My 16 year old daughter has been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and no improvement yet on Levothyroxine. She is suffering from terrible headaches along with the fatigue and lightheadedness. Can anyone recommend anything that helps with the headaches as paracetamol and ibuprofen aren’t helping?
Thank you
How much Levo is she prescribed?
How long has she been on it?
What brand of Levo does she have?
Headaches is listed as a side effect in the patient information leaflet. She might be better off with a different brand.
Thank you that’s really helpful
Try a magnesium supplement to see if it helps. Blood vessels are ‘smooth muscle’ and low magnesium can lead to abnormal contraction of smooth muscle which can cause headache. Hypothyroidism can cause low intracellular magnesium. There are no useful blood tests for magnesium status, so don’t bother looking! If that doesn’t help paracetamol codeine (paracodamol) can help with headache.
Has she had her vitamin B12 levels checked? I had loads of headaches, fatigue and dizziness which went with taking a good high dose B12 supplement. Also check her folate and vit D .
Thank you Debra
Low iron can cause headaches due to reduced oxygen levels. B12 - Folate - Ferritin - VitD should be tested and results need to be optimal to enable the Levo to work well in the body.
Mummarie, had she had blood tests for the things mentioned in the thread? A complete thyroid panel, TSH, freeT4 and freeT3, and the vitamins mentioned, B12, folate, ferritin (stored iron), vit D (magnesium test isn't reliable).
If these haven't been done or you can't get copies you could consider a mailorder finger prick test. I believe Bluehorizon will do tests for people under 18.
Thank you
I agree with the previous answers.
Please get her vitD, folate, B12, ferritin levels checked.
Get a full printout of the results (inc ref ranges) and post on here.
You’ll get loads of help.
For me (and we are all different), I need my levels of the vitamins etc to be REALLY good.
Low vitD and folate definitely mean I get worse and more frequent migraines.
Unfortunately, at 16 other hormones might be playing a part. Make sure your daughter is drinking plenty of water and eating regularly. Plus getting good sleep. These can also play a part with causing headaches if not right, on top of the thyroid issues.
I hope she gets some relief soon. 🤗
I have always been prone to migraine, though almost grown out of them since the menopause. They may not be migraine-type (some are) but if I need an increase in thyroxine I usually get more headaches.
Thank you
Migraine is a disease that is comorbid with thyroid disease. I did not develop chronic migraine till diagnosed with Hashimoto’s. The best thing I ever did was visit a headache specialist. There are so many rookie mistakes you can make like taking too much ibuprofen they can exacerbate your condition. Tell her she’s not alone and to hang in there it will get better.
Thank you for your kind words and advice
I had migraine almost all my life, though not diagnosed till in my thirties, and almost grew out of it after the menopause.
But it does seem to be connected with thyroid problems as well, which has only developed in the last few years. If I need an increase in thyroid meds I get more migraine-type headaches. The only thing that really helped was Migril. I still need it occasionally, though co-codamol helps in most cases.
Thank you that’s helpful
Thank you so much everyone for you advice and taking the time to respond. Her blood tests show no problems with B12, folate or iron. I have been giving her Vit D for 3 weeks now. Levothyroxine was started last Monday on 50mg per day which has caused her to feel sick as well. I’ve asked for a print out of all her results to see T levels and blood results. She’s been referred to paediatrics but they’ve told me today they are over run and don’t knowhow long it will be to get her in there. All advice is greatly appreciated as she’s been off school for 4 weeks now and really struggling.
Do you have the actual results for B12 - Folate - Ferritin - VitD ?
I’ve asked for them and will collect tomorrow to check. I’ll get supplements anyway to boost. Thanks for the good advice
Wait until you have results before supplementing. Start a new post for advice. Dosage is often linked to results. Everyone happy to help ...
Mummarie, As she started Levo so recently it's too early to tell if it will help. It very likely will in the end, but it can easily take 6 months to get settled on hormone.
It's very common to feel worse on a low starter dose, once she has had an increase or two she will hopefully get some improvement. In these early few weeks she just had go hang in there.
Best practice is to get a retest and does adjustment every 6 weeks. Doctors can be happy to just leave people on low doses, so you might have to fight to make sure she gets her retests.
If doctors have told you her B12, folate and iron are good, don't take that for an answer. Make sure you've seen the numbers yourself and confirmed they are optimal. 'Okay' vitsmins aren't good enough, they need to be optimal.
That’s really helpful - I’ll check levels. Thank you
When you get the print out of results for vitamins etc post on here with the associated ranges. The surgery will tell you results normal even if just in range. I received very useful advice about vitamins a few months ago, we felt informed enough to query the ‘normal’ results with the GP and after further tests started a number of vitamins/minerals. The physical and mental changes have been greater than I could have possibly anticipated.
Thank you
Chronic daily headaches
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