I've been overmedicated from 50mg to 75 for 5 months and started having hyper symptoms. Has anyone gone through this? I have felt sick, anxiety and heart palpitations for two months. Dr just took me off meds last week. Feel a bit better but worried I caused long term damage. I'm scared.
Overmedicated on Levothyroxine : I've been... - Thyroid UK
Overmedicated on Levothyroxine
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Loe12
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Hi , if a dose leads to overmedication , it is usual to reduce the dose ,
it is not usual to stop completely.
Did doctor say why they were stopping it rather than just reduce dose back to 50mcg ?
did they do a blood test before stopping it , if so can you let us have a look at the results ~ it will help us understand what is going on.
I went to emergency about 3 weeks ago and the er doctor prescribed me my regular 50 mg but I didn't improve by the time I saw my dr last Thursday. So she said to get off meds until my blood work came back and sent me to get an ekg. I have telephone appointment at 3 today for results on some of my blood work. I am nervous.
I'll share my results with you, when I get them thank you.
Do you have Hashi's?
No I don't have Hashi. Thank you for responding. I really need support. I'm a wreck.
Highly unlikely you could have done any long-term damage on such a small dose for such a short time. Levo is a very safe hormone, even if it doesn't suit you. But it's doubtful you're even over-medicated on that dose, and the symptoms don't really sound like typical hyper symptoms. Anxiety and palps are more likely to be due to under-medication rather than over. And feeling sick could be due to so many different things. I honestly don't think you've got anything to worry about, even if you are feeling uncomfortable at the moment. 
TiggerMeAmbassador
Those symptoms are also caused by to little a dose and perhaps you actually needed an increase.... what do the bloods show?
I get my results in about 2 hours.
Okay so not all my blood work came in. My TSH is 6.2 and T4 is 1.1 Did not get results for T3 but hemoglobin levels are high and got ordered a scan of my liver. I feel much better of the levothyroxine so dr said it's okay to stay off of it for now. More blood work this Monday. Do you know if these levels are considered mild hypothyroidism? Or did i have an adverse reaction to levo? I'm at a loss.
You really needed results of when you felt overmedicated to make fullest use of your results.
Your TSH is too high. It may be the brand of levo you had. I cannot take teva brand as it causes all kinds of issues and symptoms. I can only take almus or activas brands. I cannot believe a GP has taken you off levo. Maybe get a second opinion. Optimal range for me is 0.02 to 1.8 for TSH.
Loe12 is in the United states so Teva levothyroxine is less likely.
Levothyroxine packaged as Teva in the USA is manufactured in Croatia but is a different formulation, available in different dosages and also has added pigments/dyes.
Each levothyroxine sodium tablet contains the inactive ingredients croscarmellose sodium, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, and purified water.
SlowDragonAdministrator
75mcg is a low dose
Hypothyroid symptoms can include palpitations, anxiety
Bloods should have been checked BEFORE any dose change in Levo
TSH, Ft4 and Ft3 plus vitamin D, folate, B12 and ferritin
Testing early morning and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
As you have now stopped Levo completely ensure you retest thyroid and vitamin levels after 6-8 weeks
Blood work was check exactly like you mentioned 24 hrs of levo and fasting. My results came back as low tsh at 6.2 and t4 at 1.1 Didn't get to yet. Thing is, most all symptoms subsided when I got off levo. Don't want to get back on it if it's going to make me feel like I did. Do you know of other options I have? Are my numbers considered mild hypothyroidism? Thank you so much for your advice.
Please add ranges on these results
Did you mean TSH was 1.1
TSH over 2 is high indicating hypo
Very common to initially feel better stopping levothyroxine, even when you need it
Retest 6-8 weeks after stopping levothyroxine. Testing early morning
I feel the same as you (terrified mostly of long term damage) and I took myself off the levothyroxine for now.
How did you find out it was the levo? I don't want to go back on it. How long after you stopped it did you start feeling better? Sorry you went through this.
It’s been a wild ride both going on it and especially coming off without titrating. I’ve been off it for around 2+ months. Some symptoms are better others have yet to improve.
My feeling is the longer you are overmedicated, even once the levels are back in range, the longer it takes to get better.
Yes, I don’t want to go back on it either. It’s been a horribly year+ of trying different doses and brands with so little improvement then blooming overmedicated with useless GPs and health care system.
Also, I don’t know what you mean how I found out it was the Levo.
