Re: Husband's blood test results with Amiodarone

[Guest guest]

Sadly , it is likely your husband has been hypothyroid and thus his heart problems; mitral valve problems are very commonly associated with hypothyroidism.

Of course AMIODARONE is one of those drugs which cause hypothyroidism or indeed worsen an existing thyroid dysfunction. I would personally firmly request more thyroid supplement as you know blood tests are poor diagnostic tests, however certainly TSH should be pretty low when taking a thyroid hormone supplement or drug such as thyroxine. Your husbands TSH appears to be on the highish side.....however, it is much more appropratiate to treat according to symptoms and if your husband is displaying symptoms then of course he remains hypothyrid despite the 50mcg of Levo.

Heart disease is a very common 'symptom' of hypothyroidism, sadly this is commonly not identified as such by docs /cardiologists. Look through the FILES and put some evidence together, so that you appear strong in your knowledge when you see those docs.

[Guest guest]

Hi Sally, silly me I wrote mitral valve when I know perfectly well that he has

had an aortic valve replacement and I believe that I already researched that and

came to the conclusion that aortic valve damage is not connected to

hypothyroidism. So I really think that the hypothyroidism came after the

Amiodarone or the Amiodarone simple precipitated a dormant thyroid condition.

Wonder if I'll be able to convince his GP to give him a higher dose of

T4?....

>

> Sadly , it is likely your husband has been hypothyroid and thus his

heart problems; mitral valve problems are very commonly associated with

hypothyroidism.

>  

> Of course AMIODARONE  is one of those drugs which cause hypothyroidism or

indeed worsen an existing thyroid dysfunction.  I would personally firmly

request more thyroid supplement as you know blood tests are poor diagnostic

tests, however certainly TSH should be pretty low when taking a thyroid hormone

supplement or drug such as thyroxine.  Your husbands TSH appears to be on  the

highish side.....however, it is much more appropratiate to treat according to

symptoms and if your husband is displaying symptoms then of course he remains

hypothyrid despite the 50mcg of Levo.

>  

> Heart disease is a very common 'symptom' of hypothyroidism, sadly this is

commonly not identified as such by docs /cardiologists.  Look through the FILES

and put some evidence together, so that you appear strong in your knowledge when

you see those docs.

>

[Guest guest]

OK , Tehe. easy mistake.

My mum was put on Amiodorone and I know she was hypothyroid prior to taking it, but they kept her on a low dose of Levo 50mcgs.

She got more and more hypo symptoms but believed the docs knew exactly what to do and what they were doing was correct. How wrong.

My brother has a mitral valve problem and he too is hypothyroid. He was the last of four children and by now mum was definately hypothyroid.

She suffered heart disease due to her thyroid dysfunction not being treated but the Amiodorone made it worse and so too the Statins. However, she never got to see an Endo, her Cardiologist sorted her thyroid dysfunction!!!!!!!!!!

Follow your instincts. As I mentioned do the temperature basal test and pulse and just see what is going on with hubby in that respect.

If he gets to take the correct thyroid supplement and dose some of his symptoms MAY resolve. Best of luck.

[Guest guest]

Hi , with such complications, your GP has no right to be

deciding whether or not your husband should have his levothyroxine increased or

not, or whether he would be better off trying another form of thyroid hormone

replacement. He should be referring your husband to a specialist.

Because of his blood results, these are sufficient for the GP to

refer your husband to an endocrinologist (preferably of your choice) so I have

sent a list of recommended one's to you privately. Your doctor can refer your

husband to the hospital where his 'chosen' endocrinologist works, but not

directly to the endocrinologist him/herself. Once he gets an appointment at

that hospital, he should telephone the clinic nurse and tell her that he does

not wish to be called in to see any other doctor other than the one he

has chosen and ask her to change his appointment to the time that doctor runs

his clinic. Also, he should ask for the name of that doctor to be placed on the

outside of his medical notes so he will not be called in to see any other

doctor. This works, this is what I did and what a lot of us have done.

As far as your husbands results are concerned, with such a high

level of free T4 (i.e. only 2 points from the top of the range), this shows

that it is quite likely not being converted into the active thyroid hormone T3

- such a pity that once again, the laboratory didn't test his free T3 and the

doctor obviously didn't press them to do this.

It would be a good idea if your husband wrote a letter to his GP

and told him about the different symptoms that he is suffering. He can check

these against those in our web site www.tpa-uk.org.uk

under 'hypothyroidism' in the Menu, and then in the drop down menu, 'symptoms

and signs'.

Next, he should take his basal temperature for 4 mornings before

getting out of bed and list these if they are 97.8 degrees F (36.6 degrees C,

or less).

Next, he should tell the doctor that with such a high level of

T4, he needs to know whether this mainly inactive thyroid hormone is actually

converting to the active thyroid hormone T3, because it is T3 that every cell

in the body and brain need to make them function. He should ask that the GP

sends a letter to the laboratory specifically asking for free T3 to be tested.

