Levothyroxine and insomnia

[Guineapiggy]

Has anyone noticed that they get insomnia when starting levothyroxine?

I am trying to see if I can function using levo instead of Metavive and started to gradually increase the levo and decrease Metavive to the point where I am on levo only. I want to see if I can convert well and have levo only, if it works.

Trouble is, straight away after taking my first dose of 12.5 mcg my sleep pattern changed. It was never wonderful but after the first tablet I found it took a lot longer to get to sleep and kept waking up almost every hour. I tested after 2 months and my FT3 was 75.6% through the range and FT4 33%, so I don"t believe the levels were causing this. (See previous post).

I have done one month now with 25 mcg levo and reduced my Metavive and wanted to carry on for another month to see what happens on the next test but I really don't know whether to continue as my sleep is so bad. Having got so far I don't want to give up. Otherwise, I can stop and resume Metavive only and leave it a few months and try again.

I wondered if it is really the levo causing this and if other folks have been aware of a change in their sleep pattern when starting levo?

[Jaydee1507 Administrator]

Basically you're changing the type of treatment you are taking. Understand also that Levo takes around 2 weeks to even begin starting to work. The body likes to know what it's getting and when, so when you start switching things around it will complain. That is all just to be expected and if you're not prepared for new symptoms or current ones getting worse then better stick with what you know.

[Guineapiggy in reply to Jaydee1507]

Thanks. It's just that this is now 3 months later. I also started on a very small amount (12.5 mcg) whilst keeping on the same dose of Metavive for the first 2 months so I would have thought things would have started to settle by now.

[Jaydee1507 Administrator in reply to Guineapiggy]

Would be a good idea to get your vitamin levels checked as low levels can play into various symptoms including sleep issues.

[Guineapiggy in reply to Jaydee1507]

All done within the last 6 months and no abnormalities.

[Jaydee1507 Administrator in reply to Guineapiggy]

There's a huge difference between 'no abnormalities' and having OPTIMAL levels. What were the results?

What supplements do you take?

[Guineapiggy in reply to Jaydee1507]

Ferritin 162 ng/ml (6‐204)Folate 18.8 mcg/L (3-20)

B12 548 ng/L (187-883)

Vit D 132.8 nmol/L (75-200)

I tale Garden of Life Raw One multi (no iodine or copper)plus extra Vit Bs, Vit D with K2 mk 7, zinc, magnesium, selenium, cod liver oil

[Regenallotment]

what time of day/ night are you taking Levo? Does it make your tummy rumble? I listened to a podcast recently where they explain that gut health (overgrowth of good and bad gut flora) can keep us awake at night. I split my dose and now sleep better than ever. 25mcg bedtime and 100mcg 6.30am. Magnesium an hour before bed too. Try not to eat after 7pm. Hope you find a good solution 🦋🌱🦋

[Guineapiggy in reply to Regenallotment]

Thanks. I take my levo in the morning in case it was causing a problem at night. I can only split the dose into 2 x 12.5 mcg at the moment as I am increasing the levo gradually whilst decreasing the Metavive. I started to wake a lot more frequently as soon as I started the original single 12.5 mcg dose. I am hoping that it is still a temporary problem and things will settle.

[Guineapiggy in reply to Regenallotment]

No, it doesn't cause tummy rumbling!

[Regenallotment in reply to Guineapiggy]

that’s good, fingers crossed it settles for you. Things have definitely improved as I’ve titrated upwards. Best wishes 🌱🦋🌱

[Guineapiggy in reply to Regenallotment]

Thanks.

[arTistapple]

I had insomnia long before diagnosis and it continues whilst on levo. It’s different though. More nightmares. More hours of significant hours awake in middle of night. So still very much disturbed but different. I tried T3 and conked out for a proper 8 hours and although stopped (too long to explain here) it worked for about a further two weeks after stopping. It was like magic. I am handling the change better now but I do still long for better quality when I can hopefully return to T3.

[Guineapiggy in reply to arTistapple]

Thanks. I haven't tried T3. If the problem continues I may just have to give up and go back to Metavive alone.