Should I be concerned?

[Batty1]

Ok, I’m not sure if I’m being overly paranoid or maybe just maybe something is off.

I currently take 100mcg Synthyroid and 10mcg Cytomel. I had a blood test done back in February it was a (surprise) blood test that took place 2 hours after I had taken my last dose of Synthyroid and Cytomel. I’m scheduled to retest again but it WON’T include FT3 (don’t ask) Endos just stink! (I’m thyroid-less).

My med schedule: I take 50mcg Synthyroid and 5 mcg Cytomel at 4:15 am and take the remaining 50mcg and 5mcg around 10am.

Supplements: D3, K2, Magnesium I take these at 8pm every night! Occasionally I take the B12 that was recommended here usually late afternoon I’m not really seeing a difference.

Here is my issue: I have shortness of breath (not gasping) kind of a odd feeling along with a sporadic cough and my pulse rate Is all over the place even when doing absolutely nothing as well as if I’m doing something (it’s also very hot here) it goes from low 60s and high as 100. I did have a similar issues last year and did blood test and a test for asthma that(came back good).

I know I need to get my labs done but I can’t do it until next week, too much happening right now.

Is it possible that I’m over medicated. I only seem to experience issues 4-6 hours AFTER I take my LAST 5mcg Cytomel. I don’t believe this is me being under medicated or I would have had similar issues the past 4 yrs.

Do you think I should drop 5mcg from my late morning dose to see if this makes a difference?

[SilverAvocado]

If I remember correctly, you've had a long history of being undermedicated and have had lots of periods with different symptoms coming to the fore? To some extent I think while undermedicated almost anything can happen, including new symptoms popping up that haven't happened before.

But also the kind of thing you describe here, symptoms happening mainly at a certain time of day, is a very good reason to try adjusting doses and timings. I've adjusted the relative size and timings of my doses many times, and sometimes a much needed additional split to the dose or moving to the right time can give as much improvement as a dose increase. It's definitely worth giving it a try.

If I'm going to make a big change in dose, such as splitting into additional doses or moving a dose from late morning to later in the day, I tend to add it in as an extra dose on the day I change over. This means taking a larger dose on that one particular day, but in the past I've found it made me feel extremely undermedicated to do it the other way round.

[Batty1 in reply to SilverAvocado]

What would you recommend for time changes or should I just fuss around with it?

[SilverAvocado in reply to Batty1]

In general I would say fuss around!

Although I suppose putting a dose in an hour or two before you feel the symptoms start would be a good thing to try? Maybe moving your 10am dose or splitting off a third dose, whichever you'd prefer to try. Or maybe just nudge your 10am dose to be a little bit later and just that might be enough to change how you feel in the afternoon.

[Batty1 in reply to SilverAvocado]

Do you mean splitting both the T3 and Synthyroid or just the T3 ... I take other prescription meds so this is also a timing battle.

Another question: when I take my first 50 mcg Synthyroid and 5mcg Cytomel in the morning I immediately fall right back to sleep for roughly 3 hours ... is this the meds? I’m usually as soon as I’m awake I’m up kind of person.

[SilverAvocado in reply to Batty1]

As a general rule you don't need to split Synthroid/Levothyroxine/T4 because it is a very slow acting medicine. Some rare people feel that they do need to split it, but if you haven't tested it yourself and felt that need then you don't need to split it.

The main reason people ever do split thyroid hormone is because T3 is quite a fast acting medicine, with a half life of something like 6 hours. This means the amount circulating in your blood can drop considerably across the day, and be reflected in symptoms.

If you can fit in another dose, you could just try moving one of your current doses and see if that makes a difference.

For the other question about falling back to sleep. Its quite a common story that people can fall back to sleep quickly after taking a dose. I've experienced it myself, although I've never used a long term during the night dose. I suspect that it's because one of the many many things our body needs T3 is to keep us asleep for the full night, so once the body gets the T3 it needs it is then able to get us back to sleep. This is similar to needing to have enough food in the body to stay asleep.

Another snippet I learned when trying to understand my own insomnia and tight muscle symptoms is that it actually takes energy for muscles to relax. If we don't have enough energy then we might end up staying stiff, tense, alert, wired, etc.

[Batty1 in reply to SilverAvocado]

Thanks ... I’m going to split the T3 into a couple more doses and see if it helps.

[Batty1 in reply to SilverAvocado]

Hey, I’ve been researching K2 side effects and breathlessness is a side effect, have you heard of this?

My doctor put me in for full vitamin D and CBC with Iron panel and told me to stop my statin since it’s causing me feet pains.

[humanbean]

Personal anecdote : Eating a lot of sugar and carbs can cause my heart rate to rise dramatically, although the effect takes a few hours to become noticeable.

