Before I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and put on medication, I suffered with dreadful sweating for years; eating hot food or drinks would being it on as would housework and sitting in a stuffy office environment. This would be the type that would soak on hair and clothing. For a long time I thought it must be my HRT failing, as did the doctors. However once I was put on medication for hypothyroidism the sweats completely stopped. Now after 18 months of no sweats they have started again. My understanding from the NHS website and published science literature is that sweating is a symptom of 'hyperthyroidism'. But for me I have this annoying sweating issue once again and I am asking the question - could this now be due to being under or over medicated.? My recent blood tests show I am in the normal range.
Can people with hypothyroidism suffer with swea... - Thyroid UK
Can people with hypothyroidism suffer with sweats and heat intolerance?
Heat intolerance, most definitely can be due to being hypo. It's something I suffered with for years, even after starting medication. It finally stopped when I went onto T3 only, and now I'm cold! 🤣🤣🤣 But, I've never been much of a one for sweating, even during the menopause.
The trouble with NHS website and published science literature and doctors in general is that they tend to divide a certain limited list of symptoms - which is by no means complete - into two columns: hypo and hyper. In real life, there are over 300 possible symptoms, and an awful lot of them can be either due to hyper/over-medication or hypo/under-medication. Which is why we need blood tests to back up the symptoms.
Do you have a copy of your latest blood test results? If so, post them here, with the ranges, and let's have a look. Just being in the so-called 'normal' range doesn't mean much. 
Thank you for replying so quickly. The first test is 8 weeks old on 125mgs Lev done privately, and the second ant GP’s 1 week ago.
T3 level - 5 (range 3.1-6.8)
T4 level - 20.5 (range12-22)
TSH level - 0.28 (range 0.21-4.2)
Anti-body test negative and normal.
Since this test I lowered my dose myself to 100mg of levothyroxine. Now I am suffering with sweating in the evenings (clothes and hair wet) most afternoons or evenings once a day for the last month.
Test done via my GP and these are the results (T3 not tested):
T4 level - 12.8. (range 7.90-14.40)
TSH level 0.34 (range 0.38-5.33) - Result Satisfactory continue with dose.
T4 level - 20.5 (range12-22) 85.00%
T4 level - 12.8. (range 7.90-14.40) 75.38%
You're not a very good converter because whilst your FT4 was 85% through the range, your FT3 was only 51.35%, which might have been ok for you. But, by lowering your T4 dose, your FT4 came down quite a lot, and so will your FT3 have done. So, it looks like more of a hypo/under-medicated symptom for you. If I were you, I'd put it back up to 125 mcg.
I have exactly the same problem, whilst on Armour only I was fine (13 years), when my doctor refused to give me Armour anymore, the sweats and weight gain returned, I am now on 100mg of thyroxine and 5mg x twice a day of Liothyronine, but I still sweat profusely and am still gaining weight, plus aching and tired all the time. My Endo gave me Pro-Bathine to take for the sweating but it made me feel so ill and I could hardly eat as swallowing was a problem that I had to stop taking them. Would love to go back to being on T3 only but it seems that we have no rights on what we are given anymore. If anyone has suggestions for the sweating I would also be grateful to hear them, sorry to have posted this on someone else’s post.
You have the right to self-treat, like I do. I got so sick arguing with doctors who knew less about my disease than I did, that I cut them out and go it alone. And, I'm far, far better for it.
I would self treat if i could afford to but unfortunately i’m unable to buy T3 privately & have to rely on nhs, my endo doesn’t like prescribing any T3 warning me of heart problems etc but does at least let me have a small amount, i was on 3 grains of Armour & felt normal the whole time i was taking it, whereas now i feel i have aged 10 years & am right back to where i was before i started on Armour - I was on 250 mcg of thyroxine for 7 years right at the beginning & just got worse & worse, i feel i am now back to that time, but they just don’t want to hear it! The treatment in this country is appalling for thyroid problems!
I think it's an international problem. I don't know of any country that treats thyroid problems well.
Great Job GG. We have to be proactive in our well-being. I'm so frustrated when Dr's tell you that your well because your numbers are in range. That's how thwmey missed my thyroid ailment and ended up having to go for TT for papilary cancer.Trust yourself and trust what and how one feels. Labs are just a snap shot of the moment the labs are done. And cellular is measured by symptoms not labs.
