Up until I started Levo in May this year I was having regular periods every 4 weeks. I think it was my own cycle rather than just an hrt “withdrawal bleed” from my hrt, as the periods were very heavy each time and lasted about 7 days.
I had spells of missing a couple of periods here and there or prolonged periods before I went onto sequential hrt patches (evorel sequi) age 42 for hot flushes/night sweats etc (now age 54), and for a while after I started the hrt, but then everything went back to normal again for the past few years.
I’ve had a really severe perimenopause with awful symptoms which I now think might have been due to/made worse by being undiagnosed hypo for years (i also tested positive for tgab on a medichecks test this year after testing normal for TPO on nhs test).
The first period I had after starting 50mcg was very light. I then increased to 75mcg about four weeks ago and have not had a period at all. Does anyone know if this is normal?
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Thanks for your reply, Eeyore. It just seems strange that it’s changed so suddenly after starting the medication. Maybe it’s just coincidence and I’ve just finally reached the menopause stage now. Maybe being hypo prolonged the peri-meno part.
You have altered the hormone balance which has a knock on effect... have you also added in some supplements since starting Levo? This could also be put into the mix....
Yes, I’m using vit d and I’m working on improving my ferritin levels with chicken liver pate a couple of times a week, a little dark chocolate every day, a breakfast cereal fortified with iron and vitamins, red meat, and prunes/apricots as snacks.
Vit D and Iron both can have quite a powerful effect, have you got a good B complex as we are generally low in these so well worth adding... guessing you have yet to find your optimal levo dose so you are going to be in a state of flux
Maybe if you miss a few months it'll be worth reviewing your HRT and change to continuous rather than sequential
Thank you. Yes, that makes sense. My vitamin b12 was around 500 .Ferritin was 30. I think I tried to change over to a conti patch in the past, but didn’t get on too well with it then and kept getting period pains without the period. Might be different now though, so I’ll see how it goes and then ask about changing over again as you suggest. Thanks again.
I wonder if it might have been due to the type of progesterone because it stopped when I went back onto the Evorel sequi, but remember that they were different patches with a different form of progesterone I think.
Opposite I’m afraid, and my last post was enquiring about it.
Prediagnosis around 26 days cycles. Since treatment around 26-31 days cycles. Always around 5-7 days periods. I’m still optimising my Levothyroxine dose, but my latest period has been 2+ weeks and counting, albeit light.
Everywhere I read people seem to be experience absent periods, not the opposite.
It’s all rather frustrating being a woman with pitiful health care services that have pretty much neglected us.
Hi, yes, I saw your post and then forgot who’d posted it and couldn’t find it again when I went to look this morning, so I’m glad you have replied here. Thank you. It’s all very strange isn’t it. I’ve had so many odd things happen to me/my body since starting the levo. After I increased to 75mcg and felt like I was dying! I feel a lot better this week. I just wondered what may have made my period stop like that. I’ve been wondering if being hypo was the reason that I kept having heavy periods as all my friends the same age have finished theirs a couple of years ago. I hope it all settles down soon for you.
For me, I suspect the Levothyroxine is somehow implicated. We often read on the forum that we seem to get worse on treatment before we get better, so I imagine Levothyroxine is making me more sick including having an impact on my periods.
I am glad you are feeling better. My symptoms fluctuate also. Some improve, some new ones begin, etc etc. Blooming nightmare!
Rest assured, periods stopping is very common from what I have read of women’s experiences with them often highlighting they settle out after around 6 months of treatment. And, chances are we probably were hypo for a very long time before diagnosis hence it’s taking longer to repair our bodies.
Yes, I think I might have been hypo for at least ten years, probably longer. I think I was having symptoms even when my tsh was first tested and found to be 2.8. I do feel better at the moment, but I’m expecting other odd things to happen, before things even out. I’ve had a few days on and off since the start if levo where I felt I was on my way out! It’s definitely a nightmare. I also think I may have spoken too soon about my periods stopping. I went out to walk the dog and started with a bit of period-type cramping!
