I am hypothyroid, been on 150mcg of Levo only for almost 20 years and i was on Actavis Levo for the vast majority of that time right up until 6 months ago, i had a very bad car accident 18 months ago and 6 months after that i developed arm and leg tremors, muscle twitching, blurred vision, palpitations, serious hair shedding. I actually changed from Actavis to Mercury Pharma 6 months ago as i suspected i may be having a reaction to Actavis even though i had been fine on it for all those years, after 6 months of being on MP right up to present most of the symptoms seemed to have died down.
I am having a serious issue attempting to take supplements, i am insufficient on Vitamin D and have tried 2 different types of supp, 24 hours after taking 1 tablet or capsule (1000iu) it triggers my symptoms, tremors, leg weakness, blurred vision, palpitations etc.
I have tried Biotin to support my hair, again, after 1 capsule 500mg it triggers the same symptoms!
I have tried B Complex (good quality) same reaction, same symptoms.
I have tried a good quality Multi Vit just to test (as i know they are not advised on here) same symptoms.
I have taken all of those supplements independently to ensure there is no interaction going on, and after each occasion it takes about 7 days for the symptoms to dissipate again. all of these supps also have made me feel very tired at same time as the symptoms
Its ridiculous, i dont understand what is going on after taking only 1 or 2 of each Supp, it means basically i cant supplement on the basics that i need. I am really confused as i was able to supplement fine before 12 months ago and having the issues with Actavis
I was just wondering if anyone else has come across being intolerant in this way, not sure if its a thyroid issue or something else that is causing me to react so dramatically, i have a sensitive system but to react like that after only 1 or 2 tablets or capsules is bizarre..
i just wondered if anyone could possibly shed any light ?
Thank you for any input..
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i did have whiplash yes, i also suffered whiplash 4 months before the car accident as well whilst playing 5 a side football, had a nasty head collision, knocked my head right back and suffered with whiplash for 2 weeks, in fact the whip from that was worse than the car accident, left me REALLY woozy for months which still comes and goes, borderline dizzy and i also developed Tinnitus the day after which i still have not far short of 2 years after the event, i know Tinnitus can be associated to Thyroid, i have always wondered if those 2 incidents have affected my thyroid or pituitary.. i never ever suffered with Tinnitus before that head impact.
I forgot to mention, 4 months ago i took some 2 sachets of Lemsip to fend off a cold, i have taken it for years with absolutely No problems, anyway this time it triggered the symptoms in exactly the same way and seems to have left me with a raised resting heart beat, aside from the continuing Alarming hair shedding my eyebrows are shedding big time, as well as my under arm hair and the re growth of all the aforementioned has dramatically reduced, its ridiculous, i have always been really fortunate and had a really good head of hair, if it continues to fall at the rate it is i will be bald on top within a few months which is just ludicrous given the volume ive always had, but it obviously points to a serious issue, my hair dresser who has cut my hair for 35 years acknowledges there is a definite problem, not that i really need him to confirm it.
I really dont know what to do now as my TSH is 0.01 and it has been between 0.01 and 0.08 for the last 10 years and i have been fine but in recent times its been a real problem with my GP who is in melt down over it and is constantly pressuring me to reduce dose, if i go to see her or one of the other GP's i know that they will then have the ammunition to get me to reduce.. i have been as well as you can be really at that level and i have always been more interested in how i feel than what the bloods say.. I'm pretty sure i'm not over medicated as i am always more on the tired side, its a real battle with keeping my weight off, i feel the cold far more, just not having typical Hyper symptoms, i have posted Medi Check results from below 6 months ago, please bear in mind i take my Levo at 11.30 pm at night and the blood draw was at 9am the following morning on empty stomach, i know it should be 24hrs so they wont be a true reflection and it does indicate a possible conversion issue, but prior to the head impact and car accident i didnt have any issues whatsoever and the daily dose has always been the same, seems too coincidental that these problems have started after those 2 incidents
So sorry for the Essay response but just trying to give a clear picture
Medi Checks
CRP HS 0.07 (range 0 - 5)
Ferritin 150 (range 30 - 400)
Folate serum 16.72 (range 0 - 3.89)
Vitamin B12 active 135 (range 37.5 - 188)
Vitamin D 42.6 (range 50 - 175)
TSH 0.01 (range 0.27 - 4.2)
Free T3 4.35 (range 3.1 - 6.8)
Free thyroxine 22.30 (range 12 - 22)
Thyroglobulin Antibodies 10 (range 0 - 115)
thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies 9 (range 0 - 34)
They suggested i was Insufficient on Vit D and that my T4 was slightly elevated and my TSH
is very low.