Thank you GG for being on the mark.
you will need to get thyroid and vitamins tested 8-10 weeks after reducing dose levothyroxine
Likely to see you’re now not on high enough dose levothyroxine
Test early morning, just before 9am, only drink water between waking and test and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
Have you now stopped multivitamins
Remember to stop vitamin B complex or any supplements that contain biotin 5-7 days before test
Please find out the answer. I have had hypo symptoms for at least three years, including thinning hair, disintegrating fingernails, leg cramps, recurring blurry eyes, and occasional fuzzy thinking. At the same time I sweat easily and can’t tolerate heat, My doctor said the margin between my being hypo and hyper is very narrow. My endo suggested there is something else going on. My T3 and T4 are both normal. My TSH has been <.02, which leads my endo to day I am hyper. I am taking 100mcg Levothyroxine and 5mcg Liothyronine morning and night.
I do not have a thyroid, having had radioactive iodine about 30 years ago. Once I began taking my Levo correctly (about 23 years ago) I began the “TSH” battle with my doctors. My endo has given up on me and figures I will die from heart problems because of my low TSH. At nearly 80 my resting heart rate is about 63 and my labs are great. I am a true believer in quality of life over quantity.
You're doing ok with the quantity of life, I know who I'd put my money on 😉
I’m the same soon get sweating when doing anything or even just sitting sometimes my fans are mostly on permanent especially summer months maybe sometimes in the winter, I’m not over medicated, I’m just waiting for my results to come through to see what’s going on now hope you get sorted soon , it can be a nightmare
I am exactly like you, I often need my fans on even in winter. Doctors have told me it is impossible to sweat and be heat intolerant if you are hypo, it only happens if you are hyper/overmedicated. It´s nice (for lack of a better word) to know there are others like me. I wish I knew what causes symptoms such as these. Changes in T3 levels? Low T3?
Well I don’t think I’m hyper, in may tsh 0.02 t4 17,9 t3. 4,3 I’ve just done another blood test with medichecks , I’ve upped my t3 tablets so I’m hoping all will be ok and not over , there you go , nice speaking with you bye for now
I have found taking paracetamol helps to control sweating to some extent.
How often would you take it please , I hope you find the answer, and if you do can you let me know haha bye for now
I take paracetamol twice a day once sweat has started. It does help but wears off after 2 hours.
We’ll have to have a fan strapped to our back I recon ,haha , you gotta laugh havent you , or you could cry
Im permanently hypo and yes I suffer with heat intolerance and never had this much of a problem with heat.
I have got doctors appointment by phone this week to discuss. Don’t hold any hope of help, but will force the issue.
I could have written exactly the same thing in the way of symptoms and yes, some of us do get very heat intolerant and very sweaty with hypo. Just like some hypos actually loose weight rather than gain it. If only I had that variant!
Looking back over the years the sweating started first, then the heat intolerance and finally I was diagnosed. Menopause came somewhere in the middle. But I have had 1 obvious hot flush meno related and that was it. The rest of the sweating is just unbearably wet and easily started. Vacuuming means I will need a shower. Just folding laundry can make my hair wet. I used to wear make-up every day in my 20's and 30's. Not anymore. I can't wear any now. It just slips down my face and neck into my clothing. My body is gross.
I was just reading your reply, and wouldn’t that be nice if we could lose some weight instead of the sweating
You would think we should have sweated off stones! But no, there is always more water lodged in our cells and always more sweat. Endless sweat.
I’ve got a broken thermostat, although my hands get Reynauds in winter I’m generally more heat intolerant. Can’t stand stuffy office and don’t want a fan as it makes my dry eyes worse, I just want fresh air. I’m not mentioning it to the gp as they will probably reduce my levo - I think it more likely due to my T3 being on the low side but they won’t understand that either.
A cup of tea is sometimes just like I’ve swallowed a central heating pill, vacuuming is like I’ve run a mini marathon in the tropics.
I’m always the last one to want the heating turned up.
"Put another log on the stove please". Really? Do I have too?