P.S. Suffice to say what you are experiencing is actual normal and common. It should settle once you are on your optimum dose. Be concerned if you you have an opposite experience like me with prolonged period.
Thank you, that’s good to know. I’m only just learning about all this. It’s been a proper shock to the system! Could your hypo have been masking peri -menopause??
I doubt it. Anything is possible of course, but this I do doubt. I am not even sure if it’s worth testing other hormones, since I highly suspect they’ll all be out of whack thanks to the Levothyroxine and may settle on their own accord. Sometimes we can be too quick to treat ourselves and not let our body what it needs to. Of course, this is something I may need to revisit, but not quite yet.
I agree… wait and see how things settle. I’ve been tempted to stop the levo because i felt so rough…and then i was tempted to fiddle with the dose. I’ve left things alone and decided to ride it out. It’s been a bit rough on the 75mcg to start but is levelling out now I think…I hope!!
I had to stop for a few days before resuming on a lower dose as I felt I was experiencing symptoms of medication induced thyrotoxicosis. It’s been a battle ever since starting but yes, I know I need to stick with it especially in light of the fact that I wish to have a baby in the future.
Oh blimey!! That sounds awful. I’m so sorry I mentioned about perimenopause, I didn’t realise…I forget there are people here looking to have babies . I’m 54. The Gp said I was in peri-menopause at 42 but I do wonder now if the issues I had then were more thyroid-related than meno.
In the literature it is often mentioned that for women the symptoms of menopause are mistaken for hypothyroidism.
It’s OK, and thank you for the apology. I believe we still in the dark ages when it comes to women’s health, let alone how these may differ across different races or body mass etc etc. I just don’t believe everything I’m told when it comes to women’s health especially.
Wow! It blows my mind how many things are affected by hypo…all the symptoms. I’m learning to stick up for myself more now with Gps and nurses. I was diagnosed(“labelled”) with fibromyalgia and cfs too as well as meno issues and i agree with what you said there…in fact, it was probably all hypo-related all along. I also tested positive for tg antibodies in a full thyroid function private test after the tpo came back normal and from what I’ve read/learnt on here - that points to Hashimotos. Everything i’ve experienced over the years seems to make sense now. I feel a lot like I’ve been a victim of gaslighting! I expect that happens to a lot of women.
It’s a shame we have to stick up for ourselves like this. It’s a global disgrace how people with thyroid disease are (not) cared for, let alone those that find themselves discriminated in other ways such as being a woman or Black.
It’s structural discrimination woven in the very fabric of scientific knowledge and healthcare.
Agree. 100%. I also think it’s possibly related to money…and I have started to doubt the “accuracy” of nhs blood tests with their wide range…and it does seem very odd to me how blood test results that are low or high sometimes seem to just scrape over/slightly under the threshold into what is said to be “normal” and are then deemed to be absolutely fine. I’m full of conspiracy theories about the whole malarkey. The way thyroid patients get treated makes me wonder what goes on behind the scenes…if they’ve been told to only diagnose a certain number per year. Last time I saw a gp he spoke to me like I’m making fuss over nothing and rolled his eyes at me when I tried to explain. And every time I challenged something he said he replied “ohhh….I didn’t mean it like THAT.” As if I was taking it all wrong…because of my innate hysteria obviously.
I’m not sure what I can add to this, other than my choice to treat is based on the severity of my symptoms in the first place and the desire to have a child.
I read your post and no offence here either. I feel for you. It’s hard. I must admit it did cross my mind to stop treatment and let it all go because of the way it made me feel at first and also because of the conflict with nurses/gp. It’s not like that for everyone, but I knew it would be a bit of a battle for me because I have a diagnosis of Fibro and CFS so everyone tends to blame every single thing/symptom/issue on that (or thinking I’m a hypochondriac). I decided to carry on because a couple of weeks after I started the levothyroxine, I felt amazing! Better than I had done for ages, so I’d had a little “taste” of what it was like to feel well before the symptoms crept back in and the dose needed changing. Also the hypo symptoms were severe and brutal, especially the constipation…that was off the scale indescribable and the levo has made that much, much better. I understand where you were coming from though. x
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