Does taking Liothyronine cause blood pressure to rise?

[kathro]

I have been taking Liothyronine for about 5 months I tried it with Levo at first but still felt really ill, so I asked the Endo to let me try Liothyronine on it's own he agreed to let me take 20mcg twice a day, and I felt so much better I felt as if I was on a high. I then had my anual medical at my GP surgery and my blood pressure was sky high. I was put on a 24 hour blood pressure monitor and then she priscribed Ramipril 5mg once a day. I now feel ill again although not the same as I did on Levo. I don't want to stop taking T3 only but I am scared that it is this that is causing the blood pressure to be high. Has anyone had this problem and if so I'd love some advice on this. Kathro.

[babycatcher7572]

Hi... I've just started a regime of 50 mcg Levo and 25 mcg t3 per day. I am under the care of Dr P eatfield. I feel it is always essential to monitor your pulse , bp and temperature whilst on t3. It is quite potent and you can get tissue overstimulation i. e tremors, racing pulse , palpitations etc ,quite quickly. Over 2 weeks id upped my dose too quickly to only 37.5 mcg and found my systolic blood pressure did rise to the top end of normal but then i started feeling unwell as my adrenals started failing due to the increase in thyroid hormone... All my vitals started dropping low. But i have read that bp can rise on t3 . It may be that you need to reduce the dose for awhile first? Do you have a home bp machine...? Amazon is a good place to get one, then you will be able to tell whether or not it's the t3 causing problems. My fear would be that the bp meds will just mask the effect on your bp from the t3. Do you have any other symptoms/ side effects?? Sorry if this answer seems a little jumbled... I am using my phone pad to type! Please discuss any dosage changes with your doctor too first. I am just giving you my experience so far ( not been on t3 long )

Good luck

K x x

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to babycatcher7572]

Had been hoping to read something about you running a marathon next week...

Some blood pressure monitors have validated atrial fibrillation detection built-in. One model I read about recently sounded possibly of interest for that reason (though expensive compared to regular devices). No idea whether there are others similarly validated?

Microlife WatchBP Home A

Rod

[kathro in reply to helvella]

I felt as though I was ready to run a marathon lol until I started taking Ramipril for the high blood pressure, that I started to feel ill again. I didn't even know that my blood pressure was high until I went for the medical with the GP. I had seen the Endo before then and He said to see him in about 4 months so I don't see him until April. My GPs don't know anything about T3 so they can't advise me. I don't know what to do for the best. I was so happy when I started to feel so much better, but now this. I feel so let down by the medical profession. I have Arthritis in most of my joints and I just wanted to address this when I had got my thyroid medication sorted out. No such luck I'm affraid. I am sick of it all some days I just feel like stopping taking all my medication there seems to be so many side effects from all of them. I won't take Levothyroxine again that makes me feel so ill I would rather die than feel so ill again. It wasn't until I felt so much better on the T3 that I realised how ill Levothyroxine made me feel. Thank you for the advice you have given. I will give myself a few days in bed and start the daily battle again.

Kath xx

[Heloise in reply to kathro]

kath, how high was your BP and how many times was it high? I just took mine at home with my Omron deluxe monitor and it was 118 over 60. When I was in the doctor's office it was 168 over 90. My alternative doctor told me not to worry if it is under 180 in the doctor's office and I agree because I am always normal at home. There are many people unneccessarily on BP meds and there are probably some that should be on them that aren't.

Rod, if you are reading this, my monitor also detects irregular heartbeat and it was about $30 from Amazon. Model O HEM 650

[kathro in reply to Heloise]

Hi Heloise, thanks for replying, when I had my first blood pressure done at the GP it was 240 over 100 I felt really ill at the time and was in a lot of pain I bought a monitor from the chemist and I now monitor my own. I measure on average 160 over 80 but that is taking the meds they gave me I did not take the Ramipril last night as it makes me feel all achy my neck and shoulders in particular and my head feels awful. I feel a bit better today so I am now sure it's the meds that are making me ill.

I would not have known I had high blood pressure if I hadn't had the medical they want everyone to have. I wish they would take Thyroid trouble as seriously as they do high blood pressure I have been to the doctors more in the last few weeks than I have in all the years I have been suffering with my thyroid, because they would never take me seriously and made out I was not as ill as I said I was. I stopped taking Levothyroxine for 2 weeks about 6 months ago as I was sure it was that that made me feel so ill. I convinced the Endo to let me take just Liothoronine and he agreed once the Levo was out of my system I felt so much better I now take Liothyronine twice a day and I feel much better on it I was scared that they may say it was the Liothironine that was causing my blood pressure to be so high so I thought I would ask this site to help me. I hope it isn't the T3 causing this I don't want to stop taking it. Thanks for taking time to try and help me. Kath.

