Feeling incredibly stupid!

Mat48

Hi All,

Oh dear. Having moaned and fretted all night about feeling SO stiff all over to the point of not being able to move wrist fingers a knee and both feet, shoulder, neck etc - I'm feeling really foolish this morning. I went to take my usual morning dose of Levothyroxine for my underactive thyroid - been taking it for almost a decade so on auto pilot - when the amount in the foil packet caught my eye and suddenly I looked harder and realised I've been taking only 50mgs instead of 125 for four weeks now!

The packaging had changed and I hadn't looked properly so this could account for additional joint pain and for stiffness I now read. What a clot I am! Hoping it all goes away now sorry for bothering you all - Mat x :oops: :oops: :oops:

Ps I did have my thyroid levels checked back in July (normal) when arthritic symptoms were already well underway and had an ESR very raised and low positive R Factor - so it's not all been down to pre-existing thyroid problems - but my mistake could account for this recent flare and lethargy I'm sure!

cloud9

It's easily done so don't feel stupid. Hope you can get back on track quickly. xx

elnafinn

I too am on 125 mcg of thyroxine and I know what you mean, we are on auto pilot as we have been on that drug for years, although my dosage changed fairly recently and I too have made mistakes. :roll:

You will soon be racing around.

Elna x

Mat48

Thanks - nice of you to tell me it's easy mistake but still feeling fool! Just spoken to GP on phone and he agreed that this month's worth of error could well account for increased stiffness, swelling and joint pain plus fatigue. I've taken 150mgs today (swallowed down the 100mg in haste after the 2x25mgs ) so probably will be racing later - although currently still feeling stiff, sore, tired and old! Roll on levothyroxine OD - hoping I get overnight dramatic weight loss too you never know my luck?!
Mat x

elnafinn

you never know, you may!

Elna x

traluvie

I've done it myself Mat, easily done..
The good thing is you have noticed so can correct it now and will hopefully feel better soon..

Mat48

Ha ha well at least none of you will have to see me rushing about heart racing with boggly eyes for next few days! Not racing yet - still hobbly old thing with wrist splints but will let you know if and when the correction kicks in..just in case anyone else on here is as daft as I?! Mat x

stickywicket

Consider yourself an official member of the Stupid Club, Mat. I did exactly that with my methotrexate when they started giving me my (then) 20mgs in 2.5mg tabs instead of 10mg ones. Got it right for 2 weeks then went onto auto-pilot and got stiffer & stiffer on just 5mgs per week instead of 20.

angie45

Hey Mat
Don't feel too bad I had the same problem only it was one of the GP's at my health centre that made the mistake,he misread hospital letter and instead of upping my dosage by 25mcg to 125mcg he dropped it to 25mcg. I hadn't argued with the dosage as I had assumed he knew best. I lasted about a week before going back to get it checked. When I went back and saw my own GP he raised his eyes ceiling ward sighed and promptly wrote out a prescription for the correct dosage.
I hope the feeling lethargic goes away soon as it is horrible. Just think if the higher dosage doesn't bring you some weight loss all the exercise you'll get buzzing around should so you're on a win win situation.

Mat48

Hey thanks for all the tales of similar mistakes - especially the GP one because mine did sound vaguely amused and smug at my idiocy! Still waiting to miraculously shed 3 stone and get eyes like golf balls as I jog around town - but I'll be patient and settle for Monday as my target for anticipated miracle. :roll:

tkachev

Well I suppose it is better to underdose than overdose. I hope you feel better soon.

Elizabeth

Stu69

My Wife does that - she takes the 25mg and 50mg. Often gets 50 one day and 100 the next... they're all the same size when out of the blister packs

Mat48

Hey thanks again for being so nice to me. Amazed how little I knew about thyroid conditions until now having been diagnosed ten years ago.. what a duh I feel! I didn't even know it was an autoimmune disease too. I was on right levels for the first eight months of joint problems and only been on 75mgs too little for 28 days but anyway, for the interests of others on this site I just read this:

"Hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism can cause a variety of muscle or joint-related symptoms. Both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism are known to cause what are called myopathies -- the medical term for diseases that affect skeletal muscle.

