Thyroid Levels after stopping Eltroxin

[ReeceCoetzee]

I have for the past 5 months gradually suffering from high anxiety levels and decided that I needed to have a check up on my thyroid again. Well it turns out to be hyper thyroid. 4 and a half years ago I had surgery for a nodule which they removed, the right side of my thyroid. It was encapsulated in the thyroid so they did not feel it was necessary for Kemo.They then put me on a dose of 0.05mg of eltroxin to check if that would be the right dose for me. 3 years all was good.  I have been clear ever since, with regular checkups. About a year ago I was forced to go to a public hospital for check up which the doctor decided that I should go on a higher dose which was doubled to 0.1mg. I was told by the pharmacist that this was a high dose and decided to not take it to regularly which I did not for approximately 6 months. Then the past + - 5 months I thought I best start taking it regularly as I don’t want to go against what the doctor had told me. Big Mistake! Since then I was very anxious but tolerable. The last month however has been a nightmare! Went to a different doctor who took blood and pulled a report a month and a half prior to us meeting where I landed up in hospital due to a huge panic attack. He pointed out to me that my TSH level was 0.01! The emergency room did not see this. He then immediately told me to stop taking the eltroxin and go for blood test. Went for blood tests the following day (Bering in mind I was still taking the eltroxin just before giving blood) my results came back and this is how it was. T4 was 15.7 (normal ranges 7 - 16) T3 was 5.0 (normal ranges 3.8 - 6) it has been exactly 14 days since I stopped the eltroxin and have been feeling better but very up and down still with the panic attacks still frequent. I’m taking Xanor 0.5mg s/l to cope. My question is how long before my levels balance out and feels back to normal again???? Any one please help!! The doctor is saying I should be over the symptoms of hyper thyroid but does not completely feel that way...

[ReeceCoetzee]

Hi

So would it be "safe" to say that with T4 as high as it was 18 days ago i would be having these "conditions/symptoms" (anxiety ect.)? If so, more or less how long would you say it would take for it to "normalize". I asking just on the fact that everyday is a bit of a struggle for me right now and not sure how it works/takes to get balance.

Thanks again!

[ReeceCoetzee]

Am I expecting too much too soon...P.s never kept records of reports before as I have moved around a bit. As a matter of fact busy doing a move to New Zealand soon, so stress is not helping me either...What a time for this to happen!! Do you have any recommendations on a product I could use to ease these symptoms I could recommend to my doctor? The doctor is a specialized homeopathic doctor as at this time I cannot afford to go to specialist until getting to New Zealand.

[goolarra]

It does take patience because it takes thyroid meds so long to go out of your system.  

It's so hard to say how long it will take because we're all different.  Some of us will process thyroid hormones out of the body faster than others.  I think you should be feeling somewhat better after a couple of weeks.  You should start feeling better and better as time goes on.  

Start keeping records of your labs.  That's one of the best things you can do for yourself.  It's especially important for someone like you, who moves around a lot.  

Stress makes it all worse; there's no question about that.

I'm afraid I have no suggestions of what you can do.  Have you asked your doctor what he suggests?  

[ReeceCoetzee]

Okay so here are some results i got from the doctor leading up to this point ie the start of the episodes.

(This is when i landed up in the emergency room)
Dated: 15-09-2013                         Reference/Ranges:
           Free    T4 :13.2                   7.2 - 16.4   pmol/L
           Free    T3 : none was done          
               S-TSH : 0.10                   0.37 - 3.50 mIU/L

Dated: 15-10-2013                          Reference/Ranges:
           Free    T4 :14.3                    7.2 - 16.4   pmol/l
           Free    T3 :none was done
                S-TSH: 1.12                    0.37 - 3.50 mIU/L

Dated:  07-11-2013                          Reference/Ranges
           Free    T4 : 15.7                    7.2 - 16.4   pmol/L
           Free    T3 : 5.0                      3.8 - 6.0    pmol/L
                 S-TSH: 0.68                    0.37 - 3.50 mIU/L

I will be tracking back to previous lab results to find my "good range"as you mentioned

[goolarra]

Well, you can see the progression of the FT4 upward.  It was already a bit high at 65% of range (50% is the target) in September, and it went to 77% in October and 92% in November...much too high.  It's no wonder you were hyper.

Unfortunately, we only have one FT3.  It's at 55% of range, which is just about right for FT3.

You said you landed in the ER in September.  How were you feeling by October and November.  Were you getting more and more hyper?

[ReeceCoetzee]

Hi

It did get worse, yes i did get more and more hyper. The sensations have gotten better but by no means gone. It increased from date of emergency room and i still continued with eltroxin as i did not know what was happening. Only stopped the eltroxin on the 7th November. Then the Extreme out of my mind "hypo" symptoms stopped a week later on the 17th. I then decided to stop taking the xanor that day as i was feeling great! Then that evening the only way i can explain it was like a bus had just hit me! The anxiety shoot through the roof! That left me stumped/confused! What the hell was going on?? I thought that the worst was over feeling really good but that would be the Hyper symptoms feeling really good then reverse? Was not aware that this would happen. Hence my comment "never sure of myself" not sure when is okay...I have attempted to see if i can go through a day without the xanor from time to time to see if i can "cope". For example Friday morning drive to work and the sensations started to build up and up to boiling point and had to take the zanor. Come Sunday, same thing. decided to see how i would feel without the zanor and same thing happen again....just for the record i really hate to take tablets that have any addictive additives so it gets me nervous on how much longer i would need to take it...I think im expecting to much to soon...hating this!! Anyways...

I took your advice and located all my previous results through calling all the doctors and hospitals ect Amazing what a little of persistence can do, so now have some history built up. Gave blood today and will have results on Wednesday which i will post with older ones i recently acquired .

Thanks again goolarra!! Your feed back is really helping!