Does anyone have a lot of side effects from `levothyroxine?

[andrea198]

I have been on levothyroxine for 9 weeks and my condition has drastically got worse. I was slightly tired little dizzy before being diagnosed with hypo. Was put on 50mg Levo ( Thyrax duo tab) anxiety got worse, blurred eyes, with in weeks insomnia and total exhaustion. Breathlessness from slightest movement even talking. Cant walk more than 5 minutes. Now got hay fever never had in my life. Im off work 3 weeks i can't do anything. My doctor swore its not the Levo all my bloods and vitamins are perfect. He is on holiday for 3 weeks and his stand in wont help me. Im a cripple right now. ````they tell me Levo has no side effects. But my research tell me otherwise, also synthoid has these side effects. I need help.

[Red_Star]

My hypo symptoms worsened when I first started thyroid medication. My adrenals worsened too (far worse than expected!). I knew about the adrenals but I did not know my  hypo symptoms would worsen too! I had no clue what was going on and increased the dose to 75 mcg (was on 50 mcg) but had a headache for three days so dropped back to 50 mcg.  Thankfully I read the book Running On Empty soon after this and calmed down.  I didn't need an increase in medication personally but just time to adjust..took about 5 weeks for me.

Excerpt from Running On Empty by Robyn Koumourou...

"It is not uncommon to start thyroid hormone therapy and find that your symptoms become worse before they get better. When you begin taking thyroxine the areas in the brain that control thyroid hormone production sense the increase in T4 levels within the blood stream.  This feedback system will then cause the thyroid glands natural production of thyroid hormones to slow down.  

Less natural T4 and T3 will then be produced and released and blood levels may remain stagnant or even decrease temporarily.  Less free T3 hormone available to the body will slow down cellular metabolism. The symptoms of hypothyroidism may become worse until an increase in thyroxine is taken or an optimal dose is found."

[andrea198]

Thank you Red Star, your comment really sounds like it just might be right. Today for the first time I walked to the shopping centre and for the first time in three and a half weeks i did not feel any weakness in my legs. Im still really tired, not sleeping. I little less breathless but nothing like before. It might be a good thing that my GP is on holiday and Im forced to carry on with the Levo until he is back.

[gimel]

I also wanted to ask if you would please post your thyroid related test results that caused the doctor to diagnose hypothyroidism.   Also please post any and all symptoms you had before starting on the thyroid med.  

[andrea198]

I dont have the lab results from before I was tested. And its wont paste the results for after but all vitamins and minerals are good. tsh is 2,3 i dont have t3 but that ws also good. Symptoms I had before were very slight. A little dizzy and a little brain fog. Doctor did blood test and the only thing wrong was the thyroid slightly sluggish.

[andrea198]

I did not have any of these symtoms before starting the Levo

[gimel]

Most likely it is not the med itself.  It is far more likely that what you are feeling is related to starting on the relatively low dose of thyroid med.   When taking thyroid med the TSH drops, resulting in reduced stimulation of the thyroid gland to produce hormone.  Since serum thyroid levels are the sum of both natural thyroid and thyroid med, the net effect of a starting dose like yours is that you feel no better, or even worse, since the Free T4 level would not have changed and your Free T3 level likely went down.

If I were you I would go back and insist on being tested again.  This would confirm tht your Free T4 and Free T3 are still too low and that you need to increase your thyroid med.   I would also request to be tested for cortisol, since it affects thyroid metabolism.

The average amount of thyroid hormone produced daily by our bodies is 100 mcg of T4 and 10 mcg of T3.  This is equivalent to 130 mcg of T4.   So if it were me I would request to be increased to 100 mcg of Levo  for now, with the expectation of being re-tested and dose increased again in 5-6 weeks.   As for where you want to be, note the following conclusion from a recent, excellent scientific study.  

" Hypothyroid symptom relief was associated with both a T4 dose giving TSH-suppression below the lower reference limit and FT3 elevated further into the upper half of its reference range. "  

In addition hypothyroid patients are frequently deficient in Vitamin D, B12 and ferritin.  So you need to get those tested and then supplement as needed to optimize.  D should be at least 50 ng/mL, B12 in the upper part of its range, and ferritin should be at least 100.