hi since my last post I have had a nightmare the rapid pain clinic consultent thinks I did have a heart attack and I am waiting on an angiogram. My ecg came up abnormal and has put me on ramipril and Bisoprolol I didn’t take the statins. I started taking them the following night ended up in hospital with serotonin syndrome from the sertraline tablets the doctor put me on. I am having horrendous muscle pains but I also gave up smoking 34 days ago. My doctors have made me an appointment for the 28th but I am feeling so unwell. I would like to know when it would be ok to do my medichecks full thyroid test as I am wondering if my vitamin b12 is low my doctors won’t test as they said I have two lots of blood tests this past couple of months. I feel so low and feel as if I am on my own the beta blockers are making me feel worse than I was before. Also does giving up smoking affect your levels. Sorry for my moan but feel really rotten with these muscle aches and my be is low and pulse rate is around 55-47. Thank you for reading x
Feel as if I am on my own.: hi since my last post... - Thyroid UK
Feel as if I am on my own.
I'm sorry you are feeling alone. It's hard when things seem to be going wrong. Could you try a different doctor to get the blood tests you need? Either that or use Medichecks, their thyroid bloods can include vitamin levels as well.
Also ask for a dose increase of your Levo.
thank you I have a medichecks test ready to do but just wondering with me being poorly when I should do it. My doctors won’t even see me for 3 weeks I rang them again today and was told do discuss my symptoms at my appointment in 3 weeks
I suppose it depends if you stand a chance of getting your GP to do it then maybe wait? Either that or get it done, then you have something to discuss with the GP at your appointment? Your FT3 looked pretty low so no wonder you're struggling and unwell.
Giving up smoking can change thyroid levels
Suggest you get FULL thyroid and vitamin testing done
all thyroid blood tests early morning, ideally just before 9am and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or all relevant vitamins
List of private testing options and money off codes
thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...
Medichecks Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins
medichecks.com/products/adv...
Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes antibodies, cortisol and vitamins
bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...
thank you
so sorry to hear about your troubles. Sounds like you’ve got a few issues to put up with all at once, which can test your resilience and make you feel down. I would get the bloods done definitely, and see where you are. But hey, well done for giving up smoking. What a massive achievement. Don’t lose sight of those positives. Its hard really hard to give up.
Can you post any other recent blood tests along with Med doses?
Sending virtual hugs. You’re never alone on here. Keep us updated x
thank you I had been smoking for 45 years and a month ago I thought I don’t want one any more and stopped. I have the medichecks test ready to do but just haven’t felt well enough to do anything. I take 100 mg Accord and 25mg Teva I have always had the same brand and it has never changed. Last blood results are on a previous post. Thank you for your reply x
I don’t know whether my experience is helpful but when I take certain brands of Levothyroxine, I fell ok, but if the GP gives me a different brand, I can fell really awful. Have you noticed any patterns in this regard perhaps??
I had a ECG and everything came back normal I ended up having a heart attack that was in 2019 after my brand of Levothyroxine was changed from Mercury Pharma to Teva I became very ill my daughter was the same her GP said they are bulk buying so wee have never been told what it was I don’t suppose it will ever come out.
Sorry you're feeling so poorly. Could it be the beta blockers you've just started making you feel so unwell? I tried to take a low dose propranolol as advised by a cardiologist for my ectopic heartbeats and only managed 1 week. I have never felt so unwell and poorly before. Apart from triggering my asthma (he said it was ok to take as my asthma is stable) I had utter exhaustion, headache and just wanted to curl up a corner and cry, my pulse also dropped to low 40's. It's taken a couple of weeks to improve since stopping it. My T3 is low too, I'm sure there's a connection, have read lots of research but getting the medics to acknowledge it is nigh on impossible. Obviously we're all different, don't just stop your medication but phone the doctor again and insist on being seen sooner. Sending love and hugs.
Yes, the beta blocker down regulates T4 to T3 conversion :
Didn't know that, no wonder I felt so ill x
Yes just another little piece of the puzzle you gave me - it all makes a bit more sense now doesn't it ?
Propranolol slows conversion and uptake of Ft4 to Ft3
May also increase reverse T3 and reduce magnesium levels
Links re Propranolol
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/168...
rejuvagencenter.com/hypothy...
labtestsonline.org.uk/tests...
Drugs that may decrease PTH include cimetidine and propranolol.
Fourwhitesheps which beta blocker are you currently prescribed?
