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Thyroid -Over medicated
I'm 54 and have been taking thyroid medication for years - always hypo. My doctor put me on 50 mcg of cytomel and 50mcg synthroid. Then, recently I had my blood work done and results were TSH .05 and Free T4 -.44. My doctor took me off the cytomel today. He seemed confused with my blood work considering I've always been hypo. Could this indicate too much meds or pituitary glad problem. I seem to have brain fog, extremely tired,(at times- my speech is slurred. And I have osteoporosis. I've gained weight, and so tired.
On your lab report, next to the result for your FT4, there should be a "reference range" (normal range) near the result. It's usually in parentheses and looks something like "(0.8-1.8)". Can you look that up so we can be sure where your result falls in your range?
I definitely agree with Barb...you should be splitting your Cytomel so that you have less of a "high" just after taking it and less of a "crash" later in the day. Since you take so much Cytomel, you might even consider splitting it into three doses throughout the day (this might mean you have to get some smaller dose pills).
There are a couple of things that could be going on with your thyroid hormones, but I agree once again that it's almost impossible to say without seeing some further testing. FT3 is an absolute must, and as I said before, I think it would give a lot more information if you had that tested before discontinuing the Cytomel. That will show your FT3 levels while taking a relatively high dose of Cytomel and indicate if you can tolerate very high FT3 levels.
It would also be a good idea to have RT3 (reverse T3 tested), which would indicate if you have RT3 dominance...a condition in which cells cannot use FT3 because RT3 is "blocking" FT3 receptors. However, many doctors are reluctant to test RT3, so getting one to order it might be a challenge. If your doctor won't order the tests, you can get them over the internet and have the results sent directly to you.
If you can't lose weight, that is another sign that you are hypO. I was on Atkins several years ago, and I could only get into ketosis the first couple of weeks (when you can eat virtually NOTHING but protein and fats). Once I reintroduced veggies, ketosis went out the window, and I stopped losing weight. However, I have a friend who lost about 100 lbs on Atkins. It's probably another case of "we're all different" and "what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another".
When you were on 100 mcg Cytomel for weight loss, did it make you feel hyper at all? Did you lose weight while on it?
I definitely agree with Barb...you should be splitting your Cytomel so that you have less of a "high" just after taking it and less of a "crash" later in the day. Since you take so much Cytomel, you might even consider splitting it into three doses throughout the day (this might mean you have to get some smaller dose pills).
There are a couple of things that could be going on with your thyroid hormones, but I agree once again that it's almost impossible to say without seeing some further testing. FT3 is an absolute must, and as I said before, I think it would give a lot more information if you had that tested before discontinuing the Cytomel. That will show your FT3 levels while taking a relatively high dose of Cytomel and indicate if you can tolerate very high FT3 levels.
It would also be a good idea to have RT3 (reverse T3 tested), which would indicate if you have RT3 dominance...a condition in which cells cannot use FT3 because RT3 is "blocking" FT3 receptors. However, many doctors are reluctant to test RT3, so getting one to order it might be a challenge. If your doctor won't order the tests, you can get them over the internet and have the results sent directly to you.
If you can't lose weight, that is another sign that you are hypO. I was on Atkins several years ago, and I could only get into ketosis the first couple of weeks (when you can eat virtually NOTHING but protein and fats). Once I reintroduced veggies, ketosis went out the window, and I stopped losing weight. However, I have a friend who lost about 100 lbs on Atkins. It's probably another case of "we're all different" and "what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another".
When you were on 100 mcg Cytomel for weight loss, did it make you feel hyper at all? Did you lose weight while on it?
My labs are: TSH 0.05
Free T4 0.44
I feel better when I take just cytomel. When I take synthroid I feel depressed, tired, brain fog, my body aches, and I feel sleepy most of the day. Another problem with synthroid medication is ... when I wake up in the morning I feel extremely tired.
I do like the idea of spliting up the cytomel I think that might help with being so tired in the evening. I don't have enough energy to walk.
I don't know if this has anything to do with any of my symptoms - I believe I'm insulin resistant. I've been on the New Adkins Diet - there is a ketos urine test to see if your body is in fat burning stage and I can't get into ketos. Would that be because of my thyroid levels? I know I would feel a lot better if I could lose 10-15 lbs.
I've never been what you would call skinny even on the 100mcg of cytomel
I'm 135 - 145 pounds, I try to stay in the 1500 calorie range, which I thought would be low calorie intake but I'm not dropping weight.
I appreciate any advise you can give me.
Free T4 0.44
I feel better when I take just cytomel. When I take synthroid I feel depressed, tired, brain fog, my body aches, and I feel sleepy most of the day. Another problem with synthroid medication is ... when I wake up in the morning I feel extremely tired.
I do like the idea of spliting up the cytomel I think that might help with being so tired in the evening. I don't have enough energy to walk.
