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Over medicated for thyroid

Posted , 4 users are following.

lucy23606
lucy23606

hi there,

I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid about 20 years ago (I am now 38) and been taking Levothyroxine and have spent the last 10+ years on 150mg but late last year my previous GP said I needed to increase this to 200mg but a month or so after taking this higher dose, I was taken to A&E with high BP, faint, feeling sick, and confusion. (I work in the hospital so it was a precaution)

The Doctor could not find a reason for this episode and put it down to anxiety so since November, I have been off work with what the new GP feels is anxiety so I have been taken off Citalopram to get me onto Mitazipine which gave me horrid side effects and am now 3 weeks on Sertraline which i am not seeing much improvement and now worried about the chest pains that I have been experiencing, putting it down to anxiety. but after seeing my GP again, they have looked over my thyroid results previously and think i may have been over medicated with my thyroid medication.

Has anyone else had similar symptoms / experiences?

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • Jelley93
    Jelley93 lucy23606

    Posted

    Do you feel off balance as well. They say I am over medicated as well

  • ellen13805
    ellen13805 lucy23606

    Posted

    Hi Lucy,

    I have been both hyper and hypo most of my life. However, I prefer feeling hypo.

    I am currently very hyper due to an increased dose gone wrong. I feel completely stressed, anxious, problems breathing. heart rate is up generally and will go up and down regardless of actual stress levels or physical activity. I also feel like I am insane, racing thoughts, very negative, can't concentrate. Yesterday I ran 10k which helped a bit with sleeping, but there is no way I can do that every day.

    Symptoms started two days ago and will continue for at least 8 days. In my experience, improvement takes at least 10 days. If I happen to get the dose right, it takes about 6-8 weeks for things to get back to normal.

    Just got a call from my doctor who told me that my FT4 and FT3 are normal and that I therefore cannot explain the symptoms I have.

    Going hyper usually happens if I listen to doctors and increase my dose by more than 75 mcg per week. The increase happened too soon, six weeks, after the last increase and despite of me starting to feel better. I had a TSH of 60, then 30, and when it was at 23 they told me to go still higher. Increases of 25 mcg per day for me are fatal and I need at least 8 weeks to see the result for any increase.

    The worst thing to do is to stop altogether. If you felt fine on your old dose, I would go back to that. It's also possible to have a gradual increase by taking the old dose for 5 days and the new dose for 2 days (elimination half-life of levo is around 7 days).

    Having lost all trust in doctors, I have now tried to calculate a dose for me based on experience and official guidelines. I also decided to pay for my next blood work myself to see if I get it right or at least to prevent myself from getting it terribly wrong. But the most important thing with thyroid problems is to listen to your body - plus, have loads of patience.

    Sorry, if this post is a bit jumbled and incoherent. I hope parts of it are helpful to someone.

  • lucy23606
    lucy23606

    Posted

    just to let you know that i have reduced my medication to what it was before and i feel so much better. No anxiety, no heart palpitations, no dizziness etc.

  • lisa98610
    lisa98610 lucy23606

    Posted

    Yes I have been the exact same.

    My GP always insists that my bloods are fine and that my 125mcg is the ideal amount for me. Yet twice I have ended up in A and E for what they say is pleurisy (upper right chest stabbing pains). I get palpitations often (in fact it was the reason i got diagnosed in 2012). I only have to look at food and put on a stone whereas before starting the meds years ago I was very slim and could eat what i wanted (I have had two children since though and this changes your hormones I suppose).

    I have asked numerous of times about T3 but my GP is not prepared to test for it.

    I have now resorted to lowering my dose myself so I m taking 100mcg at the moment.

    I know many who have had a total thyroid removal that aren't on anywhere near the amount I am on - it's crazy.

    I am also on citalopram for mood swings and anxiety but starting to feel that all of this is levothyroxine related.

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