Back on Levoxyl and not feeling better

[Lynnester]

I decided to make the switch back to Levoxyl when it came back on the market in early February. Synthroid made me feel so anxious and gave me other sides affects. So when it was available and I thought switching back I'd feel better than I do. I did just add the Cytomel in December and I think I can see that my headaches have been worse too.

Previously taking Synthroid 75 - 5 days a week and 88 2 days a week. Also split a 5 mcg Cytomel in two doses taking 1/2 in AM and 1/2 at lunch.
TSH   2.56
Free T3   3.2
Free T4   1.29

Now taking Levoxyl in place of Synthroid and Cytomel is the same.
TSH 2.47
Free3   3.1
Free T4   1.39

Feeling pretty bad....still! The endo thinks some of it may be me reacting to Cytomel (brand name). I had tried it a few years back but it was Paddock generic. I seem to feel the brand feels stronger for some reason?

The endo said she's happy with my numbers though I expressed to her that I still feel weak, fatigue, headaches, dry skin and just a feeling of malaise.  She said if I want to stop the Cytomel to see if a trigger to my headaches that I can do that but then to  take 75 4 days a week and 88 3 days a week for 2 weeks then to try to alternate the two.

I am very sensitive to any medications yet alone thyroid meds.

Not sure what to do next??

  

[Robbie0710]

I am so glad to see you feel better on the sa doz generic.  I was on it for years and felt great when I took it correctly

[SFGal1]

Before the 'new' formula for Levoyxl, this med was great for me. Synthroid I could never tolerate from the terrible side effects. I am glad to say that I found normal again with Sandoz Levothyroxine. I have been on it since the recall, and am pleased to find it works great. I do, however, take the 50 mcg in several pills per day because I cannot tolerate dyes. It is lactose free. When I picked up my refill today, I found a 'coupon' from pfizerfor a 30-day free amount of Levoxyl.

Well, considering how irresponsible, reckless, indifferent Pfizer treated me when I called before the recall because I found the drug was no better than taking worthless placebo, and was met with cover-up denials and lies about any problem with Levoxyl, which then they publicly confessed was so shortly after, Pfizer has to earn my TRUST back first.

Bribing me with free pills that are not proven to be like the old reliable King formula is a joke.  Years will have to past for me to see that Levoxyl works again. But, then again, after reading the posts here how the 'new' formula is stubbornly 'different' from the ingredients that made Levoxyl work through King, I don't have to wait years because I see they have decided to put out a different drug using the reputation and trust many of us came to associate with the drug called Levoxyl.

I will no longer be tricked or fooled by them that they are delivering to the public the true Levoxyl. Now I will reprogram my thinking to see the drug "Levoxyl" as a different entity having nothing at all to do with the real Levoxyl of old that 'sigh' once gave me many years of health on a trusted formula by King.

[Lynnester]

I hope you feel better soon. I know how it's so easy for some and so hard for others too feel whatever "normal" would be! I am one of those who have just struggled since the beginning and still do.

[Lynnester]

Thanks for your input. My endo did give me that option to cut back the cytomel to 2.5 and either taking 75 for 4 days and taking the 88 or alternating 75/88.

Not sure what to raise the dose to for additional days. My endo really has been letting me try different combinations over the last few years. At one point I was on 88 everyday and 1/2 cytomel and if was just too much for me. My free t4 went up to 1.6 and I felt bad. She didn't really care when I'd take the 2.5 cytomel but I'm thinking it may be better at lunch to help in the afternoon when I feel the most tired.  

Maybe I'll just add an extra day and cut back the cytomel to 2.5 instead of 5 mcg.

It's amazing how different each person is in regard to thyroid meds.  I have friend who takes 125 mcg of Synthriod and 5 mcg cytomel in the am and another in the pm with no problem.

Do you take cytomel too?

[deb62gee]

I know that some people have to take only 2 1/2 mcg of T3 at a time because they are so sensitive to taking it. To me, it  looks like your lab results say that you have room to up the thyroid hormones. But you might want to drop that T3 down to 2 1/2 mcg just to see if that helps the headaches. And then see if you feel like you need to raise your T4 dose a little. With you being so very sensitive (I am too), you would probably do best not changing too much at a time. Some thyroid specialists are now saying that anything over a 2 in the TSH could be signaling a need for more hormones, but many are still stuck at 3.

T3 doesn't build in your system. It leaves relatively quickly. It is the T4 that builds up over time. With you having Hashi's, your hormones could still be fluctuating, I would think. The same has happened to me where the TSH has been lower than before with other numbers remaining the same. I do not have Hashi's though, as I had Graves and had RAI done, so I have no functioning thyroid gland at all. TSH can fluctuate within minutes, so that is one reason why it isn't a very good indicator for dosing.

[Lynnester]

My lab ranges are:
TSH  .450 to 4.50
Free T3  2.0 to 4.4
Free T4  .82 to 1.77

I don't take either of my thyroid medications the morning of my blood work so my last dose of T3 would be around 12:30 the day before.
One time I forgot and too my meds and the endo freaked out because my Free T3 was 4.2 and she thought that was without my med that morning. So I'm really not sure where it should be when you haven't taken it that day. I know T3 is suppose to build up in your system over time too but I can't tolerate a whole lot more to let that happen...UGH!

I don't know whether to drop the Cytomel all together and just alternate the Levoxyl alone. I do like it gives me more energy but at the expense of constant head pressure and headaches not sure it's worth it.
What's confusing is that I've had my free's in the same as they are now in the past and my TSH was lower, around 1.5

Let me also add I was diagnosed with Hashi's back in January of 2008. My According to the endo my thyroid should not be functioning if at all at this point.

[deb62gee]

Too much T3 can give me a headache, that is for sure. Do you have ranges for your thyroid numbers?

[KewlJewlSs]

Opps sorry for Typos, I'm on my phone and it auto corrects everything lol!! *Fillers not Fillets lol!!!

[KewlJewlSs]

I too have bee suffering horribly since the return of Levoxyl  it was my perfect T4 med while I also added Cytomel and felt great for 9 years. But the recall left me chasing another T4 med and I haven't been the same since. They have obviously added more fillets and I'm reacting to the fillets they put in it. I remember the good days when it' was slightly chalky and dissolved quickly on my tongue if I used water but today it's coated really well and really hard to break. Definitely not the same and I can't for the life in me seem to adjust to the new Formula. I've been chasing one side effect after another on it since it came out late Feb 2014. I'm so miserable and  haven't found anything that even comes close to the same feeling that I had on the old Levoxyl. I finally went off of it on Saturday and I'm feeling so much better it's really sad. I go in tomorrow for new lab draw to see where I sit but in the mean time I'm staying off of Levoxyl and going to continue taking Cytomel as normal until I see blood work and hopefully I can possibly avoid  taking it again. Of course that still leaves me with needing a T4 med but until I see labs I'm not poisoning my body any further with all the junk T4's out there. They should have left it alone. Good luck to you.