Thyroxine users

[Purplehippo]

I was on small dose of thyroxine 25micrograms all through pregnancy so far my blood tests have been normal no one has mentioned levels. But on thurs consultant increased my dose to 75micrograms this was before blood tests were done. Well since then I been feeling hot, dizzy and feeling breathless and feels like palpitations have increased.

I just wondered has everyone's gone up even if levels have been ok? Anyone had symptoms like this ?

thanks

 

[lilesMom]

um that sounds wrong hon, i have low thyroid for yrs, i was on 50 before preg ,
i started feeling really tired again, got it checked again and i was low so i was uppd to 75 a day.
fine ever since. its only is my tsh i wrong they wll change my meds.
my free thyroid level has been a little low last few tests but i feel ok so they wont change it unless my tsh goes low again.
i would qs just tripling it for no reason hon x

 

[Tami]

I would ask for it to be checked again, it sounds like you're either taking too much or not enough. I currently take 125 and was taking about 50 pre-preg.
I remember your post from before and I still think they shouldn't have upped it without your bloodwork, it's really dangerous to overdose on thyroxine!

 

[Purplehippo]

I spoke to doctor over phone earlier and asked her she told me to continue taking increased dose as the blood test results don't show correctly when pregnant and that you need more I'm having really really loose BM too now, was just about to post about ibs but I'm not sure if this loose BM is due to the thyroxine too

 

[karen1stbaby]

Agreed. Get a second opinion Hun. I was reading up on this today as my levels have dropped again and I found out today so I am on 150mg now. But I had it upped by 25mg once I aw consultant as a precaution with all pregnancies without bloodwork. I felt fine though.
I think tripling your meds without bloods is irresponsible! I would get your bloods done and get them to re look at it as your symptoms are those of an OVERactive thyroid not under now! Xx
Hope u feel better soon xx

 

[Bubsta]

It sounds like try have looked at your symptoms and just 'assumed' its your thyroid and upped your meds. I'd be dubious to just increase without having the blood test results back first.

 

[lilesMom]

i have heard of docs upping it cos u need more in preg but most wont do this without blood tests to back it up. and triple is just plain weird, even if htey had upped u by a little but...... it sounds way too much . i was upped twice to get to 75 a day , first time was before preg , my bloods were borderline but i had symptoms of low so my doc upped my dose by 25 mg , only on mon, wed and fri, so 3 times a week, then when preg onc emy tsh went low so i got pu ton 75 every day, the small uppage has done the trick for me. u do sound lliek he has made u hyper thyroid abit and it can be dangerous. def time for second opinion, docs do dumb things all the time xxx
hope u get sorted soon xxx

 

[BabyB2]

I've been on the same dose throughout pregnancy (75ug) that I was pre-pregnancy and haven't required any increases. I've been having regular tests that always come back normal, so in my opinion it is rubbish to assume that you will automatically need an increase because you're pregnant. They do however like to keep your TSH levels low end normal, rather than high end normal, presumably in case they drifted slightly between tests and ended up outside normal range. I would seek a second opinion. It definitely sounds like you could be experiencing some symptoms of taking too much thyroxine-especially with the palpitations. Hope you get it sorted! x

 

[aimee-lou]

Where are you? UK or US?

Your thyroxine dosage should not be changed without due cause from a blood test. It's true that they work to different levels in pregnancy wanting less TSH than when not pregnant (around 2.0), but this should be tested first before upping a dose by 200%. I'm on a replacement dose even outside of pregnancy and I'm currently taking 200mcg a day but to get to that I've had graduated increases and blood tests every 6-8 weeks.

Could you book a blood test and then go in and get them checked out rather than waiting for your symptoms to get worse. With thyroid problems you need to be pro-active as not a lot of Dr's are experienced with them and can be a bit hit and miss in their care.

In the mean time - try to rest, drink plenty so that you don't become too poorly and get your levels looked at. How long have you been on the new dose? If it's more than 5 days then your blood work will show a change.

 

[Purplehippo]

I'm in UK, I have appointment with doc this afternoon about my ibs and my thyroxine levels. Really hope something gets sorted

 

[lilesMom]

push ur doc a bit hon to get ur blood tested again, sometimes they do need a kick in the butt

 

[phrumkidost]

Let us know what the dr. says. And if you get levels back, let us know those too (TSH, T4 and T3). There are obviously lots of ladies on here with experience with this.

I have ten years of experience taking thyroxine, too. In my case it made sense to preemptively increase the dose, but by 10%. When I got bloods check 4 weeks later we upped it again, and then a bit again at 4 more weeks after more blood work. Now I'm more or less stable (I hope!) through the rest of the pregnancy. Tripling the dose just seems wrong, especially since you don't feel well.

Demand good care, even if you have to see another Dr.!

 

[Purplehippo]

I'm in UK, I have appointment with doc this afternoon about my ibs and my thyroxine levels. Really hope something gets sorted

 

[xdxxtx]

Yeah, that doesn't sound right to me at all. I've had hypothyroidism for much of my life. My levels get tested, and as long as my TSH is between 0.5 and 1 mIU/mL, I'm good. Throughout this whole pregnancy, I haven't needed my dosage changed at all. In my first pregnancy, I had it changed 4-5 times. So, it definitely varies from pregnancy to pregnancy and moment to moment with all of those hormonal changes. I get my bloods done every 6 weeks for it, during pregnancy. I've had hypothyroidism so long that I can almost always tell if my levels are slightly off. But, if your levels are WAY off, I think anyone who knows the symptoms should be able to tell. I say listen to your body and get a second opinion regarding your levels. No reason to feel unwell when there's such an easy solution (changing dosage).