Happy holidays, need help, exhausted after med change

[deniseross]

Hi friends, I last posted after raising my meds a bit 5 months ago. Was doing ok on that but still needed a little T3 so tried adding liothyronine (again) and it felt good for a while but then started up with side effects after a bit. I was doing a tiny amount...started with 2.5 mcg daily and then tried going down when I had heart palpitations and sort of a pressure in my chest and breathing. Every time I stopped it went away and every time I tried even tiny bits it came back within a day. I *definitely* felt better in many ways though. No afternoon slumps, more energy.

The lab results are from 11/18/2023. Was doing a tiny bit of T3, like maybe 1 mcg.

So, on 12/21/23 I switched (with docs approval)-

From: 88 mcg Synthroid & ¾ grain Armour Thyroid

To: 75 mcg Synthroid & 1 grain Armour Thyroid

Yesterday I was feeling awful, muscles and joints fatigued and sore all over. I thought maybe it was from wrapping presents and Christmas prep but today I still am feeling it so am starting to suspect it is related to the med change.

I am wondering if I should add another ¼ grain of Armour or switch back…I am at a loss. The way I figure it this should be equivalent to a 3 mcg drop in T4 and a 2.25 raise in T3. Such a small change. I am wondering if this is just an adjustment period that will improve or a bad start that merits an immediate change.

I am feeling inclined to add another ¼ grain of Armour, maybe every other day? Or alternate 75 mcg and 88 mcg Synthroid every other day?

Please let me know what you think. I am barely able to keep my eyes open or sit in my chair to work. Coffee isn’t working. Thank you.

I'm in the U.S. hence the different units.

[deniseross]

Oh my goodness...I just reread my last post and the same thing happened then. I was exhausted a few days after increasing the dose. I guess this is my modus operandi.

[WaystarRoyco]

I felt terrible when I increased my dose a couple of months ago. It lasted a while. The advice here was that this is indeed modus operandi. So I stuck with it and after a few weeks began to feel better.

[deniseross in reply to WaystarRoyco]

Thank you...it bears repeating over and over I guess. There is no instant magic pill with this health issue. Only wait and hope. Although, I have to say that the straight T3 offers me some instant benefits! Unfortunately the wait and see led to dangerous side effects.

[FallingInReverse]

hi deniseross ! I have had a crap few days too!

I haven’t taken time to dig into your history, but at a glance I can see your free ts aren’t horrible.

So I’ll just weigh in with one thing:

When titrating meds - the wisdom of the board is “low, slow” and only one change every 6-8 weeks.

I think you’ve got the low part covered! But you talk about making changes every few days because of symptoms - remember that blood chemistry take 6-8 solid weeks to settle down.

I am 5 1/2 weeks into a med change and have been fighting my impatience and my symptoms constantly.

So I can’t quite digest all the details above quickly because of my own ridiculous fatigue and brain fog right now.

But here’s what I wrote recently about the same thing.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[deniseross in reply to FallingInReverse]

Wow...5 1/2 weeks is long. I usually start feeling better after a week...otherwise I have a really hard time being patient. I know that this is like steering a boat...you turn the wheel and the results take a while. And sometimes you even steer in the opposite direction you'd think would be correct. So hard to be patient when I have to work, travel, and my house is a post-Christmas disaster and I'm the one who mostly cleans it. Ugh.

[FallingInReverse]

I’m with you, and although we are all different, many of us are the same since we find ourselves here on this board .

From what I have read - changing more frequently or in higher doses does NOT speed anything up in the long run. Many people who overshoot or change too many things at once just end up starting the clock all over again.

Anyway - I found this useful yesterday- specifically that the original poster said that they always start to feel better just at the 6 week mark.

So I shall wait one more week!

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...