i have put a couple of posts up recently about developing numerous symptoms about 12 weeks ago, i have been taking Levothyroxine for 20 years, the last 10yrs i have been on a daily dose of 150mcg and remained solely on Actavis Brand, anyway without covering old ground it appears quite a number of people have noticed a difference with Actavis along with myself, one of my symptoms which is concerning me greatly is that i have developed is a visual disturbance and was wondering if anyone else has had any issue with their eyes which are not the norm?
I have the usual floaters, no problem, most people get those and sometimes they are more noticeable than others dependent on light or tiredness etc, however, i have noticed something most peculiar indeed and i have never, ever experienced it before 12 weeks ago along with the onset of my other symptoms, it seems to be one eye only but i am seeing small jet black marks and also small saucer like shapes that are jet black on the outer edge, then mostly clear apart from a small jet black centre, they are also moving very slowly across my line of vision, stuttered movement, slow motion, absolutely nothing like usual floaters at all!
I have been to the opticians twice to have my eyes checked very thoroughly, photos of the back of the eye etc, they advise me there does not appear to be any issues with my eyes and that i need to see my GP as it's not coming from my eyes, which seems a bit of a strange statement and that i need to see my GP.
It's just too coincidental that i have never ever had an issue like this prior to 12 weeks ago. Obviously being my sight i'm very concerned!
I was wondering if anyone else has noticed anything similar or had any eye issues at all which they feel is Thyroid/medication related ??
p.s i have noticed blurred vision as well but i know other people have actually mentioned developing that after changing medication brand and some who are also using Actavis.
Many thanks.
Steve.
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Unless you have thyroid eye disease then eye problems likely have some other explanation. Low thyroid hormone could cause dry eyes but if your blood tests are normal then I'd look for another reason.
I've had no problems with Actavis and as far as I'm aware, their formulation has not changed.
i will have to have a look at Thyroid eye disease symptoms, i do suffer with slight eye dryness. as i mentioned i only developed this issue 12 weeks ago but there appears to be quite a few people on here who have noticed a difference with Actavis recently and Almus which you may know are Actavis re boxed and branded, but there are also quite a number including yourself who have noticed no difference with Actavis, a bit puzzling.
I had a big increase in floaters and flashes of light recently so I went the the eye Dr. and he used his machine to look inside my eye and took pictures of all the floaters, and there were a. lot! He said it was a vitreous detachment, vitreous gel is the gel inside your eye, it can shrink and slowly detach or pull away from the retina, it usually gets better, less floaters over a few weeks, which mine did, but I’m still seeing more than I did before it all started, I was also told that they can use a laser to get rid of them if there are still too many and are too bothersome, I’m hoping that it doesn’t come to that though. You can look Posterior Vitreous Detachment up on WebMD if you are interested in reading about it. Good luck, I hope you can get to the bottom of your problem, I know it’s scary when there’s something wrong with your eyes.
I have recently been diagnosed with an epiretinal membrane- vision in one eye is blurred, but the retina specialist I saw said it’s not thyroid related. I have to live with it, as it’s not severe enough to warrant surgery at the moment.
I’ve also been diagnosed with TED, with one eye slightly larger than the other. I have noticed that eye dryness is worse when I’m under medicated. I do have floaters, but these don’t bother me much. I take 200mg selenium and use preservative free drops to help with dryness. I also find eye packs that you can either heat or cool do help reduce swelling.
Eye problems are such a worry, so do have regular check ups. My optician referred me to a retina specialist and my Endocrinologist diagnosed the TED (which was confirmed by a private ophthalmologist) I hope you get to the bottom of your eye issues soon!
thanks for your reply. I do use eye drops, first thing in the morning upon rising from bed, when my eyes are their dryest and sometimes a couple of drops through the day, i have also noticed down the years if i have gone up or down on dose that it definitely affects eye dryness.