How did you realize it was the medication or were you always aware. It didn't realize it was the levothyroxine causing me to feel ill until I went off of it. I thought it was another illness that I had.
I don’t think there is a way to ever be 100% certain (there are times for some people that thier ft4 and ft3 levels spontaneously become over range without influence of levothyroxine).
The fact is my levels were too high (over range) and became higher (even more over range) when reducing dose. My symptoms and levels are what guided me. And, given my levels became even more higher when reducing dose, it was better to come off them completely for now.
*By levels I mean my ft4 and ft3 especially.*
As I mentioned above you really needed the results of when you felt overmedicated to know as much as possible if you were either overmedicated, or even gain some insight into if a certain level may be just too high for you even if in range.
What blood test/diagnosis prompted the Levo Rx 5 months ago?
low tsh at 6.2 and t4 at 1.1
6.2 is NOT at all “low”
Look at the chart attached of TSH distribution in euthyroid populations (ie, those who don’t have any thyroid issues).
Statistically there is zero chance your thyroid is functioning properly.
I’m going to guess the range for your t4 is 0.89 - 1.76 ng/dl
Which means you are about 20% through range which is really too low to feel well.
The question here isn’t whether your tsh is ok - it isn’t. But the question is why. Understanding this will also help put your very low FT4 into context and help you define a more effective treatment approach.
TSH
I was on 50mg for about a year and doing well. I needed a refill but the pa treating me quit so when they did the refill they gave me the 75mg dose which if from when I first got diagnosed with hypothyroidism. A year and a half prior. My blood work appointment should have been in December but kept getting canceled until last week. Can a person feel okay with my numbers and no medication?
You can read the responses above - our consensus is that you are more likely to need an increase at those levels than to go off.
When you were diagnosed Hypothyroid - what was the blood test that determined that? What was your TSH before the Levo? What was your FT4?
That being said - it’s very common for people to want to go off Levo and hope that they don’t need it.
HealthStarDust can you clarify what your tsh and FT4/FT3 were when you were overmedicated?
Loe, if you want to give it a shot to go off the Levo at this point it’s obviously up to you.
Maybe if that’s what you do you can spend some time optimizing the essential vitamins and minerals required for your thyroid to work the best it can:
B12
Folate
D3
Ferritin
Along with
TSH
freeT4
FreeT3
|
Have you ever had those vitamins tested?
Suppresed TSH with one of these symbols <
Over range FT4
Over range FT3
More in my previous posts - i think you even responded to them.
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
Oh yeah… 160%!!!!
I think for Loe12 who has a 6+ TSH and a 20% through range FT4 is nowhere near overmedicated.
Loe- that overwhelmingly means you are under medicated. With the info you’ve provided it’s a familiar story for us and that why you are hearing a similar response.
However… let’s go back to the beginning about exactly how you were diagnosed in the first place. Because whereas there are absolutely people who have been mis-diagnosed, of course that happens. More often than not though we are under medicated.
Can you share your last blood tests prior to Levo?
Can you share your antibody tests and when the last time you had them tested?
Have you had a thyroid ultrasound?
I don't have my results for prior to levo. My mind is going crazy now realizing that I was on 75mg and still came out undermedicated. No antibody test and no thyroid ultrasound. Why did I feel so sick on levo then.
Possibly because your body needed more rather than less?
If you were on 75mcg Levo, you were probably prescribed the Teva Levo. Many of us can't stomach that medication at all for various reasons. I reacted so badly to it that I raised a Yellow Card against the drug with the manufacturer.
It's best to get a 50mcg tablet and a 25mcg tablet to make up the dose. Use brands you were OK on before all this.
Oh my please tell me more. I took 25mg of levo and bam! Anxiety, fear, stomach issues...I spend the day in bed. 16 hrs and just now feeling better. Pls ell me your story
I thought you said you were on 75mcg Levo? Above you say you took 25mcg Levo. Which is right?
Teva brand causes a lot of people issues because it contains a compound called Manitol. Some love it, but others hate it. It gave be very bad nose bleeds. They started about 3 days into the new medication. I am not a person who has nose bleeds. And these were bad. Blood everywhere and took an hour to stop the first one. I stopped the meds after a week. I had 2 really bad bleeds in that time and several lesser bleeds (still bad enough).
The bleeds stopped immediately I stopped the tablets and made up my dose from a different source. The pharmacy was very helpful and I now have "Never Teva" on my record.
I raised a Yellow Card warning against the drug.
