wondering if someone can shed some light on this quandary.
My thyroid is good and where it should be on Levo. But whenever I get a cold, flu or feel unwell, it send my thyroid levels berserk. It then takes me another three weeks to get back to normal thyroid levels. Does everyone have this issue? I know my mother does.
is there something I could take to support my thyroid when I feel I am coming down with something? Or should I increase my Levo until the virus or bug has past. Would love to a little advice. Thanks so much.
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Puddingym
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Have you optimised your ferritin, folate, Vit D and B12? These are key to getting the best out of your thyroid hormones and for general wellbeing so it could be these that hold the answer, could be worth getting your zinc levels tested to?
Best to add more through diet by adding chicken liver pate a couple of times a week but many of us add either heme iron or iron bisglycinate though would need to keep it to a low dose so as not to push iron too high
I'm like you and just add a couple of heme a week as I don't tolerate red meat
I think this is an important topic.I have been in a lot of pain for the last 3 weeks owing to an accident to my leg.It has been hard to sleep and I've needed to take painkillers which I hate doing.
It has been made harder by my going hypo -running out of energy, heart racing, short of breath- well before I would normally expect to need another dose of T3 ( 50mcg in 3 doses ).
So I've had to increase my dose by taking it in small amounts more often, and that has helped me stay clear headed and my heart to steady.
It feels like my body is busy with the mending of the injury and stress and somehow isn't processing the hormone sufficiently?
I have noticed this before when having flu.
I'm on the mend now and am beginning to find normal dosing is OK.
So my thoughts are "Don't panic, and listen to your body".
Hi, yes this happens to me if I get a virus and takes me weeks to get back to my normal self, I get the symptoms of over medication, shaking, heart palps, like everything is working too fast, awful feelings.
Could be that too. I'm normally quite well before the virus, ended up in A & E once by ambulance, of course they did bloods and my TSH was over 25( normally around 0.30 )and T4 way over range . I was like a jibbering wreck. Then the Dr came out with the diagnosis of that's how a virus affects my thyroid and it will return to normal but in the meantime drop the Levo from 100mcg per day to 50mcg !!. The hospital actually sent a letter to my GP to inform them my dose needed halving even though they knew it was from the virus. The fight I had to get it back to 100 was ridiculous. I had 7/8ths thyroid removed 35 years ago and would have been even worse health wise on that reduced dose. Sorry I don't know much about adrenalin so would be grateful for any advice and information relating to that.
Hmmm.... so it suggests that when you have a virus your conversion to fT3 suffers as with a TSH that high showing you are hypo along with high fT4 that isn't doing much to help... it would be so interesting to see a fT3 level if only the hospital had checked and could have given you some to get you over the hump and pass you on to Endo🫤 do you normally have good levels of both fT3/4?
The adrenal glands kick in when thyroid levels are low to try and keep you functioning but the side effects with a burst of adrenalin can wake you up and make you anxious/jittery with the fight or flight mode triggered
GP's and Hospitals have an aversion to even mention Ft3 don't they? I like most on the forum pay for private testing. I actually have a Medichecks test waiting to be filled so will see what my levels are with that. My Ft4 is normally in the top third of the range but Ft3 around the middle, I seem to remember somebody commenting that I didn't convert very well. I certainly felt like the adrenal gland had kicked in then, it was an awful feeling.
Flu or other viral infections can trigger inflammation, which can also impact on your thyroid. At the beginning, your thyroid could release extra hormones and later on there might be a lack of hormone, hence you might feel off balance regarding your thyroid.
I take a zinc complex regularly, especially in winter, and I have noticed that since my Vitamin D level has climbed above 100nmol/l, I have not had any colds or flu (touch wood!). I do get the occasional scratching in my throat or feel a bit 'off base' (e.g., after being to the supermarket and some people not seeing the need to cover their mouth when hacking away 🙄), but apart from that, my immune system seems to be much better and able to deal with it.
It is also important that when you feel 'off kilter' to give yourself a proper rest so you can gather strength and recover. I think very often we try to rush around and do too many things, even when our body says stop and breathe!
It is also important that when you feel 'off kilter' to give yourself a proper rest so you can gather strength and recover. I think very often we try to rush around and do too many things, even when our body says stop and breathe
Totally agree with this. Many years ago my GP at the time, a lovely old-school gentleman who actually listened to you and seemed interested (where have they all gone), said "be kind to yourself". Best bit of advice I've ever had from a GP.
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