I have a feeling of fullness in my neck / throat. I feel it when I swallow and it feels worse at beginning and end of the day. I often have to clear my throat and have a croaky voice that comes and goes. My last blood test was borderline (a good 6 months ago) and I await an appointment to discuss results. ( my fault for delay). I guess my question is could it be that I need an increase in dosage. Am on 75 mcg at moment. Are these kind of symptoms an indication of thyroid working extra hard? I’ve also noticed my hair feels very fine and I think it has been falling out.
thank you
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Daisydoo2
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thank you for all your insight. I will definitely look into more thorough blood tests. What happens once you do a private blood test. Do you go to GP with results? And do they accept them?
Work out which brand levothyroxine suits you best and get that one at each prescription
Many people find Levothyroxine brands are not interchangeable.
Most easily available (and often most easily tolerated) are Mercury Pharma or Accord
Mercury Pharma make 25mcg, 50mcg and 100mcg tablets
Mercury Pharma also boxed as Eltroxin. Both often listed by company name on pharmacy database - Advanz
Accord only make 50mcg and 100mcg tablets
Accord is also boxed as Almus via Boots, and Northstar 50mcg and 100mcg via Lloyds ....but Accord doesn’t make 25mcg tablets
beware 25mcg Northstar is Teva
Northstar levothyroxine being phased out this month
Many patients do NOT get on well with Teva brand of Levothyroxine. Teva is lactose free.
Teva contains mannitol as a filler instead of lactose, which seems to be possible cause of problems. Mannitol seems to upset many people, it changes gut biome
Teva is the only brand that makes 75mcg tablet.
So if avoiding Teva for 75mcg dose ask for 25mcg to add to 50mcg or just extra 50mcg tablets to cut in half
But for some people (usually if lactose intolerant, Teva is by far the best option)
Aristo (currently 100mcg only) is lactose free and mannitol free.
Wockhardt is very well tolerated, but only available in 25mcg tablets. Some people remain on Wockhardt, taking their daily dose as a number of tablets
If a patient reports persistent symptoms when switching between different levothyroxine tablet formulations, consider consistently prescribing a specific product known to be well tolerated by the patient.
Physicians should: 1) alert patients that preparations may be switched at the pharmacy; 2) encourage patients to ask to remain on the same preparation at every pharmacy refill; and 3) make sure patients understand the need to have their TSH retested and the potential for dosing readjusted every time their LT4 preparation is switched (18).
Do u have breathing issues? My dad has funny feeling in throat and has voice issues, but also has breathing issues. It seems as if his lungs move air well so wondering if SOB is coming from throat area.
I had this too. I had an ENT investigation (throat camera) I didn’t believe it but turns out they were correct about Silent Reflux, I also had scans ultrasound and MRI.
Here are the things that helped me;
1. Doing all the recommendations from SlowDragon for optimising thyroid meds, diet and vitamins.
2. Not eating after 7pm
3. No alcohol, no or very little sugar.
4. Raise the head end of the bed an inch or two (hubby put some wood strips under my side of the mattress)
5. NAC amino acid, tiny scoop in orange juice. Really helps with excess mucus.
well interestingly the doctor seems to think it could be reflux and has prescribed tablets but has also referred me for repeat blood test, full blood count, and a few other things too!
bingo! What tablets did they offer? They suggested I take Gaviscon but after reading here how it can make low stomach acid worse I decided to try all the steps above first. Reflux is a symptom of hypothyroidism, particularly in autoimmune where the stomach valves become compromised due to low stomach acid (I picked this up listening to Dr Eric Baclavage). Reflux isn’t necessarily acid reflux, it can be from low stomach acid. My thinking is if I take Gaviscon or omezaprazole I’ll cause even more problems. So for me, increasing my Levo to 125mcg and doing all the steps above to raise stomach acid and improve transit from stomach to small intestine worked. I’ve recently stopped the NAC as it’s not recommended taking longer than treating the GI issues which for me are mostly gone. (That was in the book SuperGut) My follow up with ENT went well, they were pleased with the results and said to GP that my T4 dose was clearly right for me and no reason to adjust. Which was very helpful. Dr Eric is convinced that putting FT4 and FT3 right enables the GI tract to function correctly. Dr William Davies (author of supergut) similarly says that grain and sugar free diet plus treating SIBO and SIFO will resolve much of this (how is in his book) Dr Myhill suggests paleo diet first supplements then optimal thyroid replacement then adrenal support is her approach. Good luck finding what works for you 🌱
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