Loe12 is in the United states so Teva levothyroxine is less likely.
Levothyroxine packaged as Teva in the USA is manufactured in Croatia but is a different formulation, available in different dosages and also has added pigments/dyes.
Each levothyroxine sodium tablet contains the inactive ingredients croscarmellose sodium, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, and purified water.
dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailym...
Thanks helvella I didn't think about a different country. I should be more observant.
All too easily done.
FancyPants54 and helvella
Could it be the Acacia?
See my new reply at the bottom where I tagged SlowDragon …
To be frank, it’s probably wise to go with symptoms as well as levels as too many times the labs will not not results to you quick enough to make an more informed decision due to errors from either go request, or laboratories themselves.
There is too much to your story that’s unknown, so, these are my thoughts:
- You was on 75mcg from 50mcg for 5 months. It’s not necessarily the case that you have been overmedicated the whole 5 months.
- You felt overmedicated - if you have no results from this time, it’s hard to know this with any certainty. Perhaps you was truly overmedicated, perhaps your levels were in range but still too high for you, perhaps your levels were in range and you was having hypothyroidism symptoms (as so many of us have symptoms that are the same in hyperthyroid/low TSH, increased ft4 and ft3 levels state). There is just no knowing.
- Your recent results - these indicate hypothyroidism again. But, it’s not clear how long after you stopped taking Levothyroxine you had your test. It takes at least 8 weeks for a dose change to settle, so you should expect fluctuations during that time.
Given where you are at, and if it hasn’t been 8 weeks between coming off Levothyroxine and the results of your most recent tests, perhaps consider waiting a little longer for things to settle before deciding on the next course of action.
Your fear is of course natural (I have it too) and try and remember some of your feelings will be as a result of your recent thyroid fluctuations and change in medication regime.
Hope that helps.
Thank you, I really needed a place to vent. You all have been so wonderful in this short period of time. I wholeheartedly appreciate every suggestion and comment. I'm a single mom and my kids are at the forefront. I need to be healthy for them. Thanks again.
I was over medicated some years back. Anxious like you. Thought my daughter was gonna be kidnapped. I was taken off levo for a couple of weeks or more. Gradually my rationality returned I am now on a high dose but not like before.
What were you on and how much was your dose? How did you begin to treat it when returning to medication.
I was given a dose of 250 mg daily! I was in my 40s at the time. I must have just had too much levothyroxine in my body. They stopped the levo altogether for a period of weeks, I imagine they then did further blood tests. I can't remember what dose they then gave me then - obviously less - but for many years now I've been on 175mcg daily. I am now 79.
My blood test results are crazy. T4 about five points above the maximum. TSH 0.005.....practically non existent, BUT my T3 is normal, near the top of the range. Some doctors would go berserk at my results, but I feel fine. No sign of osteoporosis or anything else untoward. No anxiety. sleep well, no hyper signs. So, thankfully, my doctor keeps the dose the same. If I drop the dose even slightly, within a couple of weeks I start to feel hypo again.
I imagine I need a lot of T4 to convert to T3. So important to check T3. I enquired about getting T3 alone,but it isn't available apparently, in my area so I keep on with the current levo dose.
Let’s put your mind at ease.
What you are experiencing is entirely due to a completely broken healthcare system… yes, even here in the US.
It’s completely unbelievable until you experience it, but somehow doctors have no idea how to understand or treat thyroid disorders.
What that means is that you (similar to me before I found this forum, and probably most people here too) 1) have a thyroid disorder 2) doctors don’t really understand how it works and treat us the best they know how probably but it’s wrong… 3) but doctors have this crazy ability to be both uninformed yet completely confident that they are right.
Which leaves people like you still feeling terrible when the doctor’s convinced you that you’re on the right treatment, and so you are totally confused and scared, convinced something else must be wrong.
Chances are you are just hypothyroid and sub-optimally treated.
Just a couple key things
1) although we are all very different, the guideline for Levothyroxine is 1.6 mcgs per kilo body weight. So unless you are very petite, chances are under-replaced. You more often hear people at 100 or 125 or 150 than you do 75. Totally makes sense you dont feel well.
2) Levo is a hormone, not a pharmaceutical/drug. Levo replaces the exact hormone our thyroid isn’t able to provide us with anymore. So start thinking about being optimally replaced, not over- or under-medicated.
3) Ask your doctor for all your blood test results. You can do a records request if they don’t have them in the office. Let us know when you get them.
