hashimotos?

[wagdog]

Dr. Please Help

7 years ago I had my thyroid tested and my TSH was 10.8 so I was started on 100mcg of synthroid.  I've been stable on this dose until Feburary of this year when I began to have heart palpitations, panic attacks, my hair is falling out by the handfuls etc.  Upon testing my thyroid every thing looked normal, or so I was told.  However, I continued to have lost of anxiety, tachycardia, shortness of breath and despite seeing an Endocrinologist I was told it was not my thyroid.  So, I went to my OB/GYN seeking help 3 months later, He  tested my thyroid again and found my TSH was on the high end of normal and my T4 was high.  He also had an ultrasound done which found no goiters or nodules with an impression of chronic Hashimotos.  My Enocrinologist wanted me to increase my Synthroid to treat the high TSH previously buy now my OB/GYN wants me to decrease it.  What do I do??  I can not continue to feel like this,  I have every symptom of both hyper and hypo thyroidism.  Is there an answer to this up and down?

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

There is no easy answer - the symptoms sometimes overlap and my first approach usually is to optimize the labs then re-evaluate, so I would tend to agree with the endocrinologist.

[lulu273]

I am no doctor but I do have hypothyroidism. I think when your thyroid is either hypo or hyper you can develop an irregular heart rythym which in turn causes shortness of breath. Talk to your dr about this.

[brbangle]

You may have to temporarily reduce your Synthroid until you feel well enough to return to your normal dose. I have experienced what you describe, and the lower dose definitely lessened the severity of the "attacks." (Unfortunately, the lower dose also made the hypothyroid symptoms much worse). Six months later, I am still having some minor "ups and downs" in terms of thyroid symptoms, but I have been able to increase my Synthroid again. Waiting it out is so hard, but truly necessary in these situations. Best of luck to you!