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Is It Safe To Take Actalin For Hypothyroidism?

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Posted on Wed, 10 Jun 2015
Question: Is actalin an alternative for hypothyroid, the medicine my dr. gave effected my heart.?
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Answered by Dr. Ivo Ditah (1 hour later)
Brief Answer:
Actalin is not an alternative!

Detailed Answer:
Hi and thank you so much for this query.

I am so sorry to hear about this hypothyroidism. With a TSH of 5.146, you are not being well treated for this condition. You would continue to have symptoms of hypothyroidism such as fatigue, cold sensation, dry skin, constipation, etc. I recommend that you doctor review your drugs and probably increase your dosage of levothyroxine.

Actalin is a supplement. I will not recommend it for thyroid disease. What is your heart rate? How do you know that you have a skipping heartbeat?

I wish you well. I hope to hear from you.


Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj
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Follow up: Dr. Ivo Ditah (21 minutes later)
My Dr. prescribed 25 mg of Levothyroxine and it cause my heart to skip. Since I thought it was racing my Dr. stopped the medication. I went to a Cardiologist who conducted an EKG stress and saw the heart skipping, not racing. He had me do a 24 hour heart moniter test and it showed 4k skips over 24 hours out of over 100k beats about 4%. Felt the medicine caused it.

Is a TSH of 5.1 real high?

Thanks
doctor
Answered by Dr. Ivo Ditah (6 hours later)
Brief Answer:
A TSH of 5.1 is high. Upper normal limit is 4.

Detailed Answer:
Hi and thanks for this follow up.

You might have skipped beats but most likely not caused by levothyroxine. A TSH of 5 is high and for sure you should get thyroid hormone supplementation. I don't really think the drugs caused this as it is nothing more than replacing a substance that is normally present in the body. Your dose is very tiny and unlikely to cause heart irregularities.

If you have stopped the drugs, it would be interesting to see how this plays out on the heart beats. If it gets better, then I may join you in believing so. However, this is unlikely to happen.

In all, let your doctors evaluate you off the medication and see what the exact situation is.

Keep me updated about this.
Note: For more detailed guidance, please consult an Internal Medicine Specialist, with your latest reports. Click here..

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E
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Answered by
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Dr. Ivo Ditah

Internal Medicine Specialist

Practicing since :2002

Answered : 3984 Questions

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Is It Safe To Take Actalin For Hypothyroidism?

Brief Answer: Actalin is not an alternative! Detailed Answer: Hi and thank you so much for this query. I am so sorry to hear about this hypothyroidism. With a TSH of 5.146, you are not being well treated for this condition. You would continue to have symptoms of hypothyroidism such as fatigue, cold sensation, dry skin, constipation, etc. I recommend that you doctor review your drugs and probably increase your dosage of levothyroxine. Actalin is a supplement. I will not recommend it for thyroid disease. What is your heart rate? How do you know that you have a skipping heartbeat? I wish you well. I hope to hear from you.