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1139187 tn?1355706647

buzzing and ringing in the ears from synthroid / levo? hashimotos

I have heard from several people who have the dumb buzzing and ringing in the ears after they have been on levo for a while.  I was curious to know if anyone on armour or the canadian version has the ringing/buzzing?

thank you
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Avatar universal
I recently took Synthroid 50 mcg a day for 4 months because I have hypothyroidism. Then one morning I woke up with "air banging" noise in my right ear. At first I thought it might be coming from my heart beat. No, my heart beats 73 per minute sitting at desk for 5 days in a row.  The noise in my ear beats 200 times per minute. Not related. It beats 24/7 and drives me crazy,  I put earplug at sleep but it's still beating. Reported to the pharmacist, my APRN and FDA.  My APRN wants to either increase dosage to 100 mcg a day for a month or to refer me to Endocrinologist. No thanks.  Yes I am sensitive to cold temperature but I do not have so called symptoms of hypothyroidism (my case: natural soft moisture skin, shiny long hair, fast growing healthy nails, no constipation, never been depressed, and list goes on)   So I would rather not to take 'any' since I had been doing great without 'any' in those years as my first diagnose was made long time ago. The crazy side effect from Synthroid has messed up my peaceful life.
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1 Comments
This is a very old thread and none of the previous posters are active on the forum at this time, so it's unlikely they will respond to your comments.  It would be best if you start your own, new thread so you get the best attention.

If you have hypothyroidism and take medication, you need to stay on it.  If you're having symptoms it's because the dosage isn't right or possibly you aren't tolerating "that" medication, but you might tolerate a different medication just fine.  

I would, probably, not agree with your ARNP to double your dosage all at one time; that's a lot; however, you might try increasing in small increments, based on lab results for Free T4 and Free T3, which are the actual thyroid hormones.  If you have recent results for Free T4 and Free T3, you could post them and we'd be happy to take a look and let you know what we think. Be sure to include reference ranges with any results, since ranges vary from lab to lab and have to come from your own report.

Cold intolerance is one of the most common symptoms of hypothyroidism and there are over 300 others that most of us don't even relate to being hypo.

Do you know if you have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis?  Hashimoto's is an autoimmune condition that causes destruction of the thyroid gland, usually, over a period of years until, eventually, it produces no hormones at all.  Once you have Hashimoto's, you have it for life.

1139187 tn?1355706647
There are a lot of people that do .88 and .125  etc  they rotate.   You should start a new thread about this.  This is a very good topic and needs its own thread.
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Avatar universal
Does anyone take different amounts of his/her thyroid medication each day?  For example, 50 mcg of levo, then 25 for a day then 50?  
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Avatar universal
Bless your heart.  I hope you find a solution soon.
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1139187 tn?1355706647
since aug 29, 2009  LOL

seems to get worse on  the thyroid hormone, but I am told that this will eventually go away.  You cant use me as the typical case and point.  It has taken me a very long time to find a hormone that i can even tolerate.  I have tried everything and am finally on a compound of slow release t4 and out of all the stuff i have tried this seems to be the best.   (the best of the worst)  

The hardest part for me was when i had a thyroid.  Some people "just get the sound"  like Barb talks about.  But for me I got the following things all at the same time:

ear ringing
fatigue
thyroid pain

It all came on at same time.   It wasnt just "a sound".  
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Avatar universal
How long has your ears been ringing and "popping"?
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1139187 tn?1355706647
I know this is weird, but there is nothing "normal" about the disease...  But I've noticed the ringing 2 different time

1.   when its almost time to take my meds.  For example, sort of what k142 says, I take my hormone at night before i get in bed.  So usually a couple hours before its dosing time, the ears are ringing.

2.   After i take the meds, a couple hours later my ears ring.   Its not as bad as before, but if i wake up mid evening (lets say the baby cries at 3 am)  i wake up and my ears are ringing.  

