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increased thyroid dose
I have been telling my doctor that I have been having problems for two weeks. At first I was having burning in my chest,my mouth,my eyes burned and so did my lips. She sent me to an ent who said it might be gerd and sent me for an upper gi. I was referred to my gastroenterologist about polyps . I saw him and he said everything was fine since they were found 2 years ago and there was no need to be concerned . I then was getting tired. My legs felt heavy and I was getting tingling in my toes. She said she didn't know why it was happening. My synthroid was increased from 100 mcg to 112 mcg. Since I started the increase I said I felt okay on the 100 mcg and since the increase I was feeling horrible. She said my tsh was 5.5. I contacted my renal specialist she ordered a complete blood workup and was going to recheck my thyroid because she was looking at the results from the last test and wanted to recheck either the t3 or t4. THe following week she contacted me and said all my bloodwork was fine but she said the thyroid test was 1.56 . She said she didn't think I needed the increased dose and that may be why I was having the problems I was having. I was seeing my doctor the next day and she said to make sure I told her about the results. She said she was also was sending a note to the doctor. I saw her the next day and told her the renal specialist did bloodwork to see if anything else was going on and that she questioned the thyroid results. My doctor said she didn't have those results. I told her she could call the nurse but she was 45 minutes behind schedule. She would have them send the results over but not right then. She examined me said I was okay. She didn't give me any kind of answer. At that point I told her all I know is that since you increased the dose from 100 mcg to 112mcg I was feeling awful and that I was going decrease it to 100mcg to see what happens. She said okay let me know what happens. That was it. Today I took 100 mcg. in the morning . In the afternoon I felt horrible I felt tired, sick, my hands and toes felt tingly. When I told her I was reducing the dose she said to give it some time. I am going by the way I have felt the past three weeks and right now I Have decided to decrease the dose. I don't know what to make of this but I think that the only way to come to some kind of conclusion is to do this. My renal doctor is aware of my condition and if she this that reducing the dose is a possibility then I believe her.
I received an e-mail from my doctor and she said she only does the tsh level. my husband said if she saw last year it was 1.39 and this year was 5.5. why didn't she order another test.
11-14-13 I was able to get my results online. on 4-26-13 b12 542 range (211-496) on 10-14-13 b12 498 range (211-496)
on 9-5-12 TSH 1.39 range (.27 - 4.2 ) on 9-25--13 TSH 5.50 range (.27-4.2} that was done by my GP. I already posted the results from 10-25-13 that the renal doctor did Tsh and Free t4.
on 9-5-12 TSH 1.39 range (.27 - 4.2 ) on 9-25--13 TSH 5.50 range (.27-4.2} that was done by my GP. I already posted the results from 10-25-13 that the renal doctor did Tsh and Free t4.
thank you after doing a lot of research on tingling and numbness if your dose is too high you are the first person to give me this information. every time I went online to see the sympthoms for too high a dose I couldn't come up with anything about numbness and tingling
Just jumping in to say that I'm a Graves' Disease patient, and before I got treatment for it, I had sensations of tingling, numbness, burning, etc. etc. due to my thyroid being overactive. The bottoms of my feet, the palms of my hand, my arms, my forehead, my legs-just about any spot on my body would have that sensation at a random time. Even my chest, breasts, neck, fingers, lips... it was a bizarre feeling, but it was from my overactive thyroid. Once I was put on anti-thyroid drugs and took them for a while, they all went away. You could very well of been over-medicated if everything else is coming back okay vitamin wise. (I also get these sensations when I'm too hypo, as well. It can go both ways for me.) I would definitely keep an eye out for that B-12 level though-make sure it's in a good range. Have you had blood sugar levels checked? I'm also a type 1 diabetic, and know that over time, higher blood sugars can cause neuropathy. However, if your tingles started after the dose increase and have now started to back off since going back to your original dosage, I would make a guess it may very well be just the dose bump causing it.
so in other words if your dose is too high you can have numbness and tingling since I increased the dose that is what is happening
COMMUNITY LEADER
"what do you mean by lowering t3 dosage and starting with a low dose of t3" My mistake; that was a typo... should have been "lowering T4 dose and starting with a low dose of T3".
It's not unusual for symptoms to worsen or for new ones to appear when changing (increasing/decreasing) dosage.
My neurological symptoms (peripheral neuropathy) are actually caused from many years of untreated Pernicious Anemia. That's why I'm concerned about your B12 level.