I'm not worried about the "standard" floaters although they have actually become far more noticeable since i developed the other symptoms 12 weeks ago, its the "Weird" type of floaters in just the one eye that is concerning me and how they stutter or move in very slow motion, not like usual floaters at all,
I have an endocrinologist appointment in November so i will definitely mention to him.
I’m in the US, you don’t have to have a referral for everything here, I actually saw a Therapeutic Optometrist which isn’t exactly an eye Dr. but he is certified in the medical treatment and management of ocular diseases, my sister had floaters also and went to her Opthalmologist, which he has higher levels of training than an Optometrist and can do surgery too, and she was told that they can get rid of floaters with a laser 😳 if they are too bothersome. I wish you guys in the UK had easier access to better healthcare there. We do have to search at times here to find decent Drs. that hopefully knows what they’re doing and it isn’t always easy but it’s probably like that everywhere nowadays.
The optician who i have seen twice and was very thorough seems to think i don't have anything serious going on but i have an appointment with an Endocrinologist in a few weeks so i will mention to him and see what he thinks, i will monitor closely and if there is no improvement or it worsens i will see my GP about referring to someone more specialist.
It’s good that you saw an optician and got it checked out, hopefully it will get better on its own so you won’t have to see a specialist. I don’t fancy laser treatment on my eye either!!!
Rather than a laser, increase your daily water consumption by quite a bit. The description of what the floaters are made of is correct, but according to my optician, it happens because you are too dehydrated and the way to reduce them is to drink a lot more water.
I talked about it with him just recently. He described the difference between floaters and black dots as well, but I can't remember that bit because I don't often get black dots. Neither was a serious issue in my case.
Sorry to hear that you are still having increased floaters going on, I hate them, they are really bothersome. I hope they go away or at the very least settle down, and that you also get to the bottom of the leg tremors and breathlessness. Hang in there!
The floaters have calmed down some after the vitreous detachment, they are in one eye only but they are still bad enough that they are a distraction and affecting my vision in that eye some, I will try to drink more water and see what happens, thanks again. I’ve been thinking that I need to go back to the optometrist but I don’t know that there is much they can do about it.
Hi I’m on activis and been fine for 5 years on it but I’ve just developed Floaters more like cobwebs and electric ⚡️ light in the side of my eye 👁.. I didn’t know there was a problem with activis ? I’m getting my bloods checked as I do feel tired 💤 and have some insomnia.. not sure what is going on with my eye looks like a trip to both the GP and opticians .. hope yours resolved itself soon x
Hi there, tiredness is also one of the symptoms i have developed from just over 3 months ago, ive been on Actavis for 15 years with no issues at all and then Wham, Bam, insomnia has also developed with me as well!! some people on here seem to be fine with no difference with Actavis while others have also reported they feel they have noticed a change. it seems it may be certain batch numbers.
My eye issue has not really improved, its bizarre. When did yours differences start to develop? had you opened a new batch of Actavis prior too?
My other symptoms are
arm and leg tremors
Leg weakness
Muscle twitching
Breathlessness
Heavy hair shedding
Itching all over
Noticeable drop in energy levels
Palpitations
Blurred vision
Have you by any chance noticed any of the above but perhaps put it down to something else?
Hi lynnwin, if you go to the opticians would you please tell us what they say, I have the same thing going on with my eye, the optician said it is from a vitreous detachment and that it would calm down in a few weeks and it did a little bit but not enough to stop it driving me nuts about it and it’s affecting my seeing well out of that eye. Thanks.
