Unacceptable side effects of Levothyroxine

I have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and given 50 mg of Levothyroxine. I have more symptoms now than I ever had before taking the meds?.

I have acute tiredness,confusion,irritability depression headaches short term memory loss the symptoms

just keeps getting worse?

Also I came out with cysts on my body ulcers in my mouth I am a complete mess!!!

My job entails being very energetic so I have had to go off sick as I just don't have the energy levels to do anything at the moment .

I have been back to the doctors but they said its my hypothyroidism that is causing this not the medication? but I never had any of these symptoms before taking Levothyroxine except for the tiredness?

Is there anything else out there that will give me my life back??? I have looked in to Armour you can buy them on Ebay it would be worth it to me just to feel normal again???.

Hi Carole I am sorry to hear of yet another sufferer at the hands of the demon Levothyroxine, I personally believe I am intolerant to it and I am sick of Dr's insisting it's being Hypo that is causing all these problems. I have proved them wrong in my case as I have been off the meds for nearly a month now and have never felt better (albeit tired but not as bas as I was on the levo), I will no doubt have to start taking some type of thyroxine once they have finished all the tests for various things but I will never take Levo again!

Please update us with whatever you decide to do and the results, good luck.

When I take levo or any thyroid meds my immune system starts to attack my thyroid even more right now I have been taking hydro cortisone from regenerative nutrition but don't feel any better maybe its because I have pcos too I that cannot tolerate thyroid meds I also start to feel better when I don't take it but only for a while then tsh goes sky high again..........

Hello,

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism over ten years ago. I was very very unwell by the time I was diagnosed and GP just said to take levothyroxine and come back in couple of months. Well, I just became sicker and ssicker. I was looking at stannah stair lifts on tv thinking I would need one soon. GP just said I had to live with a 'chronic disease'. Anyway, I researched what there was on the internet at that time abd went privately to more sympathetic doctor who prescribed natural thyroid, Armour. It took quite a while to actually feel better but gradually the pain started to decrease, I had more energy, lost most of the weight I had put on. There wasn't so much info then about dosing, blood tests needed etc. Anyway, it became difficult to get Armour, I moved countries and had to go back on Levothyroxine. I was then diagnosed with lupus due to high ANA and symptoms so I didn't think levo was causing al the problems for a long time. I have been very unwell and have now taken matters into my own hands (GP here is so unhelpful) After being on levo for about 5 years I now have very low iron, low D3 low B12, adrenal fatigue (low cortisone) high ANA and anti thyroid antibodies. I started on ERFA natrual thyroid about 3 weeks ago, iron plus other supplements. I feel really rough as I think it will probably take time to get everything back up and more in balance. However I am very hopeful I will get much better on these. I have learnt loads from reading info on www.stopthethyroidmadness.com I would recommend that everyone who is unwell on levothyroxine takes a look at this site. It takes ages to assimilate all the info. but hopefully it is the way to go. Doctors should be helping us more. Best wishes to all, Darly.

I have already written on here what I think of Levothyroxine and the horrendous side effects!!!

I have now written an email to the Pharmacutical Company Actavis who produce this product.

I am awaiting a reply from them telling them about this discussion and the side effects people are suffering with

I am steadily getting worse by the day and I will be fighting this nasty drug all the way to the top!!.

C

I refuse to take it.

Sourced the other myself.

I was diagnosed in 2001 with over active thyroid after feeling ill for two years and after various doctors visits where I was told there was nothing wrong with me. I was put on Cabimazole to turn off my throid production to reduce it to a lower level. I lost 2 stone in 3 weeks and it seemed the more food I ate the more weight I lost. After several months I was prescribed Levothyroxine too known as block and replace treatment, my hair started to come out in clumps, my skin was grey looking and my skin was pale and dry.

After a year I came off Carbizamole and was just on 75mcg of thyroxine. I was having blood test every month and my T3 and TSH levels changed rapidly each month so I was constantly reducing and increasing the dose. I have had every symptom and side effect up to now, an ovarian cyst, legs feeling like lead, ankles aching, wrists aching, having to wear sun glases when the light is bright even with no sun as my eyes ached in bright conditions, arms aching whilst washing my hair, bad headaches, unable to regulate own body temperature feeling cold when it is warm or feeling too hot when it is cold, my hands never radiate any heat at all, sweating for hours and having to carry a flannel with me to dry my face at times, feeling fatigue and very tired, it also made me very depressed and low at times, minor things seemed a big deal and I would get upset easily.

