Adrenals, More T3 or Fibromyalgia???

[Michelle888]

Hi, I am 18 months post TT.  I have had progressive symptoms since removing my thyroid.  I started on 150 mcg of synthroid 4x a day and 175 mcg synthroid 3x a day to get TSH in suppression.  First I was dizzy, then aggitated, then couldn't sleep, then aversions to exercise (muscles slightly tremor - notice at night), then migraines and positional vertigo during heat (summer) and exercise, then heart tightness/intense beating, blood pressure all over the place...lowering synthroid to 150 mcg every day....then muscle pains, cramps, twitching, brain jumping from 1 thing to another...no focus....confusion, intense muscle cramps, joint pain, carpel tunnel, stopped exercising, lowered synthroid to 137 mcg, added cytomel 5 mcg 1x a day, then cytomel 2x a day, TSH goes to .07.  I lowered on my own 137 mcg synthroid 3x a week cutting 1/2 4 days a week...skip one dose a week for 4 weeks, TSH goes to .20...still feeling terrible.  After cutting up synthroid, potassium starts to rise, but TSH drives back down to .12 and T4's go from 1.7 to .7.   During all of this potassium drops from 5.0 right after TT to 3.2 during worst barrage of symptoms....eat bananas, spinach, etc. like crazy...take powder supplements get potassium up to 3.4...finally potassium goes up to 4.2 after lowering meds.  Blood pressure still erratic, positional vertigo comes back as weather warms up and exercise begins again...muscle aches are unbearable, muscle tremors are worse and noticable all the time now, joint pain terrible.  Saw rheumatologist today for fibromyalgia, but only 2 pressure points?  (He pressured on my neck where I have some swollen lymph nodes???)  I've never had fibro symptoms before?.  I felt great before I lost my thyroid and now I feel progressively like poop.  Cortisol stimulation test normal...aldosterone normal....potassium back to normal....4..2..MRI normal, CT scan normal.  Went on stop the thyroid madness website and did the pupil tests in the dark and they cannot sustain staying small for more than 1 second....What should I do?  Should I do less synthroid and more cytomel, try Armour type meds, pursue adrenal concerns.  I have undetectable thyroglobulin levels now, so endo says I can increase to low normal TSH range.  He thinks I'm crazy, but I'm very in tune to my body.  He told me joint pain/muscle aches wasn't related to thyroid.  Hmm.......????  Is it radioactive iodine complication (have salivary gland problems), or not tolerating synthroid properly or is it fibromyalgia...how can anyone make a diagnosis for something new when I don't feel that meds have been properly regulated???

[rumpled]

Have they tested your PTH? Since you had your thyroid out, wondering if your parathyroids survived they ride - some of your symptoms sound parathyroid in nature and like calcium (cramps, twitching, agitated) and it may effect your heart as well.

Also, potassium and sodium are, in general, related. For instance, in an adrenal crisis, what happens is that sodium drops and potassium rises which is what makes people so sick. Some have Na and K drop together (not typical, but it happens). But when people take BP meds, those drain Na, so they must take K as they must be in balance. Often if you just take one, the other will balance.

Do you have a POTS like issue? BP higher sitting than when standing?

[redheadaussie]

Don't have the answers for you, but just wanted to say; Welcome to my world! Like you I have been crud since my TT in 2007....Each time I lower or raise the dose of my thyroxine medication, I get worse...my Free T3 is low and gets lower all the time. I had some cortisol tests done in USA whilst on holiday there, but back home in Australia they just laughed and called them 'backyard labs' Hard to get any doctor to believe we need help!
  Let me know how you are going. I've added you as a friend.
Cheers