Hello I have been treated for overactive thyroid since feb 2020 I’ve been taking 15mg of carbimazole and 2.5 mg bisoprolol fumarate daily since. Had blood test 15 may these were the results
Ft4 18.6 pmo
Tsh. 7.7 miu
Alkaline phosphatase 226 u/l
I was told on the 18th may to stop all medication and await consultant appointment
I’ve got no idea what any of this means but I feel awful palpitations are constant again and I feel terrible. I have also put on over a stone in a month.
Thank you.
Hello Linda
and welcome to the forum :
There are two main reasons why your thyroid may have become overactive.
Graves and Hashimoto's are both autoimmune thyroid diseases.
Initial symptoms maybe very similar but the treatment of each disease very different.
So, it is necessary to run a blood test to identify which antibodies you carry as proof, that the diagnosis suggested has medical backed evidence
Do you have the ranges for the afore mentioned blood test result and do you have your initial blood test results prior to going on the anti thyroid medication.
Graves tends to present with very low TSH and very high T3 and T4 blood levels and shows a positive for the TSI / TRab ( thyroid stimulating / thyroid blocking ) antibodies ?
Thank you. No I’m afraid I haven’t I was admitted to hospital with heart rate of 200 bpm at rest where I was just told I had overactive thyroid and t4 at 122. They put me on the above medication and settles the heart rate then sent me home. I saw a consultant who never really said anything only that it was over active and to keep taking the tablets. My gp ordered the blood test in may as I felt very unwell and they were the results. But now I feel even worse.
Thanks for your time.
Hey there,
OK, well you really do need to know what you are dealing with, and suggest you get back in touch with your doctor who should have been advised by the hospital as to what's going on, and can make a call to an endocrinologist and get some immediate advice
With a T4 that high it sounds like Graves but you need to know which antibodies have been confirmed as positive, and with what have you been diagnosed,
The T4 and T3 posted above are now, almost, in range and shall take the range as that normally used, namely a T3 of 3.1 - 6.80 and a T4 of 12 - 22.
So you stopped all meds as instructed 3 days after this blood test result, about 2 weeks ago, but have no confirmed endo appointment and your symptoms are now getting worse again.
If you felt relatively well on the medication I 'd suggest going back on the beta blocker and adjust down your Carbimazole to 10 or possibly 5 whilst you get an emergency appointment with your doctor.
When your thyroid became hyper your metabolism speeded up causing all the symptoms you initially experienced.
Carbimazole is an anti thyroid drug that blocks your own thyroid hormone production and slows down your metabolism which could explain your weight gain.
Since you are now back in the range, the thinking is, that you may now have ridden out this hyper phase and will remain ' stable and within range ' .
What were your initial symptoms and are you with any other health issues ?
Hi thank you for that information
My initial symptoms were heart racing all the time that was it really.
Hi, Linda3564, I feel your pain. I only been diagnosed less than a month ago in an emergency hospital appointment because had heart palpitations and after my blood test been told on phone that I have thyroid disease, but never told exact diagnosis. Since then I have been taking 10mg Carbimazole a day and 40mg Proplanolol a day. After my blood test 2 weeks after I started medication been told that my bloods has improved, but I need to continue to take Carbimazole, but can reduce bet blokator to 20mg. I am not a doctor, but don't think you should have just stop using everything straight away. I am thinking to look for an endocrinologist myself to talk everything through, but still don't know how to get an appointment. Maybe you need to do the same or go back to hospital.
Hey there Lexymoon
Everything I've written here to Linda also applies to you :
Having just checked your post I can't see that you have had a blood test and been checked and tested positive for the TSI / TRab antibodies ?
Hi, this Monday I have had a blood test done as advised from hospital, but have no idea what has been tested and what were the results. GP in phone call today said there is improvement, but I need to continue to take Carbimazole, just reduce the Proplanolol from 4 to 2 tablets a day. I will go.to pick up my prescription tomorrow and will ask about the copy of my results.
It’s just awful isn’t it I do agree that I thought it was strange to just stop taking the tablets but my gp wouldn’t repeat my prescription so I had no choice. I’ve felt iller now than I did in the beginning. I have a phone appointment again tomorrow so fingers crossed I can get something sorted out.
Hey there again,
Working on the ' assumption ' that you do have Graves Disease you might like to take a dip into the Elaine Moore Graves Disease Foundation website.
Elaine has Graves and finding no help with her continued ill health after RAI thyroid ablation in the late 1990's wrote a book to help others who might be in a similar situation.
Roll on a good few years and she is now a leading authority on all things Graves and runs a very well respected website much like this amazing forum, with an open forum, so the community help one another.
I'm with Graves and had RAI thyroid ablation, a treatment I deeply regret, and have had to learn of my situation back to front, as there wasn't an internet and I ended up buying her book when my doctor referred to me as a conundrum.
I'm indebted in the most part to Thyroid uk and Elaine Moore and strongly suggest you start reading up as Graves does tend to be a poorly understood and badly treated autoimmune disease, and remember your thyroid is the victim in all this and not the cause - the cause is your immune system attacking your body.
Graves tends to be a stress and anxiety driven AI disease so please, if you can, relax, take some time for yourself, be selfish, and try to do things you enjoy and rest as much possible as your brain and body have run a marathon whilst you were sitting on the sofa exhausted.
Since your metabolism was running very fast, and now possibly running too slow for you, it's also an idea to get your ferritin, folate and vitamin D and B12 checked out, as although your diet might be healthy, and possibly you were eating for England, your metabolism was running too fast, and or too slow, for you to get the full nutrients and vitamins from your food to maintain your core body strength strong and solid.
First thing is, do you have any actual blood test results? if not will need to get hold of copies.
You are legally entitled to printed copies of your blood test results and ranges.
The best way to get access to current and historic blood test results is to register for online access to your medical record and blood test results
UK GP practices are supposed to offer everyone 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.
Important to see exactly what has been tested and equally important what hasn’t been tested yet
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) or Graves’ disease
Ask GP to test vitamin levels and thyroid antibodies
You may need to get full Thyroid testing privately as NHS refuses to test TG antibodies if TPO antibodies are negative
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 .
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 as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins
List of private testing options
thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...
Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin
medichecks.com/products/thy...
Medichecks often have special offers, if order on Thursdays
Thriva Thyroid plus vitamins
Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes vitamins
bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...
Very important to see if you have had Graves Disease antibodies test
medichecks.com/products/tsh...
If TPO or TG thyroid antibodies are high this is usually due to Hashimoto’s (commonly known in UK as autoimmune thyroid disease).
About 90% of all primary hypothyroidism in Uk is due to Hashimoto’s.
Hashimoto’s (Hypothyroid) frequently starts with transient hyperthyroid results and symptoms and is often misdiagnosed as Graves’ disease
Your results now suggest you are either over treated for a Graves or actually have Hashimoto’s and now hypothyroid
Link about thyroid blood tests
thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...
Link about Hashimoto’s
thyroiduk.org/hypothyroid-b...
Link about Graves’ disease
thyroiduk.org/hyperthyroid-...
List of hypothyroid symptoms
thyroiduk.org/signs-symptom...
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