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Please help

I was diagnosed Hash's about 2 months ago. Nine months ago I had my first child. Developed PPD soon after he was born. About 5 months postpartum I became Hyper. I am now Hypo. I was started on Synthroid 50 mcg 2 weeks ago, about one week in I started having fast heartrate and panic attacks. My dosage was lower to 25mcg. Since starting Synthroid I am either wide awake or I feel like I am sleep walking. Had an appt scheduled today with my Endo. About an hour before my appointment I started sweating and my heart started pounding. I took my heartate and it was 125 . It stayed that way for about 30-45 minutes. Had to get my sister in law to come get me and take me to the appt. I almost called 911. It scared me. By the time I got in with the nurse my heartrate had gone down to 100. An EKG was done and it was normal. Doc said she didn't think this had anything to do with my thyroid and is sending me to a cardiologist. She said if I had another episode to go to the ER. I asked her if maybe it was the Synthroid, she said it's such a small dose so its unlikely. I also told her I was anemic (just diagnosed by my gp), she said that might have something to do with it.
Can anyone help me? I am now more freaked out than ever. I am 34 with no previous health problems and I really feel like I'm dying. What is going on? Why am I on such a roller coaster and why do I feel so unwell? What could be wrong with my heart? I have a wonderful son who I love more than anything and I feel like I wont be around to raise him. Please help.
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Avatar universal
I disagree with your doctor.  Although I definitely think it's a good idea to see a cardio and rule out any heart issues, your thyroid meds are very likely the culprit in your tachycardia.  I don't want to tell you how often my PCP sat there and told me my tachy had nothing to do with meds..."No, no, no," she said, "you'd have to be hyper if it were the meds."  Baloney, to be polite.

My PCP had started me on way too high a dose (88 mcg) since I was over 50, had been hypo for a long time and had a history of heart arrhythmia.  The dose was lowered in stages to 25 mcg, and STILL it made my tachy go wild.  I finally saw an electrophysiologist (cardio specializing in arrhythmias), and he was well aware of the connection between thyroid meds and tachy.

Starting on thyroid meds and increasing gradually to a therapeutic dose is a bit of an art form.  Yes, we all want to get our thyroid levels right as soon as possible, but many of us suffer enough side effects that the process gets slowed down and even more frustrating than it is for most thyroid patients.  

I would suggest that you ask your doctor about cutting back to 12.5 mcg.  Once you can tolerate that, you can move up.  Keep in mind, however, that your hypo symptoms are going to linger longer...it's unavoidable.  Just focus on a slow and steady move in the right direction (increasing when your side effects abate).  

Another alternative would be to ask your doctor about a beta blocker.  BBs slow your HR and lower your BP to control the tachy.  Once I had gotten down to 25 mcg and my tachy was still out of control, my cardio put me on atenolol (there are several BBs...atenolol is one that I have read interacts least with thyroid meds and metabolism).  It worked and did so pretty much immediately.  There's an excellent possibility that the BB would only be temporary until your body adjusts to having thyroid hormones available again.  I'm still on the BBs, but I have a pre-existing, congenital arrhythmia.  I'm also completely enjoying being tachy-free, so I'm reluctant to rock the boat.

Don't despair...you WILL be around to raise your son.  It takes time and lots and lots of patience.  
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Avatar universal
You seem extremely sensitive to the medication and your physical reaction.  I know you must be anxious to get completely well as you have recently started to see some improvement.

But from just reading your whole story, I would think and this is only my opinion that you will want to stay exactly where you are at with the 12.5 for a minimum of 6 weeks.  As that time frame comes up all the time as to the length of time for your body to stabilize the thyroid level in your bloodstream.  Then try to bump up to 25 mcg or if you can get it something smaller of a jump.  Again baby steps forward is better than upsetting the apple cart and swinging from hyper to hypo even more than what your Hashi's may be doing to you outside of your medication dosage.

I think somewhere up the thread a ways someone mentioned some sort of tea that was good as a natural beta blocker and anxiety relaxer.  maybe give that a try.

Just some rambling thoughts from a non-Dr. "average Joe" fairly frequent reader on this site.
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Avatar universal
No nodules, still have my thyroid. Took half a beta blocker about 2 hours ago. Still on 12.5 mcg. Go back to cardiologist for stress test and monitor Tuesday.
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Avatar universal
I'm sure you've probably already told us, but this thread is getting long, so please refresh my memory:  have you had an U/S, and do you have nodules?