Symptoms for those with hypothyroidism include:

General muscular weakness and pain, including cramps, and stiffness
General joint pain, achiness, stiffness, known as "arthropathy"
Tendonitis in the arms and legs
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome-- similar to carpal tunnel, with pain, tingling,burning and other discomfort in the arch of your foot, the bottom of the foot, possibly extending into the toes.

Symptoms for those with hyperthyroidism include:

difficulty climbing stairs
difficulty holding or gripping objects with hands
difficult reaching arms above the head.

Typically, the worst of these symptoms and conditions do usually resolve with proper treatment of the thyroid condition."

frogmorton

Oh Mat

you know l would be so very very very pleased if you do satrt to feel much much better.

Will you please let us know?

No you're not a clot! You're human like the rest of us!

Love

Toni xx

liesa

dont feel stupid... all done daft things like that, at east u can now expect to feel a bit better, xxx hugs xxx

Ankyspond

Ooohh if that's the safest thing you do in life you will be fine, no need to feel stupid. Xx

valval

welcome to the normal club we all do this sort of thing as a past time lol glad you sorted hope you feel better soon val

mp1952

Easily done matt..

Do let us know if this flare settles down when the right dose has got back into your system..

Marion

Mat48

Hmmm well certainly not any noticeable improvement yet - still hobbling down the stairs clinging to the bannister like a much older person than my 48 years, creaking and cracking and wimpering as I go. Optimistic hubby said "it'll probably feel much better in the morning?" but best not hold your breath replies a pessimistic me!

Will let you know if I'm a fully fledged athlete, or perhaps just a "normal" non -arthritic person anytime sooner or later. Thanks so much for all your nice comments...I still feel a clot but I don't feel like the only one anymore :P

hileena111

Oh Matt...that :oops: is funny....sorry but we all do similar things.....welcome to the group An official member now
At least you under dosed rather than over dosed so thats good...if you were doing it for so long it will take a little while for you feel normal again {whatever normal is for us }

Love
Hileena

Mat48

Oh I feel really chuffed to have been accepted as official now - that is a real honour almost worth remaining "abnormal" for - but only almost!

Seriously I guess it will take a while for my former dose of levothyroxine to kick back in - but d'you know sometimes you read stuff on the internet about the drug you are taking or the medical condition you think you might have and instead of things becoming clearer they just become murkier than ever?

I can't recall which site I was on this morning but I read that thyroid disease (or Hypothyroidism as I learnt only today that it's called) is often connected with other autoimmune diseases and may even precipitate "diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis for example" and that made my spirits slump a bit :sad:

It's not that I'm actually that scared of this suspect RA anymore - having been told by my GP 9 months ago that I probably did have it - (he even put me on sulfasalazine for it). So I kind of did my grieving, depression end of the world thing then and now feel more muddled than ever about whether I do or don't have it or whether this thing is menopausal and will be gone soon or whether I'm stuck with it to infinity and beyond. Wish I was a one day at a time type of person but I'm just not!

Having muddied the waters even further by taking the wrong dose of some drug that I haven't thought twice about shoving down me for ten years - has made me more confused than ever about what's causing what and how approach it re work, holidays, future etc. Crazy old world eh?

Headache still pounding away - but I won't look up headaches now I promise. And by heck I'm going to be careful about my pain meds tonight! Mat xx

woodbon

Hi, I hope that you have found the answer to your pain problems at night! I started taking slow release tramadol, which work much better for me than the ordinary one's. Just a few weeks after I started takeing them, I took my morning medication and soon after b/fast, I started to feel a bit odd, so I checked my meds and soon realised that I had taken 2 tramadol instead of 1! Read the packaging and found that the dose I was on was already high, the instructions covered in warnings about taking an extra dose and I already felt odd! So, with a feeling VERY stupid, I phoned the doctor and as luck would have it, was put through to the duty GP, who I used to work with and has a dry sense of humour. I told him what I'd done and asked if I'd be OK. He said yes, just sit down and enjoy the feeling, but don't drive! So I did and drifted through the day until I started to feel more myself. :oops: :oops: :oops: Hope you now start to feel better, at least if you do, you'll know the medication does really work! Love Sue xxx

Mat48

Golly that's a big one Sue! I don't think my mistake was actually dangerous because it was as you say an underdose. An OD of Levothyroxine would not be good I have read - bad for the heart.

