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Hypothyroidism and excessive sweating
Hello All,
This is sort of gross but ever since my partial thyroidectomy in September 2007, I have been excessively sweating all the time, especially in my armpits. I have never had a problem with sweating before in my life. I am hypothyroid but seem to have symptoms of both hyper and hypo.
I have tests done and it's not menopause or adrenal issues. I am currently on .50 of Synthroid and I believe my last TSH was 2.9?? ( still confused how all THAT works).
Anyway, has anyone else noticed themselves sweating, a lot?
Is it the Synthroid? Is it that my levels are not right?
Any info, help, same stories???
THANKS!!!
This is sort of gross but ever since my partial thyroidectomy in September 2007, I have been excessively sweating all the time, especially in my armpits. I have never had a problem with sweating before in my life. I am hypothyroid but seem to have symptoms of both hyper and hypo.
I have tests done and it's not menopause or adrenal issues. I am currently on .50 of Synthroid and I believe my last TSH was 2.9?? ( still confused how all THAT works).
Anyway, has anyone else noticed themselves sweating, a lot?
Is it the Synthroid? Is it that my levels are not right?
Any info, help, same stories???
THANKS!!!
COMMUNITY LEADER
This is a very old thread, and few of the participants are still active on the forum; your question would get more/better attention if you start a new thread with only your own information.
You can start a new thread by clicking on the orange "Post a Question" button at the top of this page. You will get a blank form to fill out with your information and questions, then click the green "Post a Comment" button.
Be sure to include all tests, results and reference ranges in your new post, along with symptoms and any treatment that's been initiated.
You can start a new thread by clicking on the orange "Post a Question" button at the top of this page. You will get a blank form to fill out with your information and questions, then click the green "Post a Comment" button.
Be sure to include all tests, results and reference ranges in your new post, along with symptoms and any treatment that's been initiated.
So how do you get a diagnosis? I have been told that I am positive for Hoshimoto's, but that there is nothing wrong with my gland. I went to one Dr. who said I did not have it a specialest, but the Dr. who did the test did it twice. So I don't understand, I have no energy, I can be fine one minute and dripping sweat the next, I had a total hysterectomy when I was 26, I am 53 now so I am over the hot flash stage, and this is new. Anyone have any thoughts?
Oh my word... The fact that you just said continuing thyroid symptoms are more likely to be from depression or anxiety just shows the kind of doctor you'll be.... Wow that saddens me....
Hi Noah. Welcome to the Forum.
From your symptoms it sounds like you may not be adequately converting T4 to T3. This is very common when taking large doses of T4 meds. To confirm that you need to be tested for Free T3. Free T3 is the most important thyroid hormone test because FT3 largely regulates metabolism and many other body functions. Scientific studies have shown that FT3 correlated best with hypo symptoms, while FT4 and TSH correlated very poorly.
You should also be aware that even if your FT3 and FT4 tests are within the reference ranges, the ranges are far too broad. FT3 test results that fall in the lower end of the range are frequently associated with being hypo. If you find that your FT3 is in the lower end of the range, just increasing your T4 med is not likely to achieve what you need. Instead, you would need to add a source of T3 to your meds. Many of our members report that symptom relief for them required that FT3 was adjusted into the upper part of its range and FT4 adjusted to around the midpoint of its range.
Many hypo patients find that they are deficient in other areas as well, so you should ask to be tested for Vitamin A, D, B12, zinc, selenium, and RBC magnesium.
A good thyroid doctor will treat a hypo patient clinically by testing and adjusting FT3 and FT4 as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels. Symptom relief should be all important, not just test results. If you want to read about clinical treatment, this is a link to a letter written by a good thyroid doctor for patients that he consults with from a distance. The letter is sent to the PCP of the patient to help guide treatment.
http://hormonerestoration.com/files/ThyroidPMD.pdf
From your symptoms it sounds like you may not be adequately converting T4 to T3. This is very common when taking large doses of T4 meds. To confirm that you need to be tested for Free T3. Free T3 is the most important thyroid hormone test because FT3 largely regulates metabolism and many other body functions. Scientific studies have shown that FT3 correlated best with hypo symptoms, while FT4 and TSH correlated very poorly.
