I have been on 1 3/8 grain NDT and less to 1 1/4 grain NDT (pressure of Consultant) for over a year. Feeling jittery and shaky over the last month, barely able to stand, achy muscles after eating. I have over the last week spread the dose from twice a day to three times a day, but still feel dreadful.
My sodium level is just out of range low via OneDayTests but just scrapes through in NHS range.
Could this be adrenals due to being on too low a dose of thyroid meds ?
Feb TSH 0.09 (0.27--4.2) FT4 15.3 (12-22) FT3 4.6 (3.1-6.8)
Dec Cortisol 629 (166-507) DHEA 3.95 (0.26 -6.68)
Saliva cortisol was done 10 mths ago with only the AM slightly elevated in line with taking T3 in NDT.
To say ive been under extreme stress for the last 4 months would be putting it lightly.
Do i persevere with increasing NDT but spread the dose to tolerate easier and help the racing pulse ?
BP eg 8 am 101/66 pulse 75 Standing 108/62 pulse 75
BP 12 noon 94/51 pulse 74 Standing 83/62 pulse 94
I am 7 stone in weight, eat a reasonable amount, chronic malabsorbtion (take enzymes )
My instinct with the racing pulse is to decrease meds because im afraid......my logic is telling me i need more, much more than Consultants want.
Any thoughts please can you help,
Every best wish . G
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Gillybean1
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I’m sorry I can’t help with your question, but given low BP together with low sodium, I’d suggest taking electrolytes, if you don’t already.
There are various recipes online for making salt-based drinks for health purposes, though personally I take commercial tablets as I can be sure they provide a balance. I too have low diastolic and sodium at the bottom of the range. Some days electrolytes definitely help me feel better, while other days they don’t seem to make any difference.
Thank you for taking the time to reply. Yes i was taking electrolytes for about 6 months but stopped about a month ago because i thought they might be pushing my corrected calcium out. And i have added it back in this week, i too find benefit some days and not others.
In my 30's 40's and 50's I didnt add salt to my food ,just relying on what occured naturally in food and used herbs and spices. In my 60's now I have been adding salt, I think it makes everything tastes the same, so switched to adding it to drinks.
I suspect im one of those people severely undermedicated due to Consultant pressure and have now caused havoc to my adrenals. I will look into the recipes you mentioned.
Thank you again, very kind of you to respond. Every best wish , G
Gillybean I don’t take NDT but my sense is from recent experience (yet again) that over and under medication throws out remarkably similar ‘symptoms’. Dare I say you sound tiny. Your BP seems low and your pulse, by most people’s understanding/experience is not that fast. I experience HR of 75 as fast too. This is because my heart tends to be ‘sluggish’ at often 55 or even less. A difference of twenty beats per minute is a huge jump and definitely feels fast when you are used to a much lower rate.
Since I have no idea about dosage of NDT I hope someone will come along soon and advise you.
Thank you for taking the time to reply. Yes I suspect I am very undermedicated for my needs , and trying to satisfy these bullying Consultants who insist on fitting us all into box ticking ranges based on ' healthy- functioning -thyroid- 22year old- males' (sorry for rant) is where I have gone wrong for years.....to my adrenal detriment.
I forget these days im 65yrs, and expect to see my pulse as in my 20's - 50's at a steady 60bpm......and yes you are right 70 -75 isnt that fast, when I see it I get more anxiuos and up it goes ,particularly when Im standing.
My heart too is sluggish, with the contrast of a very full active 16 hour day for 3 decades to housebound and sedentry for 10 years ..... my heart hates it.
I think I will spread my doses and up it a little more. It always baffles me that Consultants bang on about TSH being suppressed but never comment that the T4 and T3 are well within NHS ranges. They think im going to die of a suppressed TSH rather than I will die by not being able to live and move........crazy. Whatever happened to working with symptoms with patients, for a better quality of life.
Hi, don't know if it's the same thing, but I get fluttering heart, cold numb limbs, I get jittery, I go on my exercise bike, I can get on in fleece pj's and knock out 10 mins without sweating but it helps me level out, I have isotonic powder that I make up at half strength and drink alot. At the moment I'm trying to plug on with no meds as I have terrible reactions to the levo. So trying to source ndt.
I don't recommend coming off meds of course, this is a desperate measure . I feel fantastic for the most part, but aware my tsh is ridiculous and t4 low , but from what I'm reading, I shouldn't die from this, my t3 isn't much different from being on meds, so I'm taking a chance. I believe my contraception injection was the possible cause, hurting my pituitary gland, so I'm concentrating on trying the heal that.
We are all different, I'm just passing on what I'm going through, in case there is indeed an answer in there somewhere.
Thank you for taking the time to reply. I regard any info as useful, and if not for me ive sponged it up for someone else too, so thank you for sharing
Do take care though, you can be too low in T4 and if extreme that can be life threatening. If you feel fantastic and can do what you do already, you must be doing something that is right for you. Well done.
My 3 nieces and friends daughter have all suffered consequences thyroid wise post contraceptive injectionon or patch. Difficult to prove, but it does seem odd. Maybe they all had a predisposition to thyoid issues and this was a tipping point, who knows. But something didnt agree with them.
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Thyroid s and high cortisol 
Weight gain and swelling on armour in last 6 months
never loose hope upping NDT!!
Hydrocortisone and T3 only
Tsh lowered w NDT spread out at lower dosage amounts?
