Increased dose

[Cade83]

Hi everyone, me again, I’ve increased my levothyroxine from 75mcg to 87.5mcg for 3 weeks, I’ve been a bit up and down in regards to energy, mostly down. How long does it normally take to improve because right now I feel like I could sleep for a week? My body feels so heavy and my mood is so low. I fall asleep watching tv and during the day. I also started taking b complex the same time. So I’m now taking that, vitamin d and magnesium but I am thinking of starting zinc and maybe selenium. Anyone taking zinc or selenium?

[FancyPants54]

Do you feel better or worse than before the increase?

[Cade83 in reply to FancyPants54]

At the moment worse, I did initially feel better but don’t know if that’s just placebo effect cause I was wishing I’d feel more energetic. Then again I have been ill with a cold thing last couple weeks that I’ve just got over. So hard to figure things out. Weirdly my legs feel like they can’t relax but that could be anxiety.

[BrynGlas in reply to Cade83]

Yes, I do. I take zinc (along with vitamin C), plus magnesium, selenium. And a lot more supplements than that as well.

[Cade83 in reply to BrynGlas]

Did you notice a difference with the zinc? What else do you take? Is there anything that really helped you?

[FancyPants54 in reply to Cade83]

It’s quite common to feel better for a while and then to loose that effect. It often means we need a further increase.

[greygoose]

I also started taking b complex the same time.

Do you mean that you take your levo pill, and your B complex pill with the same glass of water? If so, you could be impacting the absorption of levo and that's why you feel worse, rather than better.

[Cade83 in reply to greygoose]

No I take levothyroxine first thing in the morning and take everything else at night time. I meant I started taking b complex the same day or 2 when I upped the levo dose.

[greygoose in reply to Cade83]

Ah, ok. That's good. Just wanted to be sure.

[BlueKeith]

I felt terrible with going from 50 to 75mcg levothyroxine. I felt like it for over a month. I nearly stopped taking them all together but glad I didn't. People on this site said to stick it out.Someone recommended eating a handful of Brazil nuts every day for the high selenium content and I a handful of mixed nuts every day for zinc and other nutrients. I was told it helps the conversion of t4 to t3 .

[greygoose in reply to BlueKeith]

Just a word of warning, not all Brazil nuts contain selenium. It depends where they're grown. It will usually tell you on the bag if they contain selenium. And, if they do, a handful would be rather a lot every day. Two or three at the most.

[Cade83 in reply to greygoose]

Can the increase make your muscles feel tense? Almost like my body waiting for something to hit me and you tense up but 30% less than that tense. Makes me feel achy.

[greygoose in reply to Cade83]

I can't say I've ever experienced that kind of symptom, but anything is possible.

[FancyPants54 in reply to BlueKeith]

I too suffered horribly going from 50 to 75 Levo a day. It was dreadful.

[Fijibird]

Have you had your ferritin levels checked? Low ferritin can cause restless legs syndrome and tiredness plus other symptoms similar to hypothyroidism

[Cade83 in reply to Fijibird]

Yeah my ferritin levels are fine. Folate was low but I take b complex now.

[Fijibird in reply to Cade83]

The range is very wide. Restless legs syndrome kicks in when the level is less than 100.

[Cade83 in reply to Fijibird]

My result end of January was 116.

[SarahJane1471]

Stick with it. I felt good for a couple of weeks after every increase then that effect tailed off until my next increase . I’m now on 100mcg ( started on 25 in July last year). I’m feeling so much better now but it has been tough. I made sure I kept reading on this forum to get as much knowledge as possible. People here are so supportive. I’ve now been on this dose for 2 months. So hang in there. 😀

[Cade83 in reply to SarahJane1471]

I am wondering whether I need to up it again after this increase but I feel so drained the last week. I have just got over a cold though so maybe that’s why. Just wish I could get my energy back and live normally. It’s always something. So frustrating.

[tattybogle]

I (now) think that the same rules as apply to 'gardening' , apply to 'finding the right dose of thyroid hormone' ...... If in doubt... wait longer .... and pay more attention to getting the environmental conditions consistently right for the plant.. rather than rushing to the garden centre and buying 'plant boost formula' or adding a bit of this and a bit of that and constantly re-potting the poor little plant.

Hormone's usually take months rather than weeks to tell you if the overall effect is going to be better, or worse .

I now assume the first 4/5 weeks of any dose change are going to be 'up, down and all over the place'... and i try not to make my mind up about how i feel until at least the week 8-12 point.

I had a minor dose reduction which i was convinced was 'worse' for the first 5 weeks , but 3/4 months into it .. it was actually 'better' .

