Alternative to levothyroxine - without anxiety side effect?
Posted , 4 users are following.
I have been taking levothyroxine for 5 years. Not long after starting it, I experience intense, unprovoked anxiety like never before. This was dismissed as part of the journey of figuring out the right dosage...
Fast forward a few years. High anxiety still there. I get a referral to an endocrinologist, who tells me my anxiety is unrelated and that I should do yoga. (I felt dismissed- I think he heard I am a working parent of 4 kids, so assumed it is my lifestyle.)
I have done everything in my power to reduce stress. You name it, I have done it.
Yoga
Daily meditation
No caffeine
Exercise
Nature
etc etc
What are alternatives to levothyroxine that do not have this agonizing side effect?
I take 100 mcg and have taken the same dose for years.
0 likes, 4 replies
laura06827 k82480
Edited
Hmm, anxiety is a tough one because it's often a sign accompanying other signs of overmedication. Do you have any other symptoms that might indicate you're overmedicated at your dose? Thyroid hormone and catecholamines have a close relationship. Catecholamines include epinephrine (think adrenaline). Too much thyroid hormone has an affect on epinephrine. It's hard to tell from the literature if it's preventing breakdown of epinephrine or increases sensitivity to it but either way, it's not uncommon for too much thyroid hormone to cause some adrenaline like experiences. There's also a lot of info on Stop the Thyroid Madness website regarding cortisol issues and inability to process thyroid medicine leading to the wired/tired feeling of T3 pooling. This is more common with dessicated thyroid with T3 but if you're converting T4 to T3 well I would suppose it's still possible to have T3 building up in the blood and not entering the cells properly which cause a host of anxiety like effects. Check out that website for more info and see if it matches you. Good adrenal health is crucial for thyroid.
jason00106 k82480
Posted
Im same been on 50mcg levothyroxine for 3 month and now just upped to 75mcg. I used to be extremely laid back and care free. Now a nervous wreck. Doctor said its the hypothyroidism thats causing it but it only started the day i took the levothyroxine. You found a solution yet? Thanks.
laura06827 jason00106
Posted
Hi Jason, I sure haven't other than this takes a very, very long time to "detox" from being over medicated on levo. I'm still struggling, albeit overall much better than where I was months back. I don't doubt being hypo can cause psychiatric related symptoms but from everything I've read anxiety is typically more common with hyper. Especially if accompanied with the physiological tell-tale signs like heart racing, pounding, palpitations, hand tremors, weight loss, "nervous energy", feeling wired but tired, etc. I've worked in clinical trials for a long time and if a medication precedes a symptom profile and you've ruled out any other contributing variables such as diet changes, alcohol consumption, life events, etc then it is often recorded as an adverse event. I would imagine if your symptoms temporaly correspond to having started levo, it is likely the levo. How are you feeling now?
joshuapryce1987 k82480
Posted
Yoga is good for mind and body exercise, it does not cure anxiety. Anxiety can only be totally cured by confronting what makes you anxious. There are always triggers,