Helpful advice welcome

[Wearyworn]

Hi, as a result of having chemotherapy my blood results are showing hypothyroidism despite my feeling ok, GP has prescribed Levothyroxine which is making me feel so unwell , unable to function at all ,& it feels like I'm overdosing despite only taking 12.5 mg .. has anyone else encountered this .. any advice will be more than welcome .

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Wearyworn

What brand of Levo are you taking?

Many people don't get on at all well with Teva and have many side effects. But they all use different fillers so any brand could cause problems. You may just need a change of brand.

[Wearyworn in reply to SeasideSusie]

Hi .. I am currently taking taking 12.5mg of levothyroxine daily .. manufacturer is MercuryPharma ... GP prescribed 50mg .. but it made me really really unwell so have cut it back to 12.5mg in the hope I can build up from there .. I have tried the Teva brand but that made me even worse !! ..

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to Wearyworn]

That dose is so low that it is likely to make you feel worse. Very low doses are often enough to stop your thyroid producing its own hormones, but are far too low to replace them - so you feel dreadful. The normal starter dose for an adult is 50mcg, although 25mcg is often given for those with heart disease. It could just be the after effects of the chemo making you feel awful - the body has a lot of healing to do. What were your blood results for TSH, free T4 and free T3? In severe illness, the body down regulates to slow the body to slow down and heal, so you might actually not need more thyroid hormones, just recovery time.

[Wearyworn in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Hi Angel of the north.. thanks for your advice about dosage ..makes sense .. I didn’t have any reaction with medicines until my GP put me on levothyroxine .. but not coping well at all at the moment ... really giddy and spaced out ... total brain fog ! so maybe a slightly higher dose will solve it ... thanks

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to Wearyworn]

Also get B12 checked - that is often destroyed by chemo along with the gut bacteria that make it from your food - needs to be over 500, not just in range

[Wearyworn in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Hi Angel of the north... thanks again, will definitely get it checked .. I just need to get my old life back ...