You should also be aware that even if your FT3 and FT4 tests are within the reference ranges, the ranges are far too broad. FT3 test results that fall in the lower end of the range are frequently associated with being hypo. If you find that your FT3 is in the lower end of the range, just increasing your T4 med is not likely to achieve what you need. Instead, you would need to add a source of T3 to your meds. Many of our members report that symptom relief for them required that FT3 was adjusted into the upper part of its range and FT4 adjusted to around the midpoint of its range.
Many hypo patients find that they are deficient in other areas as well, so you should ask to be tested for Vitamin A, D, B12, zinc, selenium, and RBC magnesium.
A good thyroid doctor will treat a hypo patient clinically by testing and adjusting FT3 and FT4 as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels. Symptom relief should be all important, not just test results. If you want to read about clinical treatment, this is a link to a letter written by a good thyroid doctor for patients that he consults with from a distance. The letter is sent to the PCP of the patient to help guide treatment.
http://hormonerestoration.com/files/ThyroidPMD.pdf
I am a 31yo M, I had a total thyroidectomy 2 years ago along with the removal of all lymphnodes from the left of the neck, all para-thyroid glands were saved. I recieved I-131 in 2 capsules. Currentlly I am taking 400mcg of levothyroxine a day and my last lab results are - T3 Total 124.1 ng/dL [70.0-190.0] TSH 13.900 mcIU/mL [0.360-3.740] T4 Free 1.01ng/dL [0.76-1.46]
I sweat all the time from my head,shoulders and chest, am always fatigued and feeling like I need to sleep, no amount of sleep is refreshing. I gain weight in my abdominal area only and my diet is very healthy and portions are small to the point of always feeling hungry and I snack on fruit, vegies and grains along with plenty of water, I have cut out red meat, salts sugars, fats and most carbs and yet I gain about 6-10lbs/week.
Please help anyone - Noah S.
I sweat all the time from my head,shoulders and chest, am always fatigued and feeling like I need to sleep, no amount of sleep is refreshing. I gain weight in my abdominal area only and my diet is very healthy and portions are small to the point of always feeling hungry and I snack on fruit, vegies and grains along with plenty of water, I have cut out red meat, salts sugars, fats and most carbs and yet I gain about 6-10lbs/week.
Please help anyone - Noah S.
You must be an awful good student if you have so much time to spare writing that reply, instead of studying. LOL Please let me clarify that I had no intention of putting you down in any way. My only reason for responding was to question some of the assumptions underlying things you are being taught. My questioning is based on seeing the stories of hundreds of thyroid patients who have been subjected to the "Immaculate TSH Belief" and still suffer with severe hypo symptoms. Or if they have been lucky enough to have been tested beyond TSH, they ran afoul of the tyranny of the so-called "normal" ranges for the thyroid hormones, and continue to be improperly diagnosed and under medicated.
I think that a good place to start is with the agreement that we would all like to be euthyroid. By definition of course this means having sufficient thyroid hormone levels to be neither hypo nor hyper. The state of being neither hypo nor hyper should be defined by the lack of symptoms of either. It cannot be defined by thyroid/pituitary tests that are so variable that studies have shown to have huge areas of overlap among the three groups (hyper, euthyroid, and hypo) for all the three major thyroid tests.
Yes there are symptoms due to other causes that mimic some hypo or hyper symptoms. That should only necessitate additional testing or clinical treatment. It should not be a reason to ignore symptoms and declare that if the TSH and (if tested) FT3 and FT4 levels are within the "normal" ranges, that the symptoms are not thyroid related, but must be psychosomatic in nature. That logic is the reason that the majority of our members are here, looking for help.
I fully understand how the range for TSH was originally established, and also the rationale for the significant change 8 years ago. Unfortunately most labs and doctors have not even adopted this long overdue change that at least would make it a better indicator of thyroid function. Even more unfortunate is that there hasn't even been any consideration for changing FT3 and FT4 ranges, yet the data bases used to establish their ranges are similarly flawed.
