My GP has said i can not take levo (i can not tolerate) therefore i have to see the Endo. The endo will not see me until my tsh is 10 though. Shall i insist i see one sooner with these readings. I do not want to get to 10 i feel i will be feeling really crap with 10. Thank you
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maplewood
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Why has your Doctor said you cannot tolerate Levothyroxine? How does he know that you can't tolerate Levo until you have actually taken it? You need to start on 50mcg straight away and then have a blood test after 6 weeks ... if you still feel ill you then need to increase it to 75mcg and carry on doing so until you feel well. Don't let your Doctor make you feel even more ill than you already are because it can take months or even years to get you feeling well again. Believe me because I let my Doctor keep me ill for years until I felt suicidal and unable to get out of bed and my TSH was only 9.
You can ask to see the endo sooner, but at the end of the day the endo can refuse to see you if your TSH hasn't reached 10.
I think all you can do is try and use your previous experience of being medicated on Levo and what has happened during that time, if you are convinced that you can't tolerate Levo then you will have to emphasise that and ask for them to look at an alternative.
Having previously being diagnosed and prescribed Levo, it's very obvious that you need some hormone replacement.
How long did you leave between stopping your Levo and doing this test? As Levo has a half life of 7 days, it can take about 6 or 7 weeks for it to completely leave your body once you stop. If you've not waited that long then chances are your TSH will be higher if you do wait the correct length of time.
I was diagnosed in 2012 as hypo TSH 12. I took levothyroxine upto Feb this year. They took me off as atrial as i said i had never felt well on it. Felt great initially then levels started to rise again. Gp said i could resume levo but felt very unwell after taking first dose. After 4 days i was getting shooting pains all over body. The nuse said i had the same symptoms in 2013 when i started taking it. She told me to stop. They now say wait until TSH 10. I am now having palps all day and feel ill. I cant understand the mentality. If they know i have been hypo and heading back why will they not treat. Total madness
Total madness indeed. They have your history, you have a diagnosis of hypothyroidism, they know you never felt well on Levo which begs the question why didn't they look for alternatives before.
Have you tried different brands and kept a note of how you feel in case it was the excipients in a particular brand that caused problems?
If you've tried all the available brands of Levo and have problems with all of them, there is liquid Levo although still has excipients. If you had adverse reactions to liquid Levo then there is Tirosint which is gel capsule and is very "clean" as the only ingredients are Levothyroxine sodium, gelatin, glycerin, water. Here is a list of all thyroid hormone replacements available:
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