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Diagnosed With Bipolar 2. On Levothyroxine. Will Lowering Levothyroxine Make Me Hypo-manic Again?
Posted on
Fri, 12 Apr 2013
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Fri, 12 Apr 2013
Answered on
Mon, 29 Apr 2013
Last reviewed on
Question : I'm 51 and diagnosed bipolar 2. went on 50mcg of levothyroxine about 4 years ago and it really leveled out my moods. I recently had my TSH level checked and it was .01. I went down to 25 mcg of levothyroxine and hypo mania started quickly so I resumed the 50 mcg. BUT, my heart rate has been 125-133 for the last three months, My BP two days ago was 116/68, heart rate was 125. My psych and my primary are arguing about the levothyroxine. I'm worried about my heart rate, but I also worry about lowering the levothyroxine and becoming hypo-manic again. Any suggestions?
Hello,
Thanks for choosing health care magic for posting your query.
Hypothyroidism does cause mood disturbances, but thyroxine is not a primary treatment for mood disorder. You should focus on your thyroid levels and physical problems with thyroxine and leave the mood problems to be taken care of with the help of other drugs. You physical problems are more important that you psych problems.
Secondly, I couldn't notice any front line mood stabilizer in your treatment protocol. You should ask your psychiatrist to consider adding valproate and quetiapine instead of focusing on thyroxine. If lamictal and keppra are not working they should be discontinued.
Also ask your treating psychiatrist to consider you for cognitive behavioural therapy.
Lastly regular exercise and good diet will go along way in helping you.
Hope I am able to answer your concerns.
If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.
If not, you can close the discussion and rate the answer accordingly.
In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link:
bit.ly/dr-srikanth-reddy
Wish you good health,
Dr. Srikanth Reddy M.D.
Thanks for choosing health care magic for posting your query.
Hypothyroidism does cause mood disturbances, but thyroxine is not a primary treatment for mood disorder. You should focus on your thyroid levels and physical problems with thyroxine and leave the mood problems to be taken care of with the help of other drugs. You physical problems are more important that you psych problems.
Secondly, I couldn't notice any front line mood stabilizer in your treatment protocol. You should ask your psychiatrist to consider adding valproate and quetiapine instead of focusing on thyroxine. If lamictal and keppra are not working they should be discontinued.
Also ask your treating psychiatrist to consider you for cognitive behavioural therapy.
Lastly regular exercise and good diet will go along way in helping you.
Hope I am able to answer your concerns.
If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.
If not, you can close the discussion and rate the answer accordingly.
In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link:
bit.ly/dr-srikanth-reddy
Wish you good health,
Dr. Srikanth Reddy M.D.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Thanks for the follow-up query,
You can still consider adding Valproate. Thyroid should be given with respect to your physical condition and TSH levels.
Mood fluctuations can be taken care of with other medications.
Sleep can be taken care of by Zolpidem.
Hope I am able to answer your concerns.
If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.
If not, you can close the discussion and rate the answer accordingly.
In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link:
bit.ly/dr-srikanth-reddy
Wish you good health,
Dr. Srikanth Reddy M.D.
You can still consider adding Valproate. Thyroid should be given with respect to your physical condition and TSH levels.
Mood fluctuations can be taken care of with other medications.
Sleep can be taken care of by Zolpidem.
Hope I am able to answer your concerns.
If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.
If not, you can close the discussion and rate the answer accordingly.
In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link:
bit.ly/dr-srikanth-reddy
Wish you good health,
Dr. Srikanth Reddy M.D.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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