Am I overdosed?
in [Thyroid]
|
Prev: Hey Dee on AutoImmune Recovery (Re: Maintenance Dosages)
Next: Welcome, Website, FAQ, and Posting Guidelines (2008-08-04)
From: Elizabeth on 3 Aug 2008 17:46 Hi all, I have been at what should be my maintenance dose of Synthroid for almost 9 weeks now. Just before I hit 6 weeks, I began having a delay in falling asleep and a fine tremor in my hands at night. A couple days ago, I switched from taking my dose in the morning to just before bed, but it is still taking me 2-3 hours to fall asleep at night and now I have the tremor in the mornings. My question is, should I wait a while and see if these symptoms go away, or should I decrease my dose? I am not in physical or mental distress at this point, but I certainly wouldn't want to live like this for too long. I have had these symptoms before, but they usually happen right after an increase and settle down within 2-3 weeks. Thanks for your opinions, Elizabeth
From: Herman Family on 4 Aug 2008 01:14 "Elizabeth" <esnively(a)earthlink.net> wrote in message news:XqydnaSaTpSFugvVnZ2dnUVZ_hOdnZ2d(a)earthlink.com... > Hi all, > > I have been at what should be my maintenance dose of > Synthroid for almost 9 weeks now. Just before I hit 6 > weeks, I began having a delay in falling asleep and a fine > tremor in my hands at night. A couple days ago, I switched > from taking my dose in the morning to just before bed, but > it is still taking me 2-3 hours to fall asleep at night > and now I have the tremor in the mornings. > > My question is, should I wait a while and see if these > symptoms go away, or should I decrease my dose? I am not > in physical or mental distress at this point, but I > certainly wouldn't want to live like this for too long. I > have had these symptoms before, but they usually happen > right after an increase and settle down within 2-3 weeks. > > Thanks for your opinions, > Elizabeth > Elizabeth, You are a bit overdosed at this point. There are a few flavors of overdose. I'll let you figure out what it is. There are a number of reasons you could be overdosed: a. You changed brands, and the new one works better b. There was a change in formulation, and the new formulation has a higher bioavailability (this happened in the early 90's) c. Your thyroid has decided to kick in for a bit and is giving you an ovedose. This is a transient situation. d. Your body has finished stocking away any thyroid reserves, and so its usage rate has dropped a bit. e. You got a "good" bottle because you managed to get onto the most popular dosage. The "older" bottles had more degradation. f. You moved up too fast in dosage, and ended up with too high a dose. 1. If you notice hand tremors, (shaky hand syndrome), you are significantly overdosed. 2. If you don't have shaky hand syndrome, you may be a bit lower on the overdose scale. The short time on the maintenance dose tells me that the dose is a little too high and that you should be backed down. Contact your doctor. You should probably go down one dose. If you were on long term replacement, and you were on this dose for more than a year or so, I'd say to skip a dose. The method for skipping doses that I use is to skip one dose, then wait at least a week. If I'm not better at that point, skip another dose. It may be better to take half a pill twice (one week apart) than to skip a whole dose. Strangely enough, I have to do this once per year around November. In summary, you are overdosed. Contact your doctor. This is normal at this stage of treatment, and can be considered a good sign (your body finally has enough thyroxin). Michael
From: amanita on 4 Aug 2008 03:36 Elizabeth wrote: > I have been at what should be my maintenance dose of Synthroid for almost 9 > weeks now. Just before I hit 6 weeks, I began having a delay in falling > asleep and a fine tremor in my hands at night. A couple days ago, I switched > from taking my dose in the morning to just before bed, but it is still > taking me 2-3 hours to fall asleep at night and now I have the tremor in the > mornings. > > My question is, should I wait a while and see if these symptoms go away, or > should I decrease my dose? I am not in physical or mental distress at this > point, but I certainly wouldn't want to live like this for too long. I have > had these symptoms before, but they usually happen right after an increase > and settle down within 2-3 weeks. Elizabeth, my opinion based on my own experience, is that you are most likely still underdosed. Being unable to fall asleep is always a sign for me that my dose is too low. I have proved this theory to myself many times by actually taking some of my next days dose early! Within a short time, I will feel my body relax and I soon fall asleep. I also can get quite shaky when my levels are low. If you were getting the hand tremor soon after taking your dose (i.e. when your T4 level would be peaking), it might indicate overdose. But you seem to be saying that the tremor is not happening until several hours after taking your dose, which implies that the T4 level in your body is reducing. How did you achieve the switch to night time dosing? Did you take two doses in the same day, or did you skip the morning dose and wait until bedtime before taking it? Any increase in absorption you might get from night time dosing will probably take a while to build up.
