Levothyroxine

[SickAndTired57]

Hello! Just started 50mcg 6 days ago and today stomach cramps are worse. Have had nausea. I take it at 7am and by 7:45am, I am so exhausted and sleep for 3 to 4 hours straight (this after 8 to 10 hours of sleep). Only my free T4 was low, my TSH was "normal", but not optimal at 3.72. I see my PCP for a follow up Thursday, but just wondering if anybody felt WORSE before they got better, and how long did it take? I won't get into the long road that finally got me here, I'm sure you've all been there! Thanks in advance!

[bantam12]

Very common to feel worse at the start of treatment, you could swap to taking it at night to see if that helped.

[Trendywends]

I also felt sick and extreme fatigue when first going on treatment. I take my meds at night just before bed so tried to be fast asleep before sickness set in. I have been on meds 7 weeks.

[Myonlysunshine]

I'm the same right now, day 7 on 50g Levo and I feel like I have really bad morning sickness! I've been advised to try another week and I think I will..fingers crossed it starts working you, take care x

[Tarry]

I felt terrible at first and it made me feel sick added to that all the faffing with not eating for ages either side , I now take it at night immediately before going to bed.

[Treepie]

Some folk find that their body needs to get used to the additional hormone.As you are taking T4 orally the pituitary senses the input and instructs the thyroid to produce less .Hence you are worse off. Having blood tests every 6-8 weeks and increasing the levo as necessary should resolve the problem.

[klr31]

You could try a different brand of levothyroxine.

Karen

[SickAndTired57]

Thank you everyone! I will ask my doctor about taking it at night instead.

[Stourie in reply to SickAndTired57]

I personally wouldn't bother your doctor about when you take it. He will not know any different. Just take it at bedtime and see how you get on.

Jo xx

[SickAndTired57 in reply to Stourie]

I see her tomorrow anyway and she has suggested I take it in the morning originally. I can wait one more day. Thank you

[Bystander]

I started taking 100mg of levothyroxine 11 months ago. I slept for 2 hours straight afterwards even though I had had a good nights sleep. I started. Taking it at night just before I go to bed and found it much better.

I have low stomach acid which can be a feature apparently of an underactive thyroid. I didn't have stomach cramps but had bloating and heartburn.

I found avoiding white bread, spicy food, red wine and chocolate helped

I found bisodol tablets which you can get in most supermarkets helped. Although don't take it the same time as your levothyroxine as indigestion medicines interfer with the absorption of the levothyroxine.

Hope this helps

[Margareta3]

What brand of Levothyroxine do you take? I had stomach cramps and feeling very ill on Teva, but not on Mercury Pharma.

[SickAndTired57 in reply to Margareta3]

Not sure, it's generic? Bottle says to refer to Monograph for common brands. I get it at CVS. (I'm in the US, I was added to this UK group when replying to something when joining the site and can't find a US thyroid one). Don't know if that makes a difference to brands.