Levothyroxine Side Effects (Page 2)
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I was recently diagnosed with an underactive thyroid. I have been taking levothyroxine for almost two weeks. For the last four or five days I have had a weird feeling. It is hard to explain. I don't really feel dizzy but I get a strange feeling in my head. I guess you would describe it as a head rush. Has anyone else had this feeling and will it go away as my body adjusts to the levothyroxine?

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I havevto put up with it. Neva liked it but what do we do. Give it a month see how you feel

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I was prescribed levothroxine 100mcg felt horrible on it and stopped my doctor is very upset with me said it was something else bothering me. I felt better not taking it. Do not know what to do.

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Thankyou for your information. Helpful information
Regards Annie

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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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Keep at it for a month and see how it goes. I loathe it but have no other option in NZ. Armour the natural one is expensive so I cant do that. It's for sale on the net. I've been on levothyroxine for 10 years off and on. Got no choice as with or without it im screwed.

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I had been taking thyronorm all along for about 2 years, but now I'm in a new country and I could not find thyronorm 75 and had to take levothyroxine 75. It's only been three days and I have insomnia, a severe headache, hair loss and vomiting. I am having a really hard time. Can anyone suggest me any solution?

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Donna, I recently read your post about Levothyroxine. I have experienced such horrible symptoms including weird feelings in my head, burning in the back of my throat, but the one I got the most concerned about was high blood pressure. Then I was given blood pressure meds which caused too many side effects and couldn't take it. I have gone off the Levo and have been off now for about two weeks. I am so obsessed with fear about my blood pressure that I don't even check it. My heart was beating hard and fast but I associated that with something else. But now that I'm off the Levo it is a lot smoother and doesn't beat nearly as hard. I dread telling my doctor that I just stopped the drug. Supposed to go back in about three days for the bp issue and am really hoping that it is down now. Glad to hear you are feeling better and that the head symptoms are gone. I also had a "whooshing" sound in my ear and haven't noticed that since I discontinued Levo. Good luck to you and thank you for posting your comments about Levo. Hope you feel increasingly better!

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Yes I've been thyroid medicine for a year now and the doctor just raised my dosage to 75 and now I have little weird blisters popping up and was getting worried to what it was.

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I went off the Levothyroxine and all those weird intense head feelings went away. I'm back to normal now. It took about 5 days but I felt better the second day being off of it. It was definitely the Levothyroxine messing with my head. Now I take the natural dessicated Nature Thyroid and I don't have any side effects. That Levothyroxine was a nightmare. I liked Armor Thyroid too but my insurance wouldn't cover it.

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I just started Levothyroxine (synthroid) for about 2 weeks bc my thyroid was slightly under active. I went to get blood test bc I was getting exhausted all the time and had no energy the doctor put me on .25 mg of the medication. And said if I wasn't getting tired she would not have put me on it. The first few days I felt great. A week after I started experiencing arm tingling... numbness in my toes and legs. Increased anxiety. One night I had felt chest pains...and rapid heart beat. I woke up from a dead sleep and had a panic attack due to pain in my heart and rapid heart beat. The hospital said I was OK..but shouldn't be on this medication. I spoke to Dr and she said to stop taking it. Its been 2 days since I stopped taking it. And I an still experiencing slight chest pains..like my heart hurts a little when pumping. And slight pains still on my left arm..and erratic heartbeat. It scares me and it gives me anxiety. I am waiting for the pill to get out of my system. I am nervous and this is how I am going to feel forever. Its so scary. Bc I am only 31 and I am skinny. I have been losing too much weight over this past week. And its scary. I am hoping that this isn't permanent and I go back to feeling like myself again. This is a horrible feeling like I am having heart problems. It's only been 2 weeks of the medicine.....so I'm hoping this will stop soon.

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I used to be on Synthroid and my insurance won't pay for it now and I have been on Levorthroxine and I have never felt the same since....weakness in legs heavy breathing...anyone else have these symptoms?

