Took 20mg carb a week and started Block and Replace 40mg carb+75mcg Levothyroxine.
I have a week of B&R treatment and i think Levothyroxine gives me a cough so i would like to experiment 2 days without to see if it's really Levo's fault.
Questions
●Can you stop B&R all of the sudden after a week?
●Should i take a small dose of Carbimazole in this time until i speak to my doctor next week?
I am due for blood test at the beginning of April.
(Before B&R i was on titration with Carb for 1 year)
Many thanks
Denisa
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Denisa87
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I have 75 mg teva brand and 25mg and 50mg teva brand as well.It's easier for me to take just one pill instead of 2.I also take 2 carbimazole a day..so it's too much..i will give it another try with 75mg teva and if i feel bad again, i will change the brand.
The point is it’s Teva that really upsets thousands of patients....Teva is the ONLY lactose free levothyroxine tablet ...and contains mannitol instead of lactose
Research suggests Mannitol is responsible for upsetting gut biome
If you are Lactose intolerant (and many patients on levothyroxine are) then if Teva upsets you, there’s liquid levothyroxine available...but it’s relatively expensive and usually only prescribed by endocrinologist ...
Thanks.No gut problems, no bloating, no rash...just a cough..which everyone told me is not a usual side effect from teva levothyroxine.I stoped treatment for 3 days, still coughing..so..don t really k ow.I self isolated anyway.x
I will change the brand with my next prescription.I saw that Teva has dairy in the ingredients which i don't tolerate quite well.And acacia powder which is considerate an allergen.I gave up to see if my symptoms(cough) improves and not really..so i don t think it's levothyroxine 's fault
It's a nightmare as with high doses of Carb you can have side effects as well.With Coronavirus now is very difficult to go for a blood test or appointment.Not to say i am self isolating for 7 days because of the cough.I hope is ok i've discontinued the treatment for 3 days.
Hi Denise, as far as I understand it takes a while for carbimazole to have any effect so stopping for a short time won't do much, you are better keeping to the regime the doctor gave you and waiting for the blood test. It is frustrating as you constantly have weird symptoms with this horrible condition. My doctor switched me from b&r to titration and after 18 months have been told to take nothing which I have done for 6 months and my bloods come back bang in the middle of normal. I mostly feel normal but still get some symptoms although they are mild. Hope this helps
I was on B&R for 9 months and as my blood tests were always normal the doctor asked me if I wanted to change as I would be on less drugs and if I stayed like this with titration it meant I would be taking less carbimazole which is obviously good. I had been on 40mg of carbimazole and 100 of levothyroxene. I dropped to 15 mg of carbimazole but that pushed me towards hypothyroidism so it was then dropped to 5mg every other day for 6 months. I remained euthyroid (normal) so I have now stopped all drugs, I still feel some symptoms in a minor way so we shall see. Throughout I followed the regime but I did have panics, felt symptoms and in the beginning, went up and down and did speak with my GP a lot. I think doctors have a long way to go in their understanding of thyroid conditions and it is very frustrating having to wait between blood tests but that is all we have at the moment and for the most part I do feel fairly normal now. All the best Indie
There’s little point testing thyroid levels until been on constant unchanging dose levothyroxine (and same brand of levothyroxine) for minimum of 6-8 weeks
Just testing TSH and Ft4 is completely inadequate
You will need FULL thyroid and vitamin testing
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)
If/when also on T3, make sure to take last 1/2 or 1/3rd of daily dose 8-12 hours prior to test, even if this means adjusting time or splitting of dose day before test
Is this how you do your tests?
Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies
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.He tests my tsh, ft3, ft4 and trab.I know it's not enough and i will order a blood test kit from Medichecks .Is the finger prick accurate?
I am on my first 2 weeks of block and replace.40mg carb and 75Mcg Levo.
He said that he will keep my carb at 40mg and just change Levothyroxine's dose after each blood test result.
I am.very sensitive at carbimazole as even 10mg can make my Tsh go 40.
So i hope he knows what he's doing.
Before that i was on titration, Carb alone..and not stable..with 2.5mg alternate days - hyper and 2.5 mg daily hypo..He said that because i am.not stable on titration we can give B&R a try.
I don't take any supplements or vitamins.I used to take iron because my levels were low.My doctor is not the best in checking everything but i will make sure to test myself privately.I already take 3 pills and i struggle..i can't imagine taking more pills.
Vitamin D mouth spray by Better You is very effective as it avoids poor gut function. There’s a version made that also contains vitamin K2 Mk7 ...good for strong bones
It’s trial and error what dose we need, with coeliac or gluten intolerance we frequently need higher dose than average
Government recommends everyone supplement October to April
Thank you so much for taking the time to send me and give me so much information.
I really appreciate it.I hope to find out why i have this cough and if hypo with my blood test result, to have the right dose of B&R.
It's difficult to talk to a doctor now..i am trying to talk to my endo from friday, been said by his secretary that he is busy with coronavirus emergency...
If your iron was low this suggests you perhaps never had a Graves’ disease but have Hashimoto’s
Graves’ disease patients usually have high iron/ferritin
We see many early stage Hashimoto’s patients misdiagnosed as having Graves diseases...because medics assume high Ft4 and high Ft3 is hyperthyroid ....but Hashimoto’s almost always starts with transient hyperthyroid phase
Did you get Graves’ disease confirmed by high TSI or Trab antibodies?
Hashimoto’s is confirmed by high TPO or high TG antibodies...though these can be slightly raised with Graves’ disease too
It’s also possible to have BOTH Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s at the same time .....standard treatment then is block and replace
I was first diagnosed with Hashimoto's (tpo over 300).Now in uk i've been told it's Graves.
Since 2016 with my Hashimoto i managed one year and a half of remission and in march 2019 i went to A&E with Ft4 100 a d Tsh<0.0005...So think i have both..."lucky" me
I don;t have the range...i am just looking on my old records...i found that in october my trab was <0.90...which i think is negative....i will test everything in about a week.What happens if i don't have Graves and they treat me with B&R?I mean, my levels are still showing hyper, but maybe is just Hashimoto.
Almost a year and a half.Blood test and gastroscopy.But because i gave up gluten at first(with my blood test), gastroscopy(which was one year after) showed no damage.
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On Thyroxine - 8 weeks bloods shows TSH has dropped but still feel dreadful.
