Help

[Wwerty]

Sorry if this is a stupid question but can levo thyroxine make you depressed, my anxiety is through the roof and and crying all the time, every time they increase it I feel I gets worse, I’m at a point we’re i can’t even leave the house

[Lalatoot]

I would say no. Depression and anxiety are symptoms of the thyroid disease itself. I speak from experience. You need to get your blood results ft4 and ft3 and tsh so and share them. How much levo are you on? If you post results and dose on here then we can perhaps help.

Let me tell you a wee bit of what happened to me.... I was undermedicated for years. During that time I had anxiety, panic attacks. I think this was because what my body lacked in thyroid hormones it made up for with adrenaline. I survived on levo and citalopram.

[Tikaneko]

I would agree with Lalatoot, I am naturally a positive person but I too experienced low mood before being diagnosed, my moo also drops if my Levo needs upping.

[jimh111]

If your thyroid is still secreting some hormone (and yours probably is) then increases in levothyroxine will reduce your TSH and so reduce the output from your thyroid. This can include the T3 your thyroid secretes. Low T3 can cause depression. You need to have TSH, fT3 and fT4 measured to get a picture. Until these three are all measured we can't be sure if you are even hypo or hyper, sometimes the TSH doesn't reflect what is going on.

[Hidden]

Yes, I tend to feel depressed when my FT3 levels are suboptimal. You'd need to have them tested along with TSH and FT4 to know how well you are converting T4 to T3.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Looking at previous posts you are only on recently increased to 50mcg and the brand was changed to Teva

Teva brand upsets many people. Did you try to get previous brand as 50mcg tablets?

50mcg is only a starter dose of Levothyroxine. It takes at least 6 weeks to get balanced on each dose

Bloods should be retested after 6-8 weeks.

Likely to need further increases

We have to introduce Levothyroxine slowly, as it can be too much of a shock to system to start on full replacement dose

The aim of Levothyroxine is to increase the dose slowly in 25mcg steps upwards until TSH is under 2 (many need TSH significantly under one) and most important is that FT4 in top third of range and FT3 at least half way in range

NHS guidelines on Levothyroxine including that most patients eventually need somewhere between 100mcg and 200mcg Levothyroxine.

nhs.uk/medicines/levothyrox...

Also what foods to avoid (eg recommended to avoid calcium rich foods at least four hours from taking Levo)

How long since dose was increased to 50mcg?

Common to feel worse about weeks 5-7 on dose increase. It does get better!

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also very important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

As you already know you have high thyroid antibodies (Hashimoto's) low vitamin levels are likely. Have these been tested yet?

All four vitamins need to be regularly tested and frequently need supplementing to maintain optimal levels

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water . This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

Last Levothyroxine dose should be 24 hours prior to test, (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).

Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies or all vitamins

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have special offers, Medichecks usually have offers on Thursdays, Blue Horizon its more random

Anxiety is very common hypothyroid symptom. As dose Levothyroxine gets increased it will improve

Have you considered trying strictly gluten free diet. This can also help reduce anxiety

Hashimoto's frequently affects the gut and often leads to low stomach acid and then low vitamin levels

Low vitamin levels affect Thyroid hormone

Poor gut function can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances. Most common by far is gluten. Dairy is second most common.

According to Izabella Wentz the Thyroid Pharmacist approx 5% with Hashimoto's are coeliac, but over 80% find gluten free diet helps, sometimes significantly. Either due to direct gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)

Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal and slowly lower TPO antibodies

While still eating high gluten diet ask GP for coeliac blood test first or buy test online for under £20, just to rule it out first

Assuming test is negative you can immediately go on strictly gluten free diet




(If test is positive you will need to remain on high gluten diet until endoscopy, maximum 6 weeks wait officially)




Trying gluten free diet for 3-6 months. If no noticeable improvement then reintroduce gluten and see if symptoms get worse

chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

amymyersmd.com/2018/04/3-re...

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

scdlifestyle.com/2014/08/th...

drknews.com/changing-your-d...

restartmed.com/hashimotos-g...

[cc120 in reply to SlowDragon]

Yikes, I eat 500g greek style yogurt approx 30 mins to an hour after taking levo and T3. So I should leave 4 hours, should I?

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to cc120]

Or change to taking Levothyroxine at bedtime

Many people take Levothyroxine soon after waking, but it may be more convenient and more effective taken at bedtime

All medication at least two hours away from Levo. Some like HRT, PPI's, magnesium, iron, calcium or vitamin D, at least four hours away

verywellhealth.com/best-tim...