Have you been taking your beta blocker?
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Avatar universal
I feel weird today, woke up this way. My heart rate was 80 before I got out of bed. Yesterday I could barely keep my eyes open .  This makes no sense!!!!
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Avatar universal
That makes sense, my heartrate episode started after I had been on Synthroid for almost 2 weeks. I will keep doing what I'm doing for now. Thanks
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Avatar universal
I'm not a doctor, of course, but I'd give it another week.  It will take 4-6 weeeks for the 12.5 mcg to reach it's full potential in your blood.  However, when I have increased too rapidly, I've found that it often takes 10 days to two weeks before hyper symptoms set in.  For me, it was really important to make sure any hyper symptoms had come and gone before for moving on.  Slow and steady...just keep moving in the same direction and avoid bouncing from hypo to hyper as much as possible.
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Avatar universal
So since I'm doing a little better when should I go up to 25mcg? I started 12.5 6 days ago, should I stay at this for another week? What dO you think?
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215461 tn?1331862765
Btw- Goolarra is right about the ER, although I was lucky enough to have them test my free t3 (when I couldn't get into a doc and I had no other option).  Hopefully you will feel better long enough for you to get into a good doc.  If you find one, let me know.. apparently they don't make those in Michigan lol.
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215461 tn?1331862765
I too had the horrible horrible heartburn.  I still do (with both hypo or hyper).  It started the first time my thyroid swung really hypo.  I have read that the initial stages of the disease cause these swings of hypo and hyper, but I am in my 4th year and this was the worst year yet!!!!!

I am so glad you are feeling better.  I pray you will start getting the relief you need.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Heartburn can be related to hypo.  When your metabolism is slowed down, all kinds of things are affected, digestion included.  If it continues to bother you, you might try posting a question about it.  I know there are a number of people who have dealt with the issue...sometimes antacids help, but sometimes (strange as it sounds) you have to add some acid in to restore the balance (antacids actually make it worse).  Give it some time to see if it resolves itself.

Glad to hear you're feeling a little more human...keep up the good work!
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Avatar universal
Didn't mean to post, wasn't finished.
My anxiety has gotten better the past few days. I still have waves of it along with sweating and an off feeling. It's not an all day off feeling though, hopefully it's progress. I did wake up this morning with horrible heartburn, is this a side effect of Synthroid?
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Avatar universal
I am feeling better, the past two days I have had glimpses of feeling the most normal
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Avatar universal
Your fluctuations are due to the progression of the disease. We go in and out of hypo and hyper during the early stages of the disease. When we are in those stages our bodies are either being flooded by the hormones are starved of them. If you are interested in reading a couple of good books about this disease they are Living Well With Hypothyroidism by Mary J. Shomon, and Stop the Thyroid Madness by Janie A. Bowthorpe, M.Ed. They are both available at Amazon.com, and are cheap to buy, but very informative.
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Avatar universal
It is very frustrating to keep banging your head against (the same) wall.  My first suggestion would be to call your doctor and ask for a script for a different brand.  Yes, the nurse is right; the active ingredient in all the different brands is the same, BUT the fillers are different, and some people react badly to the fillers.  It's such an easy thing to do; why not try it?  (I'm talking to the nurse and doctor here.)

I agree that I would find a new doctor sooner than December.  That's an awful long wait.  He may be wonderful, but you're going to be totally frustrated by December.  While you should go to the ER if you have symptoms that merit it, I think it's going to be tough to get proper testing in the ER (as was your experience, they usually only test TSH).

FT3, FT4 and TSH can be ordered online without a doctor's order.  Insurance will not cover online testing, however.

How are you feeling this morning?

