Take forever to recover from illness

[Jajarunner]

Hello everyone

I've had an underactive thyroid since 1998 and I take Levothyroxine 125 mcg daily. This is my first post here. So my query is, every time I get ill it takes me forever to recover my full vitality. I'm very sporty (running, cycling, weight training hiking etc) and it drives me mad that if I ever catch the slightest cold its weeks before I can train again - sometimes up to 7-9 weeks! By which time my fitness is rubbish! I also find I'm suddenly run out of energy when doing something like cleaning the house.

Is this a typical of a thyroid problem?

Secondly, I'm eight months post ablation for a cardiac ablation to correct atrial fibrillation. As usual it took me forever to get over it and it was five months before I cautiously recommenced running again. All was going well then suddenly I must have done too much (even though I felt brilliant! ) and for the last 2-3 weeks I feel exhausted. I'm reduced to tiny little strolls again and have a raging sore throat some days. Heart is functioning fine so its not that and I've been isolating for months so not Covid19.

I also realised (oops) that I've been taking my thyroxine later than before (lockdown routine!) with a cuppa tea which I now realise/remember is a major no-no plus it has been a new brand (aristo). Could that trio of new brand, tea and overdoing things lead to me feeling washed out because of the thyroid too? Someone once told me that having, effectively, an 'artificial' thyroid production means the body does not react well enough to stressors whether illness or fatigue , is this true? It sounds plausible.

Sorry, too much talking. Thank you for any feedback. Jaja

[jimh111]

Hypothyroidism can sometimes slow recovery but given your ability to exercise it may not be thyroid related.

Do you have some thyroid blood test results? I’m interested because you had AF which can occur in hyperthyroidism. Do you have other symptoms?

Coffee can have a big effect on levothyroxine absorption but I’ve never heard of tea having any effect. You could take your levothyroxine at bedtime if that’s easier.

[Jajarunner in reply to jimh111]

I have a bleeding disorder HHT which is linked to hypothyroidism and Afib.No other symptoms really, it's just like after I've been even slightly ill my energy tank stays empty for ages...

Thank you for replying

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Jajarunner]

jajarunner

I also realised (oops) that I've been taking my thyroxine later than before (lockdown routine!) with a cuppa tea which I now realise/remember is a major no-no

We always say on here that Levo should be taken with water, and water only for one hour either side, so just for clarification this is what the NHS says about taking Levo with tea

nhs.uk/medicines/levothyrox...

4. How and when to take levothyroxine

Take levothyroxine once a day in the morning, ideally at least 30 minutes before having breakfast or a drink containing caffeine, like tea or coffee.

Food and caffeinated drinks can both stop your body taking in levothyroxine properly so it does not work as well.

[jimh111 in reply to Jajarunner]

The studies show that coffee impairs intestinal absorption of levothyroxine, the studies do not identify why as coffee contains over 1,500 substances. The NHS advice has jumped to the conclusion that the problem was caffeine and hence included tea:

drinks containing caffeine, like coffee, tea and some fizzy drinks, can reduce the amount of levothyroxine your body takes in. Leave at least 30 minutes after taking levothyroxine before you drink them.

This is unlikely and not evidence based, I will try and contact them and ask for evidence or get it corrected.

In the meantime there's no harm taking your levothyroxine more than half an hour away from tea to see if it makes a difference, more important don't take it with a heavy breakfast.

Do you have copies of any thyroid blood test results? From when you were first diagnosed and more recent.

[Jajarunner in reply to jimh111]

No, can I just ask my gp surgery for those?

[jimh111 in reply to Jajarunner]

Yes, or if you have online access to your records you can look them up.

[humanbean in reply to Jajarunner]

can I just ask my gp surgery for those?

Don't ask a doctor. Always ask the receptionists. Getting access to your GP records online is always the best option, although getting full access including blood test results can take a while. In the meantime you can ask for copies on paper.

Don't accept verbal results, and don't accept handwritten results. Ask for the receptionist to print them directly from your records to avoid mistakes and misunderstandings. The things you need are :

Date of test

Name of test

Result of test

Reference range for each test

For further information, if you need help see the posts by DJRI who is our forum guru on getting access to medical records. You can find her posts here :

healthunlocked.com/user/djr1

If you meet with resistance from your surgery post a new thread and ask for help.

[Jajarunner in reply to humanbean]

Thank you for that info. My surgery is usually excellent so I dont think there will be a problem

[Elston]

Hi Jaja .Iv been taking thyroxine years now and iv been fine on it just like you,

I also started with fibrillation as I was diagnosed with a heart problem and they said I had tachycardia too. I had no energy and was so tired, i was always the last to catch anything but like you it would have a massive effect on my health.

My back started to pain and feel weak and I was severly dizzy untill one day I passed out..

This happened because of my heart , it wasn't working properly so it couldn't pump oxygen to my muscles.

I realized then I had a more serious illness. My vit d was very low and so was pottassium.

Eventually the doctor referred me to see an endocrine specialist.

And she diagnosed me in having adrenal insufficiency..

I now take steroids and im back to my normal self was years ago.

So maybe get your vit d and pottassium checked and your cortisol ? ..good luck.

[Jajarunner in reply to Elston]

Thank you for that info. Glad you are well now xx

[Elston in reply to Jajarunner]

I am ok and looking forward to getting my covid injection.Please let me know how you go on if you decide to have blood tests done? X

[Jajarunner]

Further to this. I have been taking thyroxine about 2-3 hours before my morning cuppa and this is the sixth day and I feel a bit better. Not dared to do much yet, but fingers crossed that was the answer. I've also switched back to my regular brand in case it was the Aristo ones.And I am putting in chain the complicated list of conditions to access my blood tests online...

Thanks for the advice xx