It might be worth keeping notes on what your sugar intake (from any carb source including fruit or fruit juice) is and see whether cutting down has any impact on your heart rate. It's an easy and free thing you can experiment with for two or three days.

Another problem that raises my heart rate is if I allow my ferritin and iron to drop substantially.

[Batty1 in reply to humanbean]

It’s definitely not from over abundance of sugar and carbs. Now ferritin and Iron could be and issue since it was a slight problem last year.

[Morning_gl0ry in reply to Batty1]

Hi Batty, I don’t know much about T3 as I only take levothyroxine but about a 6 months ago I started taking my 100mcg dose at bedtime instead of the morning and I feel much better for it. I now sleep better than I have done in very long time. I would also agree with the comments humanbean said about sugar and ferritin and as Marz put it about iron levels. I have been consistent with my vitamins including ferrous fumarate (take it with vit c) every day and I don’t get the heart flutters anymore. One other thing Silver Avocado said about muscles? Interesting because for the last five weeks I have been doing a regular gentle low impact exercise routine to help strengthen my neck and shoulder muscles, (although I do the whole body routine) I have to say I feel so good for it! I feel more alive in the mornings ready to exercise and more.....well normal. Hope this is helpful.

[Batty1 in reply to Morning_gl0ry]

Ferrous fumate... is this safe to take ?

[humanbean in reply to Batty1]

Ferrous fumarate is one of the iron supplements prescribed by doctors in the UK.

I took it (one tablet, three times a day) for nearly two years to get my ferritin to mid-range (I'm a poor absorber of iron). I still take it at a much reduced dose to keep my iron and ferritin levels as close to optimal as I can get them.

In general terms, the higher the pure iron content of an iron supplement the less well it is tolerated.

Ferrous fumarate 210mg contains 69mg iron per tablet and is one of the strongest iron supplements prescribed in the UK.

[asidist in reply to Batty1]

i also was having heart rate/shortness of breath issues previously and read about ferritin, and supplementing with that helped me as well. i also feel like I handle the iron much better when I have enough Vitamin A in my diet, so i always try to eat a few carrots or a sweet potato the day i'm going to be taking iron. i currently take ferrous bisglycinate 75 mg every 3-4 days as I've read that your body may prevent absorption of any additional iron for some time after intake of a dose: sciencedaily.com/releases/2.... i also like that this way i only have to fit it in /space it apart from other things every few days. liver is high in iron (and Vitamins A and K2) so that's another option if you prefer not to take supplements.

[Marz]

Oxygen is transported around the body by sticking onto iron molecules in the red blood cells. Low iron = Low oxygen. Simplistically put !

Which other meds are you trying to work around ?

[Batty1 in reply to Marz]

Stomach pills, estrogen and cholesterol pill., my main one concern is the stomach I take this after all my thyroid meds are done hours later!

[Marz in reply to Batty1]

Am sure you have read enough here to know that statins are of little or no benefit for Hypos.

Is the stomach pill a PPI ? - if so that will affect your B12 and other key nutrients.

Not sure about Oestrogen - if your thyroid is up to speed am sure other hormones will settle and drop into place ...

[Batty1 in reply to Marz]

I just talked to my doctor she told me to stop the statins if I feel the need and put me in for CBC with iron and Vitamin D.

The PPI is for a horrible stomach but I do take this 4 hours away from my thyroid meds.

I take estridol (hysterectomy) I take this 4 hours away from thyroid meds.

[Marz in reply to Batty1]

Don't forget B12 and Folate tests too. Have you tried more natural products for your tum ?

[Batty1 in reply to Marz]

She said folate and B12 was good last time, so no to testing. I was eating a ton of spinach and supplementing b12 last year when this was tested but I just haven't liked eating very much everything taste horrible. No I haven't tried anything other than PPIs, too many things cause me grief.....it's a family curse!

[Marz in reply to Batty1]

So do you have copies of the results that were good ? Testing B12 whilst supplementing throws up skewed results.

[Batty1 in reply to Marz]

Morning, The last B-12 and Folate test was 6/2018.

B12: 1344 pg/ml (232-1245)

Folate: 17.27 Ng/ml (4.6 - 34.8)

This test is with me supplementing B12 and eating a ton of spinach!

I still supplement B12 but I’m not consistent and stopped the spinach 3 months maybe longer and for no good reason.... started back spinach today!

[sugarcrush]

Talk with a professional either by phone or video link.if you try to regulate things yourself you will become messed up!

[Batty1 in reply to sugarcrush]

If I mention this to Endo he will reduce my already low dose and if I tweak it myself I risk messing myself up.

I had a panic attack this morning over analyzing this. I might try low dose iron.

[FancyPants54 in reply to sugarcrush]

Have you actually met a professional that knew what they were doing with T3 and T4? Most of us here haven't, hence the need to experiment ourselves.