Re: Question regarding missed meds.

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Memory loss and fatigue are associated with hypo. 8 weeks after you

started taking your meds again is long enough to get tested.

Jan

Smelly_feet_ wrote:

>Hello all,

>

>My name is and I'm new to this group. I normally don't post

>often to medical-related news groups as I've found they just make you

>dwell on your condition more and that is very unhealty. However, I

>have run into something that I hope you can be of help to.

>

>I missed taking my medicine for at least 4 days. I am not sure

>exactly how long I missed since I couldn't remember the last time I

>had taken it. I normally take my medication at night because I can

>take it without food around that time.

>

>What led up to this is that I kept falling asleep before I meant to.

>I would fall asleep in my daytime clothing and contacts, wake-up in

>the middle of the night, and not feel like doing anything other than

>taking my contacts out and changing.

>

>About 4 or 5 days ago I began taking my medicine again and I am still

>very tired. I don't want to wake-up and I keep napping.

>

>When not on the medicine, I was tired and I also had heart

>palpitations, which I normally have, but they were increased since I

>was off my meds.

>

>The question is, how long should I wait after just getting back on my

>meds before being retested? I am not sure if I was so tired do to a

>possible low level or if I became tired and just kept missing my meds

>because my fatigue grew.

>

>I would like to say that every month I will miss taking it once or

>twice, but nothing like this. Normally, missing my meds once or

>twice also does not leave me this tired.

>

>I am planning on waiting at least a week or longer before making an

>appointment to check my levels, if I'm still tired.

>

>Should I do this or is it recommended that I see a doctor sooner? I

>know my levels probably aren't going to be perfect if I went now, but

>if I waited, they would probably be adjusted to my normal levels. I

>don't want to have to take a test now, have low levels, and be

>overdosed later on.

>

>For past information: I have hypothyroidism and my medication was

>increased a year ago to only 50mcg. I was taking the 25mcg (one and

>a half per day) prior to that. Prior to this, a few years before I

>switched to one and a half 25mcg, I was just taking a 25mcg.

>

>Also to further note, even though this extreme fatigue has just been

>getting on my nerves, I do work two jobs and am always stressed out.

>This is just slightly different than normal. This could all be

>psychological.

>

>

>Also, I have read several posts and have noticed that this past

>calendar year I have been having memory difficulties like many here

>have. I've never associated this with hypothyroidism. This is

>usually with nouns. I assumed this was due to stress and perhaps

>trying to cram too much into my head, specifically with another

>language, but also with my work duties. Is this memory loss usually

>associated with lower levels?

>

>Thanks for your help,

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Welcome !

I am Feisty(Thyrofeisty) group co-owner.

The memory problems are all too real even at lower levels of thyroid

disease.My particular gripe is that I have a very good vocabulary, and at

times, I am unable to find the word I want to use, even though it is one I

use daily.My husband had suffered a stroke, and he was affected similarily-

he would often call something by a different name.He is diabetic and his

labs suggest that he indeed has thyroid disease, but as of yet, I am unable

to persuade his dr to treat.Also , my spelling is affected!

As is other memory .

We are here to help each of us to regain ourselves from the ashes of thyroid

disease.Each of us has an unique set of probs related to thyroid disease,

yet we each have similarities.It helps with the input from others that are

living with thyroid disease.

Webb Osterloh

ThyroFeisty(Feisty)

www.thyrophoenix.com

Question regarding missed meds.

> Hello all,

>

> My name is and I'm new to this group. I normally don't post

> often to medical-related news groups as I've found they just make you

> dwell on your condition more and that is very unhealty. However, I

> have run into something that I hope you can be of help to.

>

> I missed taking my medicine for at least 4 days. I am not sure

> exactly how long I missed since I couldn't remember the last time I

> had taken it. I normally take my medication at night because I can

> take it without food around that time.

>

> What led up to this is that I kept falling asleep before I meant to.

> I would fall asleep in my daytime clothing and contacts, wake-up in

> the middle of the night, and not feel like doing anything other than

> taking my contacts out and changing.

>

> About 4 or 5 days ago I began taking my medicine again and I am still

> very tired. I don't want to wake-up and I keep napping.

>

> When not on the medicine, I was tired and I also had heart

> palpitations, which I normally have, but they were increased since I

> was off my meds.