At the same time, he should ask for specific minerals and

vitamins to be tested to see whether any of these are low in the reference

range. These are iron, transferrin saturation%, ferritin, vitamin B12, vitamin

D3, magnesium, folate, copper and zinc. Again, if any of these are low in the

reference range, no amount of thyroid hormone can be fully utilised at the

cellular level. He should ask the GP to let him have a copy of these results

together with the reference range. (you can then post them on the forum and we

can help with their translation).

Next, because of his many problems, he should ask the GP to

refer him to his chosen endocrinologist/hospital for a second opinion. This

might be outside of your area, but he needs to see somebody who knows what they

are doing.

Last, he should ask the GP to put his letter of requests into

his medical notes. This is VERY important, and ask the GP to write in

confirmation that s/he has done this.

Doctors pay more attention to the written word .

Let us know how things go, and good luck.

Luv - Sheila

Hi all, I wrote a few weeks ago querying my

husband's dose of levothyoxine (50mcgs). He has been on Amiodarone, after a

mitral valve replacement in 2003, which meant that eventually his thyroid was

affected and he was put on 50mcgs thyroxine about two years ago. As I felt that

he was too tired and too cold we got his blood tested but as it was in range

then the FT3 was not done by the lab. Here are his results which I think are rather

high. What do you think? Peroxidase antibodies= 5 (<35), serum FT4= 20

(12-22) and TSH 2.14 (0.3-4.2). As he has a mechanical heart valve I can't see

his GP changing his thyroxine dose if his levels are " in range " . He's

also on Warfarin and hypertensive drugs. Many thanks for any

suggestions....

[Guest guest]

Hi Sheila, thank you for the list of doctors which I didn't realise was for me

and I replied to your email saying I thought you made a mistake. Anyway, I have

one of those " awkward husbands " who believes that he would rather live 1 day as

a lion rather than 100 days as a sheep. He's just not interested and says he is

fine and can't be bothered. He won't even read your message. Infuriating. He

says " you treat me " meaning that I up his dose of thyroxine. He just gets bored

with the whole issue. I suppose I can try and drag him along to the GP to

discuss his results but I don't expect I'll get very far. I went to the GP

myself this morning to discuss my blood results and she tried to get me off NDT

in fact she didn't even know what NDT was. So we agreed to disagree just as long

as I get regular blood checks.

Haha... hubby has just come to me saying he has read your message and would I

get an appointment with GP to discuss the matter. (not the GP I saw this

morning). I think your message made him think. Thanks again....

>

> Hi , with such complications, your GP has no right to be deciding

> whether or not your husband should have his levothyroxine increased or not,

> or whether he would be better off trying another form of thyroid hormone

> replacement. He should be referring your husband to a specialist.

>

> Because of his blood results, these are sufficient for the GP to refer your

> husband to an endocrinologist (preferably of your choice) so I have sent a

> list of recommended one's to you privately. Your doctor can refer your

> husband to the hospital where his 'chosen' endocrinologist works, but not

> directly to the endocrinologist him/herself. Once he gets an appointment at

> that hospital, he should telephone the clinic nurse and tell her that he

> does not wish to be called in to see any other doctor other than the one he

> has chosen and ask her to change his appointment to the time that doctor

> runs his clinic. Also, he should ask for the name of that doctor to be

> placed on the outside of his medical notes so he will not be called in to

> see any other doctor. This works, this is what I did and what a lot of us

> have done.

>

> As far as your husbands results are concerned, with such a high level of

> free T4 (i.e. only 2 points from the top of the range), this shows that it

> is quite likely not being converted into the active thyroid hormone T3 -

> such a pity that once again, the laboratory didn't test his free T3 and the

> doctor obviously didn't press them to do this.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Ha Ha! Sometimes, it is good to have our partners doing a

little 'spying' to see what is being written. Delighted that he has read the

message and I hope it has given him sufficient 'push' to get his doctor to

realise there is still a good life to be had out there, once their patients are

given the correct thyroid hormone replacement. Keep us up to date with what

happens , and don't delay in making that appointment in case he changes

his mind again.

Luv - Sheil

Hi Sheila, thank you for the list of doctors

which I didn't realise was for me and I replied to your email saying I thought

you made a mistake. Anyway, I have one of those " awkward husbands "

who believes that he would rather live 1 day as a lion rather than 100 days as

a sheep. He's just not interested and says he is fine and can't be bothered. He

won't even read your message. Infuriating. He says " you treat me "

meaning that I up his dose of thyroxine. He just gets bored with the whole

issue. I suppose I can try and drag him along to the GP to discuss his results

but I don't expect I'll get very far. I went to the GP myself this morning to

discuss my blood results and she tried to get me off NDT in fact she didn't

even know what NDT was. So we agreed to disagree just as long as I get regular

blood checks.

Haha... hubby has just come to me saying he has read your message and would I

get an appointment with GP to discuss the matter. (not the GP I saw this

morning). I think your message made him think. Thanks again....

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