I am admittedly looking for reassurance here- from people who know how uninformed doctors can be about thyroid disorders. When I was first diagnosed, it was because I went to the ER worried about a brain tumor of all things because I had a daily persistent headache that had lasted for 3 weeks straight. I started taking levo and eventually the headaches went away and I became euthyroid. A few months ago I started having more minor headaches again and, sure enough, my tsh is elevated at 5.060. I told my doctor about this and she said she doesn’t think the headaches are related. Well it seems like quite a coincidence. Furthermore, I have read many things saying headaches can be a symptom of hypothyroidism. Just frustrated I suppose.
“I don’t think your headaches have anything to ... - Thyroid UK
“I don’t think your headaches have anything to do with your Hashimoto’s.”
Written by
thyroidmom84
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
53 Replies
•
Ask her what's causing the headaches then ??
When did you last have Thyroid bloods done?
Thursday actually- that is when I got the 5.06 TSH. And you’re right- I should have asked her!
So you are undermedicated. Did you only have TSH tested? No FreeT3 or FreeT4 or T4?
What dose Levothyroxine are you on now? Did she increase it after that TSH.
As you know, target maximum therapeutic level TSH is 2 ( most people on here say it should be no more than 1) so your TSH is too high.
It is frustrating - so annoying. We have to try and educate our doctors , then wait for them to catch up! Meanwhile we just have to get on with it and suffer the symptoms.
If the headache persists - I think I'd want investigations.
My endo increase it from 112 mcg to 137. I also had T4, but she did not test T3.
That increase sounds about right. Will you be tested again within a couple of months ?
Hope the headache goes .
So you will need to test TSH, FT3 and FT4 6-8 weeks after this dose increase
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 .
Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results.
Come back with new post once you get vitamin results
or even no more than 0.5 (Dr Toft - who says most will feel well with a TSH between 0.2 and 0.5 ie those with hypothyroidism )
I didn't with .36 TSH !!
He only says “most will” not “all will” it is a personal thing as to what will suit you as an individual.
I suffered from chronic, low grade headaches for months prior to starting Levo. I get headaches only occasionally now, it was most certainly a hypo symptom for me.
SlowDragonAdministrator
Did you get vitamin D, folate, B12 and ferritin test results?
I requested them- dr updated the orders and the lab used the old orders. So I have to get vitamins tested at a separate appointment.
A headache was the first sign of my other half’s Hashimoto’s. Your doctor is a numpty. 
Ha!
And your lab staff are numptier.
So I actually called them and they are claiming they never got the revised orders that my endo swears they sent in.
headaches, particularly migraines are thyroid related. Ask for a referral. One of my dd's had chronic permanent migraine, she only gets a few now, she's on NDT. A recent reduction in NDT for another reason gave her - yes, you've guessed it - more and more persistent migraines - she's gone back to her original dose now. My other dd had chronic migraines every other day, she's on NDT now and gets them at 'that time of the month'.
My daughter also gets terrible menstrual migraines ! I found a research paper On a trial that gave vitamin E 400mg to patients for 5 days during menstruation And after 3 months an improvement was found. My daughter has started to take vitamin E and she has noticed the symptoms have lessened. The pills the gp prescribed had terrible side effects numbness down one arm. Perhaps vitamin E worth a try ?
Thank you, I will definitely look into that. I am about to start taking magnesium to see it it helps, and I want to isolate everything so I know what impacts which symptoms so I will put Vitamin E next on the list. 🙏🏻
I believe the alpha -tocopherol (D alpha form ) is the one to buy ! Hope it helps
My persistent headaches ( migraines and cluster ) which I suffered from for 30 + years and had every treatment under the sun for all went after achieving the correct Levo / T3 combination.
30 years- wow! So glad they found the right combination for you.
I had a persistent headache for months when my T3 was too low. Found out I am a poor converter T4 to T3. DIO2 gene test was positive also. As soon as I was prescribed T3 my persistent headache went and the bouts of migraines too.
I didn’t realise until last year that thyroid under medication can cause such headaches. My GP admitted to me that he had no clue about T3 or T4 even though he’d been prescribing me Levothyroxine for 11 years. All of which was not correct as I needed T3 medication also all along. It took a private Endocrinologist to point this out to my GP and NHS Endo.
According to the one T3 reading I have had this far, I am also a poor converter. Thinking of discussing T3 once my TSH gets back down to around 1.
You are correct. Doctor is wrong. I get ‘thyroid headaches’ and especially when my TSH is up. When adequately medicated they tend not to happen. They are like migraines - and I feel generally awful as well as having the headache. The only thing that helps is ibuprofen with lysine - if you can have it.
I was plagued with headaches before diagnosis they disappeared completely after I started taking thyroid hormone therapy. I don’t see how they could not be related! Your doctor must be daft. How on earth did they let your TSH get to 5?
Show this article to your doctor and see if they still insist the headaches are not related to your hypothyroidism
journals.sagepub.com/doi/fu...
And this digest has some interesting stats that clearly links them. Unfortunately, the scholarly article referred to is under a pay wall and the abstract is not very illuminating.
Oh definitely I suffered with terrible migraines just before I was diagnosed and was one of the symptoms I described to the doctor (along with muscle/bone pains which she also said was nothing g to do with it 🙄) I think it’s chicken and egg as stress causes headaches and then the body which is already out of whack responds to the headache with more stress which turns it into a migraine. Good luck to you xxx
I also have a bad stress response and overreact to every symptom so you are totally right that they just feed off each other.
