Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[scriv]

I was 27 when my thyroid went haywire so have had free presc for 27 years.
quote]

I guess there has to be a little perk for us somewhere, lol. I am over 60 now so get free prescriptions for being old, but it was at least a litttle treat especially with all the prescriptions for HRT.

Poor you having it all start at 27. My sister is hypothyroid as was my late mother, but there are no more relatives alive now for me to compare. I so hope my daughters escape it. I am always keeping an eye out for them.

[Lizab]

I believe my grandmother had it first, me next, and then my mother was diagnosed.

If you're hypothyroid ALL your prescriptions are free, not only your levothyroxine?  Lucky ducks! The thyroid med is cheap enough, but I would love to get my hrt free.

[countrybumpkin]

I believe my grandmother had it first, me next, and then my mother was diagnosed.

If you're hypothyroid ALL your prescriptions are free, not only your levothyroxine?  Lucky ducks! The thyroid med is cheap enough, but I would love to get my hrt free.

I remember asking my GP why all the prescriptions were free and he laughed and said because needing thryoxine means that you are much more likely to develop other problems and complications which really cheered me up!

[scriv]

I think there has been free prescriptions for all in Wales for years ?

And a bus pass at the age of 60 - and not until the new revised Pension Age

Answer - move to Wales???

[babyjane]

I've never understood the current system whereby ALL medications automatically come free just because you take thyroxine.

My GP advised me that it would be too complicated to work out what secondary problems were due to a poorly functioning thyroid and which were not.

[Briony]

Interesting some of you mention pins and needles as I have had them in my feet for the last three evenings. Really irritating.

Common sense says it is probably just the usual hormonal fluctuations, but I seem to have so many of the symptoms listed that I am glad I had the blood test today. There seems to be a big cross over of thyroid and sex hormone symptoms?



 

[hotstff]

Countrybumpkin, which form of HRT, in your opinion, is least likely to react badly with Levothyroxine?

One of the reasons I opted for patches instead of oral form, is because I read that patches are less likely to interfere with the absorption and conversion of the thyroid meds  (something to do with the fact that oral meds affect the liver) but patches not so much.
I think 

Thanks

[countrybumpkin]

I have limited knowledge re hormones medication interaction but I do know that however you have it it does affect thyroid medication. The oral has the most impact as you know.
As long as you have regular blood tests then its not a problem. If you start any new hormone replacement then I would say get a test after 8 weeks and if any great change then test again after another 8-12 weeks until stable.
When I started natural progesterone cream my thyroid  results kept altering for first year and I kept having to change my dosage but then they settled down. I would alter dose then retest after 8 weeks until I had two results that were very close together then went 3 months until i was back to my every 6 months test.

[babyjane]

that's really interesting.  I have never chosen to take HRT but round the time I must have been perimenopausal, without realising it, my thyroid levels were up and down like a yo yo and difficult to stabilise. I was never on the same dose twice in a row.  Since I have become post menopausal they are much more stable again.  this would seem to indicate that my own fluctuating hormones could have been affecting my thyroid levels during this period of my life.

[hotstff]

Thanks country,
I think 'Im due to have my thyroid levels checked soon, so am going to make an appointment.
They only seem to want to check them once a year and even then I have to chase them up (phone them)

When it comes to keeping on top of thyroid and menopause matters, I think we have to take matters into our own hands - to a certain extent.

[babyjane]

I am so grateful for my consultant who always gives me 2 blood forms at each appointment so if I don't feel right before my next check is due I can get them done early.  He's a gem and these are for him   

[Hurdity]

Hereis the information I have quoted before about oral ve transdermal HRT and thyroid medication:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15142374

Interaction of estrogen therapy and thyroid hormone replacement in postmenopausal women

