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Synthroid/Levothyroxine Side Effects
Has anyone had high blood pressure while taking Synthroid and Levothyroxine?
I am hypo and I was given .50 Levothyroxine and I started filling shaky and light headed, I had trouble breathing and felt pressure in my chest, stomach cramps, headaches, and high blood pressure so my doctor told me to stop taking them and referred me to an endo who put me on .50 Synthroid because he thought I was having reactions to the fillers in Levothyroxine so I've been taking Synthroid for 2 weeks and starting to have some of the same reactions, stomach cramps, headaches, fatigue, light headed, and high blood pressure. I've never had a blood pressure problem in my life, my endo said Synthroid and Levothyroxine can't cause high blood pressure but when I stop taking it my blood pressure goes back to normal. I want to hurry up and find something that will work for me because I don't like putting up with my thyroid symptoms. I hate feeling weak and tired all the time, stomach issues, scaly dry skin, my hands and my fingers swell.
My Results
10/26/11 my TSH was 6.9 and I was given Levothyroxine .50 and had almost every side effect of it and high blood pressure so I quit taking it and went back to the doctor on 12/06/11 and my TSH was 5.3, FT4 was 10.8, FT3 Uptake was 23, and FThyroxine Index was 2.5 so my doctor referred me to my endo and I went to see him on 1/30/12 so I wasn't taking any thyroid medication since November and my results on 1/30/12 was TSH 5.65, FT4 1.0, Thyroid Microsomal was >1000 (reference <35).
I am hypo and I was given .50 Levothyroxine and I started filling shaky and light headed, I had trouble breathing and felt pressure in my chest, stomach cramps, headaches, and high blood pressure so my doctor told me to stop taking them and referred me to an endo who put me on .50 Synthroid because he thought I was having reactions to the fillers in Levothyroxine so I've been taking Synthroid for 2 weeks and starting to have some of the same reactions, stomach cramps, headaches, fatigue, light headed, and high blood pressure. I've never had a blood pressure problem in my life, my endo said Synthroid and Levothyroxine can't cause high blood pressure but when I stop taking it my blood pressure goes back to normal. I want to hurry up and find something that will work for me because I don't like putting up with my thyroid symptoms. I hate feeling weak and tired all the time, stomach issues, scaly dry skin, my hands and my fingers swell.
My Results
10/26/11 my TSH was 6.9 and I was given Levothyroxine .50 and had almost every side effect of it and high blood pressure so I quit taking it and went back to the doctor on 12/06/11 and my TSH was 5.3, FT4 was 10.8, FT3 Uptake was 23, and FThyroxine Index was 2.5 so my doctor referred me to my endo and I went to see him on 1/30/12 so I wasn't taking any thyroid medication since November and my results on 1/30/12 was TSH 5.65, FT4 1.0, Thyroid Microsomal was >1000 (reference <35).
Well Barb I'm certainly not going to start any meds until I get more detailed info on further tests. Thanks to you. How is it that you are so knowledgeable on the thyroid?
COMMUNITY LEADER
I guess you should be thankful he's willing to treat... many doctors won't treat until TSH is much higher and they won't even test FT4 or FT3 at all. This means that symptoms are allowed to get much worse before they receive treatment.
If I were you, I would, however, think about looking for a different doctor, if this one isn't testing Free T3, because there may come a time when you may need to add a T3 medication and neither of you will have a clue as to your levels.
If I were you, I would, however, think about looking for a different doctor, if this one isn't testing Free T3, because there may come a time when you may need to add a T3 medication and neither of you will have a clue as to your levels.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Free Thyroxine is a test for Free T4 only; it does not include Free T3.
The complete, technical term for T3 is triiodothyronine, which is shortened to T3, for obvious reasons... the lab order would have to indicate either Free triiodothyronine or Free T3 in order to include Free T3... you said the order states "Free Thyroxins"... I have no idea what the "s" on the end would be for. If your doctor intends that to include Free T3, that's one more indication that he's not well up on thyroid testing/treatment, even if he is an endo.
The complete, technical term for T3 is triiodothyronine, which is shortened to T3, for obvious reasons... the lab order would have to indicate either Free triiodothyronine or Free T3 in order to include Free T3... you said the order states "Free Thyroxins"... I have no idea what the "s" on the end would be for. If your doctor intends that to include Free T3, that's one more indication that he's not well up on thyroid testing/treatment, even if he is an endo.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Just because a doctor is an endo doesn't mean s/he's a good thyroid doctor. Many endos specialize in diabetes and know very little about treating thyroid conditions.
I'm sure they Ichthyosis has a lot to do with your dry skin and it would be difficult to tell what's caused from that and what's caused from thyroid, but if you noticed a definite difference at one time, that may have been when your thyroid levels began dropping.
