Unacceptable side effects of Levothyroxine

Mike, you don't say what dosage you're on or how high your tsh was but what you're feeling at the moment is temporary ; it's what happens to nearly all of us as our bodies adjust to the medicine. Normally, you should be having another blood test soon to see where your tsh is now. If nothing was arranged with the doctor, get yourself an appointment. It is JUST possible that you were started off on too high a dose.

Carol at the moment I don't care about my tsh I'm on 50mg the hospital wants me on the max dose but I have told my doctor I will not take any higher dosage, in fact if he keeps telling me I will stop them completely. I take my tablets at night and I feel ok no more shaking and no other symptoms. No one as told me what could happen if I don't take these drugs, also I wasn't taking anything for five years yes five years it was only because I went into hospital then the mothering started so I agreed to take tablets but within a month they wanted me on the highest dosage NOWAY. So that's my story what ever is going to happen let it happen at the moment I'm happy and I'm not doing anything to alter that situation. My advise to all is ask the question why if they can't tell you bin the tabs.

Why did you end up in hospital?

Are you taking any other medicines?

Not taking it if you need it can lead to depression, weight gain; mental fogginess, feeling tired  a,nd a general slowing down of your organism.Diabetes, high blood pressure and heart attack are the most likely things to happen without medication. Hypothyroidism causes cholesterol to go up , the tablets stop the ascension to a certain extent but that is why diet is so important. One may have thyroid nodules and taking the medicine stops them from getting bigger whereas they are left to get bigger if one doesn't take one's medecine.

There are many types of levo and if one brand doesn't suit you you should insist on another. The brand I take has just changed its composition , different excipients, and it has affected me negatively.I'm going to take less tomorrow to see if that helps. I  was feeling great and now I have to start all ovber again. I can't believe they have done this!

I had an operation.1 im not depressed 2 in the last 18 months I have lost a lot of weight because I trained hard and dieted 3 I get up early every morning and walk my dog for two hours and I'm never tired until bed time that is, 4 the doctor assures me I'm not diabetic, 5 my BP is as I said 120. 80 except when the doctor goes on about it, as for my heart and a heart attack it's still beating 

Mike, my mom had a similar problem and didn't take the meds for years. Unfortunately, this lack of treatment resulted in deteriorated health.

Clearly, this medication is not going to work for you. My experience has been that the side effects increase as the dose increases. So you're right to refuse this drug.

That said, it is imperative that you find something that works for you. Read through these discussions to save yourself the hassle of the mistakes others have already made. There is a wealth of information here on preventative and treatment methods, all tested by folks like yourself, who struggle with thyroid disease.

Also please realize that with hypothyroidism comes severe brainfog, so this hampers our clarity and can be extremely frustrating.

Good luck!

Catherine

It's been over a year and I'm on 50mg and I'm not taking anymore and I'm pleased you told me that grinding my teeth could be a symptom because now I'm going to stop them all together and see what happens

I stopped taking it after going from 25 up to 50 of levothyroxine however my under active thryroid was border line.  Gp knew I had stopped said i may get severe tired after 2 weeks which I havnt so far.  Went to Hooland and Barratt and have been taking sea kelp tabs 3 times a day which is good for thyroid and fatigue.  Have been taking now for nearly 2 months and have felt ok due a blood test 12/10/16 so hope all is well.  Will never take that drug again worse thing on the market my dad has been on it for 2 years increasing weight bearing in mind he is nearly 80 years and works out still every day on his own gym equipment was on 50 now increasing to 100 - they wont let him come of it because of length of time and due to his age.  I was lucky as soon as I was feeling worse day by day couldnt get out of bed in am lethargic and joint aches bleating and weight gaining and soon got very depressed on it - so I chose to research and go solo with it which I'm glad I did.  If it does worsen I'm going through my works health care if need be. 

Excuse my seplling it should read 'bloating'

May I ask what your TSH levels were? By borderline do you mean your T3 and T4 were normal? That's how I was before i was put on levo several months ago..please keep us posted on progress...I may be going off mine soon

Please go and have another blood test for tsh t3 and t4 because it sounds wrong. Did you take your medicine on an empty stomach and then wait an hour before having breakfast? That is very iomportant because otherwise the medicine doesn't work and yes, one DOES feel very tired until one gets the right dosage. It takes time and many blood tests at about 5 week intervals.

I also felt sedated as you call it, could barely move or think or get on with anything and sleeping made no difference. Was like living in very slow motion. It might be worth taking a higher dose, these symptoms sometimes just pass or can be because the dose is not big enough. But I do get annoyed when doctors insist that everything you get is from the thyroid when I know a lot of the things that are happening to me now are because of the medication and were not there at all before.

Carmel, The Levo was realy horrible for me. From my many discussions with others on the subject, it appears that the levo works best at only small doses: the higher the dose, the worse the side effects, and the lower the effectiveness. As I said, the levo didn't work for me and my cyst grew like crazy while on the levo, demonstrating the lack of efficacy of the levo. I've been onthe NDT for a year now and finally got the right dose, and my health is starting to turn around. I feel the levo really set my health back, and regret that I ever tried it. If you can'tget the NDT prescribed by your physician, you can get an OTC one called ThyroGold, which I have not tried, but others on this site have tried with very good results. I feel its worth the money to get the meds that work, rather than letting the doctors own your wellness, and let your health go down the drain, while you lose your life because you're too exhausted to do anything.

Also, I saw your other note. Make sure you are getting enough sodium in  your diet. I have also battled the water retention issues and foudnthe sodium isn't the problem. Be sure to use sea salt or hymalayan, No iodized- it also doen't work right.

The water retention is often caused by adrenal exhaustion, which triggers an imbalance in potassium levels. So you;ll need some herbs for this. The acupuncturist can give you some.

Hope that helps!

Finally someone with my symptoms. I feel like a sloth. I can't move. I just sit. I take 50 mcg a day. All i do is sit, and or go to bed. I don't even talk anymore and I am so irritable. I get annoyed easily. My tsh went fr 6.41 to 1.30. The dr says I'm normal. Go away. Do frustrated. Headaches daily now.

Hi sandy, my story sounds similar to yours starting off with low dose and doc upping dosage due to sluggishness over last few years, I'm now on 100mg a day and headaches increasing and still bouts of severe tiredness, I'm having stiff muscles too, I'm going to discuss with my doc coming off and trying more natural options like some others on here are suggesting, I just can't believe I was borderline under active thyroid 3 years ago to now needing 100 mg. good luck and maybe you should go back to to docs and try and find another way that isn't levothyroxine.