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What on earth is this feeling in my stomach?

7 replies

somethingsome · 13/02/2023 18:00

I'm going to try and cut a long story short. (Apologies, just noticed - this is a long post!) hope somebody could give me some advice and reassure me as I'm quite concerned and do suffer from a bit of health anxiety.

In 2011 I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism. For around 5 years I was feeling good on the dosage I was on. In 2019, I decided to embark on a very intense exercise programme and had an awful flare up. At the time, I didn't understand what was happening. Had all the classic symptoms of Hashimotos (which I am 99.9% I have - waiting for a private bloodtest to confirm). Blood test confirmed that I was low during this time, and higher dose was needed. Fast forward to end of 2021, lots of things were happening during this time in my life - as a family we were preparing to move abroad and there was a lot of stress involved. I started to experience extreme fatigue and generally feeling unwell. I also noticed during this particular flare up that I was experiencing a strange discomfort (not pain) high up in my abdomen - just under my ribs. The only way I can describe this feeling is food that just can't break down - or a big ball of gas. I tried everything to relive it but it wouldn't go. It wasn't constant however, and when I was distracted it wouldn't bother me. During that time I was experiencing blood in my stool and itchy lumps so I was very worried. A blood test later confirmed that I was low again, and although I was booked in for a flexible sigmoidoscopy, with the higher dosage everything settled down and the doctor felt around down there and said no lumps could be felt.

We moved abroad and everything was fine, but unfortunately my partner and I split and I moved back to the UK. The cold weather and all the stress of the break up led to a horrible flare up again, with the same stomach issues. It was extremely difficult for me to get an appointment due to the run up to Christmas so I upped the dosage myself and started to feel well again. A blood test one month later confirmed everything was fine, so I knew the higher dose was needed. Another month later, and I started to have another flare up again. The stomach issues returned along with extreme fatigue, tremors and I felt that I had been hit my a bus. I upped my meds by 25mcg and the stomach issues resided. The next day, they came back. It has been like this for about two weeks now, and last weekend I felt so ill I couldn't get out of bed. I'm very confused and don't know what to do. I am now on 150mcg and the stomach issues are still there, along with a bit of pain in my hands.

I rang the doctors last week and have an appointment for Saturday but I am unsure if that is with the doctor or nurse.

For full disclosure, I had my gallstones when I was 15 and underwent surgery so it's not gallbladder related. The stomach issues are never isolated and always occur with other symtoms.

I don't know what to do at this point. I am just very worried about my stomach and whether it's something more sinister than hashimotos/thyroid related.

OP posts:
Smartiepants79 · 13/02/2023 18:06

Sounds like it could be a type of reflux. I’m prone to it especially when stressed or anxious.
Never painful.
Just feels like my stomach is bloated but empty at he same time even just after eating. Also affects my throat with a sort of cough and blocked feeling.

AlotIsntAWord · 13/02/2023 18:07

Patients with hypothyroidism can suffer from low stomach acid which, conversely, gives symptoms of indigestion-pain just under your ribs. Your stomach is higher up than most people think. The bloating and cramps people get with ‘stomachache’ are actually intestinal.
A morning shot of apple cider vinegar can increase your stomach acid enough to stop the pain.
Alternatively h pylori can cause pain.

SeaToSki · 13/02/2023 18:08

It might be Lupus, but it might be over medicating with thyroxine, the symptoms at boths end of the range can be annoyingly similar

JustDanceAddict · 13/02/2023 18:31

Could be reflux!

somethingsome · 13/02/2023 18:59

SeaToSki · 13/02/2023 18:08

It might be Lupus, but it might be over medicating with thyroxine, the symptoms at boths end of the range can be annoyingly similar

I don't think it's Lupus because I've never had the red butterfly rash associated with it.

The stomach issues often come on when I eat, but not always. I don't think it's IBS as one doctor mentioned years ago. I do sometimes get bloating, but not all the time. Also, no nausea or feeling sick with it.

I've had acid reflux and it's not that. It's always gone away with medication but it's not going away now.

I was thinking it could be low stomach acid or an overgrowth of bacteria but I thought that caused sickness and vomiting.

Anyone suggest I try upping my meds up again to 175mcg? Its quite a jump fro 75mcg that I was on a few months ago though.

OP posts:
SeaToSki · 13/02/2023 19:13

You need to get your tsh, t3 free t4 levels done. You might be taking far too much thyroxine and there are serious side effects of doing so. It sounds like you have gone from taking 125mcg daily and are now on 150mcg and contemplating 175 mcg without any blood tests?

also you can have Lupus without a rash.

somethingsome · 13/02/2023 19:23

SeaToSki · 13/02/2023 19:13

You need to get your tsh, t3 free t4 levels done. You might be taking far too much thyroxine and there are serious side effects of doing so. It sounds like you have gone from taking 125mcg daily and are now on 150mcg and contemplating 175 mcg without any blood tests?

also you can have Lupus without a rash.

Yes, I am worried about taking too much and perhaps I am? It's only because each time, the symptoms have disappeared with an increased dosage but understand the symptoms and risks of taking too much also.

I think I'll order a private full function thyroid test. My doctors are useful tbh and I don't think they test for T3. I would also like to know for definite that I have Hashimoto's which I'm 99.9% sure I do as that is one of the main causes for Hypothyroidism. Doctors do not do the antibody test for it and fail to inform patients about it. No idea why. I've done a ton of research into the autoimmune disease and everything I've experienced has pointed to it (particularly the flare ups).

I will ask about Lupus too - just to rule it out. Quite a few similar symptoms there.

OP posts:
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