I don't know if this has anything to do with any of my symptoms - I believe I'm insulin resistant. I've been on the New Adkins Diet - there is a ketos urine test to see if your body is in fat burning stage and I can't get into ketos. Would that be because of my thyroid levels? I know I would feel a lot better if I could lose 10-15 lbs.
I've never been what you would call skinny even on the 100mcg of cytomel
I'm 135 - 145 pounds, I try to stay in the 1500 calorie range, which I thought would be low calorie intake but I'm not dropping weight.
I appreciate any advise you can give me.
50 mcg of Cytomel is a very high dose. It's roughly equivalent to 200 mcg of levo. However, I don't think you were overmedicated because of your FT4 level...it's way too low, I believe. Do you have the range from your lab report?
You TSH is somewhat low, but that's because you're taking so much Cytomel. Any meds with T3 in them will often push TSH below range. If you don't have hypER symptoms, it doesn't mean you are hyper.
I'm not very good with bloodwork other than thyroid bloodwork, but you can post the rest if you like in case anything "jumps out" at me as something that commonly interacts with thyroid issues.
I'm amazed that you took 100 mcg Cytomel to lose weight (that's a ton of Cytomel). Did you ever feel hypER when you were taking that much?
You're right about symptoms, many of them can "cross over" and be symptoms of both hypo and hyper, so it can be tough to figure out. However, your symptoms sound very hypO to me. Have you taken blood pressure and heart rate to see if either is elevated or depressed?
Others will disagree with me, but I see no reason to adjust diet as long as you eat a healthy, well diversified and balanced diet, or you have a demonstrated intolerance to a specific food or food group.
I think you should have FT3 tested as soon as possible (preferably while still taking the 50 mcg of Cytomel) to see what that level currently is on the Cytomel. Before you make the change, you should know where that level is. Do you split the Cytomel into more than one dose throughout the day?
Don't forget to post your FT4 range...
You TSH is somewhat low, but that's because you're taking so much Cytomel. Any meds with T3 in them will often push TSH below range. If you don't have hypER symptoms, it doesn't mean you are hyper.
I'm not very good with bloodwork other than thyroid bloodwork, but you can post the rest if you like in case anything "jumps out" at me as something that commonly interacts with thyroid issues.
I'm amazed that you took 100 mcg Cytomel to lose weight (that's a ton of Cytomel). Did you ever feel hypER when you were taking that much?
You're right about symptoms, many of them can "cross over" and be symptoms of both hypo and hyper, so it can be tough to figure out. However, your symptoms sound very hypO to me. Have you taken blood pressure and heart rate to see if either is elevated or depressed?
Others will disagree with me, but I see no reason to adjust diet as long as you eat a healthy, well diversified and balanced diet, or you have a demonstrated intolerance to a specific food or food group.
I think you should have FT3 tested as soon as possible (preferably while still taking the 50 mcg of Cytomel) to see what that level currently is on the Cytomel. Before you make the change, you should know where that level is. Do you split the Cytomel into more than one dose throughout the day?
Don't forget to post your FT4 range...
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Your symptoms seem to be hypo, but symptoms can be the same for either hypo & hyper. With your FT4 as low as it is, I can't imagine your doctor giving you 50 mcg cytomel and not testing FT3 levels -- I agree with goolarra - that's inexcusable. Without knowing your FT3 level it's very hard to say if you are hypo or hyper.
Yes, a lot of people take cytomel in more than one dose. I used to be on 10 mcg and I took 5 in the morning and the other 5 around noon -- that kept me from burning out before the day was over. It turned out that 10 mcg was too much for me, so I'm now down to 5 mcg/day.
Cytomel can be taken with or without food, but like synthroid or levo, should not be taken within 4 hours of taking vitamins/minerals, particularly calcium. As for dairy -- I go ahead drink my milk or eat my yogurt - yes, dairy has calcium, but I don't think that's enough to worry much about.
Please do what you can to get your doctor to test your FT3 -- that's the most important of the thyroid hormones and without testing for that, you can't know where you are. It seems to me that you would be better off with a higher dosage of synthroid, and less (or maybe none) cytomel, since cytomel is usually given mostly in cases where one does not properly convert T4 to T3.
Yes, a lot of people take cytomel in more than one dose. I used to be on 10 mcg and I took 5 in the morning and the other 5 around noon -- that kept me from burning out before the day was over. It turned out that 10 mcg was too much for me, so I'm now down to 5 mcg/day.
Cytomel can be taken with or without food, but like synthroid or levo, should not be taken within 4 hours of taking vitamins/minerals, particularly calcium. As for dairy -- I go ahead drink my milk or eat my yogurt - yes, dairy has calcium, but I don't think that's enough to worry much about.
Please do what you can to get your doctor to test your FT3 -- that's the most important of the thyroid hormones and without testing for that, you can't know where you are. It seems to me that you would be better off with a higher dosage of synthroid, and less (or maybe none) cytomel, since cytomel is usually given mostly in cases where one does not properly convert T4 to T3.
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