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Am I being over medicated for hypothyroid?
Hi, I am a 33 year old female. Recently(2 weeks ago) I have been diagnosed with Hypothyroid. I have been taking Levothyroxine 50mcg, I started having Hyper symptoms, Insomnia, tremors, racing heart, sweats, weight loss(10lbs in 2 weeks), severe anxiety, chest pains, ringing in the ears and loss of appetite. I have been to the ER twice in the last week because of the chest pains and everything comes back normal. When I was put on the Levothyroxine my TSH was 5.1. no info on T4 or T3 was given to me. After yesterday's ER visit my levels were 1.2. I have called my Endo 3 times in regards to my symptoms and he suggessted alternating between levo 50mcg one day and 25 the next. This has made no improvement. I am thinking of stopping the Levo all togeteher. I am completely miserable and can't even function to do daily tasks, I can't take care of my kids either, my husband has had to take off work. I am all of a sudden very depressed because of how I feel and have been seriously considering suicide. I can't live like this and my Endo won't even talk to me him self, he has his receptionist call me. Please help with some insight I am MISERABLE...
I found a new Endo at UofM in Michigan. I am so excited about it. I know they are good they treat my son for his Cerebral Palsy. Hopefully I will get the answers I have been looking for. The only bad part is I have to wait a month. But in the mean time I am stopping the Levothyroxine, I just can't tolerate it. Thank you to everyone who has commented.
mhawk1215 its helped me to without this site i was giving up hope of feeling sane i am so glad i found it to and thanks to all for all your comments and help on symtoms and other usefull stuff that doctors dont tell you.
It may seem crazy but this forum is helping a lot. I guess I needed a good support group. Glad I stumbled upon this site.
Hi hope your new dosage is helping. Hang in there I am new to this too.
Seems we have similiar case hypo/hashiomoto - tomorrow start on 50mcg Levo - so nervous to take - good luck with your new dosage.
T4 - 0.9 --- range 0.8 - 1.8
T3 - 103 -- range 76 - 181
Tsh 5.02 -- range 0.40 - 4.50
Seems we have similiar case hypo/hashiomoto - tomorrow start on 50mcg Levo - so nervous to take - good luck with your new dosage.
T4 - 0.9 --- range 0.8 - 1.8
T3 - 103 -- range 76 - 181
Tsh 5.02 -- range 0.40 - 4.50
When I started getting sick I had almost all the symptoms of hyper. That's why I was shocked to find out I was hypo. Also told I had Hashimoto's sorry I forgot to mention that. I am going to start breaking the 25mcg tabs in half and hope this helps.
Thank you for your response. I did have an ultrsound done on my neck and he said it looks great. Elevated TPO(128) is the reason I was sent to the Endo. I have never personally seen any results, just notified by phone what they were. I am extremely sensitive to medication, and usually have awful side effects. I have been healthy up until last June when all this thyroid stuff started. I have called around my area for a new Dr. Unfortunately I live in a very small town and he is the only Endo for miles.
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Since it takes a while for the levo to get into your system fully, either you were started on too high a dose or you could be having a reaction to the fillers/binders in the medication. Because it takes time for the med to get fully into your system, it also takes time to get it out.
It's always best to start out on the lowest dose possible and work up slowly, in order to help avoid severe reactions.
You should keep trying to get in touch with your endo and if he still won't see you, either go back to the ER or get another doctor to help you. You might want to request a brand name medication over the generic levo and be sure to start out at the lowest dose you can, which may even require splitting pills for a few days to let your body adjust.
What symptoms were you having prior to being diagnosed hypo and was that based strictly on the TSH? Your endo is required by law to provide a copy of blood test results, upon request.
It's always best to start out on the lowest dose possible and work up slowly, in order to help avoid severe reactions.
You should keep trying to get in touch with your endo and if he still won't see you, either go back to the ER or get another doctor to help you. You might want to request a brand name medication over the generic levo and be sure to start out at the lowest dose you can, which may even require splitting pills for a few days to let your body adjust.
What symptoms were you having prior to being diagnosed hypo and was that based strictly on the TSH? Your endo is required by law to provide a copy of blood test results, upon request.
Please post your thyroid related test results and their reference ranges shown on the lab report.
When you were started on the Levo, was the cause of your supposed hypothyroidism diagnosed? The reason I ask is I wondered if it could be Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. The definitive tests for Hashi's are for the thyroid antibodies, TPO ab and TG ab. Also a good idea to get an ultrasound tst for the thyroid gland to check the possibility of having nodules. With Hashi's nodules sometimes form and then can leak thyroid hormone into the system and cause swings from hypo to hyper. My reasoning for this line of questioning is that a dosage of 50 mcg of Levothyroxine just doesn't seem to be enough to cause all those reactions.
I think you should demand that your Endo get you in now to test for your current level of Free T3 and Free T4 (not the same as Total T3 and T4). and also do the ultrasound test to check for nodules, and if not done previously, the tests for thyroid antibodies, and also TSI, just to rule out the possibility of Graves. Please make sure that you have someone with you to provide the support you need while you get through all this.
Where are you located, in case you need a good thyroid doctor. If so, perhaps a member could recommend a doctor in your area.
When you were started on the Levo, was the cause of your supposed hypothyroidism diagnosed? The reason I ask is I wondered if it could be Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. The definitive tests for Hashi's are for the thyroid antibodies, TPO ab and TG ab. Also a good idea to get an ultrasound tst for the thyroid gland to check the possibility of having nodules. With Hashi's nodules sometimes form and then can leak thyroid hormone into the system and cause swings from hypo to hyper. My reasoning for this line of questioning is that a dosage of 50 mcg of Levothyroxine just doesn't seem to be enough to cause all those reactions.
I think you should demand that your Endo get you in now to test for your current level of Free T3 and Free T4 (not the same as Total T3 and T4). and also do the ultrasound test to check for nodules, and if not done previously, the tests for thyroid antibodies, and also TSI, just to rule out the possibility of Graves. Please make sure that you have someone with you to provide the support you need while you get through all this.
Where are you located, in case you need a good thyroid doctor. If so, perhaps a member could recommend a doctor in your area.
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