Hi .. I’ve not been able to get to the opticians yet but I think mine could be the same ? It has eased only seem to get it when I go from dark to light Ive been wearing sunglasses 😎 even in the rain 🤦♀️ I will surely update you but what I’ve read on line on moorfield eye hospital site it is what you said and normally goes on it’s own 🙏 it is so annoying.. I’m just waiting for my blood tests to come back .. how long have you had it for ? Xxxx
Hiya update my bloods have come back thyroidtoxicosis they want to reduce my thyroxine from 100mcg to 75mcg but I’m not doing it till I’ve had my private blood tests as my FT3 could be low and my T4 pooling not converting.. its mad that the NHS doesn’t do the FT3 so will have to wait till next week for those to come back 😔 don’t know if my symptoms are due to a problem with activis ? My symptoms the same and my eye is still the same 😔 xxx
It sounds like you have a lot going on right now, I’m sorry to hear that and I hope that you can get to the bottom of it all and get it straightened out. I had to look thyroidtoxicosis up, I learn something new on here every time I get on here. Let us know what you find out.
Hiya yes I have those symptoms plus more , burning scalp aching , insomnia , feeling depressed hair loss no energy the list goes on as I said it’s like I’m taking NO thyroxine.. my eyes are a new thing and I’ve had a repeat for my activis so now I’m wondering if it could be those after reading your post ? Would you know the batch numbers ? Xx
blimey, you have all of those symptoms?? how recently have they developed?? can you pin point when you started with them?? i was absolutely fine right up until the start of June, i take 1 x 100mcg Actavis and 1 x 50mcg Actavis every evening, are you on 100mcg tablets or 50mcg i have tried 6 different batch numbers, same results!!
Hiya things have been gradually getting worse over the last month 😔 I have had a lot of stress so put it down to that 🤷♀️ Separated from my marriage after 25 years retraining as a phlebotomist selling the house finding a rental so I just thought stress .. but it all seems thyroid to me I keep diaries and it’s like I’m taking NO thyroxine.. I take 100mcg in the mornings a hour before food .. Activis are or were the only ones that suited me tried others they made me feel poorly 😔 I have coeliac disease too but although the other brands had NO Gluten I felt as if I had eaten gluten 😔 I will go for a blood test tomorrow morning trouble is my GP can’t get the lab to do FT3 and I’m fed up of paying for it through biolab it’s so expensive 😔 x
sorry to hear about your stress. if you have the same numerous symptoms as me then it has to be far too much of a coincidence, that's why i listed them all, as i mentioned other people seem to have had no issues with Actavis where others have had a small number of different reactions but everyone is different of course.
Thank you .. I’m going for a blood test this morning see if that flags anything ? I had no sleep last night struggled to get up this morning 🤦♀️ It’s awful having all the symptoms back 😔 plodded among nicely now bam I feel rubbish .. I hope it isn’t the activis as that’s the only one that suited me .. Hope you feel better soon x
I think mine have been going on like this for a couple of months now, and they did calm down a little a couple of weeks after I saw the optician like he said they would, but not enough, I hate the thought of them being like this from now on😳I hope yours go away!
Aww crikey I hope it clears soon I know it was driving me mad and the electric ⚡️ flash in the side corner of my eye drove me mad 😠 I still see it now and then and the cobwebs and have to keep blinking I think someone thought I was winking at them as I kept closing it 🤦♀️ .. mine has been like it just over a week it’s definitely improved but not gone fully 😔 will update you if I find out anymore ? Xxx
Thanks lynnwin, and Fancy Pants said to try drinking more water that dehydration could be the cause so I tried it and unfortunately I didn’t see any improvement. You might give it a try.
Apart from suggesting a full thyroid blood test panel to include vitamins and minerals, in preparation for your forth coming Endo appointment please jut ensure all your eye lotions, potions, and drops are preservative free.
i was actually thinking about having a vitamin and mineral test to accompany my recent medichecks Thyroid results, i will check everything is preservative free.
thanks, it is indeed best to be prepared, i m hoping the Endo can shed some light but i'm not holding my breath as it appears reading the numerous stories on here that it's very much pot luck with Endo's.
Hi Steve I had my vitamin minerals tested with biolab .. I was B1 B2 deficient and my B12 was way high at 2000 🤷♀️ I think my B1B2 is low as I’m a coeliac ? X
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