Antibiotic - Anyone on thyroid meds had a reaction?

[FancyPants54]

I've been on 5 days of strong antibiotics for sinusitis that's been hanging around a while. As the days went on I got more and more exhausted. Barely moving. Everything was a struggle. My already swollen ankles and lower legs seemed to get worse. My oxygen levels were really good but I felt more and more breathless.

I finished the course yesterday. Still feeling tired today. Legs just as swollen and painful. Still puffed out easily. Is it possible the antibiotics have somehow lowered my already too low thyroid hormones? Has anyone else experienced this sort of thing?

I'm hoping to start recovering in the next day or so. But it seems odd.

[Kerry124]

What are the antibiotics?

[FancyPants54 in reply to Kerry124]

Co-Amoxiclav.

[Kerry124 in reply to FancyPants54]

I saw this on the NHS site

nhs.uk/medicines/co-amoxicl...

And this on BNF

bnf.nice.org.uk/drugs/co-am...

[FancyPants54 in reply to Kerry124]

None of these really map onto how I've been feeling. I can't tell yet today if I'm tired. I'm always tired when I get up. The wheezing is still there, but so far not as bad. The anxiety is starting to show up, I'm hoping to keep it at bay as I have someone coming round in 15 minutes to quote for a job.

I will be speaking to my surgery about this when I can. It's definitely caused a lot of wheezing which is better lying down and generalised not well feelings. I wish I wasn't acting as host for mum's visitors this lunchtime.

[Kerry124 in reply to FancyPants54]

Do you have asthma perhaps? I had to have an inhaler after I had a bad chest infection a few years ago. I don’t use one now but it helped me and the doctor said it was inflammation in my lungs

[FancyPants54 in reply to Kerry124]

I do have asthma. Hardly ever troubles me. I have a preventative inhaler twice a day and an expander inhaler if I need it. I never usually use those at all. But I've been chuffing it regularly these past few days. It definitely flared up something that feels like asthma. But my oxygen levels are good and the inhaler is doing nothing to help me so perhaps it's a kind of inflammation that's different to asthma. It's been a lot less of a problem today. Still there, but not as bad. I'm still exhausted though and having prepared and served lunch for mum's visitors and generally waited on her today I've had to go to bed for an hour and half to get over the effort. I have a bit of a migraine trying to get a hold. I'm generally feeling under the weather. But today is better than yesterday.

[Kerry124 in reply to FancyPants54]

Why are you waiting on your mother if you are feeling Ill? I would not expect my daughter to do this if she was ill. Is your mother concerned about your health? I would be if you were my daughter x

[FancyPants54 in reply to Kerry124]

Old people get very selfish. She's 90. I tell her how I feel sometimes but it goes in one ear and out the other half the time. She can't see thyroid issues so she just hopes I'll stop talking about them I think. She was very different when I was having the horrid nose bleeds in November. She could see the effects of that.

These visitors put themselves off once and it was rearranged for today. I have had to take her to the podiatrist this week too. There are lots of appointments in the lives of older people. She lives in a small barn conversion in our garden. I can't escape! It could have been worse, she could still have been 25 miles away in her old home.

I haven't been into work at all this week (I work for myself thank goodness) but I have a stack of customer orders to pick and ship. I really need to get that done and I'm trying to persuade myself to get in the car and go and get on with it. It's nearly dark now though so motivation is very low.

[Kerry124 in reply to FancyPants54]

My mother died many years ago when I was 27 so I can’t imagine what it is like having to care for an elderly person. However when my daughter suggested I move closer to her because I might need her to care for me as I get older I told her I didn’t expect her to look after me. To be honest that fills me with horror because I did not have children so they could take care of me when I become old and feeble. I didn’t expect her to help me when I was bedridden with this horrible disease. She has own children to look after and if need be I could pay for home care either that or I could jump off a cliff. I have considered that when I felt so ill I couldn’t even get dressed or have a bath. I am sorry to be blunt but this is how I feel.

[FancyPants54 in reply to Kerry124]

It is quite hard. I am an only child so there is no one to help. I have now managed to get a weekly carer visit to shower her and wash her hair. I hated doing the shower thing and just kept putting it off, so this is better. But she has rollers in her hair and can no longer do them herself and the carers mostly have never seen a roller, except for a lovely 21 year old who came once who was a dab hand at them. So I still have to set her hair in rollers. But it's better than doing the shower.

She would not have thrived in a care home situation. She loves it here, but the older she gets the more I have to do. At least she still cooks meals and managed to bake some fruit scones for today. She's shrunk so much though and can't lift her arms up far so she is only able to use the bottom shelves of all her wall cupboards. She's down to 4'11" now, so I'm the shelf shifter.

