Thoughts/Help

[Traceycrete]

Hi There,

wondering if anyone can help with the situation i find myself in. This week i had the most dreadful private appointment with a cardiologist with regards to recently being told i have left bundle branch block and a murmour. this all began in late summer 2021, my levothyroxine i was taking was 75mg and T3 10mg. I had been taking the T3 since Oct 20 and up until then i was feeling so much better and my results had improved as below;

TSH 0.03 (0.27-4.20)

Free T4 17.4 (12-22)

Free T3 5.39 (3.1-6.8)

Vit D 95 (50-175)

Vit B12 445 ( 145-569)

Serum folate 13.90 (8.83-60.8)

I take supplements for the folate and Vit D to try and improve on them.

Late summer i was getting episodes of feeling off balance like i was going to faint and a butterfly feeling going across my chest, this would happen not every day but 3-4 times a week. at the time i had family problems going on for a number of months. I spoke to my GP about this in Oct 21 and he listened to my heart and could hear a whooshing so advised me to have an ECG and scan of the heart. due to covid etc all these tests have taken a while to come together and Feb22 was told i have LBBB and a murmour. When i spoke to my private Endo about this he reduced my levo to 75/50 alternate days but kept T3 at 10mg, this was as a precaution before results of tests in case i was over medicated and it would affect my heart.

Oct 21

TSH 0.03 (0.27-4.20)

Free T4 14.0 (12-22)

Free T3 5.05 (3.1-6.8)

Vit D 79 (50-175)

Vit B12 396 (145-569)

Serum Folate 7.81 (8.83-60.8)

After these results dose decreased by Endo to 75/50 and T3 10mg

April 22

TSH 0.22 (0.27-4.20)

Free T4 11.9 (12-22.0)

Free T3 4.90 (3.1-6.8)

As you can see a drop in T4/T3 but a rise in TSH

I am feeling dreadful now with a return of alot of hypothyroid symptoms.

Fatigued

Brain fog

Poor sleep/disturbed

Mood swings

I have had to give up my job due to not being able to cope with the pace ( i am a dental Nurse) and feeling exhausted all the time, i just want to sleep.

With regard to the cardiology appt this week i have never had an appt like it. i went prepared with questions i wanted answering regarding LBBB/Murmour having any affect on my heart and subsequently my meds and whether they could be upped again , only to be told or rather dismissed at every opportunity that 'nothing to worry about you could have had this for years and i dont want to talk about LBBB' his exact words. well i wanted to talk about it considering i was paying him. Everytime i changed the subject back to LBBB i was told the same thing. In between times he was telling jokes!! 3 in total. I came away feeling very upset, non the wiser for having had the appt and totally fed up with not been given the opportunity to ask Questions.

All he wanted to talk about was my thyroid and whether or not i thought i had depression.

He said i could up my meds again and then changed his mind due to seeing the TSH, oh the TSH is that all these medics judge you on, i told him it would be suppressed and pointed him to my low T4 not in the range his response was well you would feel better if they were upped because you are Thyroxic!! i presume he meant bordering Hyperthyroid again because of the TSH. Again he dismissed me and i left. Little does he know you would'nt feel well at all if that was the case.

I now have to speak to the Endo who i can only summise will be reluctant to up the meds if he listens to the cardiologist, which in my opinion shouldnt as hes not an Endo.

At this rate i will be forced to do my own thing and trial upping it and see if any symptoms return which i doubt as the family problems have resolved.When i did my research on symptoms of LBBB ( not everyone is symptomatic apparently)some of the symptoms were, lethargy etc. At the end of the day i dont want my health in danger but cannot carry on as i am.

I am sorry this is such a long message but i really would appreciate someone elses opinion especially if they have experienced anything similiar.

Many thanks in advance

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Autoimmune thyroid disease is linked to Mitral valve prolapse

webmd.com/heart/news/199911...

MVP was found in 28% of patients with Graves' disease, in 23% of patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis,

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/105...

The association of MVP with nonorgan-specific autoantibodies indicates that MVP may also be an autoimmune disease. It is possible that patients with AITD who also have MVP may be at an increased risk to develop systemic autoimmunity.