4) What state are you in? What type of insurance do you have?
5) Lastly, one if the most important things you can do while changing your thyroid hormone replacement is realize that you need to 1) only change one thing at a time, 2) go low and slow with dose changes 3) and wait at least 6 weeks but ideally 8 weeks before you test again. Changing more quickly and testing too soon is useless.
6) Also be aware that it’s a very common phenomenon for people to go off Levo and initially feel amazing for a short time. It’s usually short lived, but we are all different.
You are so kind, thank you. I live in Texas. I decided to take 25mg tonight as with all this worries I don't eat. Like you said, I'm going to take it slow and one thing at a time. I really appreciate your advice.
Anxiety and loss of appetite both hypo symptoms
Retest 6-8 weeks after ideally being back on 50mcg levothyroxine daily
Likely to be ready for next increase after that
Horrible idea, I've been in full panic attack mode since 5 am, it's now 5pm and just started feeling better
Good morning Loe12
This is a very busy thread : ) One more important point about Levo.l that I hope doesn’t get lost. It’s directly actionable for what you can do now to get back on track.
When you take Levo, it does not “top off” what our thyroid makes. We actually need to work up to a full replacement dose (generally 1.6 mcg per kilo body weight.)
Here’s why-
TSH is what your body sends out when it senses it needs T4 and wants to stimulate the thyroid to make more. TSH=“Thyroid Stimulating Hormone”
Euthyroid people’s TSH is around 1-2.
When we see TSH as high as yours, it means your body knows it doesn’t have enough T4, so it keeps sending out more to stimulate the thyroid to respond. But since your thyroid is unable to make enough, your TSH keeps rising and your T4 stays low.
When you start taking exogenous Levo, your body senses its there and stops sending out the signal (tsh) for more. That’s why your TSH falls, which is what we want to see.
However, you can’t just start taking your full replacement dose immediately. Hormones don’t work like that.
Levo is part of a long chain reaction in it body, it has a 7 days half life, and so it’s only through being on a stable dose for a full 6-8 weeks that an increased dose “settles”. The first pill you take today will be half metabolized by 7 days from now. Then tomorrow your pill builds on that and so on, until you have a stable level. So for the first 6 weeks of any dose it can be volatile ups and downs and will make you feel worse at times. But that’s just the way hormones work. It’s not a one-to-one like you take an Advil, your headache goes away.
Your body has whip lash from the changes… 50 to 75 to 50 to none in a short time is a recipe for feeling terrible. If you dropped to 50 three weeks ago it’s entirely too soon to judge whether that’s the right dose. Your doctor was uninformed to tell you to stop taking it entirely. And if they saw a TSH of 6 and an FT4 that low, they should have told you to go back on.
A common problem - staying too short or too long a time on the wrong dose.
What is a typical best practice is to start on 50 mcgs a day.
As SlowDragon noted, your one action today - in our opinion and own experience- is to simply take 50 mcgs a day for 6 weeks then test again, including at least TSH, Free T4 and Free T3. Ideally vitamins as listed above too, but at least those three.
I wouldn’t start on 25. It will suppress your TSH but not provide nearly enough replacement. Get yourself back on 50.
You said you were ok on 50 mcgs… once you’re back on it for a solid 6-8 weeks you will likely feel “ok” again. Or at least “better”.
Most people need more, but we do see some who are “ok” for years on 50. Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.
Stay on a stable dose for 6-8 weeks then test again.
Come back with questions, and definitely in 6-8 weeks with new results.
Thank you for advice. I took 25mg last night, hadn't eaten all day so it was fine but turned into a nightmare. I'm having a bad reaction to levo which is what made me believe I was overmedicated. 16 hours of anxiety pain, fear, stomach issues and almost a trip to er. I'm just now calming down.
It’s completely unbelievable until you experience it, but somehow doctors have no idea how to understand or treat thyroid disorders.
Oh gosh, how I second this! It should be, but it still shocks me.
Yes HSD… every… single… time…!! I am still jaw on the floor completely shocked. It’s too much to believe, yet here we are.
We have each other. It’s not always the thing we need but it helps. That’s something at least.
I still want some kind of patient movement on thyroid disease diagnosis and treatment! The more global the better.
