OVERMEDICATION FOR UNDERACTIVE THYROID

[rozzer]

I have been taking 75mg Levothyroxine for approx 2 years after being diagnosed with an underactive thyroid (no obvious symptoms at the time).

Since August this year 2 TSH blood tests have come back as 0.23 and 2 weeks ago my Doc told me to reduce Levothyroxine to 50mg as she felt I was over medicated.

Been feeling pretty awful with anxiety and muscle weakness and nausea and also been prescribed anti depressants.

Is this all thyroid related and how long for over medication to leave the body?

All advice gratefully received.

[Lora7again]

The TSH is a pituitary gland hormone not a thyroid gland hormone and it is the T4 and T3 that counts. Your doctor will keep you ill if they are going by the TSH all the time. Just to add 50mcg is a starter dose and very low. I don't think you need anti-depressants for feeling ill and I have been offered them twice in the past and counseling when all I needed was for my thyroid disease to be treated.

[bantam12]

Low TSH doesn't mean you are overmedicated, you need to look at T4 and T3, you are on a tiny dose so more likely you are undermedicated !

[rozzer in reply to bantam12]

Thanks for that - will be doing a lot more research on this

[pennyannie]

Hello Rozzer and welcome to forum :

When first diagnosed were you given a diagnosis and told you had high antibodies ?

It is totally unacceptable to be dosed and monitored on just a TSH blood test reading, although I know, only too well, at my own expense, that this is generally all you get in primary care.

Ideally before your dose is adjusted a T3 and T4 blood test should be run, in conjunction with the TSH to confirm where these two vital thyroid hormones sit in the ranges.

T4 - Levothyroxine is a storage hormone and needs to be converted by your body into T3 the active hormone that the body runs.

Conversion can be compromised for several reasons and so we also suggest you get ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D blood tests run as if low in ranges, these vitamins and minerals can impact on your ability to fully utilise the Levothyroxine.

You have symptoms which may well get worse with a reduction in Levothyroxine so maybe you can ask your doctor to hold off reducing your medication.

It's advised that you have an early as possible blood test, do not take your daily T4 until after the blood test and fast overnight, taking nothing but water before the blood draw.

[rozzer in reply to pennyannie]

Hi Pennyannie thanks for your interesting and informative reply. I have just found a blood report from August 2019 which was done privately and my T3 and T4 were pretty much in the middle of the normal ranges but the TSH was 0.19 - even lower than now?

[pennyannie in reply to rozzer]

Hey there,

Well, that's over a year ago so is of little value now - but keep it to hand so we have a comparison for this year :

[Catou142]

Hello, did your doctor also ask for FT4 when you did your last 2 blood tests? I guess they didn't ask for FT3...I've been paying for my own since January. I do them with Medichecks or recently, with monitormyhealth.org.uk, which is a good package which also tests for Vit. D/ Cholesterol and diabetes for £47. (finger prick). I hope you start to feel better very soon!

[rozzer in reply to Catou142]

Thanks Catou - will look into that

[jrbarnes]

GP did the same here, which resulted in body weakness, fatigue, anxiety, and nausea. I was unable to get out of bed and couldn't work for a week. I called and demanded I be moved back up as I was now disabled. T4 and T3 tests will help your case with the GP.

[rozzer in reply to jrbarnes]

Thanks - will def discuss with Doc next week. Hope you are back to good health now.

[Eyebright]

Hi. I believe I have been over medicated on two separate occasions and the symptoms were almost the same as being under medicated. I’ve just reduced my Levothyroxine again because my TSH was 0.32 which in itself is ok but I was feeling twitchy, wheezy and not getting quality sleep. May be a seasonal variation issue so I’ll revisit after a couple of winter months have passed. If you try a reduced dose and symptoms worsen then you can revert to previous dose. But who knows things might improve 🤷‍♀️ Good luck.

[roro54]

These symptoms may well be due to over medication but why on earth have you been prescribed anti-depressants, all seems a little extreme??????? All thyroid imbalances are highly complex and only an endocrinologist(any worth there salt as they say) can advise you. However, I would give it another 2-6 weeks on the lower dose to see how your condition stabilises. Good luck!

[Lucky2020]

Hi Rozzer I have also underactive thyroids. In my case they started with 25 mg and never increased it. I did lots of research and decided to ask for a second opinion and be treated privately. Now my levels look pretty stable since I do 25 mg on weekend and 50 mg on the weekends. I never felt any symptoms not before not after the medication, but now that you are saying this I could have felt a bit tired, feeling nausea but very rare. Every body reacts differently, good to check the side effects though of your medication. I agree with the other fellows that depression have nothing to do with this and I will highly recommend not starting taking this things since you could become addicted to it. It is worth checking with a counsellor or phycologist to know the root of your anxiety in order to be cured instead of taking anti depressants that they are only used as a placebo but not curing. This is my humble suggestions and I really hope you get better.

[VJW53]

I'm not a clinician, so can only talk from personal experience. Sadly, the HNS gives such a wide band for what is okay in hypothyroidism I ended up paying to see an endocrinologist, but they didn't really help and cost a fortune. The real changing point for me was cutting out gluten, dairy, sugar, caffeine, soya, tea and coffee, alcohol and the nightshade family (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers etc) for a fortnight and then moving on to having them all now and again but not as often as I used to. Since then I have felt far better than before - more energy, fewer mood swings, less brain fog, better sleep, big weight loss. To be sure of your readings I also suggest buying a blood test from Genova who were great, NOT Medicheck who were hopeless - and get the results interpreted by a functional medic or endocrinologist.

[migfu216]

I have never had my Levo decreased. I experienced muscle pain mainly in my legs and my doctor increased my dose 50 mcg. This came following a blood test and the increase in dose was immediate after the blood analysis. The pain was gone after about four days. I am a firm believer in blood tests before and after any dose change. I have never experienced nausea or depression related to Levothyroxine. Maybe you have something else going on.