>

> The question is, how long should I wait after just getting back on my

> meds before being retested? I am not sure if I was so tired do to a

> possible low level or if I became tired and just kept missing my meds

> because my fatigue grew.

>

> I would like to say that every month I will miss taking it once or

> twice, but nothing like this. Normally, missing my meds once or

> twice also does not leave me this tired.

>

> I am planning on waiting at least a week or longer before making an

> appointment to check my levels, if I'm still tired.

>

> Should I do this or is it recommended that I see a doctor sooner? I

> know my levels probably aren't going to be perfect if I went now, but

> if I waited, they would probably be adjusted to my normal levels. I

> don't want to have to take a test now, have low levels, and be

> overdosed later on.

>

> For past information: I have hypothyroidism and my medication was

> increased a year ago to only 50mcg. I was taking the 25mcg (one and

> a half per day) prior to that. Prior to this, a few years before I

> switched to one and a half 25mcg, I was just taking a 25mcg.

>

> Also to further note, even though this extreme fatigue has just been

> getting on my nerves, I do work two jobs and am always stressed out.

> This is just slightly different than normal. This could all be

> psychological.

>

>

> Also, I have read several posts and have noticed that this past

> calendar year I have been having memory difficulties like many here

> have. I've never associated this with hypothyroidism. This is

> usually with nouns. I assumed this was due to stress and perhaps

> trying to cram too much into my head, specifically with another

> language, but also with my work duties. Is this memory loss usually

> associated with lower levels?

>

> Thanks for your help,

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi, , welcome...

We're more of a family here... we do talk a bit technical but we talk

human too, support is in our name, and that's what we do... answer

questions, give encouragement or just listen when someone has to vent.

As for your question. You don't actually say what med you are on, judging

by the dosages I'm assuming Synthroid or Levoxyl, a T4 only med? For

testing. You want to be on a consistent dose for 6 to 8 weeks to get an

accurate reading of how your body is processing the hormone. You'll need

a TSH, a Free T4 and a Free T3 as the very minimum info to determine how

your dosage is doing.

As far as your dosing... Part of your fatigue may be because you are

dosing at night... it could also be other things... but many folks find

that dosing in the morning keeps them more alert during the day and helps

them get their body rhythm more normal....

How soon do you eat breakfast after waking in the morning? Would it be

possible to set your dose on your night stand and take it as soon as your

alarm goes off... then eat your breakfast about an hour later? I know of

one gal that has two alarms.. the first goes off so that she can take her

dose, then she rolls over and sleeps for two more hours and then gets up

to start her day.. it allows her to keep her dosing consistent.

Would you happen to have copies of your last labs, showing the lab's

ranges so that we can see how you are doing?

The memory issues, we like to call it 'brain fog' is common when hypo.

So, if you've been wondering, you're not crazy.

With being low on thyroid (hypo) you put a lot of stress on your

adrenals, add to that the stress that you are experiencing with the heavy

work load and being worried about skipping meds and not getting the sleep

you need, that adds to adrenal issues as well....

I think it would help a LOT to first find a way to get your meds on a

regular schedule, EVERY day and then have the proper labs done to see how

you are doing... then go from there.

You'll find a lot of us here prefer natural thyroid over synthetics.. but

that is a whole new subject and I'll pass on it for now... first we need

to help you get consistent with your dosing and get some labs to see

where you stand. I strongly suspect that your dose is way too low on top

of missing doses and being (IMHO) an inferior med.

First step... find a time when you won't be able to forget your dose....

Topper ()

On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 14:04:29 -0000 " Smelly_feet_ "

writes:

> Hello all,

>

> My name is and I'm new to this group. I normally don't post

> often to medical-related news groups as I've found they just make

> you

> dwell on your condition more and that is very unhealty. However, I

> have run into something that I hope you can be of help to.

> I missed taking my medicine for at least 4 days. I am not sure

> exactly how long I missed since I couldn't remember the last time I

> had taken it. I normally take my medication at night because I can

> take it without food around that time.

> What led up to this is that I kept falling asleep before I meant to.

> I would fall asleep in my daytime clothing and contacts, wake-up in

> the middle of the night, and not feel like doing anything other than

> taking my contacts out and changing.

> About 4 or 5 days ago I began taking my medicine again and I am

> still

> very tired. I don't want to wake-up and I keep napping.

