Hi I been taking this tablets for 6 weeks now (3 5mg 3 times a day). I read in the leaflet that came with it if you got sore throat STOP taking the tablets and see your doctor, what I would like to know is how bad must the sore throat be to stop taking the tablets? Can anyone tell me before I rang my GP.
I was diagnosed with Graves disease about six years ago at the age of 34. I understood the reason to be careful about the sore throat was because the Carbimazole can reduce your immune system and the sore throat could be a sign of this. I had several sore throats and was blood tested a few times but all was ok. The sore throat was at times very severe but this did not indicate anything adverse for me. I was on the drug for about 18 months in total. I was sent to a London hospital for radio-iodine but refused it. My condition gradually improved, I came off teh drug and have not been affected since. Hence I was very glad I did not have the radio iodine or I would be on permanent thyroixine now.
i have been on carbimazole for two months now and have had a very sore throat, went to my gp who just gave me antibiotics. Explained to GP other symptoms im having such as weight gain, depression and generally feeling unwell and GP said this condition Hyperthyroidism is beyond them and should wait to see specialist in two weeks. this is frustrating for me as i have a two year old and want to get back to work but most of the time cant be bothered to get out of bed in the morning. Are these symptoms from carbimazole or hyperthyroidism?
I have been taking carbimazole for 7 weeks now, been to my gp quite a few times because i feel very lethargic and have severe mood swings. i have a three year old and struggle to do stuff with him through the day because i feel soo tired. i am also on proprananol 3 times a day for palpitations and trembling. my gp has just done more blood tests and is sending me back to my consultant because my levels were off the scale. when do you start to feel normal again because i cant cope with this for much longer.
i also get severe headaches and lose my vision, my endocrinologist send me for a ct scan haven't had results yet, has anyone else had this and what are they looking for.
take care all.
Hi ollysmum23, how did it go with the consultant? I feel the same and have been on carbimazole for about 7 weeks now. I'm seeing the consultant next Thurs but feel so ill.
I was diagnosed last November and have been very poorly with overactive thyroid.
I am now on 10mg carbimazole a day and feel much better. Am no longer on beta-blockers. Coming to this Forum helped me a lot and I want to tell you to hang in there because you will feel better but it does take a long time.
You never think you're going to feel human again.
Your heart rate will settle, the runs will get better, your tremor will stop, breathlessness will improve, but muscle weakness takes a lot longer. The crying will stop, the sicky feeling goes and you will sleep through the night again.
YOU MUST REST whenever possible. Believe me, rest has helped me get better. I only do one thing a day and then rest and I am not afraid to say NO if I don't want to go somewhere or see someone, as I found I suffered the day after.
Hope this helps.
Thanks again Kaye,
You've really made my day. I've been waiting for someone to say that it does get better and I'm not going mad.
My last 4 weeks have been hell although I have felt better in myself over the last few days. I've seen the endo on Thurs and my levels are coming down but after getting more angry/weepy, less muscle strength and other stuff I was begining to feel like it would never end.
The info about resting is good as I normally go all guns blazing if I get a good day and it's left to my mum to tell me to rest (I'm 38 yrs old mind you!)
Hope you are starting to feel more human. I hate my thyroid and what it has done to my body and well-being. Im 49 and used to be at the gym three times a week, always on the go etc etc. I am no longer working as energy levels took a huge dip, but I am starting to feel much better now.
No one REALLY tells you what will happen to you with an overactive thyroid! I have now started to put on weight, which, for years, I have battled with, but have decided not to worry about it and go with the flow.
Who'd be a woman??!!
Take care and keep resting.
I was the same, a very active gym goer and only saw the doctor because I was lifting less weight with every session (not the normal way it goes :? ) and going on the cross trainer set my heartrate at 220 bpm within 2 minutes followed by chest pains!
My appetite has always been good but eating everything in site and feeling starving within 5 minutes was definately odd. Unfortunately I gained about 1.5 stones until I went on meds. I've now lost about a third of that just down to the fact I'm eating more normally (obviously I'm not exercising yet!)
I'm self employed so I've been able to take a back seat and my husband has taken over everything except phone calls and emails. We've even employed cleaners as I just can't keep on top of that.
The most frustrating thing for me is not being in control. I have no control over my body anymore, it controls me! My levels are on the way down but I know I could start gaining weight any time soon. The only thing that helps where that's concerned is that I wouldn't need to consume the amounts I have, and I'd be healthy enough to actually work it off!!!
It does feel like a lifetime just existing though and thats difficult to get my head around, no wonder I want to kill someone sometimes!!!
Take care, I know things will get better.
Shaz
Hi Shaz,
I was finding it really hard to lose weight before being diagnosed, even with going to a diet and exercise club and the gym. When I was diagnosed the weigh fell off (1.5 stone in a week!) along with all my muscles which became just like jelly! All that hard work in the gym ruined! Although I was told that had I not been as fit, when I was rushed to hospital (heart rate 220 and in Resus for 9 hours) it could have been fatal. I don't want to even think about that!
