Hypothyroid with bouts of Hyperthyroid

[lindalee1959]

I have been hypo 10 years and have done well on synthroid.  My last increase was 2 years ago to .125  
6 months ago I started having rapid hearbeats & anxiety. 3 months ago I forgot my synthroid one day and felt better then I had prior months.  I started taking half a pill and was feeling better.
I went to the Dr. a month ago my TSH test was 9.18

I told the Dr.how the .125 was making me feel.  She put me on Armour 1 grain 2 times a day .  After the 3rd day I was having attacks of sweating, trembling, rapid heart rate.  The Dr. then put me on .88 synthroid.

I let my thyroid rest 4 days before taking the new dose of synthroid.  Within an hour of taking synthroid the anxiety and hot flashes and trembling started.  I took .88 for a few days then cut it in half.  I feel like lousy within an hour of taking it.

I am now afraid to take my medication.  The past 2 days my thyroid area is tender, I still feel trembly but not as bad as when I take the synthroid.

I have a referral to see an endocrinologist. she is booking appointments two months from now.

Should I continue on my synthroid even though it seems to put me into hyper?

I am thinking I may have Hashimotos

Is it possible to be hypo for many years and then get Hashi's?

Linda

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

Hashi is the most common cause of hypo -- so you may well have had hashi all along.  Test thyroid antibodies and also consider ultrasound given the pain.

The armour 1 grain 2x/day was like taking nearly 0.200 of synthroid per day.....

These are tough cases -- ie, the TSH is high, but there is sensitivity to the thyroid med - so, you need the medication but have difficulty tolerating it.  Not sure why this would happen after years of stability but have heard of and seen several cases recently.

I try to change to a different brand, ie in this case - levoxyl, and slowly titrate the dose up to get the TSH into reasonable range (0.5-2.5 is target, but in these cases up to 4.0-5.0 may be ok).  So perhaps try 0.075mg dose as the 1/2 125 (0.0625) was not quite enough.  Could also try 1/2 0.137mg dose (0.0685).

[SharpShiv]

My mom was hypothyroid from the age of 20 and well controlled on thyroid medicine, although I'm not sure.  When she was about 70, she became hyperthyroid, was removed off medication entirely, felt better for a little bit, but hyper sypmtoms worsened and eventually had the Radioctive Iodine treatment for overactive thyroid.  She then was off medicine again entirely for a period of time, two months maybe, and eventually back on and was good from that point forward.

She was also Type I diabetic for 35 years or so.

She was living in Ireland at the time, and her Endo found it so intersting and unusual that he wrote it up and presented her case to a group of doctors.