Me too!
I had migraines almost constantly for 7 years before being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s. (And then until I got the balances right)
I know that other things affect the balance in my body too.
Please get your vitD, B12, and folate checked.
If all my levels are not optimal (around 3/4 in ref range) bad heads creep back in.
My TSH also needs to be low.
I also take 10mcg of T3 a day (through a private endo).
It’s always worth getting everything checked.
I’ve asked many doctors about my migraines - most put it down to HRT patches. Also the swooshing in my ears - they can’t find anything (was wondering if they were looking for my brain 😂).
I’ve learnt that my issues are Hashimoto’s based.
I feel a huge amount better since learning so much on this forum.
Do what suits you (and not everything will) and I really hope you get migraines free (or at least on have them occasionally). 🤗
Thank you! I have been supplementing with B12 and Vitamin D after low labs. B12 is now midrange and Vitamin D is within range but low. I also need to get folate and ferritin checked for sure.
Sounds like you are going in the right direction.
I’ve just moved house, 2nd time this year!!! (Unfortunately people we bought from we’re waiting on a new build). I’m exhausted, but could not have contemplated it before I got levels all good and possibly the T3 helps too.
But take heart it is possible. We’re all different, you’ll find what is good for you. 🤗
Moving twice in one year would be a lot for anyone but so glad the T3 is helping you immensely! Thank you for the excellent advice.
I’m exhausted to be honest, my husband has health issues, so I’ve had to do almost everything. But I’m living where I want to now, so my life (in theory) should be better.
Last night the alarm system started bipping at 3.30am! Took me an hour to get back to sleep after we stopped it. Luckily I didn’t have to get up early or I would have really struggled today.
Thanks for posting your question, there’s always something for us all to learn with the different answers. 🤗
What is your D now? Within range could be as low as 50 and I need mine to be over 150 to stop my headaches.
That’s interesting- I never connected the 2. My last levels were very low within range 34.6 ng/mL (range 30.0 - 100.00). I just recently, as in within the last 2 weeks, increased the amount I am supplementing with so wouldn’t it be great if that helped. 🤞
I took 9000 a day but I also took K2 , magnesium and Boron which I found out is needed on a high dose. You can find a vitamin D group on Facebook which tells you what to take and how much to take.
That’s awesome, ty!
Is your doctor an endocrinologist?
I have both but this is my pcp. My endo is not much better- when I talked to her about it she said it was possible but not a typical hypothyroid symptom.
I too suffer from headaches when I’m under medicated. Mine specifically go away when they raise my NDT- for me it’s definitely T3 related- within hours of upping my NDT a headache that plagued me for months (that I did not report to my doctor bc I hadn’t thought it was thyroid related) resolved. Recently, we lowered my dose of NDT substantially and tried to integrate levo into my treatment (my labs were reporting high t3) and low and behold the constant headache returned (with a severely decreased mood). We lowered the levo, increased the NDT and yet again, my headache vanished within hours.
Gone in a few days! And never returned.
Your doc is FOS. I never had headaches before I had Hashi's and hypothyroid. Once I was hypo ... ouch! Take a look at the "Pain" section in hypothyroidmom's symptoms list. Headache is the 2nd item. hypothyroidmom.com/300-hypo...
Oh yes I love that list! I guess it just frustrates me how confident they seem with something that is still poorly understood. It’s as though she thinks I don’t know my own body.
Sometimes I think I'm living in a world where most of the docs are crazy. Just went with a friend to his doctor appointment to ask the doc if he would do an FT3, and the doc refused. TSH=2.93 and the patient has multiple symptoms of hypothyroidism.
I have heard that if they refuse the test you should ask them to document in your file that the refusal. Sometimes it causes them to change their minds.
Aside from the general symptom of headaches which come and go I got a specific type of headache and minor nausea when I drank alcohol and realised like others that had become intolerant to alcohol. Took me 9 months to figure this out.
I hope I never become intolerant to wine! I actually have noticed it makes me feel bleh after I have a drink or two 😞
It may worth investigating, apparently it affects 1/3 hashimotos people. Usual affects are 'low and slow' headache which no pills will shift and a general feeling of well 'bleh'... Like a mini fatigue cycle for two days. If you are drinking wine a few times a week it's difficult to pin down.
I'm told the intolorence can disappear again see other posts in this forum. I do miss it but I feel so much better.
P. S. I have found wet saunas at gym good for headaches.
Excellent- I will give them a try!
I absolutely think headaches and thyroid are related. I don't think anyone knows in exactly what way but there's not doubt in my mind that they are.
Honestly, this post just reminds me how sick and tired I am of the arrogant medical establishment and the way the judge and dismiss patients who don't tidily fit into their foolish little paradigms . . . .
Not what you're looking for?
You may also like...
I finally have my results!!! What do people think is wrong?
I posted about low T4 with normalish TSH and my doctor was saying there was nothing wrong;...
I'm new here. My Medichecks results suggest I have Hashimoto’s disease & antibody problems. I don't know anything about the condition...
understand what my results mean because I don't know anything about the condition at the moment....
Super elevated TPO - does this mean I have Hashimoto’s?
test results. I’m not on any thyroid meds as GP doesn’t want to treat me as TSH is ‘normal’....
Impossible to get a diagnosis, don’t know what else I can do :(
I think I have hypothyroidism...
Is it possible to have an enlarged thyroid with Hashimoto’s?
Do I have to do anything about the lump on my thyroid gland? 
Is there anything I can do to improve further?
