where you can get your levo up to.

Ectopics - I think I had them at lower doses and Levo only.

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