Swelling at the bottom of neck, Armour and high ft3

[Incoguto]

Hello,

I have been experimenting with increasing Armour and lowering Levo for the past 2 months and my neck has been swelling increasingly.

For the past 2 weeks the base of my neck started the front is badly swollen, it causes a very dry cough and I get sweats and feel hot.

Went to a Covid PCR covid 10 days ago because of it, it was negative, this continued on and now I have another Covid PCR test today just in case and had rescheduled flights back home with this cough

Anyone had similar issues? Due to test my ft3, but had it a 84% last time and it will be higher again as I increased Armour and lowered Levo, as I know some people do well with Armour only and high ft3...

I test after 24 hours of taking meds. I also can't fall asleep at night and wake early.

Have more energy, feel.more like myself, but this swelling is bad

Doea anyone have issues with swollen neck and these symptoms?

Thank you

[greygoose]

You had a blood draw 24 hours after taking your Armour? If so, then you have a false 'low' FT3. It's actually higher than that, so probably over-range. You should only leave 8 to 12 hours.

[Incoguto in reply to greygoose]

Yes, that's right, blood draw was about 24-25 hrs after taking Armour and Levo, and FT3 was 84%, FT4 48%. I have increase again as I know some members do well with FT3 at 100% and more so I thought maybe this could be me too. have you ever heard of swollen neck with overdose? It's so uncomfortable 😫 thank you!

[greygoose in reply to Incoguto]

No, I haven't, and it might not be related, but you never know. However, you are now going to have a pretty high FT3 - more than 100% - which could account for you not sleeping, etc.

[Incoguto in reply to greygoose]

Thank you! Just went through my notes and it seems my neck swelling is consistent with changing doses and it's been getting worse since October. My Covid PCR came back negative twice, including today, and I can see my thyroid really swollen through my neck when I try to swallow. My mouth has become very dry and developed a bad cough since last change of meds (lowered T4 and increased Armour). I agree, with such a high ft3 I don't feel tired and want to sleep at all. I might get a test and check if my antibodies have changed and how high my ft3 ft4 are. For some strange reason I don't do great with ft4 lower than midrange, with ft3 at different levels between 69%-100%...I have slept with ft3 at 70%,.but was really bloated, had low moods, my ft4 was between 39-44%. So annoying🤣

[greygoose in reply to Incoguto]

It's got nothing to do with your antibodies. Absolutely no point in retesting them. But, if you have Hashi's, that can cause your thyroid to be inflammed. You didn't mention that you had Hashi's. And, that could be why your FT3 is so high, too. And there's not a thing you can do about it, except, perhaps, stop your thyroid hormone replacement, until things go back to normal again.

[Incoguto in reply to greygoose]

That's it, I wanted to check if I have a flare up, as this could cause cold flu symptoms an swollen thyroid. Thank you 😊

[greygoose in reply to Incoguto]

Depends what you mean by a 'flare up'. Do you mean a 'Hashi's flare'?

[Incoguto in reply to greygoose]

Yeah Hashi flare. But most likely it's the high FT3 over range as I always have high ft3 on these doses, just wanted to check if I can tolerate it now, but it seems the same.Have a test at home for letsgetchecked, will do tomorrow and check antibodies

[greygoose in reply to Incoguto]

Well, that's what I was saying: the high FT3 could be due to a Hashi's flare. So, I don't understand what else you expect to see in a blood test. Antibodies fluctuate all the time, and their levels don't prove anything. It won't be the antibodies causing your neck to swell.

[Incoguto in reply to greygoose]

Makes me think that I have had high FT3 for over 15 months now (apart from a couple of months when it was 70% after not taking meds for 24 hrs, so probably not a flare). Time for some adjustments!Thank you 😊

[greygoose in reply to Incoguto]

You're welcome.

[Incoguto in reply to greygoose]

Hi greygoose, I just got my results and to my surprise, both ft3 and ft4 fell a bit:

Ft4 = 37%

Ft3 = 77%

This is after reducing T4 and increasing Armour, which is odd, as I normally I would have higher ft3 after adding Armour.

My thyroid is still swollen at the base of my neck, but maybe this is due to drop in ft4 from 48 to 37%, hard to say🤷‍♀️

[greygoose in reply to Incoguto]

I very much doubt your swollen neck has anything to do with the fall in your FT4 level. Why would it? Levo is not a treatment for the thyroid itself.

[Incoguto in reply to greygoose]

For some reason is always happens when my ft4 is lowish in range, about 5 years ago was low and my Armour was increased and it went away, when ft4 was nearer 60-70%. Not sure why, but it's consistent, along with it I get a horse voice and dry cough.

[greygoose in reply to Incoguto]

Well, maybe you shouldn't have reduced your levo when you increased your NDT.