Unacceptable side effects of Levothyroxine

Yes, I blew up like a balloon. Went from a stable size 4 to a 12. Size 32c to a 36dd in less than two months. My weight was such a complete yo yo that from one day to another my clothes didn't fit. Seriously,baggy one day, couldn't get them up over my hips the next. Baggy sweatshirts became too tight... Massive water retention as well. Flippin' nightmare!

Hi Jsweet, yes I found a solution. After trying several different brands, compounded levothyroxin,mthen prescription NDT, none of which worked, I figured it couldn't be any worse and tried an OTC bovine glandular. MUCH BETTER!!

Thank you for your reply so fast. Do I get this from a Dr or a health store? I've been on 175mfg until a year ago my new Dr I have now said my dose is way too high now I'm on 75mfg going on 13 years now the problem isn't I hear sounds in my ears my closteral is high and no is high I'm very irritated and stressed out the Dr says I'm in the right ranges but my test show other wise so I'm confused? I have graves disease . So I'm wondering if this medicine will work but I may try it yet.

I'm confused. Isn't graves disease where you have too much of the thyroid hormones? In which case I don't understand why you would take more??

Vanguard, try a search for FDA approval of synthroid. There's a newspaper article from a major east coast paper that explains some of the history of this drug. When you do the math, you see it never underwent proper testing, but was grandfathered into the current drug approval system.

Hi Carol, some of the alternatives aren't too bad in price. Plus, they work, and the body can finally heal, which makes them priceless.

The most  interesting thing for me is that, the longer I'm on the natural non prescription stuff, the lower the dose I need. I suspect with the immune system not being triggered, the thyroxin can actually work and you don't have to highball the dose to make up for the body's immune system attacking the meds and decreasing the functionality.

Hi MtViewCatherine, I found your comment about 'needing a lower dose of the OTC natural bovine thyroid medication as time went on' very interesting as I have found the same thing. I am on a different OTC natural bovine thyroid medication to you, but I too am finding I need to lower my dose. September/October 2015 I was on 750mg and my TSH, T3 and T4 results were all in range. Now a year later, my T3 is in range, but my T4 is slightly high and my TSH is suppressed (<0.01). I have lost 30lb but even adjusting for weight loss, the results can't be explained. TSH takes 3+ months of being on a stable dose for it to reflect it, however T3 and T4 cannot be explained. I briefly went up to a dose of 900mg over winter (January). Since then I have been reducing it monthly by 150mg a month (except last month when I reduced it by 75mg). I'm now, since beginning September 2016, on 375mg daily (split into 225mg in the morning and 150mg 6-8 hours later), which is just over half of what I needed a year ago. I think I have reduced the dose as low as I'm going to go as I forgot the afternoon dose a couple of days ago and within 6 hours my right knee had become wobbly and was bending backwards (painful!) This is how low thyroid hormone presents itself in me (I have hyper-elastic ligaments and when the muscles which hold my knee in place become weak, my knees don't work). I then took some extra thyroid medication and within 30 minutes my knee was ok. So it will be interesting to see what the blood test results at the beginning of October show.

Catherine, You and I seem to be very similar. I think the reason I notice the lack of thyroid hormone quickly when I've missed a dose is because I am not converting T4 to T3 as well as I should be.

Hi I agree I think more research is needed. I've been on Levothyroxine for about 3 years now which was as a result of feeling very sluggish and having the thyroid test. Since then my dosage has just increased more and more and I now have at least weekly regular neck headaches (thought to be stress related but now I'm not so sure) and now muscle problems neck shoulder and just a lot of stiffness that requires regular physio and sports massage, I just seem to be getting stiffer, I'm otherwise quite fit and 44 year old female. I'm seriously considering coming off Levo but I'm not sure how to go about this? I would like to try a more natural remedy and see if my other symptoms are resolved. Please can you or anyone else offer any thoughts? I also have had a lump under my armpit that seemed to start when I started Levo, had it checked out 18 months ago but it's become larger and painful so been to docs again and getting checked out. I'm not sure if it's related. Also had adrenal glands checked out as had a lot of Addison's disease symptoms, I've always had the gut feeling I've got some sort of gland problem just not sure it's directly my thyroid if that makes sense. Thyroid problems do seem very very complicated and it does seem the blanket doctor response is prescribing levothyroxine. Any feedback would be appreciated as think I've been taking my docs word for too much and too long. X

Hi I'm interested in how thyroid meds effect muscles and joints? Since taking Levo and regular dosage increases I have very stiff muscles in my back and neck especially. Is this a common side effect? Thankyou x