Hypothyroid: Am I over medicated on Levothyroxine?

[gooders650]

Hi, I'm looking for feedback from other hypothtyoird sufferers, particularly those who do endurance sports.

I was diagnosed hypothyroid 3 years ago and have been on Levothyroxine 50ug - 75 - 100 - 125 and last autumn begain alternating 125-150-125 as my TSH came back as 5 and 14. I've been feeling very well and started training again as a competitive cyclist. Everything wsa going well until about 2 weeks ago when I started feeling jittering, anxious, nervous, tired, slightly off balance occassionally vertigo, breathless, dry throat. Although I'm still eating the same as before I've lost 1kg in a week with no excercise which I've never done in my life. I haven't changed my diet or added any supplements.

In the previous 4 months I've worked hard to lose 7kg from my previous 78kg. Its now a lot warmer and although I was doing a lot of cycling 8-10hrs per week , which could I understand potentially leave my slightly hypothyroid after a ride, does the combination of weight loss, through hard excercise, combined with the warmer weather, mean that I'm now over medicated.

I had a test 4 weeks ago -  fasted, no meds in the morning of the test which came back at 1.8TSH (range 0.5 - 3) and T4 18 (range 12-22)

my Dr doesn't understand thyroid at all so no help there. Should I stop taking my meds for 2-3 days and see if symptoms improve?

Any help much appreciated

Paul

[redheadaussie]

First of all NO do not stop taking the medication for a few days. This medication is not like an aspirin where you get immediate relief. Your medication will have taken weeks to build up in your system. It will take weeks for it to go down again. By stopping it for a few days you have actually changed the level you took over the whole week. It has a half life of around one week, so by the following week it will be the same as you took last week. If that makes sense!

Do you know what your Free T3 was? Did they test for it? This is a good indicator of if the medication is working correctly for you.

For you it could be that you are feeling hyper. For me personally I feel hypo at the same levels as you, but your TSH at higher levels would have killed me, but  for you were at a hypo level. There is probably a time when you know you felt very good and comfortable with your TSH and T4 numbers. Those are more than likely your 'zone'. Being on the dose you are now may actually be too high.

When you say alternating your dose, do you mean on a daily basis, or weekly or what? Changing the dose too often will not give you the relief you need. As I said earlier it is a build up of the medication of around 4 to 6 weeks will the body be able to give you any feedback.

I used to do alot of long distance power walking. Just getting back into it again. I am a little hypo at the moment and  my Free T3's keep dropping. I am in the process of finding out if I have a conversion problem.

Cycling the way you are is not going to make you hypothyroid. It is your thyroid that is in control of that! If anything, exercise is crucial in keeping off the extra pounds that seem to magically jump on those who become hypothyroid. ( I say that tongue in cheek as many hypos truly don't eat much and seem to keep weight on too readily!)

Looking forward to hearing your response.
Cheers

[gooders650]

thanks for the response... No FT3 or otherwise measured. The TSH and T4 were the lowest I've had. I think I need a Dr who has more of an understanding of thyroid  conditions and what they should be testing.

I was alternating the dose 125 one day, 150 the next, 125, 150 etc and that was fine, I felt great. I think that due to  gradual weight loss , 69.8kg this morning - so more 12% in 4 months, combined with hot weather, my metabolism is higher due to exercerise, that my levothyroxine supplementation should be less.

Symptoms are really rough at times, think I'm going to have a panic attack but try to keep calm and lay down. I always feel okay when I get up in the mornings but then by afternoon start to get worse.

I'm about to go on holiday for a couple of weeks so trying to work out - reduce meds, stop taking them (a NO NO  as you say)  what I can do otherwise its going to be a miserable 2 weeks.... I'm guessing by reducing my dose this is a safer way to go in the absence of tests - if the symptoms reduce over the next couple of weeks I know I'm slightly hyper.

thanks again
Paul

[stella5349]

Losing weight can effect the amount of medication you may need. Stopping them would not be good - but tweeking them lower may be helpful to you.

Good luck on finding a doctor that gets it. I think if you worked with the doctor you have know and just tell them what you'd like to try would be helpful.

Lowering your meds may not eliminate your symptoms right away, but you should notice a difference within 3 weeks after the change. If it works great, if not then you need to test ASAP and see where you're off.

[gooders650]

thanks for the responses.

I think I'll reduce the dose to 100ug for the next week and see if symptoms improve. I'l book an appointment to see the Dr when I return, get full bloods, including TSH, FT3, FT4 and take it from there. Might try to get an appointment with Endo through my medical care.

Has anyone has similar problems ie over medicated on synthroid, levothyroxine?

thanks again!

[gooders650]

Boing...

Is there any who can help with advice/experience regard becoming over medicated with levothyroxine or synthroid?

many thanks
Paul

[lynn1313]

I am currently over medicated with levo 125mg.  wow what a trip this has been.  i was taking armour thyroid for years and doing great only had to increase 2x's the last 9yrs.  due to unavailability of that med i recently started on levo 100mcg felt like **** increased to 150mcg and thats when the fun started.  i thought i was nuts.  like you i started to get panic attacks, small ache in the chest all the time, headaches behind my eyes and neck, and this weird cold chill all over.  almost felt flu like several different times...decreased to 125 and thought it was better but after like 3 days it all started again.  just called doc today and was told to stop the med x3 days and start taking half the 125mcg.  cant wait to get this dosing thing right cause it is so hard to deal with this every day....i feel for ya..i really thought i was going crazy....or having heart problems ect.  

[Kaz1969]

Hi, i've had very similar problems, although not a keen sportsperson, originally diagnosed as hypo 4 years ago TSH of 6 took 50mcg of Levo TSH dropped to 2.5 and gradually all the symptoms went away, then about a year ago symptoms started to return TSH was 7 Doctor increased dose to 100mcg after about 2 weeks at this dose started to experience palpitations and horrendous anxiety (not normally an anxious person) had TSH tested again and it had droppped to 0.87, anyway to cut a long story short I now know that whenever I need to increase on Levo I have to do it very very slowly as much as 25mcg extra in a week can kick off the anxiety , I find altenrnate dose on alternate days is the best way then each week I have one extra day at the higher dose until the symptoms go away, I have also found that over time you begin to notice the signs of anxiety creeping up before the dose is too high andyou can slow down the increase.  Good Luck and keep trying you wil get there eventually.

[goolarra]

Many doctors just don't get it.  If you've been stable for a while on a given dose, you don't just DOUBLE it if hypo symptoms return.  That's a ridiculous increase.  It's even worse if, like me, you are very sensitive to meds increases.  I went hyper with an increase of 6.5 mcg per day. Baby steps...you just can't rush this.