We have no kids so there will be no one to look after us. God knows what will happen then. I never expected to be laid up with this horrible thyroid disease. We have a really large garden. I'm busy trying to simplify it so it needs less heavy work. But mum's really good at telling me what she wants to be able to see from her chair! I'm sorry you lost your mum so young. That was way too soon. It's a privilege to have parents live long lives, but it is getting to be hard work.

[Kerry124 in reply to FancyPants54]

I am also an only child well I though I was until I did a dna test and discovered I have 4 half siblings living in Dublin which I never knew about. I haven’t contacted them yet but I have been in touch with a lot of my Irish cousins which has been wonderful for me because I have felt alone since the death of my dear mother who died from breast cancer in 1988

I really sympathize with you for being your mother’s carer and I know a lot of people who care for their elderly parents. I have been a carer for my best friend who died at 46 years from a brain tumour she was in a wheelchair and quite honestly it was one of the hardest jobs I ever had to do. But I do not regret doing it for a moment. She sadly died in 2007 and left 2 teenage children. My own 2 children are now in their 30s and I also have 2 grandchildren which I love dearly. I am pleased you have support from other people to help care for your mother and I know some elderly people can be selfish because I did have a grandmother who lived to be 89 she was very demanding and had her children running around after her for years. I did my bit as her eldest grandchild but they did moan a bit about it to me because it was very hard work!

[posthinking01 in reply to FancyPants54]

When you cannot get enough oxygen into the lungs it is called air hunger and is thyroid related.

Air hunger and hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism is a condition characterized by an underactive thyroid gland, which is responsible for producing hormones that regulate metabolism and energy levels. When the thyroid gland is not functioning properly, it can affect various bodily functions, including respiration and breathing.

One possible explanation for air hunger in individuals with hypothyroidism is reduced respiratory drive. Thyroid hormones play a crucial role in maintaining the proper function of the respiratory center in your brain, which controls your rate and depth of breathing. When thyroid hormone levels are low, your respiratory center may be affected, leading to a decreased drive to breathe and the sensation of air hunger.

[FancyPants54 in reply to posthinking01]

I have heard of others getting this. It could well be. It feels like asthma though and makes me cough, which I don't think air hunger would. But that is just what it feels like. Not enough air. But when it happens and I check my Apple Watch, the oxygen levels are normal, 97-100%.

It's strange. It's not as bad today, but still there. I'm very tired now and with a migraine trying to fight through because I have hosted mum's lunch guests and done the food, the serving and the cleaning up. I feel a bit like I've hiked up Snowdon!

Something has really kicked me hard this week. I will be getting my bloods done again in the next couple of weeks, ready for my endocrinologist appointment towards end of April so can see what the thyroid is doing then. It will be low.

[posthinking01]

Yes - I'm afraid so - I got to the situation when NOT on thyroid meds - where they were running out of antibiotics I was not 'allergic' to - it became very very dangerous - because the metabolism was running so slowly the liver had not metabolised the first dose so the second dose was making me toxic - I needed to tell you this although it seems like I digress from your question- I would say you are suffering with a sluggish liver possibly due to your thyroid hormone not getting through or you need T3 the active hormone or you are not converting the T4 adequately. Your swollen legs are something I also had - and this is of course slow circulation What has also happened in my opinion - as been there for over 15 years before I got on thyroid hormone - is that your body is struggling with the metabolism of the antibiotic as I said before and your adrenal glands have taken up the slack to help you as it sees it needs to help with cortisol uptake to keep things going. This seems a simplistic answer but it seems to mirror my problems before thyroid hormone ! It also needs to be mentioned here that no liver tests would show up this problem - it is an inflammation problem with the liver - many years ago I was asked on several occasions 'how much alcohol do you drink' when I asked why I was told my liver was enlarged - I had not had a drink since 22 years of age when I worked out that just the smallest amount of alcohol was making me very ill - for the same reason the liver was not up to it and working as it should - ie sluggish due to enzymes missing due to thyroid deficiency. Hope this helps !

[FancyPants54 in reply to posthinking01]

That's a really interesting and thought provoking response. Thank you. I shall think on this. I barely drink. I pretty much gave up alcohol years ago when I first became hypo/menopausal because suddenly 1/2 a glass of red wine while reading my book would make me feel drunk and horrible. Swaying, falling asleep. Slurring words. It was horrible. That doesn't happen now if I have a glass. It's just got totally out of the habit and naturally gravitate towards the non-alcoholic drinks.

I was diagnosed decades ago with a couple of lesions on my liver. They had fancy names, I have no idea what they meant. One was described as being like a birth mark. They were checked regularly for a few years and as nothing changed with them I was signed off from the hospital. Perhaps they affect liver function.