MVP and LBBB

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/881...

LBBB and autoimmunity

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

— Epidemiological studies indicate that autoimmune disorders affect ... including left bundle branch block, left anterior fascicular

[Traceycrete in reply to SlowDragon]

Thankyou for the links I will have a look at those.

[tattybogle]

i saw your heart related reply on another thyroid forum post earlier today ......

JonathanPittsCrick ... , ... Traceycrete wondered if you have any helpful information on her cardiology question on this post.

[Traceycrete in reply to tattybogle]

Thankyou tattybogle you have been very helpful I appreciate it.

[2pookies]

As someone who has been told for the last 39 years that my symptoms are due to depression, whether they are thyroid related or not, I can only sympathise.

As to the cardiologist, I would make a complaint to the GMC.

Best wishes for a good outcome.

[Traceycrete in reply to 2pookies]

Thankyou. Yes I will complain definitely, they shouldn’t be able to get away with it. I only went private because I needed to get my meds put back up otherwise I would have waited for the NHS appt. Wish I’d have taken my husband with me, might have been a different story, but I was doing the decent thing with the covid situation. Wish I hadn’t as other people were in the waiting room with partners. Will now wait for NHS appt and hopefully get a cardiologist who doesn’t mind explaining my results to me. I won’t be going alone though.

[Sonbleu]

For me - a very low “hyper” tsh number - less than .03 gives me all the hyperthyroid symptoms including heart palpitations - anxiety - panic attacks - mine got so low my doc took me off the liothyronine - rather than lowered my synthroid - I’m good between .3 and 2 - the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists recommend .3 to 3.04 - so the lower you go the more likely you will lean “hyper” and have heart symptoms - maybe ask the doc about backing off the liothyronine instead of the tsh - I quit mine altogether ( not on my own) and I’m finally in a good range and feel better - tsh 1.7 - the other point is that you will never regain “normal” even with meds - you will have good days and bad days - seeing that you’re a nurse you’ve taken very good care of a lot of people / now your body is telling you to take care of yourself - for me - I became Ill because I didn’t take care of my self - I was a workaholic - I literally burned out my thyroid / and finally my body said enough - you’re done - I actually had to take early retirement - and adjust to my new normal - but it’s not so bad - it wasn’t the end of the world.

[Fritillary339 in reply to Sonbleu]

Hello, I am in the same boat as you I think re TSH which has got so low that I am having hyper symptoms. I currently take T4 and T3 , T4 lie in range butT3 very high. I have been considering coming of f the T3 and upping T4. Did you stop theT3 gradually ?I'm glad you've managed to adjust v your life, sounds very wise to me

[Traceycrete in reply to Sonbleu]

I think you may have a point about upping the levo and stopping the T3. A few years back my Gp wanted me to up the levo to 100 alternating days with 75. I tried but it gave me heart palpitations. I also did the Dl102 gene test and found i was a poor converter of levo. My T4 never got very high in range over the next few years so decided to see a private endo to trial T3 . That was oct 2020. I was ok on 75 and 10 lio for nearly a year and then started with these episodes of lightheadedness etc. The information I’ve gained from this helpful site over the years is not to worry about TSH as it is suppressed whilst taking meds and we should concentrate on our T4/T3 levels and aim 50% thru the range to feel well. I am so glad you are feeling better and stopping T3 has worked for you. Life is so short we just want to live it feeling our best dont we? It’s such a shame it takes so long to find our sweet spot.

[JonathanPittsCrick]

Sorry for missing this thread. LBBB usually doesn’t cause any symptoms by itself, but can be a sign of other heart disease, which is not unusual with thyroid disease. So, especially if there are possibly heart symptoms, I think further tests would be reasonable - such as an echocardiogram.

[Traceycrete in reply to JonathanPittsCrick]

thanks for replying. Yes I had an ECG recently and consultant is not concerned for now. They also found a heart murmur but very small. I think underactive thyroid and being under medicated was the cause of symptoms as they seem to have disappeared now. Many thanks for your reply.