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Levoxyl vs. Armour with a low tsh level and low free t4 level
I had been on Levoxyl for 19 years after being diagnosed with Hashimoto's. About the time my yearly check-up was due I started having these massive panic attacks. I went to the ER and after bloodwork and other tests they said my thyroid was low. Instead of returning to my yearly check with my Endo. which was a 45 minute drive, I had my GP treat it because I didn't feel up to driving 45 minutes. I didn't feel stable enough. I was also eventually put on Klonopin for the panic disorder. Since then I've also switched to Armour Thyroid and am currently tapering from Klonopin slowly at an 1/8mg every 3wks to a month which is a wicked drug and very hard to taper from. My last thyroid blood test revealed that my TSH is low indicating too much thyroid hormone and my Free T4 is also exactly borderline low. This is not something I've ever had happen before. I feel both Hyperthyroid and Hypothyroid at the same time in addition to my withdrawal symptoms from the Klonopin. I am considering going back on the Levoxyl as I had been on it for 18 years. Maybe my body doesn't react well to the Armour? Or should I just wait until I'm off the Klonopin to make drastic changes due to the severity of the withdrawal. I know low levels of both can indicate Adrenal problems. Can the adrenal/thyroid problem be related to the Klonopin withdrawal? Could switching back to the Levoxyl alleviate some of the symptoms? I'm lightheaded, heart racing, hair loss, tired and can't sleep, my muscles twich a lot, my eye muscles hurt, I am shaky, hungry a lot, weird sensations in the back of my sinuses, & constipated
I believe on the iodine...it's that if you have hypo from iodine deficiency, it would be helpful. But for Hashimoto's folks, the iodine seems to aggravate the condition.
please please please make sure whoever's giving you the anti-anxiety drugs knows about your thyroid & also how to treat it.
i was prescribed valium in the ER when what i really needed was an adjustment in thyroid meds...
(taken from my post a few days ago)
...there was a snafu with a Rx refill and i ended up taking 7.5 grains instead of 3. i didn't realize until after i started getting heart palps, was unable to breathe, tremors, & experienced this bizarre anxiety freakout that lead me to seek emergency psychiaric treatment. i have been depressed before, but have NEVER had anxiety problems. is not my temperment at all.
the on-call psychiatrist prescribed valium but i told him, no - it's something physical. i'd read somewhere about hyperthyroid symptoms and asked him to check my levels. pretty sure he did it just to get rid of me (he REALLY didn't like me second guessing/rejecting his valium solution). when they came back my TSH was .008 ! (down from .744). T4 had jumped from 1.0 to 2.4.
i was prescribed valium in the ER when what i really needed was an adjustment in thyroid meds...
(taken from my post a few days ago)
...there was a snafu with a Rx refill and i ended up taking 7.5 grains instead of 3. i didn't realize until after i started getting heart palps, was unable to breathe, tremors, & experienced this bizarre anxiety freakout that lead me to seek emergency psychiaric treatment. i have been depressed before, but have NEVER had anxiety problems. is not my temperment at all.
the on-call psychiatrist prescribed valium but i told him, no - it's something physical. i'd read somewhere about hyperthyroid symptoms and asked him to check my levels. pretty sure he did it just to get rid of me (he REALLY didn't like me second guessing/rejecting his valium solution). when they came back my TSH was .008 ! (down from .744). T4 had jumped from 1.0 to 2.4.
Wow - you took 7.5 grains all at one time? It's good you didn't have heart disease. wow. that must have been awful.
Obwat, Hi,
Quite a number of times, posters on this forum, testify of having toxicity at too high a level of Armour or other thyroid replacement meds. I too had bad reaction even though I built my level very gradually, up to 180mg and stayed there for several months (was prescribed only 120mg). My TSH actually got slightly lower than yours, @ 0.006. I didn't have the severe palps-heart danger or serious breathing difficult you related but I eventually had a very severe fatigue set in, that almost incapacitated me. I also had a couple of spells of not being able to complete a sentence without stuttering. This one scared me, because I have never stuttered in my life. It was as if my brain was processing faster than my mouth could react to.
Anyway, I'm glad other reading, can see the possible dangers with SOME PEOPLE, in titrating dosage too high. You can read this same reaction happening the many others, in the archives of this forum.
Thanks for your input.
Jim
Quite a number of times, posters on this forum, testify of having toxicity at too high a level of Armour or other thyroid replacement meds. I too had bad reaction even though I built my level very gradually, up to 180mg and stayed there for several months (was prescribed only 120mg). My TSH actually got slightly lower than yours, @ 0.006. I didn't have the severe palps-heart danger or serious breathing difficult you related but I eventually had a very severe fatigue set in, that almost incapacitated me. I also had a couple of spells of not being able to complete a sentence without stuttering. This one scared me, because I have never stuttered in my life. It was as if my brain was processing faster than my mouth could react to.
Anyway, I'm glad other reading, can see the possible dangers with SOME PEOPLE, in titrating dosage too high. You can read this same reaction happening the many others, in the archives of this forum.
Thanks for your input.
Jim
LowMac,
don't you think your problem may have been your low cortisol? Folks with low cortisol can have problems utilizing the thyroid hormone. I say this because it appears quite unusual for someone to have symptoms of toxicity on less than what the thyroid gland makes anyway...which is said to be 4 1/2 to 5 grains. So it would appear your situation was a bit different than someone all of a sudden starting to take more than twice their usual dosage.
don't you think your problem may have been your low cortisol? Folks with low cortisol can have problems utilizing the thyroid hormone. I say this because it appears quite unusual for someone to have symptoms of toxicity on less than what the thyroid gland makes anyway...which is said to be 4 1/2 to 5 grains. So it would appear your situation was a bit different than someone all of a sudden starting to take more than twice their usual dosage.
That incident must have been very scarey, Low Mac!! But I'm seeing the same thing as Armourgal stated. I've noticed continually that it's not "toxicity", per se, that happens to folks who are working to find their optimal dose of Armour. Instead, it's the inability of the thyroid hormones to enter the cells because of low cortisol or low Ferritin....neither of which the docs who are working with him understand is going on. Thus, the thyroid hormones build too high, and symptoms result.
I'm on 3 1/2 grains, and when I tried to go up to 3 3/4, I got palps a few days later. But I wouldn't call that "toxicity"--instead, I was simply too high, and went back down. I have no adrenal problems, and have corrected my Ferritin issues. I don't know what happened to you Lowmac, that you would be on 3 grains for a few months, then suddenly have that fatigue. But you may simply have been on slightly too much, or...you have other issues that need to be corrected before you can get up where you need to be successfully.
I'm on 3 1/2 grains, and when I tried to go up to 3 3/4, I got palps a few days later. But I wouldn't call that "toxicity"--instead, I was simply too high, and went back down. I have no adrenal problems, and have corrected my Ferritin issues. I don't know what happened to you Lowmac, that you would be on 3 grains for a few months, then suddenly have that fatigue. But you may simply have been on slightly too much, or...you have other issues that need to be corrected before you can get up where you need to be successfully.
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