Hi again, so I decided to take 25mg of levothyroxine last night before bed. I had not eaten all day so I thought I'll be asleep if I start feeling yucky. My goodness, I woke but with shortness of breath, tremors, anxiety through the roof, stomach pain. nausea, I was convinced I needed to go to ER. My daughter calmed me down. Been in bed with a racing heart since 5am and just now have fever. It is now 430pm, feeling a bit better and just now able to type and focus. What do I do? I'm having a bad reaction to levo, that's why I thought I was overmedicated. Could I not be absorbing it? I feel defeated 😞.
Loe12
Did you change brands of Levo from when you were on for the year you were on 50 mcgs?
What brand are you on now? And what brand were you on previously?
Guessing if you were ok last year, then lets see if we can determine if it’s not the Levo but an additive in whatever brand you are taking now?
Hi FallingInReverse, the brand is Amneal levothyroxine. Not sure bc they gave me this brand in er. I threw away the 75 from my doctor when I thought the dose was too high. Oh my could this be the culprit?🤔
So - a lot of people have reactions to things added to Levo … and there are indeed some who have reactions to the Levo itself.
(I am not one of those people - so I won’t give any advice but I will point you to a couple things to consider from other posts)
I just googled Amneal and found this page:
It lists all ingredients- and one caught my eye as having been discussed here before - Acacia.
I did a search on this forum and found this post:
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
So - definitely something to consider.
Doctors often present hypothyroid as a “take one pill a day and you’ll feel better”
For some that is true. But when you see the 140,000 members of this board - we are all here because this approach didn’t work for us. And there are so many reasons why that might be.
It’s like drinking from a firehose… all this info. So step by step. But we can share our own experiences and hopefully in time you get to the bottom of it!
Acacia is one of the suspect ingredients - bot some people seem to find lactose and/or mannitol are problems. Or something else!
Worth OP to switch brands though?
Definitely worth trying. It will probably eliminate a possibility that otherwise could remain unresolved for years!
I would like to know how things work out. Please keep us posted!
Best wishes!
Thank you, well doctor said i could take my 50 but I want to take it slow. I took 25mg of levo and have been in a perpetual anxiety state. I. Just now feeling better.
Have you got a hiatus hernia? and maybe acid reflux too? Just wondering because…
Exactly the same thing happened to me recently.
Three weeks ago my Levo was raised by only a tiny amount but a week ago I started getting palpitations throughout the day, sometimes it calmed down but it was happening every day. Two days ago when I came downstairs it was the worse it had ever been, I felt totally weak, my heart rate was up to almost 130 bpm. Very scary, and I thought I would die. Plus Acid reflux on top of that.
So I rang the surgery and asked to see a paramedic for an ECG. The receptionist wrote everything down and told me the duty doctor would call. I had barely sat down again when he called me and told me to see the paramedic and a doctor, he gave me an appointment for 50 minutes later.
The paramedic was so nice, he gave me the print out to give to the doctor which I did, she seemed to think it was down to my hiatus hernia pressing up against my heart and nothing to do with my Levo at all. But I had to go back in the afternoon for an urgent blood test and they’d take it from there to see if anything else was going on.
Yesterday, I only had slight palpitations after eating my dinner and my previously dreadful anxiety seemed to have disappeared. Today I’m very similar to yesterday, hardly had a flutter so far.
I was told to take the PPI twice a day for 2 weeks. I don’t really want to start taking those but I have, only once and not twice as she said.
I have just taken the plunge and bought an Iqoro to try and help with the hiatus.
PPI can decrease your b12 levels. Just want you to be aware to monitor that, in case you are not. All the best to you.
Wow never heard of that. Last night I took 25mg and all dreadfull symptoms returned. Its been 16 hrs and I'm just now able to function a bit more.
Yes I have. I was at 175mg per day and I had lost. 4 1/2 stone in weight so I was taking too much for my new weight apparently. I started having hyper symptoms and actually felt great for once. But the docs insisted on reducing. I have done this over 6 months and now take 125mg per day. My T4 and T3 are back in range but on the low side now. Can’t say I feel better for it though. The docs are happy but I’m not. It turns out it wasn’t the reason for my weight loss either!🙄
You felt better having hyper symptoms? How do you feel now? What do you think caused the weight loss?
Yes I had so much energy and felt the best I had in years. No afternoon naps either. But my T4 was 34 so the Endo said it was way too high so I agreed to reduce over 6 months from 175 to 125. Now I have all my hypothyroid symptoms back as it’s too low for me. We are all individuals but they insist in putting us all in a box. . My T4 is 16 and T3 2.6 (low/abnormal) but as long as the doctors are happy who cares if the patient feels lousy🤬
Despite reducing I have not put on any weight. Which is crazy as I’ve spent 30 years trying to lose weight. But this weight loss (4 1/2 stone not intentional ) and the docs say I should be putting on weight now that I’m in range so effectively they say I’m still losing weight.
