New Symptoms...

[Hey1975]

Hi. I hope everyone is doing well today. I'm in dire need of help and advice again. After I take my levothyroxine 25mcg. I'm actually starting to feel a tiny bit better but, about 4 hours later my blood pressure is dropping low and a few hours after that it goes really high. I've read other talking about this and that t3 could possibly help. But is there ANYTHING else I can do now?? Is my levothyroxine 25 just to low of a dose?? Maybe?? I'm very scared right now, this is concerning. Thanks again for any help. God bless.

[greygoose]

Pretty sure your dose of levo is just too small. It's half a normal starter dose for someone your age.

In a previous post, you said you had very high TSH, but 'normal' FT4. But, I can't find anywhere where you told us what that so-called 'normal' FT4 was. For a start, there's no such thing as a 'normal' thyroid blood test result for a hypo. When a doctors says 'normal' he just means somewhere within the so-called 'normal' range, which often is too low within the range. Which is why we always ask for the exact numbers: results and ranges.

Your FT4 could have been much too low. Also, it could be that you weren't converting that T4 to T3 very well, so your FT3 would have been even lower, which would also have affected the level of your FT3. But if it's not tested, we can't know.

I think you need to increase your dose to 50 mcg - never increase by more than 25 mcg every six weeks, sometimes even less - and do full thyroid testing after six weeks:

TSH

FT4

FT3

Do you know if you have Hashi's? If not, TPO and Tg antibodies are also a good idea. And nutrients: vit D, vit B12, folate and ferritin. It's very important to have optimal nutrient levels when taking thyroid hormone replacement.

[Hey1975 in reply to greygoose]

But by increasing it to 50mcg will it make it drop more? I'm hurting so bad right now, my back (flank) is killing me it's like my kidneys aren't filtering when my blood pressure is so low like this. I'll try to find those t4 levels as soon as I can move again. I do know my t4:was at the very low of the range it barely made it in the range. Thank you so very much. I appreciate your time and help.

[greygoose in reply to Hey1975]

Increasing your dose should make your BP rise. Low BP is a hypo symptom.

If your FT4 was at the bottom of the range, then it was too low. When on thyroid hormone replacement, it should come up to at least over 50% through the range - more like 80%. But, doctors don't understand how to interpret blood test results and think that anything within the range has to be good. They are so, so wrong!

[Hey1975 in reply to greygoose]

Yes my blood pressure is usually low but for what ever reason it's going up and down like my body is confused. But something just doesn't seem quite right. And after looking at the range of my t4 is when I saw it was barely in the range. So I definitely think I might not be converting very well. But like it's been mentioned I probably should increase my levothyroxine to 50mcg. Here's an article that really sounds familiar with my situation. If you have time maybe give it a look. stopthethyroidmadness.com/b... considering increasing in the morning. I don't want this to keep going day after day. And yesterday after it started going back up it just kept going until I had to take BP meds. I'm praying it won't be the same tonight. Thank you so much.

[greygoose in reply to Hey1975]

And after looking at the range of my t4 is when I saw it was barely in the range. So I definitely think I might not be converting very well.

What do you mean by 'converting'? T4 converts to T3. If your T4 is the bottom of the range, you don't have enough to convert, but that has nothing to do with your ability to convert. Just that you aren't taking enough levo (T4).

Hmmm... I'm not a great fan of STTM. And one thing doesn't sit right with that article. She says she can't take magnesium tablets because it gives her diarrhea, but it's not the magnesium itself that would do that. It's the form of magnesium she's taking. Magnesium citrate has that effect, but there are quite a few other forms of magnesium -

Magnesium taurate: best for cardiovascular health.

Magnesium malate: best for fatigue – helps make ATP energy.

Magnesium glycinate: most bioavailable and absorbable form, non-laxative.

Magnesium chloride: for detoxing the cells and tissues, aids kidney function and can boost a sluggish metabolism.

Magnesium carbonate: good for people suffering with indigestion and acid reflux as it contains antacid properties.

Worst forms of magnesium: oxide, sulphate, glutamate and aspartate.

And that makes me rather sceptical of the rest of the article.

Are you supplementing magnesium in any way if you feel you need it? Might be a good idea because most people are deficient.

[Hey1975 in reply to Hey1975]

I found my free T4 results. I did increase my levothyroxine this morning to 50mcg. Thank you for your help I'm praying something will start going in the right direction. I'm hanging on by a thread at this point. How long have you been dealing with thyroid issues? How are you these days?

Free T4

[Hey1975]

I'm sorry.. I think I meant what your saying, that there's not enough. Had a brain fart I apologize. I'm not supplementing I have made several mistakes so now I'm just taking the levothyroxine. There's so many different things out there learning about this gets more confusing to me. I don't want to make myself worse and trust me, I've managed to do just that a time or two. I honestly come here 99% of the time bc of articles just like that. I think I might have sent the wrong one actually. I'll double check it. Sorry again. I did have my TSH rechecked without my levo for almost 31hours so it's more accurate. It was 11.5. What do you recommend on the increase now? Thank you.