The anxiety has passed now and will probably return at some point in the afternoon and again this evening. How long (roughly) did it take for the effects of the drug to wear off for you? I have no idea if they have killed the bacteria. I hope they have. I need a small nasal surgery and I can't see them wanting to do it with a infection in there.

[connyankee in reply to FancyPants54]

Keep drinking lots of water to flush the anti-bio from your system.

[marvalrus]

Hi, I have used antibiotics in the past, no problem, including Amoxicillin/Clav (USA calls it Augmentin). But I can no longer tolerate it. Same with Zithromax. Aug caused me to feel like my insides and mouth were inflamed and caused me to shake w/anxiety. Zithromax caused the shaking/anxiety as well. Never did in the past and I don't know why it does now. If you have finished the course, I think it takes a few days to a week to start feeling normal. Def go eat some yogurt though.

[FancyPants54 in reply to marvalrus]

Oh thank you. I am worried because I feel so rubbish and it's almost 48 hours since the last dose now.

Don't worry, I have a 2 month course of wonderful goats milk kefir to work through. Month one I'm already drinking and month 2 will come in due course. Fabulous stuff. Sharp and fizzy. I love it. Made in Wales. The best.

[posthinking01 in reply to FancyPants54]

Can I just run something past you - Kefir whilst a wonderful addition to the gut - if you have an autoimmune condition the body will see the 'bugs' as a threat and make you feel really bad - my blood test actually showed an immune response when I had one bottle of Yakolt and I got told off by my consultant and told never to have it again as my body was struggling with it.

[FancyPants54 in reply to posthinking01]

Thanks for mentioning it but I drink kefir regularly and we make and eat fermented foods regularly so that's not happening to me. Thank goodness.

[posthinking01 in reply to FancyPants54]

That's good but worth posting for info for others too.

[Staffsgirl]

I dread having to have antibiotics and always resist them when possible. Sadly, over the last couple of years I’ve needed them three or four times. Every time they make me feel unwell: a variety of symptoms, including anxiety. Although I do normally eat a probiotic-rich diet, including home-made kefir, kimchi, yoghurt, and other probiotic foods, I always increase these when on antibiotics. I think it helps.

[FancyPants54 in reply to Staffsgirl]

I'm so glad I'm not alone. I went out on Monday for lunch with 2 friends. One drove me. We parked and had a short walk on the flat to the cafe/bar. I had to stop at one point, I just couldn't seem to breath in properly! It was frightening. I said I couldn't breath and she did stop. But it's always reluctant. She thinks I'm a hypochondriac. I've been ill for around 11 years now, on medication for thyroid and heart arrhythmia for around 8 years. I've gone from fit and active, always doing something, exercising, running a theatre and a job to sedentary, horribly fat, in pain and unable to walk because of foot pain and she just brushes it all off. Her brother, meanwhile, in his 60's and a total flake at life, is always up here in their spare room because his marriage has fallen apart (probably drove his wife mad with his old womanish middling) and he's retired and suffering mental problems because he's been chucked out of his own home. He gets bucket loads of sympathy and fussing. When really he needs to be told to pull his socks up, go home and get divorced!

It really upset me, how horrible I felt trying to get to the cafe. Then it was packed inside and very hot and noisy. I started to stress about what would happen if I collapsed! Talk about doom scrolling my brain! I'm sure it's the antibiotics. I wasn't feeling anything like this when I started them. I woke up this morning and felt like I couldn't breath. Tested and had 100% oxygen saturation! As the day has worn on that feeling of panic and not being able to breath has come and gone. Excellent oxygen levels every time. And I'm only a breath away from an anxiety attack at all times.

Tomorrow my mother (who lives in our garden) has visitors coming and I have to make lunch and endless cups of tea. Prepare and wash/tidy up after. I do not need this.

[FancyPants54 in reply to Staffsgirl]

I'm a big believer in fermented foods. We have our red cabbage kimchi available (looks terrible because it goes almost black, but tastes good) but I lost my kefir grains a few years back so now if I need a boost I order from Chuckling Goat in Wales. I love their kefir. It's as fizzy as champagne and really sharp and refreshing. I will use it daily for the next 2 months.

[Staffsgirl in reply to FancyPants54]

I could have posted you some kefir grains: I’ve always got more than I need, and very few of my friends want them!

Sorry you’re going through such a tough time. 🥰

[FancyPants54 in reply to Staffsgirl]

I remember going through that process of having too many and not knowing what to do with them. I ended up just eating them! You can.

[FancyPants54]

I've realised now that the anxiety is flaring about 1.25 hours after a dose of thyroid meds. Morning and afternoon. It must be adrenaline linked. My meds are 2 grains of NDT per day and 37.5mcg of Levo.