It's not unusual for symptoms to worsen or for new ones to appear when changing (increasing/decreasing) dosage.
My neurological symptoms (peripheral neuropathy) are actually caused from many years of untreated Pernicious Anemia. That's why I'm concerned about your B12 level.
Off the top of my head...
Hypothyroidism: central nervous system depression (severe bradypnea - 6 breaths a minute/extreme shortness of breath); pain when applying pressure to the soles of feet - pain when standing/walking; burning feet; tingling/numbness (toes, fingers); muscle weakness; absent knee reflexes; internal tremors; carpal tunnel; cerebellar ataxia; muscle cramps.
Hyperthyroidism - numbness/tingling of the groin (of all places lol); tingling/numbness (toes, fingers); extreme muscle weakness, hand tremors.
Hypothyroidism: central nervous system depression (severe bradypnea - 6 breaths a minute/extreme shortness of breath); pain when applying pressure to the soles of feet - pain when standing/walking; burning feet; tingling/numbness (toes, fingers); muscle weakness; absent knee reflexes; internal tremors; carpal tunnel; cerebellar ataxia; muscle cramps.
Hyperthyroidism - numbness/tingling of the groin (of all places lol); tingling/numbness (toes, fingers); extreme muscle weakness, hand tremors.
what is your list of neurological sympthoms but hypo and hyper. From what I have been reading .tingling and numbness is more hypo but I developed these sympthoms after I increased my dose.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Your thyroid is no longer producing any hormones, which is why your endo said you'd be on Synthroid, the rest of your life... he's right and he's wrong..
You will be on thyroid hormone replacement for the rest of your life (that's where he's right), but it doesn't necessarily have to be Synthroid (that's where he's wrong)... Synthroid is the med of choice (by pharma), so most doctors want you to stay on that. You can do generic levothyroxine, which is the active ingredient in Synthroid, or you can try other T4 meds; I'm on Tirosint, which is a gelcap and I like much better than Synthroid.
Thyroid 101: A healthy thyroid produces both T4 and T3 hormones, but mostly T4. Of the T4 produced, a large portion of it will be attached to proteins that render it unavailable. The body doesn't use T4, directly; it must be converted to T3. The only portion of T4 that can be converted is the "Free" (unbound by protein). The Free T4, then has to be converted to T3. Most of the conversion takes place in the liver, but some also takes place in other organs.
As with T4, a portion of the T3 in your body is attached to proteins, so is unavailable for use. We need to know the Free (unbound portion) of T3.
Free T3 is the only thyroid hormone that's used by every individual cell in the body. If you don't have adequate Free T3, you won't feel well, not matter how high your FT4 goes.
High FT4 often indicates that your body isn't converting the FT4 to FT3, that your cells need. With your FT4 at 85% of the range, I'd have to question whether or not you're converting adequately. Some of us (including me) don't, and we have to add a source of T3. This usually involves lowering the T3 dosage and starting with a low dose of T3... For some reason, a lot doctors seem to "assume" that the conversion process always works, when, in fact, it often doesn't.
Ask your doctor -- you aren't getting adequate testing/treatment. If your doctor tells you that Free T3 isn't important, or that it's only for those who are hyper - ditch her/him as quickly as possible and find another doctor. We can help guide you through that process, as well.
You will be on thyroid hormone replacement for the rest of your life (that's where he's right), but it doesn't necessarily have to be Synthroid (that's where he's wrong)... Synthroid is the med of choice (by pharma), so most doctors want you to stay on that. You can do generic levothyroxine, which is the active ingredient in Synthroid, or you can try other T4 meds; I'm on Tirosint, which is a gelcap and I like much better than Synthroid.
Thyroid 101: A healthy thyroid produces both T4 and T3 hormones, but mostly T4. Of the T4 produced, a large portion of it will be attached to proteins that render it unavailable. The body doesn't use T4, directly; it must be converted to T3. The only portion of T4 that can be converted is the "Free" (unbound by protein). The Free T4, then has to be converted to T3. Most of the conversion takes place in the liver, but some also takes place in other organs.
As with T4, a portion of the T3 in your body is attached to proteins, so is unavailable for use. We need to know the Free (unbound portion) of T3.
Free T3 is the only thyroid hormone that's used by every individual cell in the body. If you don't have adequate Free T3, you won't feel well, not matter how high your FT4 goes.
