Carbimazole

[Horse1stables]

Hi I was diagnosed with a over active thyroid, 2 months ago, I've had a scan, and 2 blood test my T4 is 31 don't no my T3, I have a appointment to see endo clinic in Feb but I've been put on to carbimazole today, slightly worried and scared because of the side effects, I'm on 5mg twice a day, any help and advise very welcome, thank you , 😊

[PurpleNails Administrator]

Welcome to forum

10mg per day is a very low starting dose. Splitting dose is helpful too. Max dose is 60mg but this we be if levels were exceptionally high.

A FT4 of 31 is elevated and over range by most ranges so 10mg is a reasonable starting dose.

Have a retest in 6 weeks (or sooner if symptoms worsen dramatically) to see how you respond to medication. It usual to adjust the dose to prevent low levels & ensure levels don’t remain high.

Doctors should really establish cause of hyper before commencing carbimazole. Hyper can be transient.

Read the patient information carefully so you are aware of serious side affects. They are rare, but better to be prepared.

Was anything else tested such as thyroid antibodies? Positive TRab or TSI confirms Graves.

Was TSH tested? Was FT3 not tested or were you not told? Get a copy of all results so you can start to track your progress. Ask reception for printed copy. Don’t accept verbal or hand scribbled results you need a copy with lab ranges (which vary between labs).

[Horse1stables in reply to PurpleNails]

Thank you will do

[Horse1stables in reply to Horse1stables]

What does transient mean please ??

[PurpleNails Administrator in reply to Horse1stables]

Temporary. Lasting for short period of time.

[Horse1stables in reply to PurpleNails]

Thank you

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Request vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 are tested too

Always get actual results and ranges on all blood tests

You are legally entitled to copies of your blood test results

[Horse1stables in reply to SlowDragon]

Vitamin d low so on fultium D3 3,200iu

[Horse1stables in reply to Horse1stables]

Will do thank u

[Qwerty12345]

Try not to worry. I was like you and quite scared of carbimazole side effects but also excited to feel better as I was feeling wretched and was very overactive. I felt symptoms ease quickly once starting carbimazole - I was on a high dose. Around 6 weeks later I did develop hives which caused me to be itchy for a day or two. I was advised to stop carbimazole and take ptu instead - ptu is the 2nd choice drug. The hives went away and I had no further side effects. I definitely can relate to your concerns and was in a bit of a tizz worrying about serious side effects. But honestly apart from the hives (which were quickly sorted out) I had no side effects at all. Every one has a different experience but you may well be like me and be worrying needlessly. Hope you feel better soon.

[Horse1stables in reply to Qwerty12345]

Thank you so much ,I hope your well

[geffers]

Hi I had been on carbimazsole many years ago

can’t recall the strength but it did the job and I didn’t have any side effects.

I was on it for 12 months or so but it didn’t reverse my thyroid problem so ended up having radio iodine treatment three times in fact I’ve taken Levothroxine for years and although took some time to get levels right I’m ok.

[pennyannie]

Hello Horse1stables and welcome to the forum ;

An overactive thyroid is generally caused by one of two auto immune thyroid diseases, Graves or Hashimoto's and initially the only way to tell these two apart is by testing for which antibodies are positive and over range.

Graves carries unique antibodies expressed as either a TSI ( a thyroid stimulating ) and or a TRab ( a thyroid receptor blocking ) so one of these should be positive and over range and the medical evidence of this health issue which does need medicating.

Carbimazole is an anti thyroid drug and blocks your own thyroid hormone production and is prescribed for Graves Disease.

In Graves your T3 and T4 levels keep rising, way over range, the symptoms are diverse and some serious, and you need medical help as you can't deal with this yourself.

Once on the AT drug your T3 and T4 will slowly come back down into range and the AT drug likely reduced so your levels do not fall too far down the ranges and you then experience the equally disabling symptoms of hypothyroidism.

In Hashimoto's your T3 and T4 levels do not rise so high, and they come back down by themselves and no medication for these " swings " is prescribed.

Over a period of time you may experience several of these short term " swings " and as your thyroid becomes more damaged, it's production becomes erratic and you will need to rely on thyroid hormone replacement to keep your T3 and T4 in range as the thyroid gland becomes disabled.

If you go into Thyroid UK the charity who support this forum you can read up further on all things thyroid and there is also a list of both hyper and hypo symptoms which may help you understand what is going on with your body.

Both these causes are issues with your immune system - there is likely a genetic predisposition and something has triggered your immune system to attack your body and in this case, your thyroid.