Signs of overmedication?

david45249 · 07-12-2007, 04:30 PM

I have Hashimoto's disease and I'm seeing an alternative doctor. Right now I'm on 120 mg of Armour and I still feel Hypo. My doctor raises my dosage over the phone every few weeks if I'm still not improving. He isn't taking any blood tests as we go along since my TSH was considered "normal" to begin with. My concern is that I could go from Hypo to Hyper without knowing it. Is it possible to become overmedicated and not notice it? How do I know if I'm not taking any blood tests? Thanks for everything.

David

GCC · 07-12-2007, 04:52 PM

Hello David,

Go by how you feel.
Other things you can do is take your temperature and your pulse.

It is best to take your temperature in the morning before you get out of bed. Have the thermometer ready when you go to bed (to use in the morning). Take your temp when you first wake, without having to get out of bed or move around too much.

The temperature is normally lower in the morning, but not much lower than 98.0
Hypothyroidism can cause the temp to be lower than it should. See what yours it; write it down and keep a record.

Take your pulse and keep a record of that too.

Are you splitting your dose and taking half in the morning and half later?

I feel so much better on Armour than I did on Synthroid. Hopefully it will help you too.

ErinBeth · 07-12-2007, 05:15 PM

I would not take risks with my own health, such as increasing a thyroid med more often than after at least six weeks of adjustment and a lab result indicating it is safe to increase, as well as symptoms.

It may be because of that I don't have any experience of going hyper or overdosing.

I think your concerns are valid.

boata · 07-12-2007, 05:47 PM

I would also be concerned. I started out on Armour with a doctor who let me dose by how I "felt". I ended up overmedicated without knowing - thinking I was still hypo. The problem is, not everything is hypo related. Some of the symptoms you are still having may be due to something besides hypo. Your doctor is probably right to not go by TSH when on Armour - but he could be testing Free T3 and Free T4 to gauge how your system is responding to treatment. Sometimes Armour elevates FT3 without the same bump in FT4, leaving you with hypo symptoms and needing extra T4 meds. How would your doctor know without taking those tests?

david45249 · 07-12-2007, 05:54 PM

I have been measuring my basal temperature. I have an average of 96.9 F. I guess that's all that he's going by for now. How did you know that you were overmedicated Boata? What was causing your hypo-like symptoms?