tirosint

[martinte]

After trying several thyroid medications with horrible side effects, I am now taking tirosint.  I went from 112 synthroid to 100 tirosint.  All of the crazy side effects I have suffered for years are virtually gone. I do continue to have heart palps and random flushing.  It seems as if when my levels get into normal range, I start to have symptoms of hyperthyroidism.   The body aches, very tight muscles, and complete brain fog with no memory have left just in 1 week.  Is this something that may be temporary and will go away too??  I've been to a cardiologist and my heart is very healthy.  I know I'm dealing with adrenal fatigue as well, so could that be the cause of the heart palps?? Have yet to do a saliva cortisol test, but not sure how accurate it is, considering it will be all out of pocket cost.  Just looking for advice and other experiences.

[Barb135]

Your were on 112 mcg Synthroid; what dosage of cytomel were you on?

These labs you just posted show that your FT4 was slightly higher than it needed to be, but your FT3 was lower than it should have been.  

Rule of thumb (where most of feel best) is for FT4 to be about mid range (50%); yours was at 53%. Your FT3 was only 46% of its range and rule of thumb is for FT3 to be in the upper half to upper third of its range, so you still had a ways to go before getting there.

Dropping the Tirosint to 100 mcg should help bring your FT4 down a little bit.  

Not taking T4 for one day isn't going to have that much of an effect on how you feel because the T4 in your system now, is what you took several days ago, not what you took (or didn't take today).  The fact that you're feeling better today is probably reflecting 2 weeks at the lower dose of Tirosint, not simply skipping it for one day.  

You can't just start skipping your med, because that will put you on a roller coaster that will be hard to get off from.

Remember, with a T4 med, it takes 4-6 weeks for it reach full potential in your blood and it's not unusual for symptoms to get worse, before they get better when changing med/dosages.

Petechiae can be caused by autoimmune diseases, I have a little bit of it, but it's nothing serious.  I had it long before I was ever diagnosed with, either Hashimoto's or Pernicious Anemia, but I had them both, long before I was diagnosed with either.

[martinte]

Yes I do have hashimotos.  The last set of labs came from synthroid/cytomel combo.  Tsh was .85, ft4 1.4 (.95 - 1.8), ft3 3.5 (2.9-4.2)  with these results I had severe heart palps and muscle pain, along with hair loss.   Going off the cytomel slowed the heart palps and hair loss no longer a problem.  Brain fog lifted after switching to tirosint.  Just dealing with heart palps that start at around 3pm every day.  Last night was a rough night with them.  I'm only into the 2nd week of new med.  I didn't take med today and feeling less "wired".  Maybe I need less of a dose of tirosint?  Thank you for confirming my thoughts on the adrenal issue.  You read so many different opinions, it becomes hard to know what to do.  Also, I've had petechiae on my legs, torso, and some on legs that comes and goes.  We have tested clotting factors, chemistries, and cbc and everything looks good (except for occasional low white count with elevated lymphs from hashimotos).  Could this be from hashimotos as well? Physician thinks vasculitis from autoimmunity.  Just haven't seen a lot online and it has me a little worried.  And I hate looking at it on my arms.  Thanks for your help

[Barb135]

Can you get copies of your labs?  If you are in the U.S. your doctor is obligated, by law to provide them, upon request.  Just because labs "look good", doesn't mean they are right for you.  Hair loss, brain fog, muscle pain are, typically, hypo symptoms and as I said, I had heart palps really bad when I was terribly hypo.  I also had hair loss and a lot of muscle/joint pain.  If you're still having symptoms, your med wasn't adjusted properly for you.  

You can do the saliva cortisol yourself, if you want.  There are several online labs from which you can order it.  Some people think it's really necessary; I'm not a huge fan, because the adrenals do try to take up the slack when the thyroid fails, so when your thyroid levels are where you need them, the adrenals, will often balance back out.  Another thing is if your doctor refuses to order the test, will he do anything about the results?

You can try a 24 hr urine test for adrenals but I've read that's not real accurate.  

Do you know if you have Hashimoto's?

[martinte]

I don't have current labs.  I was on a synthroid/cytomel combo , and even though my labs looked great, I suffered from many symtoms.  On t3 I have hair loss, and heart palps continuously.  In 24 hour period I had over 1000.  Went off cytomel, and heart palps lessened, but continued to have hives, muscle pain, scarey brain fog, and heart palps in the evening.  So, here we are with tirosint.  I feel tons better, but still having heart palps.  Should I do a saliva cortisol myself?  My doctor will not.  Is it really useful,  or is there a better way to test adrenal function?

[Barb135]

Heart palps can be present with hypothyroidism as well as hyper... I had them when I was very hypo, along with some flushing.  And yes, if you have adrenal issues that could contribute as the adrenals kick in to take up slack for thyroid failure.

If you have current thyroid hormone lab results, it would be good if you post them, so we can see where you actually are in terms of levels.  Be sure to include reference ranges as those vary lab to lab and have to come from your own report.  

I was on Tirosint for over 5 years and it worked very well for me.  I just went off it in August of last year.