Thyroid Meds

[heiseygirl]

Of those of you with our problems, how many are on thyroid meds and what kind do you take. Any on Armour thyroid and how do they work for you?

[gertie]

I've tried synthetic & Armour for Hashimoto's but I couldn't tolerate either. Armour messed up my vision but doc is not believing that Armour was the cause. He said he's never had anyone that had a problem with it. Other than the visual problems I did ok with it. Start with a low dose is you're worried you might have a problem. Good luck!

[heiseygirl]

I've tried synthetic & Armour for Hashimoto's but I couldn't tolerate either. Armour messed up my vision but doc is not believing that Armour was the cause. He said he's never had anyone that had a problem with it. Other than the visual problems I did ok with it. Start with a low dose is you're worried you might have a problem. Good luck!

[heiseygirl]

i have been on thyroid meds for years synthroid and the generic. I have found that when i dont take them my pots gets better. I went almost a year without them and did pretty well untill my numbers went to high and i needed to go back on. the first specialist that diagnosed me with pots thought the thyroid meds were causing my pots He took me off for a short while then put me back on a lower dose and said you are better..... not!I want to try armour thyroud but all the docs wont let me try it. I always do better on natural things. Very frustated

[gertie]

Maybe you should change doc's. Situations where the dr won't listen to you is very frustrating.

[EarthMother]

I have been on synthetic thyroid meds for more 2 decades and I use to wonder about the effects of the hormone on my POTS. But over the years and over many variations of dosing, I am inclined to believe in my case there has not been a correlation with my POTS symptoms.

I have Hashimoto Thyroiditis (auto-immune Thyroid disease) and was diagnosised by chance in my early 20's -- WAY BEFORE I ever had any hypothyroid issues. I started taking small doses of synthroid in an effort to reduce my own body's auto-immune reaction. The theory being, if I ask my body to produce LESS on its own -- because I am supplementing with a pill -- then the auto-immune anti-bodies that are attacking my thyroid gland should subside.

It's not an exact science, as my thyroid gland still misbehaves and my Doctor and I are left to chase after it with varrying doses of Levoxyl. For me then, I may be on .1 mg one spring and down to .088 mg by fall. My meds are adjusted both UP and DOWN based on a combination of how I am feeling and my blood work.

Note, it takes 4-6 weeks to adapt to a new thyroid dose ... so the "how I feel" criteria has to be assessed over time, not day to day.

Because of the Hashimoto, I still get periods of tachy outbursts that are related to high levels of thyroid antibodies -- and presumed surges in my own hormone level production. I say presumed because you may not always catch the hyper thyroid toxicity on a typical blood test and in some cases the surges are transcient.

The way that I decipher if it is my POTS acting up or the HASHIMOTO is to note how I am feeling supine. If my body can settle well when I am off my feet, then my POTS is just being POTS ... but if I am agitated and racing even without any activity, I am likely having some Hashi-**** to contend with.

One of the questions to ask your endo is WHY are your TSH values high? WHY do you have hypothyroid? Thyroid glands shouldn't wear out -- and many people with hypothyroid at 40+ actually had Hashimoto waging war on their body for years prior without knowing it.

Since most endo's regard Hashi as a case of "simple hypothyroid" they tend to discount the surges of hyper-activity that come along with this auto-immune disorder. So we are left then with "unexplained" symptoms that change back and forth and little to do as we wait for our body to settle again.

When my Hashi DOES act up my TSH could be normal or slightly high. And I will be feeling all of the rushes of hyperthyroid dispite the blood work indications otherwise. (I am fortunate my Doctor checks some of the T3, T4, free T4 etc. so we can glimpse at the inside picture.) Even with hormones raging the answer for me might be to INCREASE my dose a smidge (in attempt to get my body to stop it's own production).

Long winded answer to your question, sorry. But sometimes for some of us the issue can be a bit tricky to pin down.

Good luck finding answers and solutions that work for you.