Impact of surgery, signs of over medication

[Desert79]

Hi,

I've just had fairly major surgery to remove a very large fibroid from the outside of my uterus, a myomectomy. It was 30cm and 4.5kg, so quite a life-changing procedure and thankfully it went well. I did lose a lot of blood so had to receive two units in transfusion; also the incision on my abdomen was larger than planned - 16cm.

I had gotten my thyroid medication and symptoms to a good place beforehand but am now struggling with what I think may be signs of being over-medicated. I'm planning on doing a blood test soon but wanted to ask about the experience of others after surgery.

I usually take 50mcg levo and 40mcg T3 daily. But now I'm having frequent bowel movements - 3-4 times daily. Does this mean my metabolism has gone too far? I've also lost a lot of weight after the surgery, more than expected even after removing such a large (benign) tumour. I'm obviously not using my body or my brain as much as usual whilst I recuperate at home so surely I should reduce my dosage?

I'd be grateful for any advice.

[jimh111]

I'm absolutly not sure but I believe some tumours can affect deiodinase (T4 to T3 conversion, increase or decrease). I would try reducing your T3 and see how you go, perhaps skip one dose and then resume on 10 or 20 mcg less.

[Desert79 in reply to jimh111]

Ah, that's really interesting! So I may have been converting poorly beforehand due to the tumour but now that it's out this may have improved so I don't need as much T3?

[humanbean]

Having lost a lot of blood could have reduced your nutrient levels substantially, even though you were given a transfusion.

There is no guarantee that the blood you received had the right levels of nutrients for a hypothyroid person.

[Desert79 in reply to humanbean]

That's a good point. Apparently I lost 1500ml. I'll do a full thyroid blood panel soon so I'l find out what everything looks like. I had been supplementing on Vits C+D, B12, folate, Iron before the surgery but have stopped because I had to take so many painkillers, antibiotics etc. and it was just too many pills. I'm hoping to resume once I get the blood test results.

[jimh111]

If you are or were on medications for this be aware that some medications can affect the thyroid and also T4 to T3 conversion, so you may have to keep an eye on your thyroid symptoms if your medication is altered.

[Ruby1]

Good luck on your recovery journey. I know very little about these things, but I do know that when I was taking iron tablets, they bunged me up, so perhaps just not taking those is enough for the more frequent bowel movements?

[Wishus1]

You might want to chat with your gynae about blood tests. I wasn't hypo when I had my one stone tumour removed, but tests before the op did pick up a little fluctuation. Didn't become hypo until after Covid. Aren't bodies weird?!

But your digestion will be different for ages. We who have the rare giant fibroids get a big body gap after surgery. I could feel my guts sloshing to the side when I rolled for a few months!

Drink a load of water, it will help. Keep going back to soft foods if you need. I wouldn't adjust your meds without professional monitoring.

That's if you can get a test... (I still can't get my checkup, flipping shortages). Good luck!

[Desert79 in reply to Wishus1]

I'm glad you mentioned the guts sloshing around sensation, I thought I was imagining it! Wow, a one stone fibroid 😮 I hope you recovered well? It's been 2.5 weeks since the op and I still feel sore and am easily tired. Getting fed up of resting already! How long did it take to get back to 'normal'? It's definitely proving tricky to understand my body right now and what is causing what symptom 😕 I get all my tests done privately now so will be doing one this week hopefully.

[Wishus1 in reply to Desert79]

Not for ages, but at 5 weeks I was able to go to see a comedy show, and at 6 weeks I went in the pool for a bit, but that wiped me, so I didn't do very much. I went back to work week 9 as bosses wouldn't let me do remote work, and I had a long walk and 2 bus commute. I'm afraid intimacy is still what it is if you know what I mean, but HRT helps.

[serenfach]

Bear in mind that the drugs used for general anaesthetic circulate in the body for up to 2 weeks and this alone can throw a lot of things out. The blood you had would also have been from a healthy person, so could have much higher T4 and T3 than yours. This blood will be circulating for around 4 months, although the hormones will be pulled out of it much faster. I seem to remember that any tumour/fibroid/growth is quite greedy when it comes to grabbing the hormones, so maybe now your fibroid is no longer with you, you may need less.

Rest, recover and then look again at your dosage.

Now go and put your feet up!

[Desert79 in reply to serenfach]

That's really useful information, thank you! I hadn't thought about the impact of the blood and what it contains, apart from the fact that it feels weird to have someone else's blood in me!

I also didn't know that fibroids/tumours consume thyroid hormone. That potentially explains a lot about the timing of the rapid growth of my fibroid and when I started experiencing hypothyroid symptoms. Perhaps I may not actually need as much medication now that the fibroid has gone. At the same time, I need to make sure I'm medicated enough as I know that being hypo can lead to excess estrogen and feed the growth of further fibroids. I guess it's going to take some time to figure out what is going on and for everything to settle again.