I know the "active" B12 is the important one but will just include an NHS blood result from 9 months ago for B12 as i have seen on here that people who have non active blood results with figures around similar to my NHS result are suggested they need to increase
The magnesium was making me tired the following day though, is that to be expected? or does it take a period of time to get in to your system before you start to feel more energetic?
What will a Cortisol test tell me, issues with Pituitary or Adrenals? what are the chances the whiplash has affected my thyroid or Pituitary? Are the symptoms indicative of a possible issue with Pituitary then?
I have a suggestion/experiment you can try which is simple and very cheap.
Buy some Cream of Tartar from a supermarket baking section. When you get these symptoms that you've described, put quarter of a teaspoon of the Cream of Tartar in a small glass of water and drink it. Cream of Tartar is actually a chemical called potassium bitartrate. The experiment I'm suggesting is to see whether you have low potassium. It can cause quite a few of the symptoms you describe.
If that doesn't help then you could try quarter of a teaspoon of salt in a small glass of water.
Both salt and potassium are essential for the good functioning of the adrenal glands. Several people have mentioned that you might have cortisol problems - and cortisol is produced by the adrenal glands.
many thanks for your reply. I will try that experiment. I was actually going to buy some adrenal support but worried that i might trigger the symptoms again as it appears i have to be extremely cautious now about taking anything at all.
I know that some of the symptoms i'm experiencing can be associated to B12 but i posted my results in my post and Medi Checks said my "active" B12 was fine but if you look at my NHS B12 result it is similar to other peoples results that have posted and they have been told that the figure of 366 or similar is too low and needs to be increased, so i am unsure whether i need to start attempting to supplement if i can tolerate it.
So you got the arm and leg tremors, leg weakness, palpitations, blurred vision etc? any issues with hair or eyebrows?
Which Magnesium and B Complex did you take ? do you just take a maintenance dose now ?
Low vitamin D and also low ferritin can cause hair loss. I had really bad hair loss when my vitamin D was 7. It is now 64 but still too low so I use BetterYou DLUX 3000 vitamin D daily oral spray on my tongue and I took Spatone and ate pate twice a week to get my ferritin levels up. Biotin never really helped with my hair loss so I no longer take it.
thanks for your reply, i think my Ferritin is reasonably ok, well, according to Medi Checks it is but i'm not always sure about results and ranges because i may well seem to be within a range and ok as far as results are concerned but that doesn't mean to say that its actually ok for me personally.. not sure, but i know you have to be careful not to have too much iron as with a lot of things it can be quite negative and have the reverse affect
I will have to try a spray instead of capsule for Vitamin D, i assume it doesnt have K2 as you didnt state it?
Was there anything else you did take that helped with the hair apart from what you have mentioned?
I think my thyroid levels are right for me at the moment. I have had 2 lots of extreme hair loss which lasted several years I'm afraid. The last one started in 2016 and only resolved in June of last year. My hair loss was so bad I had to have hair extensions because I was losing hundreds a day. I did take Thyroid S for about 6 months which helped me go into my second remission. Are you sure your thyroid levels are high enough for you? My TSH is 0.38 at the moment but when it was 0.80 my hair fell out. That is why the TSH is not a good indicator of thyroid function.
The only other thing I can suggest is Rogaine which was suggested to me by a dermatologist. The only trouble with Rogaine is you can never stop using it because once you do your hair drops out. I did actually buy some but then I discovered my hair loss was caused by my thyroid levels, low vitamin D and low ferritin. Over the years I tried various supplements to try to stop my hair loss including saw palmetto and even onion juice which someone suggested to me on a hair loss site. Have you tried joining a hair loss site? I gained a lot of knowledge from there and there are mainly men on these sites because men can lose their hair at a young age. My own son is losing his hair at 27 and he uses Alpecin shampoo which has slowed it down a lot and he swears by it. I think yours is probably being caused by your thyroid or by low vitamin D or there is another factor going on because of your accident.
i did not have any of the issues or symptoms before the the head impact at footy or the following car accident, 2 lots of whiplash, i actually think the impact at football may have been more responsible for possibly affecting my pituitary or my thyroid as it was absolutely sickening, i'm surprised i wasn't knocked out and the following day the tinnitus developed and i am aware that a lot of people with thyroid issues also have tinnitus so possibly another sign that it possibly affected pituitary or thyroid further.
I think i might be under medicated but bloods indicate top end T4 at 22 and 0.01 on TSH think its possibly more a conversion issues, but people on here who are FAR more knowledgable than me would have a better idea, but i was fine before the incidents but if they affected my pituitary or thyroid then i suppose it could well have affected how much daily dose i now need to take..i dont know
I know about rogaine but for the reason you mentioned i dont want to use in case hopefully i can get to the bottom of whats going on and then my hair will have a chance of re growth . The hair loss issue is definitely thyroid related its not an age thing, too dramatic and severe and again only started after the incidents i suffered.
