Hashimoto’s, dropped dairy; feels like hyperthyroid now

[Mamaroost]

Recently went off dairy. After 4 weeks started feeling like overactive thyroid. 1st set of labs showed normal range. Went off thyroid for 5 days and felt 100% better. Now gradually increasing back to prescribed dose to see if symptoms return. Waiting to visit with physician to discuss labs. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

[greygoose]

Sorry to ask what might sound like a silly question, but what does 'over-active thyroid' feel like? Have you ever been over-active? So many symptoms cross over from hypo to hyper that it's different for everyone, and difficult to know which is which. It would be a good idea to actually post those results on here - results and ranges - and let us have a look, because just saying 'normal range' tells us absolutely nothing.

[Mamaroost in reply to greygoose]

Thanks for your question. What I mean by feeling like overactive would be hyperthyroid. Shaky, jittery, nervous, got to go, feeling like your are wound up too tight, raised blood pressure, constantly hungry - eating every 2 hours, loose stools, increase of hair lose, nausea.

[Mamaroost in reply to Mamaroost]

I visit with physician tomorrow to actually get lab results. They just called early in the week to say all was within normal range.

[greygoose in reply to Mamaroost]

OK. Well, of course, as you've been hypo, taking levo, you cannot suddenly become hyper. It doesn't work that way. But, you could have had a Hashi's 'hyper' swing, which is temporary. Or, could be that stopping dairy increased your absorption of levo so that you became over-medicated. But if, as they've told you, your results are all in-range, neither of those possibilities can be the case. Perhaps you've caught some sort of bug? There are a lot of weird infections flying around at the moment.

Anyway, when you get your results, post them here - with the ranges - and let's have a look. See if we can see anything.

[Mamaroost in reply to greygoose]

When I was diagnosed 25 years ago with Hashimotos I felt fine. The only indication was enlarged thyroid. I had the blood work done and then a radioactive uptake which showed the enlargement and significant scarring and nodules. I was put on thyroid hormone and gained 25 lbs and started having palpations off and on. The palpations got really bad 2 years ago. I ended up in ER and being diagnosed with PVC (premature ventricular contractions). Was put on metroprolol to ease these symptoms and told I would have to live with this and that is was not serious. This medication masks issues with low blood sugar which I also struggle with. I have gotten off of sugar completely in the last 6 months to combat that issue.

No one ever told me about dairy and the possibility of gluten being issues. I have significant inflammation in my muscles and figured I probably have fibromyalgia and just lived with it. Someone recently mentioned that dairy causes inflammation so I decided to go off dairy. Muscle wise I am feeling better.

However when I started having these recent symptoms I thought I was struggling with low blood sugar issues but I couldn’t get under control. That’s what made me question if I was hyperthyroid. When I looked up the symptoms, I felt like it was me. I stopped taking the levoxthyroid for 4 to 5 days and started feeling much better. I then took 1/2 dose for 3 days and now back to full dose of .88 mcg. If the symptoms return I guess I know what direction to look.

Another question I have is what is really a “normal” range. What if I really don’t fit the model. Like I said above, I felt fine prior to my diagnosis and felt worse after being medicated and always have. Gaining 25 lbs at that time, the endro doc said that doesn’t make sense. So other than the goiter (enlarged thyroid) that did go down after medication, I would not have stayed on the thyroid med.

[greygoose in reply to Mamaroost]

'Normal' is different for everyone. The range they like to call 'normal' is just an average: they take the resuls of a certain number of people, cut of the bottom 2.5% and the top 2.5% (this is really just a rough description of how it's done) and what's left in the middle, they call the 'normal' range. Which is pretty rediculous when you come to think about it. The range is wide, so you could not possibly feel well all the way through it. You would feel very different at the top of the range to the way you would feel at the bottom.

So, frankly, it's highly unlikely that you would 'fit the model'. But, doctors seem incapable of understanding that. Plus the fact that when you are taking exogenous hormone, things are totally different than for someone living on endogenous hormone, made by their own thyroid.

Therefore, the point of thyroid hormone replacement (levo, etc.) should be to allow the patient in increase the dose slowly until they feel well, and accept that the results are sometimes going to be outside the range.

At best, the range is just a rough guide. It's not set in stone, as doctor's think. What is most important is how you feel. And, if feeling well means you have an FT3 over the top of the range, so be it. But doctors have such little understanding of these things, and such an overwhelming fear of hormones, that they prefer to keep their patients under-medicated, rather than 'risk' them being over. I could go on and on about this subject, but I don't want to bore you, so I'll stop there. lol

88 mcg levo is only a tiny dose. Not much more than a starter dose. So, the odds are that you are under-medicated. But, providing your doctor does the right test - which most of them don't! - the results will tell us that.

[tattybogle in reply to greygoose]

typo alert 2.5% top and 2.5% bottom are discounted.. not 25%

[greygoose in reply to tattybogle]

Ooops! Thanks for picking up on that.

[tattybogle in reply to Mamaroost]

The ranges (for the whole population) are quite wide. but where we individually sit within that range is fairly narrow, so it is possible that if you were previously at for example... fT4 13 [12-22] TSH 2.5 [0.5 -4.5]

and the change in diet meant you absorbed more T4 from the Levo tablet.. you new results could say ,for example....

fT4 21 [12 -22] TSH 0.7 [0.5 -4.5]

and even though the new set of results were in range and the GP would say 'normal'.. you could quite possibly feel symptoms of overmedication if the normal level FOR YOU was closer to the first set. (The above is a bit of an extreme example . just to make the point)

GP's may not always look back at previous results, and therefore may not comment on a change like that .

[fuchsia-pink in reply to Mamaroost]

Think of it like feet.

I take a size 4 (was a 3 before I had a baby). My closest friends are a 6 and a whopping 7.5. We don't swap shoes oddly enough. Even though the "average" and hence "normal" range of shoe sizes for women is 3 - 7. (None of which would work for the friend with the huge feet, but sometimes we need to be out of range for things to work properly)

So basically the range is just a guide to what is ok for most people - but it doesn't really matter: it's what's right for YOU that is important - and that means finding your optimal place in the range (or just outside)

[jgelliss in reply to fuchsia-pink]

Well said.

[serenfach]

Just a shot in the dark here - you would have been getting traces of iodine in the dairy, and now you are not. I just wonder if this could be a reason?