side effects of too much thyroid med
 

Hi everyone,
I was diagnosed as hypothyroid 4 months ago and take 1 grain of armour a day in the morning. Last week I started having heart palpitations and light-headedness. I also have a bad valve in my heart so just assumed it was that. Today I was at the dr. and he said hes pretty sure my med is a bit too high, am waiting for the blood test results.

He suggested that I stay on 1 grain per day but split the pill and take half in the morning and half later on.

I was wondering

1. if anyone else has had this symptom from too much med?
2. if you split your thyroid dose up and why would that matter?

Hey thats how I ALWAYS feel :rolleyes:

lol anyways, I'm on synthroid and I don't think it's because it's too high, because supposedly if you're hypo (which I am too) and you're overdoing it on the meds, that would make you Hyperthyroid... which then there would be different and more symptoms. So.. I dunno but I don't think so. I'm actually going to the dr next week..can't wait to see what mine says. :rolleyes:

hi,

I was diagnosed hypothyroid over a year ago and my meds were also too high and i ended up in the ER twice with a resting heart rate of 145. I think heart palpitations, racing heart, feeling hot, etc(hyper symptoms) are signs your meds are too high.

Danyele

hey slim I hope the new dr. works out for you, I've read some of your other posts, you've been going through a lot lately. Do you want to change to a different medication? Or was it just not working out with your other doctor?

Danyele in weird way you've made me feel better. I'd rather lower my medication than have some other problem with my heart. If my resting heart rate was 145 I would faint from fear. How long did it take to get your thyroid down low enough that you didn't have symptoms anymore and did you keep taking thyroid during that time? I'm thinking of not taking my medication at all I hate having this pounding heart stuff so much and then maybe just taking half. I'm really scared to stay with the whole dose.

Nancy

hi,

My endo took me off all meds to rerun a bunch of tests. It took about a month for the side effects to go away altogether. I think you are really the only one who knows if your body is not acting right. IF you feel hyper(nervous, tense, heart palps) etc i would definitely talk to your doc about it but your bloodwork should be back soon so you'll know if your meds are too high but i wouldn't stop the meds without talking to your doc about it first. Let me know how things go

Danyele

Ok I'm sorry, guess I was half right.. lol I didn't think heart palpitations and the racing heart were hyper symptoms but Guess I was wrong cause Danyele is smarter. lol :o




Hey thanks. Actually both, I want to change medications and it wasn't working out with my doctor... lol She wasn't really a thyroid specialist, she was just a typical family doctor and dosen't seem to know what she's talking about. I'm giving my old endo one more chance Thursday, if he won't switch my meds.. I found a doctor thats closer and prescribes armour.. just hope I don't have to wait forever for an appointment. :daze:

hi,

Actually i'm pretty sure i'm not smarter :( Wish i could say otherwise but it's probably not the case. I experienced these symptoms when my meds were too high. THey ran a blood test while i was at the hospital, however at www.thyroid.about.com many women have complained of heart palpitations etc while being HYPOthyroid so i think it can go any which way but in my case was showing i was HYPERthyroid.

SLIM-hope you get the meds you want. I"m waiting to see an endo in NOV. waiting since June already. Good luck

Danyele

Thanks Danyelle. Good luck with your appt too. Hope it all goes well :roll:


And ya, you gotta be right about the meds being too high. I just picked up some refills today and I was reading the prescription info pamplet that was stapled to the bag and it says..

"Symptoms of high thyroid levels include headache, chest pain, increased pulse rate, rapid or irregular heartbeat, shortness of breath, trembling, sweating, and weight loss"

So I'm guessing that means hyper. Although in my case I'm not really noticing weightloss.. :confused: I wouldn't mind these symptoms as much if I was losing weight... lol. :rolleyes:

Hello
 

Hmm. I'm on synthroid as well and only wish I could get the lose weight gift.

I forget to take mine alot too.. lol and now that you mention it, I don't have the weird heart beats on those days.... But I always get dizzy and reatain hella lot of water... So thats why I've been taken it. Especially since I've been drinking a gallon a day. :rolleyes:

I didn't lose weight either. All my heart tests came out good so it probably is my thyroid although I haven't gotten that test back yet. I stopped taking my medication for a few days and I started feeling so weird. I was freezing cold and clammy and light headed, so I started back taking half as much. Anyway the heart palpitations started disappearing when I stopped the meds so I guess that was it.

I've decided I should take advantage of my hyperness and start following the program really closely and see if the weight comes off easier.

Nancy

I'll tell you what makes me mad. I've been taking synthroid for years and the dr. still can't get it regulated. Sometimes when it is checked it is high/sometimes low. I asked to go to another brand but he said it "was not indicated". Every time he lowers it I gain 10 pounds within a month without any change in diet/exercise. I know I should change drs, but how do I know anyone else would be better - and how much weight would I gain back while they messed with the dose. I do know when it is high because my heart rate goes up. It's dangerous to leave it high because it can damage the heart. *sigh*

The way I found my doctor was by calling the Atkins website, they wouldn't recommend but they did give me a list of holostic doctors that would prescribe armour. Then I looked on about.com they have a site called top docs and one of the doctors was recommended on there as well so I went with him.

Thanks for mentioning the weight gain part, I stopped taking my med for 2 days and felt so strange I couldn't stand it. I only gained 2 lbs but I gained 1.5" on my hips in just a few weeks.

My doctor is letting me set my own dose, I change the dose wait a few weeks and see where I feel the best.

I didn't realize that its such a sensitive thing. If I exercise and take a thermogenic or just raise my calories, everything gets all messed up so I'm trying to be consistent with things. With this lower dose I have not lost any weight though, so I have to sigh with you....

another thought to consider...
 

hi guys...something I thought I'd pass on to you...have your doctor check for autoimmune issues. I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and my doctor finally has me within the normal limits but doesn't really want to move me around too much within those limits because my thyroid can sputter to life now and again and send you into a hyper-like state (because it's doing it's job AND you're taking T4/T3). I have been hyper before and went through all those symptoms you mentioned EXCEPT weight loss. That never happened for me. Medication just stopped the pound+/week slide that began in April 2001 and ended in Dec 2001. I have read about people having the palps when hypo but can only wonder if it's just the natural slip between hypo/hyper that can come when you're taking T4/T3??

Hi giggles,
sorry for being so dense but I don't understand your point about taking t4/t3. I was wondering when taking armour if you could be low in one, but high in the other?

thanks nancy