No one understands. Last December I sat in a neighbour's house for a dinner for 12. It was a lovely evening. The house is very nice and the dining room perfect. The table was laid with best china and glass. We had started the evening with a cocktail at another guest's house. That was my mistake, although I only drank half of mine. As I sat there at the table talking to others opposite and next to me I literally dripped. My hair was dripping down my back. I could feel the actual drips. My face, neck and upper chest area were glistening and running in rivulets. I was desperately looking for napkins I could use. Everyone behaved like there was nothing abnormal. I just wanted to crawl under an outdoor rock and cry. And that's a pretty normal night out for me. With or without any alcohol. It's thyroid induced because it happens when I do housework too. My HRT is fine.
Oh I know how you feel , I was at a dance and there was a buffet half way through, I stood in the queue, and it all just came over me my face was wet, it was running down my back I felt awful and I suppose humiliated, so I can imagine just how you were feeling,
Before I lost all my energy I used to do a lot of hoop dancing. I'd be out there spinning hoops and rocking out and I'd be OK. But when I stopped!!! I would be pouring with sweat. I always had to have a towel with me. No one else I know who hoop danced had to be joined at the hip with a towel and they all wore fancy circus style make-up! Ha!! Make-up. I remember that, just about. I gave it up when it started sliding off my face.
It's just humiliating as much as anything. Now I have no energy, so can't exercise, and I'm fat and bloated. I feel I have been very let down by the medical establishment, both NHS and private. I'm more or less just accepting that I have to do it myself now and use those services I can to help me stop other things going wrong around me.
Yeah it’s certainly a horrible condition so many things to it ,try and keep cool nice talking with you, I’m glad I’m not alone there seems to be a lot of people with the same experience, I know what you mean about nhs , I’m trying to sort myself at the moment just waiting on my latest results to come back ,to see where I am at the moment bye for now
yes I concur with vacuum cleaning. Have to time it before I shower!
Except if I do any vacuuming I'm too tired to shower afterwards!
I also find that fresh air really helps with sweats whether 10c outside or 30c. I wonder if it is something to do with more oxygen or air movement.
When I was menopausal I loved walking in the fresh air but as soon I came into a building it would seem incredibly stuffy and I would start sweating. Walking to the office I had to allow extra time….first to sit outside and cool down a bit, then go in and try to dry my hair under the hand drier in the loo!
Now the sweats of menopause are just about over and diagnosed hypothyroid but I still have the broken thermostat thing - hot one moment (particularly in bed at night) and cold the next.
I love fresh air. It's the movement I think. Even when still there is usually some small movements going on. I hate stuffy indoor air. I have been like this for many years. Long before I was diagnosed. I think I've had a thyroid problem most of my adult life but no one noticed and I didn't know what was normal.
This may be totally wrong/ irrelevant but this article suggests that lack of folate increases heat intolerance, or reduces our ability to adapt to heat, particularly as we get older.
People with hypothyroidism are often folate deficient…
portlandpress.com/clinsci/a...
I have exactly the same and am better when I supplement with folate.
I'm supplementing folate and haven't noticed a difference sadly.
Thank you for this idea Mollyfan. I will suggest to doctor for a B12 test. I do have tingling for 6 months up back of head which 2 doctors have now told me will go away after 3 months. I also have some numbness and tingling in lower legs which I have had off and on for 8 years but lately been worse. I have reported this to doctors a few times but they have no interest in my symptoms. I was told it was all part of CFS, which I now know I did not have and hypothyroidism was finally diagnosed 18 months ago and 6 months of complete exhaustion.
Hi, and thank you to everyone who offered advice about my sweating and tiredness.
I spoke to a very nice GP today about my on-going condition, of which you can read in my first post. She has advised me that although I am in the normal range (just) I reduce my dose from 100mg of levothyroxine to 75mg to see if this helps. She said she will phone me in 2 weeks to see how I am doing. Also to book a test in 2 weeks. The GP explained that everyone is different, and how although now in the normal range. this does not mean that dosing a particular way suits everyone. It depends on reaction.
I also had a blood test today to see whether I have enough oestrogen in my system in order to see if my HRT is working at the dose I am on.
So I will have to wait and see how I feel on the lower dose and for the blood test results.
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