  
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463897 tn?1468013750
How are thing going now?
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215461 tn?1331862765
I feel your pain =(.  Mine started after I had my son too.  It got better for a while, and then hit me hard in the last 10 months also.  Since then it was a fight for my life.  When I was in your scenario, I stopped taking the meds.  That is just me though, and I can't recommend that to anyone else because we are all different.  I thank God that I did though, because I couldn't live with that "hyper" feeling you are going through.  Some can deal with it, I could not.  I would try to see another doc in the mean time, December is too long to wait.  Maybe they can take you off meds for a bit and see if things calm down.  The docs have been basing everything on your tsh (as mine did) and that is never going to make you feel better! It's a rough road, I am still traveling it.  I just hate to see you taking meds causing yourself harm if you don't really need them.  I don't know your insurance situation, but if you can't get into a doc before December, I would go to the ER and get the testing you need.  You have to get it somehow.  Try to hang in there, and don't be afraid to use the beta blockers.  Ativan and xanax never helped me half as much as the beta blocker did.  Is your beta blocker extended release or regular?  I wouldn't take extended release for this situation.  Also you can talk to your doc about splitting up your dose and taking it twice a day.  This helped me the most because it was the initial release of it that stopped my body from being in the panic/ high adrenaline zone.  When I split it up, I had that twice a day and it was the only thing that got me through the mess.  
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Avatar universal
Im in tears right now. I can't do this anymore. This med makes my anxiety so much worse, and I feel awful. I'm so nauseated, I woke up in the middle of the night with my heart pounding. I will not take this as my only choice, there has to be an alternative. I don't even remember what it feels like to feel normal, it's now been 10 months since my son was born. I just really don't know where to go from here. Do I find another doctor? I do have an appointment with a doctor who has awesome reviews from thyroid suffers. That appt isn't till December. He has a very long waiting list. What do I do till then?
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215461 tn?1331862765
Yep, but those fluctuate too.  Withing one week I had antibodies go from over 250 to below 20.  My tsh fluctuated from .001 -26 in 4 weeks.  My thyroid is crazy.  After I went hyper, and abruptly hypo when they took me off the drugs since I was hyper, I could no longer tolerate thyroid meds.  My tsh went gradually down from 26 (btw when it swung to 26 I still felt hyper not hypo) and now without meds everything has started to get normal.  I felt bad for a few months still after stopping the meds though.  Even though my labs were normal I felt hyper.  I can't explain it, but after a few months of no meds, I feel better than I have in a year.  I am finally at a normal state and not that fluctuating mess.  I think taking the pills, going off the pills, taking them, just wasn't needed.  I didn't need meds at the time my doc gave them to me.  He didn't know because he ONLY went by tsh.  
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Avatar universal
Do you also have high antibodies?
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215461 tn?1331862765
Mine was fluctuating like that too.  I'm not even convinced you need meds.  You should have your free's tested so the others on here can decipher them (I'm not good with that).  I know you can't base it all on tsh though because as your tests show, it fluctuates!  Mine fluctuated but my free's stayed pretty normal.  Your thyroid MIGHT just regulate itself in a few months without meds.  This depends on your free's though.  If you do need them, I would just start out as slow as possible!
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Avatar universal
I was tested on June 2, TSH was 15. Tested again in ER on June 18 and it went to 5. Was tested earlier that day at Endo's office and it was 2.something (always forget to get copy of results). So, I think that is a pretty big difference in a small amount of time on 25 mcg of Synthroid. Im new to this though, so what do I know?
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215461 tn?1331862765
This is going to sound ridiculous, but when I first started taking meds, they had me taking 12.5 every other day.  That did the trick for me.  The doc didn't think such a low amount would do a thing, but without it, tsh was 17 and with it my goiter went down and nodules/spots went away and I could FUNCTION!  That endo learned I DID need a small amount though he didn't understand why.  My new endo (still searching again) doesn't believe that did a thing for me, but it made a huge difference for years until I went hyper.  What are your current test results?  How hypo are you?  This last time I went hyper, went off meds and tsh shot up to 26, started taking 12.5 every third day but still felt extremely hyper.  I went off meds completely and tsh has normalized.  It now stays around 2.75-3.75 which is borderline hypo, but I feel way better without meds although hypo symptoms are returning a bit.  If I have to go back on meds, I will start with the 12.5 every other day again.  My body just cannot tolerate large amounts of any meds.
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Avatar universal
Ok it's day 3 on 12.5 and I haven't had any horrible episodes of palps. I have had to take Klonopon everyday though. I feel like I want to crawl out of my skin, again like I have drank too much coffee. I spoke with my Endocrinologist's nurse on Friday and she said regarding my request for a different med that they are all very similiar and would give similar side effects. She said name brand Synthroid is my best bet, which upsets me a bit. It doesn't hurt my doc to prescribe me another med, so I dont really understand why she wouldn't just prescribe me something else.
So what do I do now? What do you think is a fair amount of time for me to give the Synthroid at 12.5? I so want to call the doc tomorrow and tell her that I just can't take the med anymore and another part of me wants to tough it out. Any ideas or advice?
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Avatar universal
Well, good, it sounds like there's most likely nothing wrong with your heart.  Your cardio is being thorough, however, which is also good.  

"   he said only if you are taking too much or if I was hyper would it cause what I have been having."  Yes, my PCP told me that over and over again, too.  She told me that my labs would have to be hyper before I'd have cardiac symptoms...wrong!  I have a congenital heart defect, so I've had tachy episodes since I was about 7 or 8...3 or 4 episodes per year, controlled without meds.  Funny, wasn't it, that just after starting levo that number went up to 20-30 episodes per day, some very difficult to control with the Valsalva that usually worked so well for me?

I think you have a good plan formulated...start at 12.5 and take the beta blockers if necessary.  My endo prescribes my beta blocker for me...perhaps yours will do the same?  Your body just has to get used to having thyroid hormones available again.  

I haven't had personal experience with adrenal saliva tests, but I know some members have.  If you post a new question regarding that, someone might be able to steer you in the right direction.  

It is good news from the cardio.  Just take it slow and steady with the thyroid meds, and you'll be fine.  Good luck with restarting your meds...keep us posted.  
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