i just raised levo 3 days ago feeling cold and low depresed

[morcan54]

i been taking lt4 levothyroxine started off 12.5 for few days and two weeks 25mg and raised to 50mg for two weeks and i had test and dr said to raise 12.5 more tree days ago but today i was so cold shivering and depresed feeling that is not helping me i felt weak and anxious and when i spoke to dr said raisee to 75mg and i am afraid i will become more ill as i felt beter without medication since i started thyroxine i feel worse than i ever felt

[greygoose]

Oh dear! Obviously a doctor that knows nothing about thyroid. I'll try and explain...

The normal starter dose for an adult under 65 is 50 mcg. Over 65 it's 25 mcg. 12.5 mcg is just too small a dose, it won't do anything for you.

OK, so you increased to 25 mcg three days ago. Well, first of all, three days is not long enough for it to help you in any way. Secondly, the dose is still too low to make you feel better and very often does make people feel worse.

When you start taking levo, which is the thyroid hormone T4, it will lower your TSH.

TSH is the hormone secreted by the pituitary to tell the thyroid to make more hormone. The thyroid cannot make hormone without its stimulation.

So, the TSH lowers and the thyroid slowly stops making whatever amount of hormone it was making.

But, 25 mcg T4 is not enough to replace it. So, you end up with less thyroid hormone than you had before. You become more hypo and feel terrible.

With any sort of hormone you need to start low and increase slowly. With T4 that means usually starting on 50 mcg and increasing by not more than 25 med every six weeks. The body needs time to adjust to these changes and increasing too quickly will make things worse.

So, your doctor is making too many changes in too short a time. You should stay on the 50 mcg for at least six weeks. Then retest and see how you feel. I really would not recommend increasing to 75 mcg at this point. It's going to take time to get to your sweet-spot, and during that time there are going to be times when you feel terrible. But, going too quickly is counter-productive. Patience is the key to success. And it often happens that people feel worse after they start levo, new symptoms appear and old one exacerbate. But they will go eventually when you get on the right dose.

Also, testing after only two weeks is pointless. The dose hasn't had time to settle in and increasing after two weeks - even if it is only by 12.5 is just the wrong thing to do.

Sorry this reply is a bit of a mess - too many interuptions and I can't organise my thoughts. So, if it's not clear, feel free to ask for explanations.