> When not on the medicine, I was tired and I also had heart

> palpitations, which I normally have, but they were increased since I

was off my meds.

> The question is, how long should I wait after just getting back on

> my

> meds before being retested? I am not sure if I was so tired do to a

> possible low level or if I became tired and just kept missing my

> meds because my fatigue grew.

> I would like to say that every month I will miss taking it once or

> twice, but nothing like this. Normally, missing my meds once or

> twice also does not leave me this tired.

> I am planning on waiting at least a week or longer before making an

> appointment to check my levels, if I'm still tired.

> Should I do this or is it recommended that I see a doctor sooner? I

> know my levels probably aren't going to be perfect if I went now,

> but

> if I waited, they would probably be adjusted to my normal levels. I

> don't want to have to take a test now, have low levels, and be

> overdosed later on.

> For past information: I have hypothyroidism and my medication was

> increased a year ago to only 50mcg. I was taking the 25mcg (one and

> a half per day) prior to that. Prior to this, a few years before I

> switched to one and a half 25mcg, I was just taking a 25mcg.

> Also to further note, even though this extreme fatigue has just been

> getting on my nerves, I do work two jobs and am always stressed out.

> This is just slightly different than normal. This could all be

> psychological.

> Also, I have read several posts and have noticed that this past

> calendar year I have been having memory difficulties like many here

> have. I've never associated this with hypothyroidism. This is

> usually with nouns. I assumed this was due to stress and perhaps

> trying to cram too much into my head, specifically with another

> language, but also with my work duties. Is this memory loss usually

> associated with lower levels?

> Thanks for your help,

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for all your friendly and helpful answers.

Again, I hate dwelling on sicknesses as I feel it makes me very

depressed about things and I see it as unhealthy, so if I rarely will

post, you know why. I tend to ignore the bad, go on with my day, and

find I have a very happy life that way.

I also suspect I am low. This time last year my medication was low

and it was increased. My previous internist originally prescribed

Levoxyl. I changed doctors last Ocotober because, as great as my

doctor was, she moved and I could never get in when I needed to. The

current doctor I have is no where near as great as my previous doctor.

He retested me in October and my levels were fine. He asked if I was

on Synthroid, however I verified I was on Levoxyl. Obviously he has

another preference. I don't have a read-out of my results from last

year. I know it is time to be retested, however with my recent

skipped doses, I am planning on waiting for awhile.

I am suspecting I could have missed my medicine for a week and a half

now. Even last night, again, I fell asleep before I meant to.

However, I remembered to take my medicine in the morning and I will

again tomorrow morning instead. I will try to only take it in the

morning, however my schedule doesn't always agree with this. I do

work two jobs and am in college. Normally during the school year I

work 2 jobs and attend school. The best time for me to take my

medicine is at night. Even now this is the best time. I can always

be by my medicine right before I go to bed, however this is obviously

not working. So, I will try my next option.

I am debating whether I should call the doctor about this. Obviously,

he can't do anything right now. There is no way a reading will be

accurate. I probably will " forget " anyway.

The memory issues haven't been an issue until this year, another

reason to suspect an unbalanced thyroid level. I am a French major,

so therefore most of my classwork is conducted in French. This

includes reading novels and writting essays. In addition, one of my

jobs is with a health insurance company that is very demanding on the

mind. I had assumed these were the causes of my " brain fog " and that

I just needed to quit a job for it to disappear, which may also be

true. However, all of these things requires my mind to be very active

and I thought I was pouring too much in at once. Then, you think, we

only use a very small percentage of our brains and I know I haven't

filled it up yet.

Once sufficient time has passed, I will have my levels tested again.

If they are low, I'll discuss changing medications with my doctor. Is

natural thyroid a normally prescribed medication, or is this an

alternative medicine?

Thanks for all your help. Hopefully I can stay in touch.

> Hi, , welcome...

>

> We're more of a family here... we do talk a bit technical but we talk

> human too, support is in our name, and that's what we do... answer

> questions, give encouragement or just listen when someone has to vent.

>

> As for your question. You don't actually say what med you are on,

judging

> by the dosages I'm assuming Synthroid or Levoxyl, a T4 only med? For

> testing. You want to be on a consistent dose for 6 to 8 weeks to get an

> accurate reading of how your body is processing the hormone. You'll need

> a TSH, a Free T4 and a Free T3 as the very minimum info to determine how

> your dosage is doing.

