Trying to Help my Mom (Hypothyroidism)

[Sitaruîm]

For some years now my mom has been taking Levothyroxine (T4) for her hypothyroidism. She is also bipolar and takes Risperidone and Valcote (sodium valproate). She is pretty functional and active but the main problem that I see is that she sleeps a lot, anywhere from 10 to 12 hours every night which seems a bit excessive. She has very low energy when she wakes up and lies in bed for a while, getting up is a struggle but during the rest of the day she is fine energy-wise. The other symptom that is a big nuisance is hand tremors, this is caused by the Risperidone.
I'd like her to be in a place where a regular sleep schedule of approximately 8 hours a night will be enough to sustain her.
This brings me to the question: how can I go about optimizing my mom's thyroid? The hand tremors are a secondary issue but if anyone on this board has experience with bipolar disorder and these pharmaceuticals I'd love to hear your input. I don't know what dosages she's taking of each drug but I can ask her if it will be of use.

 

[Vileplume]

Does she take her temperature with a reliable thermometer? That provides a first step, and an easy way to measure progress as she improves her thyroid function. It also makes it easier to know when to increase, and when to stop, thyroid supplementation.

 

[Sitaruîm]

Does she take her temperature with a reliable thermometer? That provides a first step, and an easy way to measure progress as she improves her thyroid function. It also makes it easier to know when to increase, and when to stop, thyroid supplementation.

She does not, I'll ask her about it

 

[Madlash]

Are the lengthy sleep requirement and lethargic mornings a result of the medications? Most antipsychotic medications have sedative effects.

 

[joyintheworld]

What are her labs...specifically FT3 and FT4? and RT3? She needs to add in cytomel or a T3.

 

[Neeters 27]

if her thyroid is not optimally treated, and she is not taking Hormone replacement therapy (If she is age 50 or older) then its probably sleep apnea as well. even if she doesnt snore she could be having apnea events. without hormone replacement the throat muscles get very lax as we age, and cause obstructive apnea. then the low thyroid causes central apnea/hypoxia. its so common. I was sleeping 12 hours a night and napping, felt exhausted all the time even WITH a Cpap machine at night. turns out all I needed was HRT and a higher dose of NDT thyroid. Thatfixed it. Also, I wonder if her mental state is caused by low hormones in the first place? because low Progesterone made me feel dreadful, and when I had estrogen dominance, I went a little loopy and was bitchy and screaming one minute and crying the next. hormones fixed me.

 

[rayban]

if her thyroid is not optimally treated, and she is not taking Hormone replacement therapy (If she is age 50 or older) then its probably sleep apnea as well. even if she doesnt snore she could be having apnea events. without hormone replacement the throat muscles get very lax as we age, and cause obstructive apnea. then the low thyroid causes central apnea/hypoxia. its so common. I was sleeping 12 hours a night and napping, felt exhausted all the time even WITH a Cpap machine at night. turns out all I needed was HRT and a higher dose of NDT thyroid. Thatfixed it. Also, I wonder if her mental state is caused by low hormones in the first place? because low Progesterone made me feel dreadful, and when I had estrogen dominance, I went a little loopy and was bitchy and screaming one minute and crying the next. hormones fixed me.

My mom does the snore start+stop thing I dont know what to do. Shes been doing this for years. Shes on 75mcg thyroid and she is around 4.5 ish TSH, same as me. They haven't tested any antibodies or anything other than ft4 for years. ft4 was 1.37 ng/dl (range 0.80 -1.76). Maybe she needs higher dose? perhaps try with 100mcg? Doc didn't say anything about thyroid, just said sugar came in a bit elevated and to decrease eating sugar a bit. I will test temps when the geratherm thermometer arrives.