Thank you and very interesting especially the high bp part. My bp was raised at my consultation and I said I think that's because I'm hypo, she disagreed, yet again and said it's low bp with hypo not high! Ok now on my home monitor, was probably stress x
I take one propanol tablet at bedtime and have done so for several years - this is due to severe palpitations I used to have in the middle of the night when on levothyroxine. The cardiologist did several overnight recordings and was puzzled to what was causing them.
I take liothyronine (T3) now.
thank you yes I do think the beta blockers haven’t helped the ramipril gave me pain under my left breast witch I never had before. The serotonin syndrome happened the night of the ecg so don’t know if that altered the results at all. I generally didn’t feel like I had a heart attack I just thought it was acid reflux. I will have to see what the angiogram comes up with . I am wondering if my results haven’t gone back to my doctor from the heart and lung clinic yet . Yes I know what you mean the doctor told me that my last results from monitor my health were fine despite T3 being low and T4 high. Thank you x
Hope you get some answers and feel better soon x
Beta blockers can take time to get used to as they work by slowing your heart rate and keeping your blood pressure down. It can feel like wading through treacle with a backpack on until your body acclimatises to them so give it time. They are however protective against potentially dangerous abnormal heart rhythms which you are more susceptible to after a heart attack. There are a few different cardio selective ones available (not propranolol) so if one type doesn't suit, your cardiologist could potentially swap you to another. Similarly with the ramipril, if you have side effects with this (a dry persistent cough for example is not uncommon), a group of drugs called ARBs can be used instead. It sounds like you have been having a rotten time. Are you getting cardiac rehab? You may find extra support there as the nurses work closely with the cardiologists.
hi no I have no support just told that I had suspected heart attack put on beta blockers and to wait for angiogram appointment. The day I had my ecg was the same day I ended up in hospital with serotonin syndrome and wonder if this affected the ecg.
Not sure but I would hope that blood tests would have supported the diagnosis. If you have had a heart attack your local hospital trust will have a cardiac rehab team so it would be worth chasing to get a referral to them for invoking advice and support. Good luck x
I am so sorry to hear you are feeling so bad, and that you are having difficulty in seeing/talking to your GP. To make you wait three weeks in this situation is unacceptable. I can't offer medical advice - sorry- but my advice would be to ring GP surgery again and directly request an urgent appointment. I would tell them that you are concerned about your severe symptoms (if you think some are due to side-effects of meds mention that too), and that it us causing you anxiety. Just in case you have been fobbed off by a 'computer says no' receptionist and not been triaged properly. You could question who triaged you and what their qualifications were. My GP surgery offers urgent appointments for situations such as yours. I would ask to talk to the Practice Manager if necessary. The surgeries are struggling but not as much as you. It really sounds as though you should be a priority. Hope you manage to speak with/see GP soon. In the meantime I'm sending virtual hugs. Please let us know how you get on.
thank you x
so sorry to read what your going through I can relate a little as in July i went through similar and was in icu for 5 days, had an angiogram sent home with ramipril but couldn’t stand the side effects and got my Dr to change to candesartan 2mg so maybe it’s the ramipril making you feel even more ill, I’m not saying it is but wanted to just share that with you encase. Please ask for a echocardiogram and a cardiac mri scan of your heart, I fight every single day to get help from medical professionals to get help. I also refused statins and my gp got really angry with me. I got them to test my thyroid levels last week and my tsh is perfect but I’m going to do a Medichecks full panel done. If you tell Medichecks what meds your on I think they consider this when you get the Drs report with your results let me encourage you love that even though it’s a upward battle each day you will get through it x
thank you x
I remember I had problems with beta blockers at first. I was prescribed them for tachycardia - fast heart rate up to 150. They slowed down my heart rate to the low 40s (as far as I remember), and my body had been used to a regular rate of 90+. My blood pressure was normal (roughly 120/70) before the beta blockers but they reduced it to about 90/47.
I live on a hill and the bus stop was at the top of the hill. I couldn't even reach it when I was on the daily beta blockers.
What I did was cut the beta blockers in half, and then only took them when my heart rate was too fast. That helped enormously for me.
I've been taking beta blockers only when I need them for years now. However, I did increase to taking a whole tablet now, rather than half a tablet, a couple of years ago or thereabouts.
thank you
The hospital didn't say what they thought had caused it. I had been taking it for about 2 months dose of 50mg. Everything is still ongoing and I don't know what is still causing these horrendous muscle aches. Thank you x
I didn't know what it was, came on really quick shivering uncontrollable, muscle twitches and then muscle aches, low pulse rate and heart palpitations and BP erratic. The doctor told me what it was taken.off the sertraline and given pain killers. As far as I am aware there is no blood test for it. It was scary
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