From: Dee on 4 Aug 2008 07:00 Hi Elizabeth, I'm thinking along the same lines as amanita. If I recall correctly, you are on 62.5 mcgs? (I'm not sure if you've actually increased from that.) If I remembered your figures correctly, that's really not much; and I think you've been on medication longer than I have. I'm on 60 mgs dessicated (equivalent to approx. 100mcgs synthetic). According to the stopthethyroidmadness website, if you aren't getting a high enough dosage, you may feel hyper symptoms; and thinking you are hyper you mistakenly cut back - but instead, you should be increasing. I'm talking dessicated here, though. I'm also having tremors, off and on. And, like amanita, I also have problems staying asleep if I'm not getting a high enough dose. Dee "amanita" <tiredofspam(a)ntlworld.com> wrote in message news:Xjylk.131967$9I1.122289(a)newsfe16.ams2... > Elizabeth wrote: >> I have been at what should be my maintenance dose of Synthroid for almost >> 9 weeks now. Just before I hit 6 weeks, I began having a delay in falling >> asleep and a fine tremor in my hands at night. A couple days ago, I >> switched from taking my dose in the morning to just before bed, but it is >> still taking me 2-3 hours to fall asleep at night and now I have the >> tremor in the mornings. >> >> My question is, should I wait a while and see if these symptoms go away, >> or should I decrease my dose? I am not in physical or mental distress at >> this point, but I certainly wouldn't want to live like this for too long. >> I have had these symptoms before, but they usually happen right after an >> increase and settle down within 2-3 weeks. > > Elizabeth, my opinion based on my own experience, is that you are most > likely still underdosed. Being unable to fall asleep is always a sign for > me that my dose is too low. I have proved this theory to myself many times > by actually taking some of my next days dose early! Within a short time, I > will feel my body relax and I soon fall asleep. > > I also can get quite shaky when my levels are low. If you were getting the > hand tremor soon after taking your dose (i.e. when your T4 level would be > peaking), it might indicate overdose. But you seem to be saying that the > tremor is not happening until several hours after taking your dose, which > implies that the T4 level in your body is reducing. > > How did you achieve the switch to night time dosing? Did you take two > doses in the same day, or did you skip the morning dose and wait until > bedtime before taking it? Any increase in absorption you might get from > night time dosing will probably take a while to build up.
From: Dee on 4 Aug 2008 07:18
Added on: Of course, I'm not saying you should increase on your own - you should talk to your doctor about that (I wouldn't want anything to go wrong!). I'm just giving you my opinion based on what I've learned so far. : ) I'm in the learning stages, myself, as you know; and working up to that maintenance dose gets kind of complicating. Dee "Dee" <jlmacdougall(a)eastlink.ca> wrote in message news:vjBlk.4117$nu6.1106(a)edtnps83... > Hi Elizabeth, I'm thinking along the same lines as amanita. If I recall > correctly, you are on 62.5 mcgs? (I'm not sure if you've actually > increased from that.) If I remembered your figures correctly, that's > really not much; and I think you've been on medication longer than I have. > I'm on 60 mgs dessicated (equivalent to approx. 100mcgs synthetic). > > According to the stopthethyroidmadness website, if you aren't getting a > high enough dosage, you may feel hyper symptoms; and thinking you are > hyper you mistakenly cut back - but instead, you should be increasing. I'm > talking dessicated here, though. > > I'm also having tremors, off and on. And, like amanita, I also have > problems staying asleep if I'm not getting a high enough dose. > > Dee > > "amanita" <tiredofspam(a)ntlworld.com> wrote in message > news:Xjylk.131967$9I1.122289(a)newsfe16.ams2... >> Elizabeth wrote: >>> I have been at what should be my maintenance dose of Synthroid for >>> almost 9 weeks now. Just before I hit 6 weeks, I began having a delay in >>> falling asleep and a fine tremor in my hands at night. A couple days >>> ago, I switched from taking my dose in the morning to just before bed, >>> but it is still taking me 2-3 hours to fall asleep at night and now I >>> have the tremor in the mornings. >>> >>> My question is, should I wait a while and see if these symptoms go away, >>> or should I decrease my dose? I am not in physical or mental distress at >>> this point, but I certainly wouldn't want to live like this for too >>> long. I have had these symptoms before, but they usually happen right >>> after an increase and settle down within 2-3 weeks. >> >> Elizabeth, my opinion based on my own experience, is that you are most >> likely still underdosed. Being unable to fall asleep is always a sign for >> me that my dose is too low. I have proved this theory to myself many >> times by actually taking some of my next days dose early! Within a short >> time, I will feel my body relax and I soon fall asleep. >> >> I also can get quite shaky when my levels are low. If you were getting >> the hand tremor soon after taking your dose (i.e. when your T4 level >> would be peaking), it might indicate overdose. But you seem to be saying >> that the tremor is not happening until several hours after taking your >> dose, which implies that the T4 level in your body is reducing. >> >> How did you achieve the switch to night time dosing? Did you take two >> doses in the same day, or did you skip the morning dose and wait until >> bedtime before taking it? Any increase in absorption you might get from >> night time dosing will probably take a while to build up. > > |