I had resolved to try and see my GP today after having the most awful night with joint pains and stiffness so that I kept waking with fingers locked solid and finding a knee in hell or my shoulder or neck - the worst night yet - and that's saying a bit!

I felt furious with my GP in the middle of the night - and with rheumy too - for saying that on the basis of my anti-ccp and a brief consultation when still under the effects of steroid injection - that he definitely wouldn't be putting me on a DMARD at the next consultation in late November. I think my fury was born of the idea that it was my symptoms they should be going by not just my bloods?

But also on one hand they expect you to come to terms with the huge changes in lifestyle that this arthritic condition brings about re mobility and emotional strain etc - but on the other hand expect you to accept the prospect of being undiagnosed for as long as they may take with half a year between appointments? And having to be proactive and assertive about one's own health is very waring and demoralising somehow. If you go to the doc often then you feel a hypo but if you don't go you worry that something awful might be taking hold of you that no one else can see and which takes a doctor to diagnose.

And then this morning I discovered that i had no real basis for my fury after all because I may well have bought this level of pain and immobility on myself inadvertently - no wonder my GP sounded a bit amused - he must have felt I might be on the rampage in his waters?! :oops: But if it doesn't just die down then my furies might return and I'm better at dealing with these people when I'm in cross mode. Being victim/ passive recipient isn't good for the soul somehow?! Mat x

Wonkylegs

Val put it so well in her earlier thread - welcome to the 'normal' club!

I have been taking so many different pills for years that I used to find myself struggling to sort them all out in the mornings when my fingers were so bad. SO .... I purchased several of those special boxes that you can sort a weeks worth of pills into.

All went well until I got so used to them, and one particularly tricky week I was using the box that had a whole week in, rather than the individual days being separate.

In a daze, walked into kitchen, opened box, swallowed pills, put box away and then realised that instead of taking my evening pills (pain killers and antidepressants) I'd in fact taken the pills meant for the morning (BP tablet, folic acid & another anti-inflammatory) :shock:
It was half past 11, hubby was in bed fast asleep, and I was worried because as with the tramadol there were warnings not to take too many of the BP meds or serious problems would be possible!

Rang the out of hours GP service, and a lovely GP rang me back. He was so sweet, we had a bit of a laugh about it, and he reassured me that I'd be ok as long as I went and laid down before the BP med had time to work ..... as if I wasn't already laid down it may just do it for me I do remember feeling particularly unwell the next day, but that was short lived.

funny, I've not used that particular box since

Welcome to the club!

hugs ((()))
WOnky

madwestie

Mat I've been on pain killers for oa in my neck for over 20 years ( I have ra too now) and some day I sit at work thinking why does my neck/head aches so much then I realise that it is 2pm and I haven't taken my 10am pain meds and as for the lunchtime gabapentin well the number of times I take it at 5 pm.

We are a select club but an ever growing one

I hope you start to feel the benefits soon

Tracey

hileena111

This isnt much help to you Matt for for the female members....
I've got epilepsy as well as arthur and other things .....
I take tablets morning lunchtime and night for that.
OA well if I miss my tablets I'm very sore and soon remember I've missed them but this is a different matter alltogether.....especially when you are a driver. I've been stable for 30 years now but still have to be careful with the meds.
So at night take them going to bed, get the next days and put them in a common or garden little box and when i get undressed I put them in my bra, Getting up in the morning I find them as I lift it take the morning ones and pop the box into the bed {just under the beclothes.} Going to bed at night pull the duvet back and there the box is.Voila!!!!!Fill it up again for the next day and on and on it goes
As for the lunchtime one..well between lunchtime and teatime :oops: Thats only one tablet and I set that on the coffee jar in the kitchen....I'm a coffeeholic so bound to see it some time during the day.
Wish I could remember my arthur meds as easily.
Love
Hilena