My doctors have prescribed Levothyroxine and Synthroid for me in the past. However, both meds drastically increased my blood pressure to dangerously high levels, landing me in the hospital emergency room twice. (This, even though I routinely take Ziac blood pressure pills, which have kept my bp steady until then.) So I had to discontinue the Levo, and haven't been on any RX for my thyroid.
Fast forward to present day. My latest lab results are worsening & my doctor isn't offering any alternative RX solution. Levo is the only medicine he offers.
Is there any alternative RX or perhaps dessicated extracts that could possibly help me --most importantly without raising my blood pressure? Otherwise, I'll just use over the counter thyroid supplements and multi-vitamin from Amazon. But any suggestions are welcome.
Thanks for listening to my story.
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helvella's medicines documents (UK and Rest of the World) can be found here:
helvella - Thyroid Hormone Medicines
helvella has created, and tries to maintain, documents containing details of all thyroid hormone medicines in the UK and, in less detail, many others around the world. There is now a specific world desiccated thyroid document.
I highly recommend viewing on a computer screen, or a decent sized tablet, rather than a phone. Even I find it less than satisfactory trying to view them on my phone.
helvella - Thyroid Hormone Medicines - UK
The UK document contains up-to-date versions of the Summary Matrixes for levothyroxine tablets, oral solutions and also liothyronine available in the UK. Includes injectables and descriptions of tablet markings which allow identification. Latest updates include all declared ingredients for all UK products and links to Patient Information Leaflets, Dictionary of Medicines and Devices (dm+d), etc. PLUS how to write prescriptions in Appendix F.
Contains details of all known desiccated thyroid products including information about several products not considered to be Natural Desiccated Thyroid (NDT/Desiccated Thyroid Extract/DTE).
Contains details of all levothyroxine and combination products - excluding desiccated thyroid products. Details available vary by country and manufacturer.
The link below takes you to a blog page which has direct links to the documents from Dropbox and QR codes to make it easy to access from phones. You will have to scroll down or up to find the link to the document you want.
'Otherwise, I'll just use over the counter thyroid supplements and multi-vitamin from Amazon.'
Your thyroid test results indicate that your thyroid is unable to produce the amount of thyroid hormones that you need. You absolutely cannot use OTC supplements to deal with this because they do not replace the missing hormones.
If levothyroxine (Synthroid is just a brand of levothyroxine) doesn't work for you, it might be because the dose was wrong. Or that you were reacting to certain excipients in the tablets.
Please add more information about what dose/s you were taking, for how long, and what your thyroid test numbers were whilst taking levothyroxine, before you stopped taking any thyroid medications.
Thanks for your assistance. Here are the takeaways from my notes;
April 2017
TSH: 3.25
Free T4: .82
Prescribed 25 mg Levothyroxine
Developed ocular migraines. Average blood pressure during time of taking this was 138/101 and sometimes 93 Fahrenheit body temp.
June 2017
TSH 1.22 0.45-5.33 uIU/mL
Anti-Thyroperoxidase 0.50 0.00-9.00 IU/mL
Free T3 3.32 2.53-4.29 pg/mL
Free T4 1.17 0.58-1.64 ng/dL
Doc changed prescription to 50 mg Synthroid
Pulse 70;s to 90’s BP 140/100 average blood pressure, but climbed at times higher.
2 August 2017
TSH: .59 (.45-5.33)
Free T4 1 (.58-1.64)
Prescription reduced to 25 mg Synthroid
Blood pressure topped 171/117. T
Late August 2017 taken off Thyroid pills. (Blood pressure remain escalated for months afterwards, at least 10 points minimum higher.)
Two emergency room/hospital visits in the past couple of months due to high blood pressure.
23 August 2017 Switched to new doctor
Reverse T3 T3 REVERSE, LC/MS/MS Results: 21 (8-25)
Free T3 3.0 (2.3-4.2)
Ferritin 172 (10-232)
DHEA 4.5 (2-23 ng/mL) mcg/dL
Cortisol: saliva test
Doc focused on adrenals. Prescribed hormone creams and kelp.
November 2020
I don’t see any lab tests for TSH. However, Doc prescribed 1 mcg of compounded T3 and it escalated my blood pressure up to 10 pts. Took me off it after 1 month.
August 2023
TSH 3.95 (.30-5.33)
Free T3 2.79 (2.50-3.90)
Doc gave me an over the counter Thyroid supplement to take.
August 2024
TSH 8.63 ( .30 to 5.33)
Free T3 2.89 (2.00-4.40)
Free T4 .86 (.60 to 1.40)
Doc now wants to put me on Levothyroxine. But my history of high blood pressure on Levo drugs frightens me. I also suffer from Lyme disease, with chronic fatigue which complicates my health.
As has already been mentioned it could be excipients /fillers in the pills you were taking that was causing your BP problem. For example, could the pills have contained Lactose, Mannitol, Gluten, Colours or Acacia or something else that you are allergic or sensitive to?
For more info on the products you were prescribed you should find this website helpful :
The "inactive" ingredients in Synthroid are listed near the bottom of the page.
