Help... 2 urgent questions

[Kriticat]

My latest results came back with FT4 overrange (120%) and FT3 at 53% so I thought I'd reduce the dose (I've been on 75/88mcg alternate days since my last result came back with slightly overrange FT4. So I decided to reduce dose to 75mcg a day, but had a 50mcg on Friday morning. My first question is could this cause severe cold, uncontrollable shivering, achy body and nausea? Or have I picked up a bug, and just a coincide? My 2nd question, I took 75mcg this morning, but was sick after 30 minutes, and although mainly liquid there was the shape of what could be the remains of a tirosint capsule (sorry about the graphics). So should I assume I haven't had any levo today? I'm reluctant to just take another one if it's been absorbed, as I'm trying to reduce the dose. BTW, until I got my results I'd been feeling OK, for winter, anyway, but not great, I wasn't sleeping so well and gained a tiny, not unwanted, bit of weight. I am under considerable stress as my husband has been diagnosed with dementia and we're living in an unfinished house, so I'm taking over project management, with no experience or knowledge... in Greek!

Any help gratefully received .

[greygoose]

Sounds very much like you've picked up a bug. The reduction in dose is unlikely to have had an effect so quickly.

Do you have Hashi's?

[Kriticat in reply to greygoose]

Yes, sorry, should've said, I have hashis.. I thought it must be a bug but I've never had anything like this, I feel like I've been run over by a truck, my ribs hurt too much to breathe! No normal bug symptoms

[bantam12 in reply to Kriticat]

Might be a good idea to get checked over, your symptoms could be the start of sepsis and that needs treating quickly.

[Kriticat in reply to bantam12]

Omg, that's scary, thought you had to have a cut or something to get sepsis

[bantam12 in reply to Kriticat]

Absolutely not, sepsis can happen out the blue with no obvious cause. I had it last year and no infection was found, my main symptoms were feeling really cold, uncontrollable shivering and pain.

[Kriticat in reply to bantam12]

Ok, thanks bantam12 the shivering seems to have stopped now, and I don't feel cold anymore... the pain is still there so I'll go and get checked out.

[greygoose in reply to Kriticat]

Not change of dose symptoms, either! All bugs are different and it sounds like this one needs checking out, as bantam12 says.

So, could be that the sudden rise in your FT4 was due to a Hashi's 'hyper' swing, and nothing to do with your dose.

[Kriticat in reply to greygoose]

How long do hyper swings tend to last? I also tested positive for Graves a couple of years ago, but didn't have the symptoms, they were all Hashimoto's My Ft4 has been creeping up while my conversion to ft3 has been getting worse, thinking I might need to add T3, but reluctant to become dependent on something that is so hard to access in the UK. I can buy over the counter here in Greece, but my husband's condition means we might have to return to England in the future

[greygoose in reply to Kriticat]

Impossible to say how long they last, depends on so many things. And on the way back down to hypo you could have a euthyroid period that lasts for quite a long time, too.

Which test was positive for Graves'? Because doctors aren't always very good at interpreting blood test results which can result in quite a few false 'diagnoses'. It certainly sounds like you have Hashi's, not Graves'.

It makes sense that your conversion gets worse as your T4 rises, because the higher it gets the more T4 is converted to rT3 and less to T3. This is a safety measure built into your system to stop you 'going hyper'. But if you are having a 'hyper' swing, it's impossible to judge how good or bad your conversion is.

[Kriticat in reply to greygoose]

TSI tested positive, but my endo at the time said that as my FT3 and FT4 were well within range, and all my symptoms were hypo, she would continue to treat for hashimoto's, while keeping an eye out for Graves. I've since ditched her, and other endos, so possibly I need to reconsider. I wish I could find a.doc/endo that understands this condition

[greygoose in reply to Kriticat]

Oh, don't we all! None of them seem to know very much - not the ones I've seen, anyway, and I've seen quite a few.

Actually, that first endo sounds very sensible. She was treating the person and not the numers.

[Kriticat in reply to greygoose]

Except she was hung up on TSH, it has been suppressed since i.started medication, and she reduced my t4 until it came back up, by which time I could barely stand up. I have a vivid memory of me lying on the floor talking to her and she was telling me that the results were great and I'd soon be able to stop taking T4! That's when I turned to this amazingly helpful forum and have been doing well until recently. Pretty sure stress has aggravated everything

[greygoose in reply to Kriticat]

Ah, OK. That changes everything! I take back what I said because she was treating the numbers! Very bad.