I know Alpecin is Caffeine based, has it helped with re growth with your son or just slowed the thinning process do you know?
My iron is ok but i need to top up Vitamin D if i can get around to being able to tolerate, i will try that spray you mentioned.
My son has been using it for over a year and his hair is definitely thicker but he still has a receding hairline which I think he has inherited from my grandfather and my uncle. His dad, my husband is 64 and has a thick head of hair and hardly any grey either unlike me!
Just to add have you ever tried NDT? This seemed to suit me better than Levo when I took it for a short time because it contains both T4 and T3. Unfortunately Thyroid S is still on backorder from the supplier I used because of the virus.
I will look to try that Alpecin in the interim, i appreciate it may take a while to show any difference though if its going to.
I have considered NDT but i have been concerned about starting on that and then because of supply issues not being able to continue. same with T3 but i have no idea where to source it. Have you gone back on Levo only then now? have you ever tried adding T3 in the past before switching to NDT?
Actually i just checked the box of Lemsip, it was a slightly different one that i bought the last time and it had the added ingredient of guaifenesin on top of Paracetamol and Phenylephrine Hydrochloride so i am thinking it was the Guaif that i reacted too. I know my resting heart rate is about 10 beats a minute faster, it hasnt settled back down since then and that was about 3 months ago
I will check your posts on Cortisol..
I would be very interested to know if you did suffer similar symptoms that i listed, particularly the tremors and heart beat..
I am totally intolerant to supplements in any form, particularly VitB and VitD, I accept my levels are low but that's where my body likes them to be so now don't even try to increase by taking supplements.
thanks for reply. when you say intolerant do you mind me asking in what way? did you by any chance suffer with arm and leg tremors, leg weakness, palpitations, muscle twitching, blurred vision or anything similar?
Last Oct I went to GP surgery for bloods as my thyroid symptoms had got worse over summer. Skin very dry, constipation, so very tired, dry eyes. Bloods came backing showing T4 down to 10 (10-20), T3 high 12.3 (0.5-3.5) and Bit D really really low dispite just having spent 6 weeks on summer holiday in France lying on beach a lot. GP insisted results must be flawed and made me have them done again in December. Results similar so GP reluctantly increased levothyroxine up to 175 instead of 150 and advised I take Vit D3 supliments. I now take Bit D3 3 tabs 3000 iu on sunny days and 4000 iu on cloudy days, magnesium 250mg, Bit b6 100 mg, Bit b 12 1000 ug, folic acid 400 ug, zinc 15mg and since end of February have been feeling better. GP also referred me to endocrinology but due to Covid still have not got appointment through.
my eyes are incredibly dry when i wake, i use artificial tear drops to help 1st thing but they are drier since i have had these issues, throat and mouth the same upon waking.
I have also found i am having yawning fits nodding off to sleep on the sofa watching TV at night at around 9 pm every night, i close my eyes for about 10 minutes or so and the i seem ok after that, its happens every night, up until the incidents and issues i had no problems whatsoever watching TV or staying up until 11pm or midnight and not feeling tired at all, just going to bed because of wanting to get a good 6-7 hours sleep...
The problem i have with supplementing at the moment is tolerating them but i am sure it would assist considerably.
I have absolutely NO Chance of my GP raising my Dose, she is in melt down as it is over my TSH at 0.01 and is constantly wanting me to reduce...Grrrrrr
I have thought about posting something about this. I took vit B complex for 6 weeks. By then I was having visual disturbance, stabbing pains in the left side of my head and threatening migraine which did sometimes materialise. I stopped taking it and the problem stopped. I switched to a different brand and it started again so I again stopped. I already know that I have problems with iron supplements and suspect I am having symptoms of iron/vit B deficiency but don't know what I can do about it.
thanks for your reply. When you say visual disturbance, what type? ?
besides blurred i have also had noticeable "weird" floaters, not the usual everyday floaters that most people have as they age, but weird! been to opticians twice and they say everything appears normal but to monitor, eyesight was absolutely fine prior to my incidents, but taking supplements does worsen the blurred vision. I posted earlier that i am considering supplementing by oral spray to see if that makes any difference to my intolerance with Vitamin D and B complex, companies like "Better You" do them including iron but people on here who are more knowledgeable than myself may suggest alternate. it could be worth typing a fresh post yourself.. I didnt get the migraines but to be honest i think apart from that i have been getting more than my fair share of issues and reactions post supplement
Having blood tests on tues and will probably post when I’ve sen the results. I get blurred vision too but the aura of migraine is flashing lights in kaleidoscopic patterns. I’ve had these whenever I am becoming ill or when I am taking or eating something that upsets me. Happens a lot with meds.
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