After 6 months of investigations MRI showed a lesion on my sacrum which I have to have another scan next month to see if it’s grown. I’ve had full body CTs X-rays MRIs, full blood work, colonoscopy and gastroscopy Nothing found that I didn’t already know about.
But as well as hyPOthyroidism I also have hypERparathyroidism and they have found 2 adenomas on different glands so I’m having an operation to take those out.
If that doesn’t affect my weight I haven’t a clue what’s wrong. But I have had enough now. Once these 2 things are sorted I’m giving up Surprisingly they haven’t said it’s my age, which is a first because everything else has been put down to that. 🙄
Le foie de certaines personnes n'arrive parfois pas a convertir la T4 en T3, dans ce cas, il y a un empoisonnement a la T4. Il faut arrêter d'en prendre et il faut savoir qu'il faut plusieurs semaines au corps pour l éliminer. Prendre des petites doses de T3 dans la journée toutes les 3/4 heures et un mélange de T3 et T4 au coucher est préférable
Loe12• in reply to
Thank you for that information. How do you treat t3? I have fatty liver and I may contribute to malabsobtion as I'm researching. Thank you, very kind.
I used to be on 100 microgram and when I started some natural remedies, my thyroid started to function better and my blood test showed over active thyroid. You assume, if you have over active thyroid the doctor will reduce the medication. My doctor wanted to increase it. (well, after COVID you can't talk with the doctor so a nurse passed me this message) I told them that doesn't make sense then the nurse said "oh I'm sorry, I misread the message, you have to take less." I don't really trust my GP since. Luckily I'm not on medication anymore.
Wow. My numbers say I'm undermedicated but I feel hyper when I take medicine. I can't do anything, im in what feels like a perpetual state being frozen but my mind is racing.
So tell me what did you do to help your thyroid. Congrats on being off meds.
I sent you a message
did your Dr completely take you off medication? He need to lower your dosage instead. I have hyper times then hypo.
I have an underactive thyroid. During the pandemic I lost 4 stones in weight. I'm in the UK and on the Thyroid Register so the endocrinologists at a hospital receive my blood samples and interpret my blood results, then notify my GP. I was surprised when they dropped my dosage from 125 to 100 but the letter they send to the patient doesn't give any of the results other than to tell you to continue on your current dosage or what it needs changing to. I had become concerned about my toenails getting crumbly and hard to cut but put it down to my age, now 77. One big toenail had become very thick and along with another two nails was seeming to lift a bit and have white patches underneath. I contacted my GP surgery, but they triage you and nurses often deal with you instead of a GP. The nurse thought fungus, but samples were found to be clear. By then my affected big toenail had a clear line across the nail bed where a few mm looked as if it might be growing normally again so I waited and eventually it was apparent that the nail was growing back almost as good as before. The penny suddenly dropped and I googled and found that nails could be affected this way and that my change in weight had meant my levo was too high and once they had dropped it, my toenails grew ok again. Fingernails were fine all along. The only other thing I noticed was it was almost impossible to sleep at night, often being awake all night. Since putting some weight back on again my levels are now 'borderline' low and I feel tired all the time, but I sleep like a log! I thought I'd mention about toenails in case others wonder about changes and don't make the connection as well. My dosage could have been too high for almost a year, but I'm not aware of any permanent damage since two years ago and would think levels in the normal range must fluctuate anyway.
Thank you for your story. I'm just not reacting well to levo and though I was overmedicated but my labs show I'm not. Don't know what to do next if I can't take levo.
Regarding the blood result. I have this NHS App on my phone (applies to those who have smart phones). I had to ask a code from my GP to register and now I can see all test results and all GP visit recording. Before then I never knew my results and just trusted my doctor blindly. With the pandemic and not able to talk to the doctor, they do more mistakes. They mistakenly wanted to increase my dosage from 100 to 175 every other day instead of lowering. When I questioned them -looking at my results- they said, "sorry, we misread the message from the GP". It should have been 100 and only 75 every other day. You have the right to see your results.
Thank you I'll look into that! It's shocking they made a mistake like that. Someone else should doublecheck as it could be really serious.