Since FT3 is the thyroid hormone that is biologically active and largely regulates metabolism and so many other body functions, it stands to reason that we need to know the level of FT3. Since the advent of adequately accurate FT3 testing, why is it so difficult to get doctors to even test for FT3? The rationale given is that if they know FT4, then they can estimate FT3 adequately. Unfortunately for those patients that do not convert T4 to T3 adequately that is not the case. Neither is it the case when a patient is taking T4 meds, and the conversion is affected and the FT3 is much lower in the range than FT4. In that case, just prescribing more T4 meds does not relieve symptoms.
I am fully aware that testing for TSH has progressed over the years; however I have been unable to ever find any data that statistically validated the accuracy and repeatability of TSH tests. How much inherent variability still exists? Obviously the same question would apply to FT3 and FT4.
Since FT3 is the most biologically active thyroid hormone and has been shown to have the greatest effect on symptoms, why would we want to rely on TSH to diagnose a thyroid patient, unless it can be shown that TSH correlated well with FT3 or correlated well with FT4 and T4/T3 conversion was normal. So how is TSH the "best indicator of positive clinical outcome"? I have looked long and hard for data that support the utility of TSH, without success. So far all you have provided is your personal assurance that TSH is the most sensitive and best test for thyroid. How about providing some statistical evidence of the correlation of TSH with symptoms, or even to FT3, or even to FT4 for the general population of patients?
There are other questions you have raised that need a reply, but let's hold that for future discussion.
Best to you.
I think that a good place to start is with the agreement that we would all like to be euthyroid. By definition of course this means having sufficient thyroid hormone levels to be neither hypo nor hyper. The state of being neither hypo nor hyper should be defined by the lack of symptoms of either. It cannot be defined by thyroid/pituitary tests that are so variable that studies have shown to have huge areas of overlap among the three groups (hyper, euthyroid, and hypo) for all the three major thyroid tests.
Yes there are symptoms due to other causes that mimic some hypo or hyper symptoms. That should only necessitate additional testing or clinical treatment. It should not be a reason to ignore symptoms and declare that if the TSH and (if tested) FT3 and FT4 levels are within the "normal" ranges, that the symptoms are not thyroid related, but must be psychosomatic in nature. That logic is the reason that the majority of our members are here, looking for help.
I fully understand how the range for TSH was originally established, and also the rationale for the significant change 8 years ago. Unfortunately most labs and doctors have not even adopted this long overdue change that at least would make it a better indicator of thyroid function. Even more unfortunate is that there hasn't even been any consideration for changing FT3 and FT4 ranges, yet the data bases used to establish their ranges are similarly flawed.
Since FT3 is the thyroid hormone that is biologically active and largely regulates metabolism and so many other body functions, it stands to reason that we need to know the level of FT3. Since the advent of adequately accurate FT3 testing, why is it so difficult to get doctors to even test for FT3? The rationale given is that if they know FT4, then they can estimate FT3 adequately. Unfortunately for those patients that do not convert T4 to T3 adequately that is not the case. Neither is it the case when a patient is taking T4 meds, and the conversion is affected and the FT3 is much lower in the range than FT4. In that case, just prescribing more T4 meds does not relieve symptoms.
I am fully aware that testing for TSH has progressed over the years; however I have been unable to ever find any data that statistically validated the accuracy and repeatability of TSH tests. How much inherent variability still exists? Obviously the same question would apply to FT3 and FT4.
Since FT3 is the most biologically active thyroid hormone and has been shown to have the greatest effect on symptoms, why would we want to rely on TSH to diagnose a thyroid patient, unless it can be shown that TSH correlated well with FT3 or correlated well with FT4 and T4/T3 conversion was normal. So how is TSH the "best indicator of positive clinical outcome"? I have looked long and hard for data that support the utility of TSH, without success. So far all you have provided is your personal assurance that TSH is the most sensitive and best test for thyroid. How about providing some statistical evidence of the correlation of TSH with symptoms, or even to FT3, or even to FT4 for the general population of patients?
There are other questions you have raised that need a reply, but let's hold that for future discussion.
Best to you.
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