[kathro in reply to babycatcher7572]

Thanks for the good wishes. Good luck to you. I agree that the bp meds are masking the effects of the t3. I was so much better on the t3 until I stated the BP meds. I try to take them as far apart as pos. but that doesn't help. I can't speak to my GP about T3 as none of them know anything about it. I can only talk about the BP. I will keep battling on as I have done for years now. I was so happy that I felt better on T3 only. I will see what I feel like in a few days and decide what to do. Thanks for listening.

Kath. xx

[Middleagemadness in reply to babycatcher7572]

HI. Just read your post. I have just started with Dr P. I have been on NDT for over a year and not doing well, can't raise without getting more jittery.

Even though my blood results were in normal limits the 24 hour urine test showed very low T3, so Dr P told me I was not converting and to reduce my Erfa from 75 down to 15mg and take 5mcgT3!

Well - it's only been a few days and I feel so ill. My BP is up a lot, especially the systolic, I feel anxious, tingling hands, feet, chest,mouth, headache, weak/trembling and foggy. I can't get any help from his office - have left several messages but no-one rings back. You say you had similar symptoms. I feel like I am soaked with adrenaline. Scary as I now don't feel I can drive or work. What to do? If you can help I would appreciate it. Should I stop all meds altogether? Or just go back to the Erfa?

[babycatcher7572 in reply to Middleagemadness]

Hi Im sorry you are feeling so unwell...its such a rollercoaster isnt it? How were u feeling before you lowered the erfa? Have you done a saliva test..it may be that your adrenal function is shot...either raised or lower cortisol but i suspect low as you are feeling wired... Or it could be an iron issue too...have you had ferritin checked?.

With me ..my body seems to not want to let me raise my t3 but i remain tired ...so when i do i become hyper..jittery/anxious/heart papls...so my doc has put me on a beta blocker called propanolol..in an attempt to slow my heart rate and stop it sucking up all the thyroid hormone it could and to push it to other areas of my bod...well im less anxious definately but still tired.My bp hasnt really been an issue but it could be related to you still being hypeo thyroid and should resolve itself once medicated optimally..but getting to that point is hard.I also think you need a slower programme..sometimes t3 can only be raised slowly ie 2.5 mcg at a time then raising by 2.5 in a fortnight. Thats a big drop in your erfa. Let me know the answers to my questions and we can go from there xx ps i never got calls from the office either x

[Middleagemadness in reply to babycatcher7572]

Thanks for your quick reply! Actually - after my moan about the office, they have just rung me. They said to stop all thyroid tabs and I have booked call for Friday. I have had to take a valium and painkillers but am feeling better as they kick in!

Before I owered the Erfa, my main problem was not being able to raise past 90mg due to the "wired on coffee 24/7 " feeling. I reduced it to 75mg and that helped a bit.

I do take extra iron ( it was at low end of normal) which stopped my hair loss within a week surprisingly). Tha saliva test showed a near normal - high am and pm and low during the day.

Sorry you had to have beta blockers. I think you are right to say that an even slower rise in T3 ( 2.5) might be the way to go - one size most definitely not fit all. I am very sensitive - if I am told to take 20 drops of something, I have to start with 5 and go up gradually!

I reckon I should maybe stay on at least 30mg of Erfa and do 2.5mcg of T3 for 2 weeks as you suggest. It's so difficult to get this stuff right!

Many thanks for your input. I feel better knowing that info. All the best. x

[Jackie]

Hi I do not know about any research about this. however, when I had been on T3 a little while ( blood tests showed I needed it) my hypertension ( high) became Hypotension, ( low ) some times dangerously low, I had to stop one of my cardiac pills because of this. Still on the low side.

On the subject mentioned of AF. This is not normally diagnosed with an ECG as intermittent for many years and lots of people never have it permanently, more serious if so. Best and most reliable way is taking the Heart Rate(pulse) manually, both when you think you have AF and when you do not. The heart rate swings, very noticeably. I did enquire extensively , recently about machine doing this. None of them are considered correct by medics and in fact the companies who make them,( I phoned,) say that only the BP part of them is tested I am in permanent AF and indeed have found this to be so.

If HR seems all over the place, some of the time. The only way to diagnose AF is if you have "funny" HR readings hen to have a 24 or better still a 7 day monitor, GP or cardio, that does lots of little ECG`s and is fairly foolproof The other way is to be on a normal ecg monitor in hospital, for some time. You can have days with no AF. The BP tends to be low at the time of being in AF This testing did not exist years ago and I had many ECG`s and echo`s, the cardios and other docs, and certainly me knew some thing was very wrong. With AF it is vital to be on anti coagulation to avoid clots.but normal life is still the same.

I hope this is some help to you.

Best wishes,

Jackie

[kathro in reply to Jackie]

Thanks Jackie, sorry to hear you have had such a battle to feel better. I will battle on and hope I get nearer to winning soon.

Kath. xx

[Jackie in reply to kathro]

Good luck, you will get there eventually!

Jackie

[Muffy]

My blood pressure has always been absolutely 'normal' on T3 only and only rises slightly if my T3 is decreased.