SlowDragonAdministrator
this panic reaction is most likely because your body is desperate for more thyroid hormones and is currently having to live off adrenaline and cortisol instead of thyroid hormones
Cortisol issues typically result in feeling terrible in early morning and improving by late afternoon
Try cutting the 25mcg tablet of Levo into 1/4’s and taking as 4 small tiny doses across the day
Once you get use to that after 2-3 weeks, then you can very SLOWLY look at increasing by 1/4 tablet until on 50mcg daily
Hold at that dose 6-8 weeks and retest
SlowDragon - this thread has a lot of replies - but wondering if you think it could be a reaction to an excipient? See back-and-forth starting here: healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
I was struck by OP “being fine” for a year on 50 mcgs, then this happening. Might be worth switching brands to see if it’s an exipient? I don’t have similar issues, but OPs reaction feels extreme to me compared to what we usually hear about? Worth a shot?
Reasonably common to react badly to suddenly stopping levothyroxine and then finding it difficult to restart
Suddenly stopping levothyroxine will result in cortisol levels shooting upwards to try to compensate and upsetting Adrenals
I found it extremely difficult (25 plus years ago) to restart levothyroxine…..and it took a further two years to very very slowly increase levothyroxine upwards to 125mcg, after being left too long on too low a dose levothyroxine for first 5 years….more on my profile
Loe12 this thread has so many responses - which sometimes makes it very easy to miss things that get nested in the middle of it out of chronological order.
Replying at the bottom so you don’t miss it.
Are you able to find out what brand of Levo you had last year. And ask the ER what they gave you.
You can call and see what they can tell you, or you can always do a records request ( usually takes a few weeks).
All in all, it does look like you need to treat your underactive thyroid. And in a world where doctors don’t have the time or knowledge to help when things need figuring out - we, the patient, end up taking matters into our own hands. We need to educate ourselves, and advocate for ourselves, and track things and keep our own records.
So a good thing to do in any case is get that info - and it might hold the answer, or at least it will rule out a not uncommon problem some people experience with different Levo brands.
I am also in Texas. The 50mcg tablets do NOT have any dyes in them. They are white. All the other strengths of levo have dyes to color them. Many people only take 50’s cut to achieve their proper dose. You could be reacting to the dyes or the acaia. Mylan Levo does not have acaia. Good luck.
Not all makes have dyes! Provell (Merck) don't.
Barrett582 I never noticed til you pointed it out - my 50 synthroids are white and my hundreds are yellow. So interesting!
Changed everything for me going to all 50s. I would have sworn - and did 🤩- that levothyroxine was the devil itself.
I have been trying to write here about the 50s for four days, so thank you Barrett! 🤩My account was not working.
Loe12
I am on 275 mcg of levothyroxine (Synthroid).
Guess what?
I take 5.5 50s to get to 275 instead of a 200 +75, for this very reason. It has changed everything for me. I still have some unpleasant symptoms from an additive, but nothing like was happening on other Synthroid pills. The 50s are without dyes.
I see you are not on Synthroid, but check yours nonetheless.
I do believe there are two things going on, distinct issues to take care of -
*You might not be reacting well to an additive
AND
*You are most likely undermedicated as well, your labs show that so not sure what your doctor is doing.
And you mentioned you were originally on 75 mcg from the very start. Then down to 50, a while back separate from this latest change up to 75. Why down to 50 back then?
Please tell me it was a lab result that you were put down to 50 mcg originally (I somehow doubt it since 50 mcg is a starter dose).
Seems like you are with a doctor that has no clue, sorry to say.
Lita- great summary.
Ill just reiterate one more avenue to explore - SlowDragons comment on the body’s reaction to stopping and restarting.
For us regular forum members we are now well versed in how it’s not just the destination (ie optimal dose) but HOW you get there that matters. Hormones are quite the wonder aren’t they!!!
Jaydee1507Administrator
Often members find if their key nutrients are low then they struggle to tolerate Levo.
Hypo people often have low nutrient levels due to the low stomach acid that hypo brings. This means we cannot absorb vitamin levels from our food.
Can you get tests for ferritin, folate, B12 & D3? Start a new post when you have the results for members recommendations.
There are no natural methods of healing the thyroid. Sometimes people get thyroiditis which is reversible but its more usual that thyroid levels never recover and so Levo is required.
I'm sure if you get on top of low vitamin levels you will find tolerating Levo much easier.
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