Am I being Overmedicated on Levothyroxine?
Posted , 3 users are following.
Diagnosed with Hypothyroidism
(I was born without a thyroid gland)
I am 19 years old and I’ve been on thyroid hormone replacement since I was 13 days old. Back in April my Endocrinologist changed my dosage from .137 mcg to .100 and he kept me on that dose for 6 months. I have been having a whirlwind of symptoms.
- I have lost 29 lbs since April and I am still losing weight. (138- 109)
- I have NO appetite and if I do get one it’s not til late at night.
- I’ve had terrible mood swings and irritability.
- Fatigue & Insomnia... some days I could sleep 12+ hours and other days I can’t fall asleep at all.
- Hot flashes
- Hand shakes
- Achey legs
- Headaches
My doctor has recently lowered my dose to .88 mcg and I still feel no relief. I want to know the dangers of being overmedicated this long? Could the medicine just not be working anymore? Are there any other medicines I could take for this condition? What are the life long risks of taking Levothyroxine?
0 likes, 4 replies
diane88860 ckyexx
Posted
I'm not very educated on this since I was diagnosed last November. I was hypo and my oncologist started me on 100 mcg (note there is no . ) which threw me into hyperthyroid and by time I got to see a primary care, my numbers were 'dangerous'. It took six months of lowering to get me to a normal level. I now am on 25 mcg daily.
Are you sure you aren't on MG instead of mcg?
I've not lost any of the weight I gained while hypo tho I'm hungry and don't sleep as well.
People without a thyroid gland may find that they need the addition of the T3 hormone in some form. A functional thyroid gland produces both T4 — the inactive thyroid hormone, and some T3. The T4 that is produced is converted into T3, the active hormone. The conversion takes place primarily in the thyroid gland. When you don’t have a thyroid gland, you are not producing any thyroid hormone, and the T4 to T3 conversion process has to take place in peripheral tissues. Since you have no T3 being produced by your thyroid, if you are taking a T4-only drug like levothyroxine, if your T4 to T3 conversion is not optimal, you may find yourself low in active thyroid hormone, which can cause hypothyroidism symptoms unless a T3 drug (like liothyronine, or natural desiccated thyroid) is added to your treatment.
Check your dosage again. That just sounds off to me.
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pattino ckyexx
Posted
What was the reason for the change ? Did he change only the dosage or the type/brand too ?.
Lowering the dose should make you gain weight , I think there might be another health problem involved that you should investigate , I suggest you try a different endocrinologist and compare .
Lifelong effects of Levothyroxine should be positive , I never heard of long term negative effects , I hope not because I had mine removed 6 years ago.
I'm 160 lbs and take 1.5mg Synthroid
ckyexx pattino
Posted
pattino ckyexx
Posted
When that test showed one level was too high were you feeling sick or it was just a routine check ?
If you were not feeling sick/no symptoms then you should not have changed the dosage ,but I'm not a doctor ,you should ask a different doctor what to do .