Abstract

Based on the use of estrogen therapy/hormone therapy (ET/HT) in postmenopausal women and the prevalence of hypothyroidism in this population, it is estimated that approximately 5% of all postmenopausal women receive treatment with both ET/HT and thyroid hormone replacement. Hormone therapy generally refers to the combined use of estrogens and progestins, the latter administered on a continuous or intermittent basis. HT is indicated for the treatment of postmenopausal women with intact uteri, whereas ET is used in women who have had hysterectomies. Because of its hepatic first-pass effect, oral estrogen therapy, the most commonly used modality of ET/HT, raises the circulating levels of thyroxine-binding globulin (TBG), thereby increasing the bound fraction and decreasing the free (bioactive) fraction of circulating thyroxine (T(4)). As a consequence, oral ET/HT may increase the T(4) dosage requirements of women being treated for primary hypothyroidism as well as alter the pituitary-thyroid axis in euthyroid women. This paper reviews the potential interaction between ET/HT and thyroid hormone replacement based on the prevalence of their concomitant use, mechanistic aspects of the interaction, and recent clinical studies of the effects of oral ET in euthyroid and hypothyroid women. Other agents known to interact with thyroid hormone replacement, including soy supplements, are also reviewed. Because transdermal ET does not affect TBG levels and would not be expected to alter thyroid function, it may be a preferable modality for postmenopausal women who require concomitant treatment with ET/HT and T(4).

I haven't come across any later studies.

This is what it says under the product info for oestrogen as part of HRT:

Oestrogens increase thyroid binding globulin (TBG), leading to increased circulating total thyroid hormone, as measured by protein-bound iodine (PBI), T4 levels (by column or by radio-immunoassay) or T3 levels (by radio-immunoassay). T3 resin uptake is decreased, reflecting the elevated TBG. Free T4 and free T3 concentrations are unaltered. Other binding proteins may be elevated in serum, i.e. corticoid binding globulin (CBG), sex-hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) leading to increased circulating corticosteroids and sex steroids, respectively. Free or biological active hormone concentrations are unchanged. Other plasma proteins may be increased (angiotensinogen/renin substrate, alpha-1-antitrypsin, ceruloplasmin).

https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/20976
http://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/7235/SPC

It gives the same info under transdermal and oral HRT so looks like a standard caveat.

Therefore on the basis of the study I would suggest transdermal HRT would be better - I have posted about this before.

If anyone who is expert on thyroid has any later studies please post the links!

Hurdity x

[Katejo]

As said you need to know your levels as you are now. If you stop or start any new drugs especially hormonal ones then you should have a retest after 2-3 months.  If you are put on thyroxine then you must insist on being tested every 6 mnths and not the 1 -2 years that some GP's do, things can change massively even in 6 months.

I have never forgiven my mothers Gp who only tested her levels once every 2 years and she was on high dose thyroxine.  She had terminal cancer which I now know means that her levels needed close monitering and she developed severe thyroid eye disease that he blamed on her cancer and it was only when she was admitted to the hospice that they knew exactly what was happening and she was severely over active due to massive overdosing on thyroxine.  This was before I trained as an advisor for thyroid support. If only I had known then what I knew later.

What do you know about the way that thyroxine (levothyroxine) interacts with Tegretol? I have only just found out that there is an interaction despite taking thyroxine since i was a baby (congenital hypothyroidism) and Tegretol since I was about 15. I am not on HRT. In the past couple of years I have had tingling sensations in my hands and feet and tight/aching balls of feet/calves. I am trying to decide whether it could be thyroid /menopause related. No periods for nearly 2 years.

[countrybumpkin]

Most drugs interact with thyroxine to some degree or other so we always advised that if you start a new drug then a few months later have a thyroid test even if its not 6 months since your last one.  If you are staying on whatever drug you are on longterm then your thyroxine can be adjusted as necessary.
Obviously for short term drugs its not necessary to get your thryoid tested as any change will be very short lived.

[Katejo]

Most drugs interact with thyroxine to some degree or other so we always advised that if you start a new drug then a few months later have a thyroid test even if its not 6 months since your last one.  If you are staying on whatever drug you are on longterm then your thyroxine can be adjusted as necessary.
Obviously for short term drugs its not necessary to get your thryoid tested as any change will be very short lived.

Thanks for that. I have just come back from the GP. He has basically rejected my theory and ticked me off for doing my own research which annoys me no end. I am however having another blood test to check the thyroxine levels in my blood.