After several attempts I finally got my doctor to agree to a trial of thyroxine. He prescribed 25mcg but I haven’t yet been able to take the full dose.
I can now tolerate every other day (done this for 2 months) but when I try to increase to daily, my head starts pounding and I get dizziness / vertigo, especially when lying down trying to sleep.
I suppose I want to know whether anyone else has had this problem but gradually been able to increase slowly?
Thanks in advance for any of your input / personal experience
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Foxtrot89
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Recommend getting FULL thyroid and vitamin testing done see exactly what is going on
We need GOOD vitamin levels and good cortisol levels to tolerate levothyroxine
Which brand of levothyroxine are you currently taking ?
Have you tried taking 12.5mcg everyday, (cut a 25mcg tablet in half) rather than one day 25mcg and one day nothing
Retest after 6-8 weeks at each dose
For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested.
Very important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 at least once year minimum
Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially with autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s or Ord’s thyroiditis)
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 and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or all relevant vitamins
If TPO or TG thyroid antibodies are high this is usually due to Hashimoto’s (commonly known in UK as autoimmune thyroid disease). Ord’s is autoimmune without goitre.
About 90% of all primary hypothyroidism in Uk is due to Hashimoto’s. Low vitamin levels are particularly common with Hashimoto’s.
Gluten intolerance is often a hidden issue too. Request coeliac blood test BEFORE considering trial on strictly gluten free diet
Here are my blood results from 16th Dec 2021, which was a month after starting thyroxine, 25mcg every other day. Would imply I can take more, and I definitely don’t (nor would expect to) have normal energy yet.
I did wonder whether 12.5mcg every day would be better. Perhaps that’ll be my next thing to attempt. I just didn’t want to make it more complicated than needs be.
Forgot to mention I have very loud tinnitus sometimes (only since starting thyroxine).
Thyroid results 16th Dec 2021 (1 month of thyroxine 25mcg every other day)
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