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DONNA. I BEEN OFF LEVOTHYROXINE OVER 3 MTHS. I GET BONE PAIN ABIT. BUT ILL NEVER GO ON IT AGAIN

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No but where wuld i get it from thyroid glandular never heard of it

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Has anyone taken thyroid glandular it's a all natural and I'm wanting to know if it works

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im 19 years old and been taking levothyroxine since i was around 4 days old, i was born without my thyroid gland so had to take liquid form till i was 6 then got put on tablet form and got my dosage increased. over the last year ive had a really hard time and decided to take myself off the meds (stupid mistake), 2 weeks ago i started meds again and have been feeling extremily foggy after taking them, im on 125mg per day. i have changed to take them on an evening now so i can just go to sleep as soon as i start to feel foggy, it might be worth a try for you to do this too.

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Johnny, I also have a head issue like a dizziness but its different, strange, almost like being on a smaller roller coaster. I get vibration twinges too in my head and there is a fullness like I need to drain it or something. I googled to see if anyone else had side effects from Levothyroxine. I've been on it for about 6 or 7 months. Two days ago I got vertigo. I've never had that before. It was pretty terrifying. Anyway, I'm researching some more. These side effects aren't worth it for me. Its like I'm tripping on something. I prefer to be alert and aware.

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I completely understand ur concern..when I started it I had worse symptoms pro medicine and symptoms I didn't even have prior..however..once I had the microgram raised it balanced out..I had become so lost and didn't not know what to do..very discouraged..I found out that when ur dose isn't high enough that it can cause much more problems..so 30 days after taking ur meds DO NOT FORGET to go back and get retested..because when I did I discovered that my levels were even lower and had to be given an higher dose...and it did get better..tho as I said it can be a very hard process and u may feel lost..don't give up..I wish I had someone to have told me this in my intial treatment..so I hope it gives you some security and hope..good luck..again..don't stop ur meds..get ur levels rechecked and I'm going to get that ull be on an higher dose...God bless

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I have been on the generic synthroid for about 6 months at this dosage...i had my thyroid removed and then raised it from 25 to 175...every since this i have unbelievable itching, and burning sensation but no rash or redness....usually from my shoulders up...have been to my dr, over and over and a lot of blood tests...i am having an internal reaction to something but that's all they know....in the mean time the itching is so out of control that it starts my Afib going....any suggestions?

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HI RB. WELL UR OFF IT HOID ON YOU. EXPECT CWRTAIN WITHDRAWELS BUT NON LIKE WE HAD WHEN WE WERE ON THAT CRAP. TRY TO BE WITHOUT IT. EVEN A HEALTH SHOP THYROID SUPPLENENT TO MAKE IT FEEL EASIER. THANKU FOR YOUR POST HOPE AFTER 2 MTHS LIKE I AM NOW YOULL REALIZE ITS BEST WHAT WE DOING NOT TAKING IT !!!

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Totally feel your pain. Was diagnosed with hypo about two weeks ago, started Levothyroxine just over a week ago. About 4 days into it started having major side effects - the head rush/fuzzy brain feeling mentioned at the start of this discussion forum, severe neck pain, headache, bad anxiety, absolutely no appetite, lightheadedness, muscle weakness/pain, fatigue, weakness in general, depression, stomach issues, and more worryingly, heart palpitations, arrhythmia, etc. Stopped dosage today and feel slightly better. My appetite is slowly coming back, although my arm is aching with weakness as I'm typing. It seems like this medication made me feel worse than the hypothyroidism! I too have a young child, and it feels like I'm missing his childhood because of this illness. I have been battling anxiety and hypothyroid symptoms for years and have missed out on so much! Have a good life, friends, family, job - I shouldn't be so miserable! This chat forum has really helped me to feel less crazy and alone. Thanks to all for your encouraging stories. You're not alone in your struggle!

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