Levothyroxine over dosage and is it ok to stop it suddenly?

[Meriem94]

Hello,
My mom had  goiters surgery her doctor said that he got rid of all of it, right now my mom is experiencing hyperthyroidism those are the results of the last test that she had done

FT3       9.21pmol/l         <>

FT4       40.52 pmol/l       <>

TDHus  0.005 u UI/ml     <>


Those results were after she was treated with 300 µg pills of levothyrox
she started to have hard times breathing, fast heart beats , high blood pressure and she couldn't even sleep at night so she went to another doctor ,this doctor was the one who asked her to do the test above while her first doctor didn't bother telling her to do FT3 AND FT4 test , after seeing the tests she asked her to stop taking her pills for about 20 days and then redo the test again what I want to ask is whether it is alright for her to stop taking it so suddenly ?  PLEASE HELP ME !!!!

[gimel]

Her doctor seems to be going on TSH alone and ignoring that her Free T4 was below the range, and her Free T3 was at the low end of the range.  When a patient is taking thyroid meds, the TSH is frequently suppressed below range.  There are scientific studies that have proved that.  So she is in reality hypothyroid and needs her meds increased.  All are further signs that she needs a good thyroid doctor.  By that I mean one that will treat her clinically, by testing and adjusting Free T3 and Free T4 as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels.  Symptom relief should be all important, not just test results, and especially not TSH levels.  You can get some good insight from this link written by a good thyroid doctor.

http://www.hormonerestoration.com/Thyroid.html

[Meriem94]

She stopped taking the med on March 13th
The blood was drwan for the new test results on March 25th

She is feeling better but still from time to time she says that her stomack or legs hurts

[gimel]

On what day did she stop  taking the thyroid med?  And on what day was blood drawn for those new tests results?  How is she feeling currently?

[Meriem94]

Thank you very much
Her new test results are out :
FT3.    3.34 pmol/l
FT4.     9.33 pmol/l
TSHus  0.05 u Ul/ml

After seeing the results her doctor said she should start having half pill of  levothyrox 25 mcg daily which means 12.5 mcg of levothyrox

Those are the reference ranges :

FT3.  3- 8.30pmol/l
FT4.  10.6- 19.4 pmol/l
TSHus. 0.25- 5 u Ul/ml

and concerning her heart problem they said it has nothing to do with being hypo or hyper and asked her to do some blood tests .

[gimel]

So when she re-tests, make sure they test for both Free T3 and Free T4.  TSH is a useless test when already taking thyroid meds.   the heart can be affected by either hypo or hyperthyroid.  So, it is important that her medication is adjusted to get her to good levels.  If you would like our assessment, please post her new lab results and reference ranges when available.  

Since hypo patients are frequently too low in the ranges for Vitamin D, B12 and ferritin, it would be a good idea to test those as well.

[Meriem94]

She had Chest X- rays and it looks like her heart is swollen ,the heart doctor gave her some pills and told her to come back after 1 week and her doctor asked her to wait as you said for 2 weeks and then redo the test because her heart is in a really bad situation and if she became hypo again it would be very dangerous

[Meriem94]

thank you very much , really thank you

[Meriem94]

yes it was removed entirely, right away after the surgery she had levothyrox 100 mcg but she stopped taking it for about a month ( this might sound ridiculous but she thought that it was okay to stop it ) so she ended up having hypothyroid then she went back to her doctor and he asked her to do TSHus test after seeing the results he told her to take 200 mcg pf Levo  around a  month later he rose the dosage to 300 mcg but with time she kept feeling worse and worse as I mentioned before (  having hard time breathing, fast heart beats , high blood pressure ...etc ) so she decide to try another doctor this doctor told her to do FT3 , FT4  and TSHus test
the results are the same ones that I mentioned before

and here are the reference ranges :

FT3     3 - 8.30 pmol/l

FT4     10.6 - 19.4 pmol/l


TSHus    0.25 -  5 u Ul/ml


this doctor told her to stop taking it right away for about 20 days and then redo the test again

So is it okay to stop taking it right away for 20 days ? isn't that a little bit of a long period ?

[gimel]

That is a huge dose of levothyrox.  Also, how soon after surgery was she started on the med?  Was her thyroid gland removed entirely?  How long was she on the 300 mcg of Levo?  Please post the reference ranges for the Free T3 and Free T4 results, as shown on the lab report.

[Meriem94]

SORRY !!! I DON'T KNOW HOW TO EDIT MY POST


my mom is experiencing hyperthyroidism those are the results of the last test that she had done

FT3       9.21pmol/l          

FT4       40.52 pmol/l        

TDHus  0.005 u UI/ml    

Those results were after she was treated with 300 µg pills of levothyrox
she started to have hard times breathing, fast heart beats , high blood pressure and she couldn't even sleep at night so she went to another doctor ,this doctor was the one who asked her to do the test above while her first doctor didn't bother telling her to do FT3 AND FT4 test , after seeing the tests she asked her to stop taking her pills for about 20 days and then redo the test again what I want to ask is whether it is alright for her to stop taking it so suddenly ?  PLEASE HELP ME !!!!