Long term side effects of Levothyroxine?

[Grundy77]

Has anyone come across evidence about memory loss as a side effect?

[Hidden]

No, but i read something about it increasing the chances of breast cancer

[Marz]

Often with being Hypo you will also have LOW B12 - which is connected with memory loss as well as other neurological symptoms.

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

youtube.com/watch?feature=p...

Professor Smith starts to talk after about 4 minutes into the presentation.....

Low FT3 could also be an issue as the brain has more T3 receptors than any other part of the body....

[RedApple Administrator]

I don't know if there's anything to say that memory loss is a side effect of levothyroxine, but hypothyroidism itself can be a cause of memory problems. So if the levothyroxine isn't doing it's job for whatever reason, then memory problems might be a result.

Here's part of an article from the ATA about hypothyroidism and memory:

Hypothyroidism reduces the volume of the hippocampus, a critical site for memory

BACKGROUND

It is well known that hypothyroidism during pregnancy and infancy can impair brain development. In fact, congenital hypothyroidism is the most common preventable cause of mental retardation. Because of this, all newborns are screened at birth in order to detect congenital hypothyroidism as early as possible and initiate treatment to prevent impaired brain development. Hypothyroidism is common in adults and is frequently associated with cognitive issues, such as increased forgetfulness, mental slowing and “brain fog”. However, unlike in congential hypothyroidism, there is limited data on whether hypothyroidism in adults results in structural brain defects. The current study examines the effect of hypothyroidism on the adult brain, in particular the hippocampus which is an area of the brain that plays a critical role in short and long term memory.

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS STUDY?

While the number of subjects in the study was small, and while the authors did not repeat brain measurements after patients were treated with thyroid hormone to determine if the hippocampus volume normalized, these results do provide preliminary evidence that hypothyroidism in adults causes significant reduction in the volume of the right hippocampus. This could explain some of the memory deficits that have been observed in those with hypothyroidism.

The full article is here

thyroid.org/wp-content/uplo...