At Hypothyroid Mom I hear all types of thyroid stories. This one may very well be the story of your thyroid life too. It’s about overmedication. While the majority of stories that I hear are about patients being prescribed too little thyroid hormone replacement medication, I also hear stories about too much.
Like with all prescription medications, it is important to watch your body for negative reactions and contact your doctor right away to let them know. The most common scenario that I hear about is one where someone notices signs of overmedication like rapid heart rate when they are prescribed a too high starting dosage or too high dosage increase at a follow-up appointment. It may be that the dosage change was just too high. “Start low and increase slowly” is one of the many pearls of wisdom that I’ve learned from the great thyroid doctors that I’ve met over the years especially when it comes to T3 and NDT natural desiccated thyroid medications. Another important tip is to check your adrenals and iron. And let’s also consider the fact that our bodies may be sensitive to one or more of the different fillers, binding agents and dyes in each brand of thyroid medication and finding the right brand for your body is incredibly important. Then there is the fact that the thyroid autoimmune condition known as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis can present with swings up and down in TSH with a combination of hypothyroid and hyperthyroid symptoms. And let’s add on that hypothyroidism itself can cause symptoms that look like hyperthyroidism including heart palpitations, insomnia, mood swings, and anxiety.
You can see that there are many scenarios for every case. t’s unfair that we are dealing with a disease that causes deep exhaustion and then we have to work like detectives just to figure things out. The truth is that learning all you can about the thyroid including all the possible scenarios is a necessity with a mysterious disease like this.
Signs of Thyroid Overmedication
- Fast heart rate
- Heart palpitations
- Feeling overheated
- Shaky hands
- Insomnia
- Excessive sweating
- Anxiety
- Panic attacks
- Feeling jittery
- Diarrhea
- Muscle weakness
- Rapid weight loss
- Feeling irritable
- Mood swings
- Being forgetful
- Difficulty concentrating
- Increased appetite
