I’ve recently stopped taking progesterone HRT (only taken to help with thyroid levels) as it was pushing up my bp.
Whilst I feel better and my bp has lowered and dizzy spells much reduced, I’m now finding I’m getting what can only be described as a rush about an hour after I take my morning T3 dose.
This usually means a dizzy spell which leaves me with a dull headache for a while, and just feeling generally horrible for around an hour.
my heart rate remains normal throughout, I haven’t managed to check my bp when it happens yet.
Thing is, I can’t really lower the dose as I’m struggling as it is on exertion. I know from years of practice now that if I feel off after exercise then I need to increase my dose slightly. I considered splitting the dose but again, having tried this before I found that any less than 20mcg per dose doesn’t have any effect, and I end up feeling as if I haven’t taken any meds. I know some other T3 only people find this also.
The other strange thing is it only happens with my morning dose, not in the evening. I’m going to try taking tomorrow’s morning tablets with/after food, maybe this will slow down the absorption?
All this is down to perimenopause, but I’d appreciate help with how to manage these things as I’ve been stable for so long and now feel back to square one 🙁
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Murphysmum
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Effectively you have changed your TH dosage it seems to me, by dropping your HRT. Your body may be trying to figure out how to deal with that right now.
Can you give yourself time to allow this to happen? Remember how changes in dosage have affected you in the past. Anything similar?
Perhaps the clue is in “…. I have been stable for so long and now feel back to square one.”
So for context I stopped the progesterone at Xmas and initially was fine. Part of the reason I stopped it was because suddenly my T3 levels went through the roof. Water maybe 5 years of being fine. I dropped it, felt better and then the same thing happened. Along with the high bp, dizziness etc.
Once I stopped the HRT I felt much better. Until now!! So effectively I feel “low” thyroid-wise, but unable to tolerate the current dose, certainly in the morning.
It’s been a few months now and certainly the effect of the HRT is long gone but the thyroid symptoms are worsening and this has me stumped. You’re right though, I’ll maybe look back through my old posts on here and see if anything rings a bell!
If you are struggling with exertion, it doesn’t necessarily mean you need a T3 dose raise but that the T3 you are presently taking isn’t being allowed to work correctly. Especially if you previously felt good.
T3 requires adequate cortisol and if adrenals aren’t functioning best, the T3 can end up a further stressor causing 'rushes' of adrenaline. Cortisol should be highest in the morning and any deficiency is usually exposed by the taking of T3 in the morning.
If you wish to slow absorption it’s better to multi dose T3 until such a time your body has recovered and is more tolerant. To avoid the 'rushes' I had to initially multi dose 3 x daily for about a year before reducing to twice so reducing the rapidity of T3 onset and prolonging the duration of its action just until adrenals were more robust.
Progesterone is a 'calmer' and as such helps regulate BP. Stopping progesterone supplementation may leave high unopposed oestrogen levels which can alter thyroid hormone levels in the blood as adheres to same protein carriers. Progesterone is bound by others so non-affecting.
Yes, this is exactly the issue. I didn’t say it very well - probably because my brain isn’t functioning very well either!
This is where I’m struggling to know what to do. I have tried lower, multiple doses before and it seems I’m one of the few who needs a bigger dose at a time as otherwise it’s as if I haven’t bothered.
I’ve gone back to being very vigilant about my timings and supplements, as if I’m honest these had slipped a wee but I’ve recent months and I know low nutrients etc won’t help.
So if I’m not getting along with the progesterone - and I know I have oestrogen dominance issues - then how do I approach my new situation? Since stopping the pg my bp has definitely dropped, but then risks climbing again due to the inefficiently of the thyroid hormone!
Am I best to speak to someone re HRT changes, or try sorting the T3 issues first? Just don’t know what way to turn tbh
When we take our meds we aren’t supposed to feel anything. If you feel a bump, whoosh or rush this evidences too much for the body to utilise correctly in that moment.
If I was you I would plug away with multiple T3 doses in an effort to gain better tolerance free of rushes, and once thyroid hormone is working better you might find other problems naturally improve/resolve. If you don’t like multi dosing, think if it as a necessity for only 3 or 6 months and then reassess.
If you know oestrogen levels are high, improving liver function will help clear elevated levels. I’ve previously successfully taken milk thistle but it can impair thyroid hormone action for some. Otherwise, lemon in hot water, clean living & diet will help, all the usual detox methods.
I think you and I had a chat regarding splitting/not splitting in the past DippyDame !
I tried previously and didn’t get on with a singular dose, so have been settled and healthy on two doses a day, morning and tea time ish.
I only went on the progesterone as I became aware of the very cyclical dips in my thyroid health, if I can call I that. I started the pg and I was fine for about 3.5 years until recently. I became very over medicated, so dropped, then dropped again and was fine, but then was getting crazy dizzy spells that seemed to connect to the pg, and have since gone now I’ve stopped it, and the raised bp has resolved.
I suspect there’s lots of thyroid hormone floating around not doing much, as per radd s reply. I feel very undermedicated - shaky after exertion, head pressure, constantly fatigued and at times my heart rate has dropped really low. All under medicated signs for me. But I’m not tolerating more T3.
I think I’d like to explore the HRT support more, but adding oestrogen scares me tbh given it blocks thyroid hormone, and then I don’t seem to be getting along with the pg either atm. And I know if I speak to the GP they’ll be clueless and I risk them concluding the T3 is at fault
Ah yes, so we did....sorry! Ancient brain cells on a go-slow!!
Maybe you need to reduce your dose, as I alluded to, now that HRT is removed. It's possible that the size of the dose is the problem when splitting....not the T3 per se.
There is no quick fix as you know....the system can take weeks to sort itself out
It's tricky, I've recently been on a lot of antibiotics and they have impacted my thyroid function, so looking to maybe change my dose...but under and over medicated can be similar. Back to "trial and error" which is slow.
T3 does nothing until it enters the cells and attaches to TR receptors so becoming active. Serum T3 is not active.
It's generally assumed that thyroid function works....unfortuntely for some of us it doesn't!!
Cellular level could be too high or too low and on T3-only we have to rely on knowledge of our symptoms to work that out. I guess that's what scare the h**l out of medics!!
I'm no expert, just another hypo trying to navigate the complexities of hormone replacement!
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