Diabetes will definitely cause lack of energy. I'm surprised that your endo would think you'd lose weight with an A1c of 12.5... not everyone loses weight with sky high blood sugar levels.
It's not really a "bad" thing that he used the term Free Thyroxin, but it's so seldom used, that it shows that he might not be as up to date as we'd like him to be. And the fact that he didn't order a Free T3 test pretty much backs that up.
You're right that very few labs have made the switch to the new reference range. I'm not sure why; I guess because it's easier for them not to. They'd have to change all their calibration standards, etc and as long as no one complains a whole lot they have no incentive to change it. Doctors only look at what's on the lab sheet and that's what they go by.
TSH is never a good reason to start a thyroid replacement med. Your doctor should have tested Free T4 and Free T3 and should be basing your treatment on those, along with your symptoms, not TSH. Another reason I'm suggesting he might not be a real good thyroid doctor.
When are you supposed to retest your blood? If you wait too long to start the med, it won't reach full potential before it's time to test, if your doctor is having you test in 6 weeks, which is typical when just starting out, since it takes 4-6 weeks for the med to reach full potential in your blood. You might try splitting the pills for a few days to make sure you tolerate it before you take the full 50 mcg if that would make you feel more comfortable.
Don't go by other people's horror stories. Those aren't that common. You have to remember, the people who have good luck with their medications don't post on forums like this. We only get the ones who have issues.
It's not unusual to feel worse for a while after you start taking the med, before you feel better. It takes your body time to get used to having the hormones it's been doing without and everything has to rebalance. This is normal.
I'm sure they Ichthyosis has a lot to do with your dry skin and it would be difficult to tell what's caused from that and what's caused from thyroid, but if you noticed a definite difference at one time, that may have been when your thyroid levels began dropping.
Diabetes will definitely cause lack of energy. I'm surprised that your endo would think you'd lose weight with an A1c of 12.5... not everyone loses weight with sky high blood sugar levels.
It's not really a "bad" thing that he used the term Free Thyroxin, but it's so seldom used, that it shows that he might not be as up to date as we'd like him to be. And the fact that he didn't order a Free T3 test pretty much backs that up.
You're right that very few labs have made the switch to the new reference range. I'm not sure why; I guess because it's easier for them not to. They'd have to change all their calibration standards, etc and as long as no one complains a whole lot they have no incentive to change it. Doctors only look at what's on the lab sheet and that's what they go by.
TSH is never a good reason to start a thyroid replacement med. Your doctor should have tested Free T4 and Free T3 and should be basing your treatment on those, along with your symptoms, not TSH. Another reason I'm suggesting he might not be a real good thyroid doctor.
When are you supposed to retest your blood? If you wait too long to start the med, it won't reach full potential before it's time to test, if your doctor is having you test in 6 weeks, which is typical when just starting out, since it takes 4-6 weeks for the med to reach full potential in your blood. You might try splitting the pills for a few days to make sure you tolerate it before you take the full 50 mcg if that would make you feel more comfortable.
Don't go by other people's horror stories. Those aren't that common. You have to remember, the people who have good luck with their medications don't post on forums like this. We only get the ones who have issues.
It's not unusual to feel worse for a while after you start taking the med, before you feel better. It takes your body time to get used to having the hormones it's been doing without and everything has to rebalance. This is normal.
My Dr. is an Endocrinologist so he should know all about the thyroid. Ya know, I don't have any problem with the cold. Matter of fact I tend to get hot very easy. But then I also have Ichthyosis so I just don't cool down very quickly. And with the Ichthyosis my skin is so dry that I wouldn't hardly even be able to tell if my skin was dry because it's always dry. But I definitely did notice it got worse several years ago about the same time I started noticing hair thinning. And I've been blaming my energy loss on the diabetes. I absolutely cannot loose weight and when I was put on insulin I gained even more. My Endo was amazed that I never lost any weight when I was having an A1C of 12.5. I'm confused on the Free Thyroxin comment. Is it a bad thing that he called it that? I just started going to my Endo in Dec. Before that my family Dr. was treating me. He had checked my Thyroid years ago & also went by the labs old range. So he did nothing about it. My Endo gave me the option of whether or not I wanted to start on meds. All the labs here seem to be outdated & the Dr.'s go by their ranges. It's been so long since the ranges were changed I can't help but wonder why the labs don't update their ranges? I haven't started the meds yet cause I have company & I'm waiting till they leave in case I don't feel quite right when I get on it. Like I said I'm anxious about things like palpitations, Hair loss, being even more tired, etc. I've read peoples horror stories & it worries me. Sometimes I'm not even sure I want to go on the meds. In your opinion is 4.94 TSH a good enough reason to take meds?
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