shortness of breath

[shenang]

My Nurse Practitioner said, I am borderline Hypothyroidism... and gave me a prescription for Levothyroxine, 75mcg.  After taking it for 2 weeks..I was having heart palpitation and felt weird, then she gave another prescription for 50mcg...
I have shortness of breath, and it's been getting worse, especially sitting up.  My asthma medication, Albutterol, don't help.  
I went for a blood test after 8 weeks of the medication, now it's too high, .43, NP said to take half a pill on Sundays, only and see what my blood test will be in another 6 weeks... I have a funny feeling on by collar bone, now.  I don't know what's happening.  I'm also, going through menopause.  My temperature in the morning is between 95.7 to 96.5.  
Do I have a thyroid problem or is it menopause related?   Is there anybody else going through this?  Any suggestions, please..


This discussion is related to Shortness of breath getting worse and worse - any suggestions?.

[JoanieNTX]

T4 meds convert to T3, which is the thyroid hormone we need.  Cytomel is a T3 only meds.  I have shortness of breath, too.  My tests show I'm hypo....and I was on Naturethroid, only 1/2 gr.  Naturethroid is a T3/T4 meds.  My tests also show I'm "reversing", which is that my T4 is converting to reverse T3, which blocks my T3 receptors, giving me NO T3.  You go by your Free T3 to RT3 ratio.  You divide your RT3 number into your Free T3 number, and it should be 20 or over.  I'm just over 10.  Ugh.  So my plan is to start on Cytomel (T3) as soon as I get it in.  According to the RT3 forums, it takes 11 - 13 weeks for reverse T3 to clear receptors.  When it clears, you may have hyper symptoms, but you just decrease your dosage.  Those who are trying Cytomel, or a low dose of Cytomel and have RT3 issues may not be giving it long enough.  Three months feels like eternity when you are short of breath, but it may not take that long to start feeling better.  In my case, my ND/MD took me OFF of the thyroid meds I was on, but she hasn't put me back on anything yet.  It is possible that the RT3 could clear eventually on it's own, but Nick and Val at the RT3 forums say the best way to clear it is to add T3.  Hope this is not too confusing.

[Rehan786]

Hello,

I'm 26 years old and I'm going thru alot shortness of breath and it doesn't seem to be getting better. I have grave's disease which is a autoimmune disorder that effects the thyroid, so I started off Hyper and then took radiation to kill the thyroid and am now Hypothyroid. I started of on 75 mcg of synthroid and 5mcg twice a day of cytomel but that wasn't working and so i'm now on 112mcg of synthroid and the cytomel is still the same. I don't have asthma but my shortness of breath just started ast my medicine dose went up to 112 but now it just won't go away. and i still have other symptoms still of muscle weakness, stomach ache and lower back ache, along with weakness in eyes and brain. If I were you i would definitly get my thyroid checked out and goto a endocronologist. Good Luck

Rehan