1. Community
  2. Diabetes and hormone problems
  3. Levothyroxine Sodium

Levothyroxine high heart rate side effect?

Posted , 3 users are following.

oksi
oksi

Hi guys

I need your advice. I am female 50 yo was recently deagnosted with hypotheroidism. TSH- 5.9, T4-5.3, T3- 30.8. I was feeling fatigue, depressed, tired, with anxieity and panic attacks for more than 10 years. TSHlevel was normal all these years, but my doctor never checked T4 or T3 levels. Last year it was getting worse, I gained 10 kg, my skin is dry, i'm still depressed and anxious. So, my GD prescribed me Levothyroxin 25mcg. After 3 weeks i started to feel really good, but my heart rate was 95-107. I stopped for about a week and than my doctor recommened to take 1/4 of pill. I did for couple of days, but heart continiued to race. I stopped again. After 2 weeks I still have 100 pulse rate. Is it possible that this med can cause it? Is it still in my blood? How long does it take to get rid of this? I don't have any other health issues, except i am on Effexor for 10 years for anxiety and panic attacks.

 

1 like, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • Neldog
    Neldog oksi

    Posted

    Can you confim your free t3 reading and your diagnosis please.     A tsh. Of  5.9 shows that your pituary gland beluves you are short of thyroid hormones, but a free t3 of over 30 shows you are not short but have too many thyroid hormones.     Do you have the reference range for the free t3?   Unless its a typo, something is very odd.

    x

    • oksi
      oksi Neldog

      Posted

      Hi Neismydog! Thank you for responce.

      My results before meds: TSH 5,9 (range 0.178-4.530), T3 30.8 (range 24.3-39.0), T4 5.3( range 4.9-12.9)

      After 3 weeks of taking Levothyroxine the results were : TSH 2.32 (range 0.178-4.53), T4 0.94 (range .080-1.73), T3 wasn't done.

      That's why my GP told me to change a dose to 1/4 from 25mcg.

      I did for couple of date but my heart beat was 107, so I stopped meds completetly. Now in 2 weeks my heart rate still 100, but I feel like crap again, tired, fatigued, slipping until 3pm.

      My GP gave me prescription for Terosin, but my insurance didn't approve it yet. And honestly I'm afraid to take it before my heart rate comes to normal.

       

  • biglewz
    biglewz oksi

    Posted

    i am not a doctor oksi, but have been taking levothyroxine about a year at diff dosage levels. my heart rate and blood pressure rose immediately after starting the medicine and i was told by dr beforehand that heart rate and blood pressure would prob go up. so the answer to that part of your question is yes. it does not mean the medicine has caused it in your case for sure, but higher heart rate and blood pressure is a known effect from levothyroxine. it does not effect all users the same so some will get those effects and others will not. regarding the lingering effect after coming off the medicine or reduced the dose, i believe it is possible depending on the situation with your thyroid gland. if your thyroid gland is actually working, sometimes the medicine kind of primes the gland and causes it to start producing more of its own natural hormones - this will result in thyroid levels climbing and thus your dr llowering the dose or stopping it altogether since your dose from the start was the smallest and easy to stop taking. sometimes it appears that when a patient is first starting levothyroxine, the up and down results in your bloodwork can happen, causing some knee jerk changes in dosage of the med - this has happened with me as well and ive been as high as 100mcg to as low as 25mcg and currently and in between at 65mcg. we all have different reasons for the need of this kind of medicine but it is discouraging when we discover that taking a medicine like this one, levothyroxine, can lead to more side effects than we had without the medicine. i wish you the best and please take my remarks with a grain of salt since i am not a dr.
    • Neldog
      Neldog biglewz

      Posted

      Are you absolutely sure you arent having an allergic reaction to the fillers in whatever thyroid meds you have?   If t4 is making your heart beat faster as soon as you take it, it might be worth trying a different brand or at least taking it alongside an antihistamine.

