Subclinical Hypo not able to tolerate 50 mcg and now feel so sick low BP high HR

[Shedding01]

Hello, I wrote before and Received great information but sadly yes I could not tolerate 50 mcg of Levoxyl and have been back on 25 now going on 8 days and naturally have a low BP but with the 50 it became too low 97/68 and still have HR 93-94 making me feel sick and seems like I’m experiencing more hair loss.  I know my T4 needs to back up to the 75 percentile and lower my tsh from 4.4 where I was losing hair with drying skin before.  The 25 worked great before and I do believe I was inconsistent with my dose mid Jan for enough doses to get back to where I was 1.5 ago.  But when I was on the 25 back than and my hair and skin and levels all improved I was put on the 50 mcg Levoxyl from same pharmacy for 13 days and felt hot and had a massive appetite, greasy hair, higher heart rate 94 range and once I stop went back to 25mcg I lost 2 lbs and felt better within a matter of days.  This time going on the 50 mcg my BP has fallen way to low 98/68 and have elavated heart rate 94 with horrible palpitations that hurt my chest to the point of waking me up every hour and me feel sick with more hair loss since I’ve gone back to the 25 now on day 8 and HR won’t go down and BP won’t go up.  Feel like throwing up!  I tear up warm tears after last shower.  If I fold laundry I sweat but if I lie there I get cold toes and fingers.  I can’t sleep well and have put on weight as well with all this!  The dry skin is much worse this time on my scalp, around my ears, readiness, itching, earring holes red, inside ears dry pealing skin.  Thick skin on my heals with cracks.  When will my body level out and get back to my norm. 109/75 ish BP and a HR 77-80 ish.  Anyone know how long it will be before I’m back to me???  My doctor nurse doesn’t seem to communicate well with my GP doctor and basically have me the option of what dose to take so annoying.   Have to spend more money that I don’t half to make an appointment with my doctor and tell her  she won’t believe me because no one else gets low blood pressure.


Help

[gimel]

Please click on my name and then on my personal page, scroll down to the bottom left and read my journal.  Then please read the one page overview for a paper on diagnosing and treating hypothyroidism, from a patient's perspective.   Note there is also a link to the full paper.  

You have many symptoms that are frequently associated with hypothyroidism, so I strongly suggest that you take that one page paper to your doctor and insist on being tested for Free T3, Free T3,  cortisol, Vitamin D, B12 and ferritin.  If he resists then give him the paper and ask him to read and reconsider.   If you cannot get him to do the tests and treat clinically, by optimizing all those tests, then you are wasting your time with him.  Do you think you can get this done?

[Shedding01]

I read what you had on your page which was awesome that you shared your story and also advocated for yourself.    My doctor’s nurse is definitely not communicating or paying attention so I may wait a few more weeks or just go CA endocrinologist.  I read part of the UK article but I couldn’t really get into it because I’m just so tired of dealing with this general and honestly think a lot has to do with my cortisol  is all levels.   When I did read the UK article it said one somebody test negative for antibody thyroid thyroid antibody that’s when you check the ferritin and other levels but I just want everything checked at this point.  The fact that I’m losing hair at four. For TSH is very rare so who knows, doesn’t run in my family, but I know stress can screw everything up.  I’ll probably get the blood test the sliding scale facility just have an idea of where I am soon as well I did make an appointment but they are very limited to what information they can provide me.  Not try to get political but I have forward all my life and now that I’m a caregiver trying to run away from being a caregiver now for 2+ years I really wish I could get insurance but not in the state of Florida unless you are  pregnant or have children, oh shame on me for being responsible not having any when I’m not ready for it.

I believe I almost got the cortisol test done but has to be done at 8 AM and I don’t believe the lab exists that has my blood order but I can get another one but going to my regular medical ternal medicine doctor I will communicate solely with her if I can and have to drive far to go to a lab but maybe it will still be worth it rather than going to endocrinologist after investing so much time.  Sorry I don’t get much sleep and I’m just waiting to at least feel normal again  and honestly wish I just stayed on the 25, it worked before, I was inconsistent, now I have to wait to balance out I would’ve been on week nine.  That would’ve could’ve should’ve, thank you again for your help and I will take everything that has been said to me into advisement  for wherever I end up going, for now just do the blood work I guess. So tired, will continue article, I apologize for any spelling errors.

[Shedding01]

I need desperately to leave Florida.

[Shedding01]

I never heard about it but it’s a relief to see someone has heard of low BP. I thought it went away but taking my 25 mcg Levoxyl still 28 minutes early and a little earlier today has made this odd relaxation in my arms ands legs, upper shoulders come back.  Great feeling to be relax but comes with a feeling of a a irrated nerve that won’t stop.  I thought it was muscle weakness.  Will go back to taking it on the exact minute though and hope this all goes away all these symptoms.  I have this irritable nervous feeling in my body that won’t go away.  I thought my body would be stronger being on the drug longer but it doesn’t seem that way.  The hyper symptoms that are more traditional went away within a few days a year and a half ago when I went from 25 to 50 after being in 35 for 4 months and 50 for 13 days.  Now 9 days later of just taking the 25 I’m still feeling sick and been on the 25 for 8 months.  But the variation or variable I can only think of is that the 25 was in my system last time and all symptoms including hair loss had stopped.  My tsh was at a 2.6 with a t4 in the 75 th percentile.  This time I was back to a tsh of 4.4 and  lower agin same place I started from like I had not taken any Levoxyl which I believe was due to me taking it inconsistently for off and on a month.  I wish I could do something natural to feel better already.  I need sleep.

