amiodarone damage

[oldie]

Do the damaging effects of Amiodarone on the thyroid stop when THE MEDICINE IS STOPPED OR ARE THEY PERMANENT?

In 2007, apparently for a prolonged QT I was hospitalized, given 1600mg amio and then 200 daily. 15 months later another cardiologist found I had a TSH of 38. She brought it down to normal in three months with levothyroxine and put me on propafenone. Ever since tests have been normal with FT3 a bit low in 20s and 30s but within he range. But doctor after doctor for five years  have almost offhandedly told me to continue the levo each one following the prescription of the one before him,, I would like to stop it. Anything at all to reduce the ill effects of rythmol, coreg, crestor, apirin, levo. I have not slept one night through for five years without two or three hour-long sweats/chills, nauseas, dizziness, weakness, fatigue etc. I'm 86 and tired of it. One stent 2010, RCA. Never felt angina or tachycardia.
Please advise        

[Barb135]

Good to hear from you, too; I wish it were under better circumstances.  Sorry to hear that you don't have cytomel available in Guatamala... it's, typically, pretty hard for those in U.K. to get cytomel or any kind of T3 medication, so it will be interesting to see if your friend can do this.

Do you have any type of T3 available - it doesn't have to be cytomel; I just thought that since you seem to have all they other drugs available, you might have that as well. There are generic T3 preparations, as well, have you looked into those?  

Perhaps the 150 mcg levo, simply isn't enough for you, but of course, we'll know that after we see your latest labs...

[oldie]

thank you I'll get going on your queries tomorow. Meantime, as  have tried every dose of levo frm 150 to no pill at all without much difference in my low FT3 I have asked a visitor from UK next mont if shecoud persuade a doc to give her a prescrition for Cytomel of which there is none in Guatemala-  It's nice to hear from you

[Barb135]

Hey oldie, long time no see... looks like you're not doing much better.  

I did a little research... First off, if you have an underlying thyroid problem, you won't be able to get off the levo. Secondly, if there was actual damage done to your thyroid, it's not going to go away.  Amiodarone has a lot of iodine and that's, typically, what makes people hypo while taking it.  If you happen to have Hashimoto's, the iodine can make the autoimmune reaction worse.  

Can you refresh my memory and tell me if you have Hashimoto's? Or were you even ever tested for it?

It sounds like the side effects you're having from levo are, really, those of hypothyroidism, if your FT3 is still low, even though it's "in range".  If it's not high enough for you, it's still not good enough.  Also if your thyroid levels aren't good enough, that will cause your cholesterol levels to be too high, which is creating the need for Crestor.  

Statins create a whole set of side effects of their own and studies are showing that while they reduce cholesterol levels, their use does not prevent heart attacks.  I had a doctor who insisted that I go on Crestor when I was hypo and my cholesterol was high and I refused.  My cholesterol has since come back within normal limits without the use of statins.

Have you ever tried a small dose of T3 medication, such as cytomel, to raise your FT3, to see if that would help alleviate some of your symptoms?  

If you'll post your most recent labs, maybe we can make further suggestions.  What dosage of levo are you on?