hypertension and hypothyroidism

[shrekson]

Hello all and a healthy day for you i hope.
Im hypo and also have hypertension my question is has anyone had experince with this .
1.Does the hypertension medication effect the eltroxin ?
2.Any of you that have both these conditions and take meds for both battle to lose wieght?
3.What would in your experince be the best time to take these meds?
For my hypo i take .2 mg eltroxin daily one in the morning and one at around mid day
For the hypertension i take 1 forzacer at night
The reason i ask this is because the beta blocker seams to slow the body down and the eltroxin should speed things up?

[Smilerdeb]

Why are you taking the Eltroxin in 2 doses?
Beta blockers ( I presume thats what you are on?) as I have never heard of forzacer does not interfere with the thyroid levels only when Hyper.
It slows the heart rate down and also helps take the edge of hyper T3 symptoms.
It doesnt affect the actual readings of the FT3 but does take the 'edge ' off the anxiety.
What were your last levels?
Eltroxin is well known in Australia for being slightly generic for a T4 med...maybe ask for Eutroxzig which is not generic.
They are both the same med but Eltroxin has had a lot of bad publicity in regards to its side effects and potency.
Eltroxin wont speed up your metabolism until your levels are stable and this takes time.

[shrekson]

I take the eltroxin at two diffrent time for better absorbstion .
The forzacer is a beta blocker.
My last tsh level was 5.67
I live in South Africa and have only heard about Eutroxzig on this site.
So you are saying that the beta blocker will not effect the eltroxin at all?
Will be checking my levels not only tsh agian in two months .
Thanks for your responce.:-)

[Smilerdeb]

No..the beta blocker would not affect the Eltroxin but its strange to take the 2 doses.
By taking the 1 dose in the morning...an hour before food ..this will ensure maximum absorbtion.
Also I take a 600mg Vitamin D/Calcium (combined) every night and I found this to help the absorbtion of thyroxin.

You really do need to get your FT3 and FT4 levls done as the TSH is not really a good 'marker' to go by for dosage of thyroxin.
You may need an increase or may need to go on a T3, T4 combined therapy.

Let us know how you go and message me if you need any help.

[shrekson]

Thank you for you help.
I have only ever heard of eltroxin for thyroid treatment and you now talk about a combined therapy. Please can you explain this to me, as my doctor seams to think that meds for t3 and t4 are the same ??
Thanks again.

[Barb135]

I have both hypertension and hypothyroidism.  I take Benazepril for my blood pressure and am on a combination of levothyroxin (levothyroxine) (T4 med) and cytomel (T3 med) for the hypothyroidism.  I take my levo first thing in the morning (which for me is 3:30 am), then I take the cytomel about 7:00 am to help me get through the day.  I take my blood pressure med at the same time I take my cytomel, but benazepril is not a beta blocker, it's an ACE inhibitor.  

T4 and T3 meds are NOT the same thing.  T3 is the "body ready" hormone, meaning that's the form that your body actually uses.  Your body has to convert the T4 to T3 in order to be able to use it; therefore, if you have a problem converting T4 to T3, you won't get the benefit.  If you take a T3 med, you will get the benefit right away, without having to convert it.  T3 meds are about 4 times as potent as T4 meds, so whenever adding a T3 med, it's necessary to decrease the amount of the T4 med.

There are also the "natural" or dessicated combo meds like Armour, NaturThroid, etc that are both T4 and T3.  Since I've never taken one of those, I'm not all that familiar with them.  There are quite a few on this forum, though that do take them.

I don't think any of the thyroid meds will "speed up" your metabolism until your levels get right for you.  At 5.67, your TSH is high, but it's hard to say where you're really at without FT4 and FT3 results and reference ranges.  

[shrekson]

Thank you for explianing it to me ill take this infomation and speak to my doctor .
As soon as i have had the next blood test ill post all results,
Thanks again.

[Barb135]

Keep in mind that T3 meds CAN affect your heart rate, etc. I had to cut back on my cytomel dosage because it caused rapid heart rate, palps, etc.  So if you decide to try a T3 med, you will want to start out on a low dose and increase very slowly until you get where you need to be.  

I would never start on anything containing a T3 med, without first having both Free T3 and Free T4 tests run, along with your TSH, and they should be run each and every time you have blood work in order to keep tabs on what's happening.  Keeping levels steady is tricky WITH all the necessary tests - I can't imagine trying to accomplish it if NOT having the right tests done.  But the only way you can know you NEED a T3 med is to monitor your Free T3 and Free T4.  

Good luck