[Shedding01]

I don’t think my doctor will do those test unless I going to make an appointment if I ask her she’ll say OK, but if she feels strongly against that she’ll say no but usually she says OK, I’d rather get the test done at the sliding scale facility closer and I believe a little bit cheaper but it’s harder to get a doctor there. Trust me I’ve tried advocate for myself it’s hard and that’s what keeps me from spending the money I pay myself more in debt and seeing endocrinologist but that may be my best but maybe were should’ve gone to the first place, but thank you again for your positive input, and your knowledge :-)

[Red_Star]

From what you are describing you sound hyper from the increase. When I'm hyper I can eat a whole pizza and still can eat more lol. I'm not a normal case due to "issues" with my cells so if I'm hyperthyroid one day I can be normal or hypothyroid the next day. I think generally speaking it can take up to 2 weeks for hyperthyroid symptoms to resolve once you stop medication.

I'm not sure how you would resolve this issue. Perhaps you may do better on natural desiccated thyroid hormone.

[Shedding01]

I appreciate your  response  and I’m sorry that you have an issue with your cells.   About a year ago when I try to go on the 50 before I became hyper with all the typical hyper symptoms could eat a lot of food and wanted to, fell taught, and elevated heart rate, oily hair, diarrhea, but I lease I knew what was going on I had a normal response to the medication.  I had already been on the 25 back then and had resolved hair and skin issue.  I tried Cytomel and had adverse reaction on that taking half of 5 µg tablet I became euphoric The first day in the second day just Loopy with the higher heart rate.  I do not believe I can tolerate the combo because I pretty much made my own combo taking this item with the T4 and it was too much for my body but thank you for the suggestion.  I hope it is two weeks for the hyper symptoms to go away because that won’t be too long away, crossing my fingers, thank you again.  Low blood pressure is much worse than having a higher blood pressure and I hear heart rate it’s making me crazy.

[Red_Star]

The synthetic and NDT are absorbed differently. I found this out when I could not absorb NDT and had to switch back to synthetic. I had a look online and found the info below explaining the difference. So you may find you can handle the medication better with NDT???

Excerpts from the book: Thyroid Diseases: Clinical Fundamentals and Therapy by Fabrizio Monaco, Maria A. Satta, Brahm Shapiro, Luigi Troncone...

"There is some differences in the rate of absorption between animal and synthetic preparations. After a single oral dose of synthetic L-T4, the absorption is approximately 70 - 80%, 20 - 30% being recovered in the stool.  It is absorbed rapidly, mainly in the distal small bowel, reaching maximum plasma levels in 2 to 4 hours."

"Variability of absorption also occurs with desiccated thyroid, dependent on proteolytic enzymes of the gastrointestinal tract. Since desiccated thyroid and thyroglobulin preparations contains T4 and T3 incorporated into thyroglobulin, to release thyroid hormone the crude preparations must be hydrolyzed by gastrointestinal proteolytic enzymes, which indirectly influence the absorption of T4 and T3."

[gimel]

Whenever people have strange reactions to thyroid med it is worthwhile to test for cortisol and also ferritin.  Have you been tested for those?

[Shedding01]

I appreciate your feedback but I ask a long time ago about ferritin levels and was told oh no your not anemic and am on prenatal.  I mention that I read ferritin levels is how you body absorbs iron and how it’s stored and was told no.  I believe she wanted to test my cortisol but said you just need to reduce stress if it’s abnormal can’t really do much else.  I didn’t have this reaction last time with the low BP I was just hyper but this time after being on the drug longer I though I could tolerate it.  I left a message for my doctors office and they didn’t seem alarmed with the low BP and just ask me if I wanted to go to a lower dose back to 25.  I appreciate your advice and will mention the option of those test again because I’m starting to honestly lose myself.  Depressed, tired not to going horrible but of living with a selfish dementia father who wants everything done for him and doesn’t do things for himself that he can do.  He is very lucky his cognition actually improved after I over exhausted myself to help care for him and I’m tired his laziness and ungratefulness.  I felt my anxiety getting worse when I was caring for him started to have panic attacks begged for a nap but no my family or mom told my sister not to come and my sister ignored my cries and left after the first month.  She lives 9 minutes away and is older and is married with kids who are  independent and older in high school  and she doesn’t work.  My mom sacrifice to my house and I feel guilty leaving my mom who did the morning shift and I did the night and slowly I started doing night to midshift.   I should not of felt guilty leaving my mom because she was sacrificing my health and I knew I was getting sick.  Now look at me.   Sad every day, overweight now,  what is depressed and I am depressed over it, and after waiting for my hair to grow back for so long it’s falling out again and now my body is even weaker having adverse reactions to a higher dose.   Hyper is high blood pressure and high pulse not low blood pressure, my doctor really tries but is starting to get frustrated and I know it’s hard to deal sub clinical patients but I can’t keep feeling like crap all the time.   When my dad started becoming more routine my sister came back and terrorized me she’s not healthy and caused me a lot of pain but because of my family dynamics she’s always forgiven.  I feel like I’m falling into a black hole and I’m tired of feeling and having my body feel me, if I got sick which I did bring to my doctor from the stress then I lease with the medication help me because this is not right in my family but now eight days later now nine and waking up every hour and hell with bad dreams and heart palpitations.    Sorry for the TMI I know a lot of people have it so much worse and so many different ways but I’m just tired like I said before I feel like I lost three years of my life, I was

[Red_Star]

Hyperthyroidism can cause both high or low blood pressure.