I have put the weight back on without trying, which is a pain, and have been advised not to go back to exercising just yet, although I am walking for half an hour each day. I feel at least I am doing something. My levels are coming down and do feel much better, although not working as still get weak. Have got another blood test on Monday.
You hit the nail on the head when you said you weren't in control. That's exactly how I feel. I am an organised person and always on the go, but this has stopped me in my tracks.
Oh well, onwards and upwards!!
Kay x
I was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid in February. I had been feeling really poorly since beginning of December and landed up in hospital in January as my heart was racing(I already have heart problems)just thought it was my heart working it self. I saw the Endo at the end of February. He he immediatly started me on 20mg carbimazole twice a day I am already on beta blockers for my heart. My heart rate was still going fast. Like you I enjoyed going to the gym and from the beginning of December to February I had lost 3 stone. I thought I was doing really not realising it was the thyroid. Since then I have put on a stone in weight. I am suffering depression and anxiety and I am taking antidepressants. I have no strength in my arms or legs, I find walking up the stairs such a chore. I am always tired but I am lucky if I get 3 hours a sleep a night. I went back to work and I am building my hours back up. I needed to get back into a kind of normalty. I find it a struggle most days but at the end of each day I feel I have achieved something. I know it will eventually get better. Supposedly my thyroid levels were sky high and at least they are coming down. I am starting to feel more human again but time will tell. I go back to see the endo at beginning of June and they are thinking of doing \"block and replace\". I didnt realise how much your thyroid can affect your life but my god it does. So everyone out there good luck with everything and try to remember things can only get better. Lets face it they cant get much worse.
Bye for now
Sylvia9
Hi Kaye and Sylvia,
It's great to hear from people that are coping with it at the moment and not just looking at text from months ago wondering if that person was ever cured.
I am generally an optimist and 'normal me' as I call it now was very organised, very active, very clean (washing is sooo energy consuming!!!) and great at dealing with incompetence. 'Me now' is none of the above and I now just have to laugh it off when I've found that I've just gone and thrown something at some receptionist or verbally abused some jobsworth on the phone!
Sometimes it's like watching someone else and I'm hoping my meds kick in properly before I end up in front of the police for unsociable behavior!
I told my endo that I didn't like the idea of iodine as I felt my thyroid was likely to have spurts of going up and down due to a history of undiagnosed weight loss, palpitations etc. throughout my life. I said I wasn't convinced that it was just my thyroids problem and that there was no proof that something else in the endocrine system couldn't have triggered it. As you can tell - I think too much! Surprisingly for me, he nodded his head and kind of sighed. This just makes me think that they haven't yet discovered what Graves really is and we don't necessarily have to have our thyroid glands killed off to get better.
Anyway, the optimist in me feels that by controlling this with drugs and not killing it off and having a life of drugs, means I'll be fixed for good one day!
Roll on that day 'cos I can't sleep which is why I'm on a forum after midnight!!
Take care,
Going ever so slightly mad Shaz.
Hi!
Reading your experiences on the forum does help - we are NOT going mad, but I feel like it sometimes! Who would have thought a little thyroid could make us all feel like this?!
I had a blood test yesterday so get the results tomorrow. Let's hope it's not gone under now, as that has happened to someone else I met on the forum. It's like a juggling act! I know people through the forum that have been put on anti-depressants when clearly it is thyroid problems. Anything to shut us up I expect!!
I've got Graves but a mild dose I think. I went to the opticians and had an eye scan, just for peace of mind. The endo didn't think this necessary, but I don't thing they REALLY know enough about it. There are so many different reports from different Primary Care Trusts it seems.
You will get faster going up the stairs - my husband used to push me up by my bum! And getting up from crouching down on the floor puting the washing in has been a nightmare to get up again! That is improving now though.
Will we ever be normal again??!! Sorry to rant!
Kay x
HI
Kaye you sound like you are coping brilliantly. I find just trying to brush my hair my arms get so tired. I was at work the other week and for some reason decided to get the stairs. I was with a work colleague and we work on the first floor. There are 2 flights of stairs to climb. I managed the first set but by the time I got to the second it was a struggle. I was on the stairs with my colleague in fits of laughter because I couldnt go up nor could I go down. People were walking past us and thought we was completely stark raving bonkers. I do really stupid things too, like not being able to work the washing machine. Good grief I've used one most of my life. My favorte one is constantly loosing the car. I can never remember where I have parked it. So if ever you see this mad woman wandering around any ASDA car park its bound to be me looking for my car. I go back to see the endo at the beginning of June when they will decide whether do this \"block and replace\" I dont really care if they do that but I dont want to have the iodine treatment. That is for caring needs more than anything else. I am trying to pull things together and I am trying to laugh at myself more. It can be hard when you are just so sick of everything that goes on. I am sure my name is on a reserved seat at the doctors because I'm never away. Thank goodness I have a doctor who listens and is very sympathetic and gives really good advice
Take care everyone out there. We will beat this thing it might just take a little while
Thanks for listening
Sylvia9
I am coping well, but have been through the stages where I haven't been able to get up the stairs. That does improve.
