Levothyroxine Is Satan (Page 4) (Top voted first)

I don't feel so confused anymore. Now I know all of you are going through the same thing. My doctor put me on 50mcg of Levothyroxine about a month ago and I have gain 8 pounds! I get short-breathed and winded REALLY easily when working out. I used to go to the gym for 2 hours, now I can't make it longer than 30 minutes. I wake up ALL the time with tingly fingers because my hands have fallen asleep. I have headaches, I feel 100 times more lazy than before...and it's supposed to help your energy, not drain it. I e-mailed my doctor today, this is not making me happy. Not to mention I now have an acne type rash that burns like hell on my chin and I've always had clear skin. If this drug is supposed to make you feel better it sure as sh*t isn't working for me. I feel like a fat lazy a$$ with an itchhy burning rash on my face... stay away from this drug, that's my suggestion. :(

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I did not know this thank you for the information I've been taking my meds every morning with coffee and with my vitamins too and my thyroid has now morph into full-blown Hashimoto's and I'm sick as a dog and gained 65 pounds so they change my meds to Armour Thyroid just yesterday cuz I cannot get out of bed hopefully it works but thanks for the information

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Hi all, I also struggled with all sorts of symptoms for the past 8 years. I will share some things that helped me get almost back to normal in hope to save everyone else the pain.

I had my thyroid removed and now I am on 150mcg levothyroxine. I had side effects like:
- anxiety & panic attacks
- easy to get tired
- trouble sleeping
- muscle cramps
- joint pain
- inflammation
- mood swings
- depression

Doctors were for the most part ignorant as long as the blood tests were fine. I did complete blood work (not only thyroid) and looked perfect but I was feeling like crap. I tried myself multiple things to improve my life quality and the things that worked are:

1. Try different brands of hormones, even though all have levothyroxine, the body reacts differently to each one. The best I found for me is Levothyrox [Image]. At first I was on Euthyrox and it was completely bad. This helped improve things by 20%

2. Split the dose during the day. I take 150 as 25 in the morning, 50 before lunch, 50 before dinner, 25 before sleep. Also at lunch I take it with a complex supplement of magnesium, calcium, D3, B6. This helped improve things by 20%

3. Exercise to burn all the extra adrenaline. Gym, sports & jogging work very well, yoga also helps, but better to have action exercises. This helped improve things by 20%

4. Eat properly. I gave up all animal protein a couple of months ago and that has been going very well so far. No refined sugar, less salt, no dairy, no junk/fried food, no alcohol is a must. Meat I choose to gave up for moral reasons but try to reduce at least. Plant-based food is what I eat (fruits, legumes, veggies, smoothies, juices, grains, seeds). There are plenty of resources online for plant-based cooking recipes. This helped improve things by 20%

5. Try to get good sleep. For me, the sleep quality decreased on this medication. Get a quiet, dark room, try some stretching before sleep. Use plant-based tea/drinks to help you get deep sleep. I also use an anti-inflammatory cream for some muscles that ache. This helped improve things by 20%

Good luck and I hope my experience is helpful.

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Has anyone experienced headaches or dizziness? I've recently started experiencing headaches and blurred vision and noticed that is on the list of side effects. I'm on 50mcg, and have been for approx 6 months. I want off this horrible medication! If I have to remain on it, I'd like to try the Armour but it's too expensive.

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I really can not understand why I'm on levothyroxine. I did have a lot of mixed symptoms. I also have fibromyalgia and degenerative disc and joint disease. In 2015 my tsh was 3.2 my tpo antibodies is 5ku/L...my t3 / t4 is normal. I suffer with fatigue and insomnia too but that could have something to do with my chronic pain. Cut a long story short, since taking levo my liver enzymes went up to 96........inflammation ...lymphocytes. So once I had the test results through I went on a 8 week stop of levo.
All results came back normal and my tsh was 1.2, no trace of tpo antibodies, so I stayed off levothyroxine..... Still not gone back on it... I have also lost 14lbs in weight...so I'm not taking any thyroid medication again.

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Most of these are normal side effects to using this class of medications, there are many complaints about them on here. Not everyone experiences them, but there are fairly common.

HOWEVER the shortness of breath and difficulty breathing COULD BE AN ALLERGIC REACTION and you should stop using the medication and speak to your doctor IMMEDIATELY!

You can read more on it here:

https:/­/­rxchat.com/­wiki/­Levothyroxine/­

Are there any other questions?

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Not sure what to tell you... It's still happening to me even now that I've stopped taking the medicine.. they do hurt.. I stopped working out because when I sweat they burn a lot... it's really annoying. I need to see a dermatologist now I guess.

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Hello,
I was wondering if you guys could help. I am looking up acne with levothyroxine becausse since going up on my dose I am getting horrible acne, this is the wierd part, I only get it on like my jaw line though. It is both sides but like on my jaw and where your jaw meets your neck. I have not had acne for well over 10 years. It is really bothering me. I am having just a horrible time with levothyroxine and even went to synthroid for a while to see if it helped and it didnt. I feel great for the first couple of days of taking it then it slowly wears off and i am back to being tired. But the acne is just killing me. I work with the humane officers so my appearance is important to me. are any of you having any of this?