TSH 11/19/21 without levo for about 30 hours

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Hey1975]

The aim of levothyroxine is to increase the dose SLOWLY upwards in 25mcg steps until TSH is ALWAYS below 2

Most people when adequately treated will have TSH around 1

Standard starter dose levothyroxine is 50mcg

Request 25mcg dose increase in levothyroxine and get bloods retested 6-8 weeks after each dose change or brand change in levothyroxine

Likely to need several further increases in levothyroxine over coming months

Approx how much do you weigh

Guidelines on EVENTUAL dose levothyroxine required per day is approx 1.6mcg per kilo of your weight per day

Unless extremely petite likely to be on at least 100mcg levothyroxine per day

Levothyroxine doesn’t top up failing thyroid, it replaces it. Essential to be on high enough dose

Meanwhile request dr test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 levels. Likely very low as currently you are hypothyroid

[Batty1]

When was the last time you had a complete thyroid panel? Can you post your results with ranges so people can actually see them and give you their thoughts?

I also see from your bio you have COPD this disease will raise your blood pressure and what other medications are you on to treat your other health issues do you take them with your thyroid meds? Have you looked up your meds for drug interactions?

[Hey1975 in reply to Batty1]

Hi it's afternoon here, I hope it's not a bad time for you. I haven't had thyroid panels done they just look at my TSH and T4 or T3. And those were done in the emergency room. I don't have health insurance or a regular doctor. I don't have any way right now to have the tests done privately. And I spent a lot of money on the doctor that put me on 50 mcg levothyroxine and told me to increase to 100 Mcg. in two weeks nor do I really want to go back to him again. So I'm stuck right now. I'm staying on the 25 mcg and hopefully my body will adjust. I'll post the recent tests I've had done. It was my TSH and Free T4. I only take Albuterol inhaler as needed for my COPD and that's sometimes once or twice a day. But I don't take anything else near my morning dose of levothyroxine. Today I've been feeling nervous again and really sleepy all day. And I've been more hungry. Which might be good bc I haven't had an appetite in very long time I just make myself eat most of the time. I don't understand it I'm only on 25 mcg but I'm feel like I'm taking to much. Idk if it's bc my levels were so low or what. I don't like feeling like this at all. I don't know what to do now. Can I cut my 25 in half? I know they say don't do that but I don't wanna be over medicated again. Do you think it's bc I took a 50 mcg yesterday? If so will it come down at some point? I can't call anyone bc I was seen in the emergency room so I don't know what I can do. Any advice would be so appreciated. Thank you so much. Hope to hear back from you.

TSH

[Batty1 in reply to Hey1975]

I posted earlier on here about sugar issues and hypothyroidism problems again…. I put a link at bottom of my post it might interest you one article actually talks about albuterol and thyroid. I will try and locate the actual article in the meantime find my post and look at the link.

Sorry for typos Im doing this post without my glasses.. lol

[Hey1975 in reply to Batty1]

I've been dealing with low sugar for weeks now and couldn't figure out what was happening. So I definitely really want to see this article. I hope I can find it. I've been told I'm not diabetic and my glucose is just fine but I don't feel just fine. And that's exactly when my back/flank pain is the worst. If I get up for more than 20-30 minutes I start feeling dizzy and lightheaded & my hands turn ice cold & I start feeling short of breath & I can't think clearly & my vision gets really blurry. My test came back negative for infection and ua was clear. Something is happening I just don't know what. Thank you & I'm about to start looking for your post. I have no idea how to do that. Oh and you did just fine without your glasses. Lol...

[Batty1 in reply to Hey1975]

wellnessresources.com/news/...

As your reading you will see other links to information about different stuff one being certain medications and what issues they can cause.

[Hey1975 in reply to Batty1]

I found it thank you. I'm doing something similar after I take my levothyroxine. And once I start getting up and doing things I'm forced to lay down bc I feel so bad. I've always had normal sugar levels so this is very confusing. I'd really like to know what to do about it. How to remedy this. I've got a headache as I speak & I'm dizzy can't see everything is blurry & I'm still urinating every hour or two. I was trying to find the information about Albuterol that you mentioned but haven't found it yet. Please lmk if you find out more info about these issues I'd really like to know. Thank you. -Lisa

[Batty1 in reply to Hey1975]

I can’t link it because it comes back to the main website I tried…. Start reading the other articles at the bottom (10 ten worse drugs) I believe thats the article title.

[Hey1975 in reply to Batty1]

Here's the other recent tests.

Free T4

[Hey1975 in reply to Batty1]

I'm sorry for so many replies but I'm also urinating literally every hour or two. Is this normal?? I'm not sure what is going on but I don't like this at all. Thanks again.

[Regenallotment Ambassador]

hi, don’t swap and change your dose, stick to one dose for 6 weeks and then increase. Changing daily/weekly won’t work x

[Hey1975 in reply to Regenallotment]

So just stay on the 25 mcg. So far today the horrible back pain has gotten better. It's not like it was and my blood pressure hasn't dropped low or gone high. It's actually tolerable for the first time in months. But I definitely don't want to screw something up either. I'm having a little bit of nervousness but nothing like before on the 100 mcg. Thanks so much for your time and help.

[Batty1 in reply to Hey1975]

Maybe you have a kidney stone or infection