So give it time.. and then at least if it's 'worse ' you'll be very sure of your facts going forward ..which will help with your next decision on dose (especially if it is one that brings you into conflict with the GP)

In my early days of treatment i went up in big jumps from 50 to 100 then 150mcg.. and since i've learned more about how long various symptoms can take to adjust themselves and then settle down after a minor change in dose , i often wonder if i'd have done better on a slightly lower dose than the 150mcg i ended up on for 15 yrs.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to tattybogle]

tattybogle,

I suspect some members would have preferred being half-buried in manure to the treatment (or lack of treatment) they actually received.

[tattybogle in reply to helvella]

LOL ..... learning facts for myself (from the internet and other experienced gardeners) about 'which plant extracts and concentrates which minerals from the soil' , and then putting those plants in my own homemade compost heap .... leads to me growing much healthier , happier, and more productive plant's .

Whereas the stuff the 'expert' in the shop tells you to put on you plant usually leads to crispy leaves cos it's way too strong in the dose he recommends ., and he didn't bother to ask a proper 'history' of your plants problem , or look at it's leaves , or find out if it lives in too cold a temperature without enough humidity to allow it to 'use' whatever he sold you to put in it..... all in all , a very similar experience to the ones we usually with our GP's/Endo's

(.... put your banana skins in your compost heap, folks .. they're full of potassium)

[Cade83 in reply to tattybogle]

I actually never consulted my gp to increase as I knew the answer would have been no your TSH is fine. So I’ve used what meds I have to do it myself. I’ll stick it out for another 6 weeks see how it goes.

[SarahJane1471]

I discovered that it is a looong process as Tattybogle says. Slow increases which I know takes patience ( I have none) but I listened to the advice on this forum, armed myself with information so that I could argue my case if my GP was a problem 😀. Hold tight

[Achilles_Pain]

When I had a "large" increase, from 75 mcg to 100mcg, I felt worse and was put back down to 75mcg. I stayed like that for a couple of years until the symptoms became too much and I started to slowly increase my dose, first adding 25mcg once a week (on a Monday), then twice (Mon/Thu) then three times (Mon/Wed/Fri), all discussed and agreed with a GP. When I reached the point 4 times a week wasn't enough the GP put me up to 100mcg a day and only recently, after a couple of years on 100, have I started to increase slowly again, taking an extra 25 on Mondays and Thursdays. My TSH on 100 had increased from 0.67 to 2.14 but since the slight increase is back down to .99 and I feel much better for it. All my usual symptoms were coming back, but are now slowly retreating.

I'm also curious about the feeling in your legs about having tense muscles. My left quads are currently tense all the time and nothing seems to be working. I've seen two physios and a couple of GPs with no luck. I've been diagnosed with a swollen fat pad under my kneecap and the muscle going into spasm may be my body's way of protecting it, but I'd love to be able to sort it out as it's stopping me from running.

[Cade83 in reply to Achilles_Pain]

I only increased by 12.5mcg so I’m hoping with time it will help. Then maybe increase to 100mcg. With the swollen fat pad you could try getting a massage you to relieve the tension in your quad and also echinacea drops may help with the inflammation. I’d leave running until it’s better though as that will irritate it.

[Achilles_Pain in reply to Cade83]

I've had a few massages and they work for a limited time. I also have a percussion massage machine, but to be honest it doesn't make much difference. The best stretch I've found is pulling my leg up behind my bum but that, too, only works for a limited time before the tension comes back.

[Achilles_Pain in reply to Cade83]

Echinacea, you say? I've just started trying something else but if there's no improvement by the time I finish the bottle I'll try echinacea - it's been 18 months since I hurt my knee so anything is worth a try.

[SarahJane1471 in reply to Achilles_Pain]

That’s strange 🧐I have problems with my kneecaps too. ( and Achilles pain) since starting Levo but I would never have made the connection before reading this post 🤷‍♀️

[Achilles_Pain in reply to SarahJane1471]

The knee problem isn't due to my thyroid, but to taking my sister's mad dog for a walk! Although it may be my thyroid that's slowing down the recovery as there was a marked improvement when I increased my dose from 100 to 125 twice a week.

[Achilles_Pain in reply to SarahJane1471]

I've had pain in my achilles for as long as I can remember, and although it's mainly gone now it is still one of the first symptoms to return when there's an issue with my thyroid and I need to increase my dose. My mum has exactly the same problem, too. At my worst, when my previous GP decided I was cured and stopped prescribing levo, I was so bad in the morning that the only way to get to the bathroom was on my hands and knees as I was in too much pain to put my feet on the ground. Then it would take me 20/30 minutes to get downstairs as I'd need to have a rest after each step to regain my strength and let the pain die down. I changed GP and I'm pretty much ok now as my new one put me back on the levo, though he did warn me it could take years to recover from being taken off it for so long. Unfortunately he was right, my running has never recovered and it's been about 5 years.