About 3 years ago all my fingers swelled up and several toes which made it almost impossible to pick anything up or bend them, my knees were also hurting. I told my GP that this was a symptom of being of too high a dose of thyroxine but this was dismissed and I was sent for 4 x rays all turned out to show nothing. I decided as the pain was so bad to reduce the dose my self from 75mcg to 50mcg within 4 days all pain had gone and my fingers went back to normal size and it has never happened again.

This illness is hard to regulate and manage and for the past few years I have stayed on between 50 and 75mcg but now I know the signs so I increase and decrease between the two which normally sorts things out.

Hi all,

I've been on Levothyroxine for almost 10 years now; I was 23 y.o. (male) when I had thyrotoxicosis from an overactive thyroid, which was then treated with I131.

Replacement thyroxine has been a bit of a pain, mainly as GPs keep trying to reduce the dosage (I am presently having my first bad spell in a couple of years as a result of a reduction from 225 p.d. to alternating 225/200 p.d.

The specialist consultant was great, and understanding, but it is hard for the GPs to manage as they only have guideline ranges for TSH and T4, with not much more to go on to fine tune dosage.

My symptoms are similar to many others when on too low a dosage - mental fog, lack of drive, IBS, dry skin, weight gain. On a dose that makes me feel normal though, my blood pressure is elevated (presently 140/65).

Personally I don't believe the drug itself is at fault, but the ability of the body to fine-tune my thyroxine levels has now been lost and replaced with a fixed dosage that doesn't work all the time. I've tried diet changes, lifestyle changes etc, but nothing other than dosage alterations work for me. Note - foods absolutely do NOT control the hormone level at all.

The complexity of the immune system is such that it can lead to so many other issues, but fundamentally I believe you should focus on trying to get to the correct replacement dosage for you - certainly don't eliminate it if your body is not producing any of its own, or you'll end up comatose.

Just to add - where I mentioned that foods absolutely do NOT control the hormone level at all, I don't mean that some food e.g. gluten-free might not relieve symptoms, but that you can't get the hormone from eating "healthily" if you don't have any being produced in your body.

Hi,

The trouble is that levothyroxine alone does not supply all the other things a healthy thyroid would produce. The thyroid is implicated in all body processes and organs so has a knock on effect with the adrenals, levels of iron and vitamins etc etc.. Doctors should do blood tests for these issues as well but most don't seem to want to know. There is a good uk website which gives loads of information. www.tpauk.com.

Kind regards to all.

I had no idea that I had an underactive thyroid, I just went to the doctors because my menstrual cycle was all over the place and thought maybe I was ealy menopausal at the age of 42.

I wasn't feeling ill or tired etc. In fact, I was runnng between 5K and 10K three times a week. The doctor sent me for some blood tests and I basically had the receptionist chasing me the same day, while I was going for a run to get me in to see the docutor straight away.

My THS level was ridiculously high at 91 and my T4 was barely registering at somewhere around 0.2. Doctor said he was amazed that I was even functioning!

Anyway, we agreed to take it slow and I started off for a few weeks on 24mg, then I went up to 50mg for 3 months, had more bloods taken, then we went up again to 100, now I'm at 125mg and have been at that level for the last 4 months.

Over the past 8 weeks, I have experienced extreme hot flushes, feeling that I'm burning up from my feet to the top of my head, I went back to the doctor who took bloods and said I could do with increasing the dose again, but as I'm experiencing the flushes, we would maintain the current dose as I'm now on the border. We took more blood tests to check my hormone levels but the doctor couldn't really tell me anything because he said it depended on where I was in my cycle.. .(haven't seen anything for 10 weeks now).

I'm now waiting to be referred to Endo, but can't stick these flushes much longer, It's severely affecting my sleep which is now causing me to be tired during the day and I think this may be causing problems with memory function. I can't take any time off work as i've just started a new job in a senior management position and have always had an exemplary attendance record, I don't want to give the wrong impression to the new employer.

Can anyone recommend anything to help reduce the flushes?