Many people find Levothyroxine brands are not interchangeable.

Once you find a brand that suits you, best to make sure to only get that one at each prescription. Watch out for brand change when dose is increased or at repeat prescription.

Many patients do NOT get on well with Teva brand of Levothyroxine. Though it is the only one for lactose intolerant patients.

Teva is the only brand that makes 75mcg tablet.

[cc120 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you SlowDragon. I would change it to bedtime except that I don't stop eating after morning.

I will have to look at what brand I'm on via NHS. I get 50mcg and 25mcg tabs, and Unipharma T3.

[Wwerty]

Thanks for all replying, I’ve changed back to mercury which I initially started on and I’m taking 75 daily, i take at the same time every morning with water and don’t have anything else for at least 2 hours, my gp suggested trying might time, it just worries me because I’ve been getting palpitations since starting them and I don’t want to wake in the night with palpitations, I think maybe I’m expecting too much too soon, I’m normally the person who gets poorly on a Monday and better by Friday once a year type of person so all this has thrown me, I’v only been on levo about 12 weeks. I’m one of those who never take tablets for anything if I can help it, 2 paracetamols knock me out. Maybe I just need to relax and let it do it’s tjing

[Wwerty]

I’ve only been increased to 75 for 5 days so that’s maybe why I feel so tearful and anxious x

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Wwerty]

You will see here that Teva is Marmite brand in that a few people love it.....but it makes many people extremely ill. It's the only lactose free So it suits anyone with lactose intolerance

healthunlocked.com/search/p...

Teva contains mannitol instead of lactose and mannitol can upset many people. It changes the gut flora

bmj.com/content/360/bmj.k71...

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Wwerty]

Common to feel very weird to start with. It should improve as you get use to new dose.

Good you are back on Mercury. See if that improves how you feel. It takes a while to settle.

Getting bloods retested 6-8 weeks later

Come back with new post once you get results

[Nanaedake]

I agree with Slowdragon that the problem could be TEVA levothyroxine. It made me so ill I got depressed. I didn't know how I was supposed to feel as I was new to the whole thing. I would definitely try a different levothyroxine but it might take a few months to clear the effects out of your system. Also check Vitamin levels.

[hen-house]

Hi to you all, Im hoping for some advice if thats ok? I questioned my thyroid for years, was told it was borderline and finally this year (after 8 years of asking) i finally had a GP say - ok we will test it properly but i think its all gonna come back ok and its just stress! It came back saying i had hypothyroid and i was put on Levo 25mg, im still on 25mg 7 months later, my GP has said that some people only need the starting dose, shes retesting me now and mentioned a thyroid scan and shes putting me on some B12 injections, im feeling very low, anxious and more tired than i have ever felt humanly possible (i also have fibro and ME) and so very hot ALL the time, i cant be away from a fan! - im a little confused why i haven't had an increase of Levo and what the scan would be for? I do suffer from Anemia, low B12, low vit D, low Zinc etc - it all seems to be low, but i feel so rubbish every moment of every day, its good to know sometimes what things to question with the GP or if there is anything else i should be asking or getting checked, i did ask if it could be Hashimotos at my last appointment and she just said it wouldn't make much difference as it would still be the same treatment? Thank you in advance xx

[Mamapea1 in reply to hen-house]

Hen-house, it would be better if you created a new post with your questions, as many people will not notice this reply where it is...at the bottom of someone else's. It would seem you are under medicated, and you will no doubt get lots of much needed advice if you repost this👍 x

[hen-house in reply to Mamapea1]

thank you xx

[Hidden in reply to hen-house]

Fibro and ME may also be connected with being hypothyroid.

But, as Mamapeal said, start your own thread so we can have a better go at helping sort out what may be going on. Copy and paste what you wrote above if you like!

[Hidden]

Before starting thyroid treatment it was like my brain would hardly work, a most horrible feeling. For several hours each day all I could do was sit and wonder how long before bedtime. I couldn't read, hold a conversation, watch a video, or do anything to pass the time! Making a cup of tea was a major operation because concentration was almost nil. I would stand in the kitchen saying "Um.." and wondering what was the next step in what had become a very complicated, almost impossible, process.

It was unbearably boring - like a kind of mental solitary confinement! Not depression as such, but...