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I've been on Levothyroxine about two years. I actually ended up in the ER with a severe Hashimoto's attack. So the doc put me on this. We tried Armor at first, and it worked wonders on me, but then they reformulated and it made me very sick. So I got the Levothyroxine. Seemed to be working okay for almost two years, but haven't been able to lose a pound on it. And then about two months ago, I started to get the severe leg and back cramping. And I mean SEVERE. Tried upping the dose, the cramps are not going away. The drug is literally crippling me. So, it looks like I might have to go off this, too. I know it's the drug because I had the cramping when they reformulated Armor. It has to be some filler they put in there. I'm also dizzy now alot, have had heart problems and brittle bones, which are all real side effects of Levothyroxine, and it even says it causes cramps. To me, these are not acceptable side effects. And nothing is worth not being able to walk. I'm not sure how I'm going to treat the Hashi's without the hormone, though, but I can't live with these side effects.

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I have been on 50mc of this medication for 8 months, I cannot describe how sick I am, you read on line about this thyroid problem and every site is selling something they swear will make you better, its all b.s. I have woke up for the last 3 days,crying...I am in such a haze/fog, I stumble because I am so weak, what does my worthless Dr. say, come back in...lets do another test, and be sure to pay as you leave. She is making money off of me and in 9 months I have not noticed one single bit of difference other than I feel WORSE. I have put on 15 lb.s too, which is making me have problems with my feet, I can't walk I hurt....Honestly if this does not get better I hope I die within a years time, I can't live like this.

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I have found exactly the same problems with Levothyroxine. I decided not to take it and just to reduce my Cabimazole as I was overactive but am now underactive due to Cabimazole. However even tho I am underactive now and not taking any thyroxine I feel much better and my weight gain has remained stable.

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I am a 61 old year male, I started Levo in April on 50mcg. More or less straight away I came out in spots like mosquito bites on my forearm and the back of my neck where the hairs are. I stopped taking them and started again a month later on 25mcg and was OK.
I then upped the dose back to 50mcg (2x25) and I have been fine on them. I used to feel really tired almost as though someone had turned off a switch. My blood test is normal now. In the last week my doctor has put me on one 50mcg tablet and I don't think I am imagining it but I have started to feel a little tired again. I am going to cut the tablet in half tomorrow to see what happens.K

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OMG everything you just posted is how I feel. You should see my itchy as hell forehead. Now what are you going to do?

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The spots I had initially went after stopping the tablets and since restarting the lower dose they have not come back, even after doubling the dosage back to 50mcg. I do have little spots in the hair at the base of my scalp but I have dry skin anyway. When I read the side effects it does mention hair follicles and these are where the spots were. Anyway I play a lot of tennis and since starting the treatment I feel a whole lot less tired after playing. The other symptom I used to get was cold hands, this has gone too. I do wake now with numb hands but I am putting this down to the way I sleep and my age. I don't want to be a hypochondriac so I will wait and see how things go. I certainly don't miss the tiredness I had pre Levo.

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Was diagnosed with Hashimotos disease a year ago. Have been on 75 mcg Levo ever since. Am gaining 2-6 pounds a week even if I eat healthy. Am exhausted yet wake up on average 5 times per night. Shortness of breath prevent cardio exercise. My hands, wrists, hips, legs, ankles and feet hurt so bad I can't stand it! Even if I take my prescribed pain meds it doesn't touch the pain. I don't have any reflex in one leg when the dr checked but.... Life is to darned short to live it this way, something better has to be out there.

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Everything you just listed here is exactly what I was feeling. I told my NEW Dr. that if I have to feel this way or be this way the rest of my life, I hope I die. SERIOUSLY, I felt that bad, and could not function. 2 months ago my new Dr. Phillip Warner explained that L thyroxine being generic can put (in a round about way) crap in the med's...Synthroid is better, so far I am feeling a bit better.

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50??????????? i am on 2-135's a day>>>>>>> dang i thought it was psorriasis,,,,,,, now i know differenly,,,,,, and thought the other side effects were due to statin drugs but maybe not even thought maybe i had m.s. dang it might be the meds

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hi ive just read oyur message about feleing great and want to know what I can do> Ive been taking levothyroxine for about 9 months and gained so much weight! I think im less tired but still have massive low points wher I have no energy. Please tell me your secret

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with all the different sx Ive been reading, some of you could have a underlying autoimmune problem.I have been on Levo 100mcg now for awhile,a lower dose previously and experienced the weight gain ,fatigue,weakness etc.after the increase dose I lost 50lbs! not as fatigued but still tired,but I also have depression anxiety,could be because of the other meds Im on.With all the different generics ,each "batch" there is a different absorbability rate also..with hyper..you can have the heart palpitations,sob wt loss heat intolerance muscle weakness.with hypo the weight gain muscle pain and weakness fatigue depression puffy face dry skin and hair,hair loss,boy I had alot of that,brittle hair and nails cold intolerance.could be a fine line with the med you could be on too high a dose to get to hyper and too low dose for hypo.so complicated.see if you could have other medical reasons for other sx .I dont know not an expert but could be other stuff going on

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i am on twice that amount and yes have headaches, belching, insomnia and and and i try to tell dr but he says best there is i wonder

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I was diagnosed hypothyroid July 2011, Started Levothyroxine 50 mcg. I have now gained 35 lbs. in less than a year. I want to cry!!!!! I really think I would have been fine without the meds as I was only subclinical. TSH at 8.0 normal T3 & T4. I actually think it was caused from all the Prednisone the doctors had me on for allergies. I dont understand why I keep gaining weight?? I saw a new DR today. Hoping she fixes me.

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