Guest guest Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 Hi Jacki have you checked your adrenal function (read about it here: http://www.tpa-uk.org.uk/adrenals.php), and or considered adding some t3 to your medication or taking natural dessicated thyroid extract? many people seem to better on that than on thyroxine. There is lots of info on the TPA site, have you looked at this? http://www.tpa-uk.org.uk/index.php Perhaps other hormones are out too? (sorry i know nothing about the menopause). Adrenal problems can cause all these: " depressed irritable anxious shakey,twitchy " -if you don't have enough cortisol your body may produce too much adrenaline, which may cause these effects amongst others... Chris > > Hi could do with some advice please. I have been hypo for last 20 years and have been on 100 levothyroxine for all that time,but three years ago started menopause and felt really unwell,depressed irritable anxious shakey,twitchy etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 14, 2010 Report Share Posted April 14, 2010 Hi Jacki, Menopause results in the drastic change in hormones- oestrogen which becomes dominant also is part of the clearing system for thyroid hormones- taking them out of use. On the other hand progesterone transports thyroid hormones around the body- which may be why your problems really started at this point. HRT in the form of progesterone may help- it did for me, see http://www.progesterone.co.uk . thyroxine( T4) is an almost inert storage hormone which has to convert to T3 to be active if you are a poor converter of T4 to T3 ( liothyronine) then sometimes increasing T4 dose may help get enough T3 into your body, but as you have found, it can also cause joint pains from excess unconverted T4. See http://www.drlowe.com Lack of T3 is what can cause excessive weight gain and lack of concentration- we call it 'brain fog'. from the forum website click on files and have a good read- there is much of interest there. > thyroid treatment > From: jacki.dunkley@...> Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2010 19:00:38 +0000> Subject: overdose advice> > Hi could do with some advice please. I have been hypo for last 20 years and have been on 100 levothyroxine for all that time,but three years ago started menopause and felt really unwell,depressed irritable anxious shakey,twitchy etc. I gained three stone in weight although eating pattern hadn't changed.After visiting doctor he put me on antidepressants which just made me feel like a zombie so after two years i stopped taking them.Last year I made a determined effort to regain my life back and joined the gym. After 6 months of extremme classes gym workouts and swimming 50 lengths daily combined with healthy eating I had lost no weight so I increased my dose of thyroxine to 150 a day which I have now been on for at least 6 months. Istill havn't lost any weight but now get a lot more joint pain and my concentration is virtually nil. My memory is poor now too.Could this be down to extra thyroxine or should I try and up it a bit more.Incidentally my mother was on 200 until she was 60 then had it dropped a bit.I had to give my guesthouse up last year as I was too ill to cope and just dont know what to do next,any advice please. > > > > ------------------------------------> > TPA is not medically qualified. Consult with a qualified medical practitioner before changing medication.> > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 14, 2010 Report Share Posted April 14, 2010 Hi Jackie - what a\ lot of sufferers who have been prescribed levothyroxine for their hypothyroid symptoms do not know is that thyroxine is only ONE of the thyroid hormones our body needs, and it is a mainly inactive hormone to boot. It has to convert to triiodothyronine (T3) the ACTIVE hormone which needs to get into every cell in the body and brain to make the function properly. What NHS doctors don't realise is that there is a large minority of sufferers who are unable to convert T4 to T3, which leaves high levels of T4 floating around in the blood with nowhere to go and low levels of T3. Your brain needs T3, your joints need T3 and you are obviously suffering because they are not getting the amount they need. The NHS thyroid function tests ONLY measure the amount of thyroid hormone in the blood, they do NOT measure the level of thyroid hormone in the actual cells. To know this, you need to get a 24 hour urine test for T4 and T3 from Genova Diagnostics - and you will find details of the DISCOUNT that Genova allows Thyroid Patient Advocacy members by going to our FILES section (from the Home Page of this forum web site) - scroll down to DISCOUNTS and look at the Genova Diagnostics document. There are other associated conditions that go along with being hypothyroid that could be stopping your thyroid hormone from being properly absorbed by the cells and these should be investigated. The most common is that you could have low adrenal reserve - this could be tested through a 24 hour salivary adrenal profile, again through Genova. Sadly, the NHS will only test to see whether you are suffering with 's disease(too little or no cortisol) or Cushing's Syndrome (too high a level of cortisol). They will not check for any shades of grey between the two. If you are found to have adrenal fatigue, you need to supplement with adrenal glandulars to boost your adrenals to enable the thyroid hormone to work. Also, ask your GP to check to see if any of the following blood tests are low in the reference range, again, if they are low, you need to supplement whatever it is that is low to help the thyroxine work. These are ferritin, vitamin B12, vitamin D3, magnesium, folate, copper and zinc. I know this is a lot to take in, and take just one step at a time. When you get to the stage you have got to, you need to find why you are getting these symptoms by a process of elimination. Hope this helps. Luv - Sheila Hi could do with some advice please. I have been hypo for last 20 years and have been on 100 levothyroxine for all that time,but three years ago started menopause and felt really unwell,depressed irritable anxious shakey,twitchy etc. I gained three stone in weight although eating pattern hadn't changed.After visiting doctor he put me on antidepressants which just made me feel like a zombie so after two years i stopped taking them.Last year I made a determined effort to regain my life back and joined the gym. After 6 months of extremme classes gym workouts and swimming 50 lengths daily combined with healthy eating I had lost no weight so I increased my dose of thyroxine to 150 a day which I have now been on for at least 6 months. Istill havn't lost any weight but now get a lot more joint pain and my concentration is virtually nil. My memory is poor now too.Could this be down to extra thyroxine or should I try and up it a bit more.Incidentally my mother was on 200 until she was 60 then had it dropped a bit.I had to give my guesthouse up last year as I was too ill to cope and just dont know what to do next,any advice please. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.437 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2803 - Release Date: 04/12/10 18:32:00 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 14, 2010 Report Share Posted April 14, 2010 Thanks Sheila will get tested cos I am getting desperate. > > Hi Jackie - what a\ lot of sufferers who have been prescribed levothyroxine > for their hypothyroid symptoms do not know is that thyroxine is only ONE of > the thyroid hormones our body needs, and it is a mainly inactive hormone to > boot. [Ed] > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 8.5.437 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2803 - Release Date: 04/12/10 > 18:32:00 > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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