      Levothyroxine is an inert storage hormone, it has no action until it is converted into t3.  Many people seem to be poor converters.

        X

    • biglewz
      biglewz Neldog

      Posted

      i do not have any t3, t4, t5 data etc. only my oncologist been monitoring thyroid and i only know that one number last time was over 80 and she upped my dose of levothyroxine. i have had a lot of side effects from the very bigging when the dose was only 25mcg and honestly felt better w/o the medicine. she started me on it because of my thryoid blood levels. i have lost my eyebrows, eyelashes, have diahrea pretty much every day all day no matter what i eat, have burning eyes, constant post nasal drip and runny nose and half to blow it 100times a day, my notrils are burnt up and sting at night from blowing it all the time, have dry mouth at nite, also persistent cough and shortness of breath. all these effects are complicated because i had a much less noticable persistent cough before i started any treatment and was slightly but very slightly short of breath before treatment also. i did not have the blow my nose constantly though and no eye burning or diahrea either until treatment started. complication also from taking cabometx chemo oral drug, small dose 40mg but i do not know which medicine is causing which side effects.

      your suggestion for an antihystamine is very instersting my primary care physician just this week, after reviewing all my side effects, presecribed 10mg loratadine to see if it could help - he suspects allergy to dust mites or mold/mildew environment and not necessarily the levothyroxine. however, i noticed some improvement in the runny nose, post nasal drip and cough right away. i have taken the loratadine 3 days so far and it seems to be helping with those side effects. i am not blowing my nose half as many times as previous and not coughing as much either. my eyes still burn, possibly from the cabometx chemo.

      i have been trying to get an appt with an endocronologist but one of only two in my area is ill and has passed his clients to the other one - i am on a waiting list to even get an appointment with the 2nd one so for now i have only the primary care physical and oncologist treating me.

      honestly, i hate what i have been reading about negative effects of levothyroxine and i want off of it if at all possible and to see if my body metabilism is normal etc w/o the drug. my oncologist told me that all of us have different tolerances for the thyroid levels in our blood. what is low for one could be normal for another etc. i value your thoughts and thank you very much.

    • oksi
      oksi biglewz

      Posted

      Thank you! That was really helpfull!
    • Neldog
      Neldog biglewz

      Posted

      Levothyroxine doesnt really cause side effects, but  either the fillers, not getting enough of it, or not being able to use it due to poor levels of vitamins and minerals..   ( Cortisone, b12. D3, iron, copper, zinc and ferritin) all mean it gets a bad press.

      i did very well on levothyroxine for several years but after dieting, i lost the ability to convert it into  t3.       85% of people who are given levo do fine with it.   The other 15% are the ones you hear about.......

      You may be one of the 85%.       If your tsh is over 80, you really shouldnt  be  seeing how you go without meds.        Keep changing brands until you find one you like......    And get all your vits and minerals optimised.   Just in range isn't good enough.

       

    • biglewz
      biglewz Neldog

      Posted

      thank you Neismydog - i was advised to stop vitamins when the chemo drugs started so i may be deficient on several. prior to the discovery of cancer and treatment, i was anemic and had been prescribed iron, D3, and C vitamins but stopped them all shortly after. i started chemo first and still am taking it and the levothyroxine came into the equation later. i have not been able to get any different maker of levothyroxine because the pharmacy in my area says it is the only one they can get. so... im not sure what to do. thx again.
    • Neldog
      Neldog biglewz

      Posted

      The pharmacy dont sound very helpful.     I'm pretty sure you can send your prescription to an online pharmacy and get meds posted back to you.     The new Teva levothyroxine is lacto free,   The boots one is free of acacia think.....        Suggest you do a search if online uk pharmacies, and see what brands they can supply.      If your whole system is running slowdue to lack of thyroid meds then it affects healing.     How much longer have you got with chemo?      Worth asking your oncologist. what you can do about things you need to help your thyroid meds to work, 

      xx.   

       

Back to top

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.