High FT4 often indicates that your body isn't converting the FT4 to FT3, that your cells need. With your FT4 at 85% of the range, I'd have to question whether or not you're converting adequately. Some of us (including me) don't, and we have to add a source of T3. This usually involves lowering the T3 dosage and starting with a low dose of T3... For some reason, a lot doctors seem to "assume" that the conversion process always works, when, in fact, it often doesn't.
Ask your doctor -- you aren't getting adequate testing/treatment. If your doctor tells you that Free T3 isn't important, or that it's only for those who are hyper - ditch her/him as quickly as possible and find another doctor. We can help guide you through that process, as well.
the endo who diagnosed me said my thyroid was dead and I needed to be on synthroid for the rest of my life so how could my thyroid be producing t3 and t4 Where does the ft3 come in? The lab report only has tsh and t4free results. That is all I have.
COMMUNITY LEADER
High FT4 could be caused by different things... it might mean that you aren't converting adequately to FT3; it might mean your dosage is too high, etc.
FT3 is the most important of the thyroid hormones, because it's the one that correlates best with symptoms. Without an FT3, we can't tell what's going on.
FT3 is the most important of the thyroid hormones, because it's the one that correlates best with symptoms. Without an FT3, we can't tell what's going on.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Calcium controls the electrical impulses in our body, so yes, it does affect the PTH. Vitamin D affects the way calcium is absorbed.
Look forward to the B12 results.
Look forward to the B12 results.
as of june 2013 my pth is stable.I guess I have to make sure it doesn't become hyper.That's why I have to make sure my Vitamin D levels aren't high because it affects the parathyroid gland.Iam sure it will take some time for my sympthoms go away. As soon as I get the b12 results I will let you know. It may take a few weeks to get them back.
COMMUNITY LEADER
I'll be interested in seeing the B-12 levels. Some countries consider B-12 deficient at about half our usual ranges.
Do you also have a parathryroid issue? Or is there another test (PTH) done fore renal insufficiency?
Do you also have a parathryroid issue? Or is there another test (PTH) done fore renal insufficiency?
I have to send in a form to get a copy of the bloodwork for the b12 and any other bloodwork I had done. I'm not feeling as bad as I did less tingling in toes and the burning isn't as bad . From what I am seeing in the tsh and free t4 readings that the doctor shouldn't have increased the dose to 112 mcg. I take 2000 mg of vitamin d weekly. I was taking more but the renal doctor decreased it for some reason calcium and vitamin d affects the pth.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Your magnesium looks good, so long as it's not just circulating in your blood and not being absorbed by the cells.
Most of us would feel horrible with vitamin D at only 44. Optimal dose is usually around 80, but I haven't researched that for patients with renal issues.
What differences are you seeing in the way you feel, now that you've decreased your dose? Better? Worse?
Like I said, thyroid labs don't have to be fasting and so many things can impact TSH, that I barely give it a glance.
B-12 doesn't have to be a fasting lab, either; what was your actual result, with reference range?
Most of us would feel horrible with vitamin D at only 44. Optimal dose is usually around 80, but I haven't researched that for patients with renal issues.
What differences are you seeing in the way you feel, now that you've decreased your dose? Better? Worse?
Like I said, thyroid labs don't have to be fasting and so many things can impact TSH, that I barely give it a glance.
B-12 doesn't have to be a fasting lab, either; what was your actual result, with reference range?
I don't know if I informed you the first thyroid test of 5.5 was done in the afternoon. The second one was done in the morning with fasting. the b 12 test was done between 3 and 4 in the afternoon without fasting
magnesium is 2.4 range 1.9-2.7 vitamin d 25-oh total 44 units ng/ml range 20-100 my renal doctor only wants me to take 200 mg of vitamin d because of kidney disease It has been 6 days since I have gone down to 100 mcg and I feel some difference
COMMUNITY LEADER
Yes, I am definitely saying that medication dosage should not be based on TSH, alone. There are a lot of other things that can affect TSH. It should only be using in conjunction with FT3 and FT4 tests.
No, FT3 test? Your FT4 is quite high in the range, at 85%. I'd have to wonder if you are converting the FT4 to FT3, but without and FT3, there's no way to tell.
What are the exact numbers, with ranges, for the magnesium and vitamin D?
No, FT3 test? Your FT4 is quite high in the range, at 85%. I'd have to wonder if you are converting the FT4 to FT3, but without and FT3, there's no way to tell.
What are the exact numbers, with ranges, for the magnesium and vitamin D?
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