Synthroid dose

[Neeson]

I am currently taking synthroid with lots of side effects.  For example faster heart rate, heart palps, sleeping issues, short of breath, fatigue, aching arms and itchy scalp.  I have slowing increasing my synthroid dose currently at 37.5 daily.  My labs are:

Vitamin D 38
T3 total 0.73
T3 free 2.44
T4 free 1.31
TSH 2.47

Thoughts?  Also my heart is very sensitive to thyroid meds.

[Neeson]

Sorry...13 mcg

[Neeson]

Test

[Neeson]

Hi Barb.  I think I read that you have used tirosint.  My doctor has me on a trial run but she not very familiar with it.  She started me on 13 mg.  Not sure if that will be enough.  What do you think?

[Barb135]

If you have Hashimoto's, iodine is contraindicated, as it can make the autoimmune reaction much worse than it would otherwise be.  

If you have hypo symptoms, you are not going hyper from the med... It's just a temporary reaction from the med.  As I noted above, it's not unusual for symptoms to worsen or for new ones to appear when changing doses, until the body adjusts to the new dose.  While body temperature is an indication, there are a lot of things that can affect it besides thyroid, so it's very important to pay attention to other symptoms, as well and not fixate on temperature.

We also see a lot of people on desiccated hormones with very low FT4.  Many have to add a synthetic T4 to their desiccated in order to bring the FT4 up to the mid range point.

[vino14]

Hi, when I tried the Armour , I was reacting too fast to the T3 and could not make it work. The schedule he said to take:  one pill (15mg) for two days, then 2 a day for 7 days and 3 after that if needed. After 3 weeks  he switched me to NT which l feel so good on it.  My problem with Armour was that apparently I was  reacting hyper,   except for the headache  it was all hypo symptoms, the way I felt before being diagnosed. Now I have a better understanding how my body feels when hyper, the headache pressure is my only clue.  I'm really low on T4 as far as labs go, and iodine. No other complications with antibodies etc. I was told to check body temperature between 2 and 6pm. I was around 97.8 after  started treatment got up, even close to normal range.(98.2-98.6)
According to his schedule to increase dose,  my body temp would drop a day before having to increase.  I'll have to read some of the posts in regards to incorporating iodine. I got Logul's 5%,  I'm reacting so fast with that one too, got me hyper again..... Like you said I have to TAKE IT REALLY SLOW, hopefully I'll be able to only take 2 (16mg) pills NT a day, along with iodine.
Thanks so much for sharing all your wisdom!  

[Barb135]

I typed a comment on this earlier, but I must not have hit the green post button, because it disappeared.

I'm sorry, I didn't see your labs on another thread.

I've never been on desiccated hormones, but I've read that it's safe to increase them at about 2 week intervals, in the beginning, because of the fast acting T3 content.  

It's not unusual for symptoms to worsen or for new ones to appear when adjusting medications and as noted above, symptoms can "cross over".  Sometimes, we have to just sit tight at a certain dose and see if the symptoms get better, as they often will, once the body has time to adjust to the dosage.  Many people stop taking the medication at the first sign of an adverse effect, therefore, their body never gets a chance to get used to the med.

At the same time, you have to keep in mind that the T4 in Armour takes 4-6 weeks to build in your blood, so the fast acting T3 will build more quickly.  

IMO, raising the dose in smaller increments is always best... it might take longer to get where you're going, but you don't run as much risk of tipping the scale to the hyper side.  Sometimes you might have to sit at a certain dose for a while to give your body more time to get used to it.  I've had to do that numerous times, even though I still had hypo symptoms - nothing works quickly when it comes to treating thyroid issues.  Patience is definitely a virtue and being one with very little patience, that was very hard for me... lol