ACACIA (UNII: 5C5403N26O)
LACTOSE MONOHYDRATE (UNII: EWQ57Q8I5X)
MAGNESIUM STEARATE (UNII: 70097M6I30)
POVIDONE, UNSPECIFIED (UNII: FZ989GH94E)
TALC (UNII: 7SEV7J4R1U)
FD&C YELLOW NO. 6 (UNII: H77VEI93A8)
SUCROSE (UNII: C151H8M554)
Acacia causes lots of problems for lots of people, and so does Lactose. And Synthroid contains them both.
You would need to find the ingredient lists for each of the products you've taken to see what ingredients they have in common in the hope of finding what you might be reacting to.
The website might also help you find Levo products that don't contain the possible problem ingredients.
Yes absolutely I personally experienced all sorts of side effects with Synthroid because of the fillers. High B/P anxiety insomnia palpitations etc. I must all so add that low Iron/Ferritin also contribute to similar symptoms. Having all the nutrients up to par is very important components for the thyroid meds to work well for us.
Interesting. That never occurred to me that it could be the fillers, too, causing issues. Hmm, I see yellow dye in common in the pills. I know some dyes make me feel slightly ill, especially red dye. Yet I don't know what could escalate my blood pressure.
I was put on the synthetic hormones when I went hypo due to removal of thyroid cancer but, they never worked and I became very ill. The binders and fillers were a problem for me due to allergies, I’m allergic to yellow and red colour and they are commonly used in medications. Perhaps, think about a natural thyroid hormone. I was put on Armour thyroid and I’ve been much better since.
Very difficult to get Armour in Uk, it’s Levothyroxine or nothing usually. I didn’t have the energy for the fight so for twenty years have been buying it privately. Price gone up considerably in last few years. A very good and informative site is ThyroidTPA, (Thyroid Patient Advocacy), where I learned a great deal about Thyroid issues and treatments.
I know. When I was put on Armour thyroid the first time it was on a trial but the cancer hospital would not fund it and it was withdraw. So, I had to get a private prescription and import it from the USA. I couldn’t afford the Armour brand and had to buy a cheaper brand but after 1 year the manufacturer stopped making it so, my GP prescribed T3 . Then this was taken off me and I was left with nothing. The synthetics made me suicidal and my endo and oncologist managed to get me the Armour thyroid through the cancer drugs fund. This is because I need the medication to stop the cancer growing back with a vengeance. I’m very lucky but I had to fight for years to get the correct medication that makes me human again. It’s a rotten road to travel but, thank god I did because I wouldn’t be here to tell the tale nor see my grandsons grow up.
I don't have anywhere near the level of understanding to help out. Just wondering have you only seen a GP or have you also seen an endocrinologist. Your case sounds complicated beyond what a GP would have expertise in treating.
It really would be worth trying a filler-free type because if you can raise your frees on levo to where they need to be for you to feel well, then life is so much easier and cheaper than when taking NDT or glandulars
Don’t get me wrong, I take glandulars and love them but it took an age to get my dose right and the cost is a pain
That's good to know there is another choice in Tirosint. I like how it goes down to 13 ug ...low dose. It's a shame about all of the excipients, yet thankfully it has no dyes.
This post has a list of papers discussing thyroid hormones / heart problems .( my personal knowledge of heart issues is zilch , but hopefully you may find some useful information in these) : healthunlocked.com/thyroidu... thyroid-disease-effects-on-heart-and-cardiovascular-system.
There was a link fairly recently to these great paper(s) on thyroid and heart which I read then realised they were 4 years old , so a query wasn’t really appropriate on that post. What I cannot understand is if you are hypothyroid and your Gp insists your high HR is due to ‘over medication on levothyroxine’ ( supressed TSH but Free T4/T3 tend to be c.50% or lower) do the hyperthyroid symptoms for heart come into play? Just looking at the symptoms lists for hypo/ hyper thyroid I have ones from both sides…the real problem is 4 1/2 years of Long Covid but specialists ( cardio, respiratory, Falls) just rid their hands of me as apart from a tilt test table proving postural hypotension no scans show anything wrong, so Gp forced to look in to that old chestnut ‘it’s overmedicated thyroid’! LC also left me with brain fog and article bit too complicated currently!
if you are hypothyroid and your Gp insists your high HR is due to ‘over medication on levothyroxine’
There are many possible causes of tachycardia but doctors always jump to the "easiest" thing they can to blame for the problem. (Or at least, they do in my case.) When I had tachycardia the problem was actually caused by chronic blood loss from a large bleeding polyp that took three hospitals to find but the doctors at my local hospital suggested I was just anxious.
Thanks human bean…I have been systematically going thru them, plus others, eg improving exercise ( 50 mns swimmng 5x a week for last 18 months), monitoring / improving various vits/ mins, private sleep apnoea test , diet etc etc unlike my GP, but being fair to him no specialists like cardio’s have helped at all when scans appear ok. Unfortunately Gp has heard of thyroid /HR link but not Long Covid and BP/ HR ones.
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Lactose Free Levothyroxine 
Help ! Consultant change -wants to put me back on Levothyroxine ! (On NDT & T3 ) 
Changing from natural thyroid to Levothyroxine
No improvement with Levothyroxine increase