>

> As far as your dosing... Part of your fatigue may be because you are

> dosing at night... it could also be other things... but many folks find

> that dosing in the morning keeps them more alert during the day and

helps

> them get their body rhythm more normal....

>

> How soon do you eat breakfast after waking in the morning? Would it be

> possible to set your dose on your night stand and take it as soon as

your

> alarm goes off... then eat your breakfast about an hour later? I know of

> one gal that has two alarms.. the first goes off so that she can

take her

> dose, then she rolls over and sleeps for two more hours and then gets up

> to start her day.. it allows her to keep her dosing consistent.

>

> Would you happen to have copies of your last labs, showing the lab's

> ranges so that we can see how you are doing?

>

> The memory issues, we like to call it 'brain fog' is common when hypo.

> So, if you've been wondering, you're not crazy.

>

> With being low on thyroid (hypo) you put a lot of stress on your

> adrenals, add to that the stress that you are experiencing with the

heavy

> work load and being worried about skipping meds and not getting the

sleep

> you need, that adds to adrenal issues as well....

>

> I think it would help a LOT to first find a way to get your meds on a

> regular schedule, EVERY day and then have the proper labs done to

see how

> you are doing... then go from there.

>

> You'll find a lot of us here prefer natural thyroid over

synthetics.. but

> that is a whole new subject and I'll pass on it for now... first we need

> to help you get consistent with your dosing and get some labs to see

> where you stand. I strongly suspect that your dose is way too low on top

> of missing doses and being (IMHO) an inferior med.

>

> First step... find a time when you won't be able to forget your dose....

>

> Topper ()

>

> On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 14:04:29 -0000 " Smelly_feet_ "

> <smelly_feet_@y...> writes:

> > Hello all,

> >

> > My name is and I'm new to this group. I normally don't post

> > often to medical-related news groups as I've found they just make

> > you

> > dwell on your condition more and that is very unhealty. However, I

> > have run into something that I hope you can be of help to.

> > I missed taking my medicine for at least 4 days. I am not sure

> > exactly how long I missed since I couldn't remember the last time I

> > had taken it. I normally take my medication at night because I can

> > take it without food around that time.

> > What led up to this is that I kept falling asleep before I meant to.

> > I would fall asleep in my daytime clothing and contacts, wake-up in

> > the middle of the night, and not feel like doing anything other than

> > taking my contacts out and changing.

> > About 4 or 5 days ago I began taking my medicine again and I am

> > still

> > very tired. I don't want to wake-up and I keep napping.

> > When not on the medicine, I was tired and I also had heart

> > palpitations, which I normally have, but they were increased since I

> was off my meds.

> > The question is, how long should I wait after just getting back on

> > my

> > meds before being retested? I am not sure if I was so tired do to a

> > possible low level or if I became tired and just kept missing my

> > meds because my fatigue grew.

> > I would like to say that every month I will miss taking it once or

> > twice, but nothing like this. Normally, missing my meds once or

> > twice also does not leave me this tired.

> > I am planning on waiting at least a week or longer before making an

> > appointment to check my levels, if I'm still tired.

> > Should I do this or is it recommended that I see a doctor sooner? I

> > know my levels probably aren't going to be perfect if I went now,

> > but

> > if I waited, they would probably be adjusted to my normal levels. I

> > don't want to have to take a test now, have low levels, and be

> > overdosed later on.

> > For past information: I have hypothyroidism and my medication was

> > increased a year ago to only 50mcg. I was taking the 25mcg (one and

> > a half per day) prior to that. Prior to this, a few years before I

> > switched to one and a half 25mcg, I was just taking a 25mcg.

> > Also to further note, even though this extreme fatigue has just been

> > getting on my nerves, I do work two jobs and am always stressed out.

> > This is just slightly different than normal. This could all be

> > psychological.

> > Also, I have read several posts and have noticed that this past

> > calendar year I have been having memory difficulties like many here

> > have. I've never associated this with hypothyroidism. This is

> > usually with nouns. I assumed this was due to stress and perhaps

> > trying to cram too much into my head, specifically with another

> > language, but also with my work duties. Is this memory loss usually

> > associated with lower levels?

> > Thanks for your help,

> >