I've been quite lucky because I gave up work in October and then got diagnosed the week after! Typical! No sick pay! I left work because I'd been unhappy there for about a year (some woman being horrible to me and I couldn't take any more) and also I lost my Mum suddenly last July to cancer (she's only been ill for 9 days before she died) - I think these things were the trigger for my thyroid.
Anyhow, I had my monthly blood test result today and unfortunately it's gone up! It is in the normal range of 12-22 (has been 16 for 2 months) but was 18 today and I presume it's because (a) the carbimazole was reduced to 10mg last month and (b) I've done too much, which is more likely to be the cause - because I've been feeling better I've been whizzing round the house with my duster and hoover!!
I'm 49 and have been feeling 69 lately! Things can only get better ..........
Kay x
I'm confused about these ranges. My endo has given me some for T3 and T4 but they don't seem to match up with any ranges I see in forums. Is there a range I need to be asking about and has anyone found a level they feel well in?
Shaz
I started to think I was going crazy...but it seems I am not alone. Shaz-I feel exactly the same. Short temper, mood swing, tired, weak, emotional... I'm not me anymore and I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel. I have always been bubbly, positive, and active. I haven't felt like this since puberty.
I was hypothyroid and took synthoid about a year ago...I stopped taking it cuz i wasn't sleeping and got super jittery with palpitations. While this was going on my mom got very very sick and the stress of it along with other personal and work related problems catapulted me into extreme hyperthyriodism which turned out to be graves disease. My tsh is less than .005, T 14.9 and T3 77.83. I am now on 40mg carbimazole and 10 mg inderol (betablockers.) I cry every day and I cant concentrate. I can't lift anything heavy and I can't go up stairs. I have night terrors (already prone to nightmares.)
I just got back from a trip to London with children; seeing the sights and keeping up with them took every bit of effort and energy I possess. I got back home to Kuwait exhausted and sick. I'm coughing, blocked nose, sore throat, having trouble breathing, and aching. My dr gave me a shot of Olfen and oxygen then sent me home. I asked if I need a white blood cell test, she said no... The olfen def made me feel better, but after researching online I am worried that I need that blood test. Does anyone know of an alternative to Carbimazole? The nightmares and crying are making my life a living hell. Thanks for any info and good luck to all of you under treatment!
Hi I've been diagnosed yet again with an overactive thyroid third time for me in ten years seems to right itself quickly with carbimazole. This time though I have got wobbly legs climbing upstairs is very hard for me and taking the dog for a walk next to impossible. I'm still going to work which is very hard. Feeling exhausted all the time cos I'm trying to just carry on now I've got a sore throat not a bad one think I will have to stop taking it until I can see the doctor on Tuesday. Does anyone else stop immediately or wait till they've seen their doctor.
Hi Shelly, I just started taking carbimazole about 3 weeks ago and started to get a sore throat. My original GP did nothing about it so I decided to go to another GP (I wasn't booked in to see my specialist again for another month). The new GP said it looked okay but did a blood test anyway, where he checked my blood cell counts and my liver and kidney function (my liver function was mildly out of range before starting carbimazole). My blood cell count came back normal, but my liver function has significantly worsened within 4 weeks. The doctor contacted my endocrinologist, who said to continue with the meds and to have another blood test in 2 weeks to check my liver function, because they don't know if it's my thyroid or the medication affecting the liver! Naturally, all of this has stressed me out as I am only in my mid 20s and am having both thyroid and liver problems now!
Anyway, in response to your question about stopping medication if you get a sore throat... The reason they say to stop the meds and get a blood test is because in some cases the medication can weaken your immune system. According to my doctor, you should only stop the meds if you get a sore throat AND a fever, or mouth ulcers or any sign of infection. Since I didn't not have a fever when I had a sore throat, my doctor was not concerned but did the blood test for peace of mind (and lucky he did or I wouldn't know about my recent liver problems!). If you have a fever as well as a sore throat, I suggest stopping the meds and getting a blood test ASAP. Good luck!!
Hi Katz I spoke to my GP who said to keep taking the Carbimazole as it was only a minor sore throat but I still had a blood test to see if all OK and it was. Its all about blood tests galore really hate it. Having one next week to check my levels. I'm on 20mg of Carbimazole at the moment but its not having a massive effect I'm taking a beta blocker as well as my heart is racing and I'm shaking quite a bit which seems to have settled a bit. My legs are slightly better hills and steps are still hard but I'm still trying to take the dog once a day I've got my son to take him the other time, shame really cos I love walking. My GP says within a month my legs should feel a lot better heres hoping. Michelle