I am told this will go away when optimized.  I am not near optimized yet so I'm still being patient.
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649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
I was thinking more of the ear ringing more than anything else.  If that's the only symptom, and you're doing fine, otherwise, you're probably okay to stay with the 50, and just not take the T3 med, until after you've retested.  

Remember, it does take 4-6 weeks for the levo to reach full potential, so do aware of symptoms of hyperactive thyroid, just in case.

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Avatar universal
Thank you, again.  So even though I feel fine on 50 mcg of Levo and have been taking this much for two weeks, you think I should cut the dose in half for two weeks, anyway?  I certainly respect what you recommend.  I don't want to do something wrong and mess up my thyroid more than it already is.
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649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
"I do know that she was spot on, at least for the first week."  Yes, she was; too bad that she didn't realize that there could be too much of a good thing - both the T4 and T3 med at once.  I think she simply didn't realize that it's best to start at lowest doses and work up slowly.

She does seem to be one that you might want to stick with, though, because if you learn what you need, she'll probably be willing to provide it.

Wow, she even has you on B12 shots and vitamin D?  I'd say she's a keeper, but you might want to split those 50 mcg pills in 1/2 for a couple of weeks just to acclimate yourself to the med.

It always takes longer to get where you're going, when you do it slowly, but snail's pace works best with hypothyroidism.
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Avatar universal
That was the blood work before I started any medication on July 13.  Yes, I wait until my stomach is empty; I drink a glass of water, and I don't eat for at least an hour.  I just noticed that my ears were ringing at 6 a.m., but I didn't get up then.  (It's not the best motivator to get up and move around.)    :)  I also don't take omeprazole for acid reflux for at least four hours after taking the levo.

I don't know why my RNP put me on both upon initial diagnosis.  She explained about T4 converting to T3; she mentioned several studies about taking both.  My thyroid levels have been "borderline" like that for at least 10 years, but this health care professional is the first to actually treat me for hypo. I do know that she was spot on, at least for the first week.  My goodness, I had not felt so good since my youngest son was born, and he's 20!   She also has me taking Vit B12 shots and some heavy doses of Vit D2 once a week.  

So far, the only burr seems to be the liothyroxine.  I think I'll just keep taking the 50 mcg of Levo, and if I have any adverse symtoms, I'll reduce it to 25 mcg, as you suggested, until I see her again in a couple of weeks.  For now, I'll steer clear of the liothyronine until she checks thyroid levels again.
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649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
You ARE taking your levo as soon as you wake up, on an empty stomach with a full glass of water, aren't you?  Then waiting, at least, 30-60 minutes, before eating/drinking anything else?

Your FT3 and FT4 are very low in their respective ranges, indicating that you are still hypo; however, you may still have to cut back on the medication for a short period, in order to let your body adjust to having the hormones available again.
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Avatar universal
Let's see.  The range levels were

Free T3: 2.86 pg/mL (2.39 - 6.79) pg/ML
Free T4: 0.60 mcg/dl (.58 - 1.64) ng/dL
TSH: 1.44 mIU/I (.34 - 5.60) mU/L

My ears were whooshing again when I woke up about 6 a.m.  They aren't as bad now.  I took 50 mcg of levo about a half hour ago and no liothyronine.  Maybe you're right, and it is the T3 med doing this.  Perhaps I still convert T4 to T3, and I just don't need it?  I see the RNP again Aug. 13, and I'm sure she'll have blood work done.  I'll certainly run this information by her.  

Thank you again, Barb135!
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649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
Your FT3 and FT4, both, appear quite low; however, as  noted above, reference ranges vary from lab to lab, so we need to see what ranges your lab uses.  Ranges are found on the lab report, often in parenthesis beside the result.


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Avatar universal
According to my blood work,
Free T3: 2.9 ng/dl
Free T4: 0.6 mcg/dl
TSH: 1.4 mIU/I

Thank you for the advice, both of you.  
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535882 tn?1396576685
i had ringing very bad . but it went away  mostly as my thyroid levels were optimized. i still get some small  ringing at times but not bad. try and work on getting your levels perfected!! it can help! Kevin
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649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
It takes 4-6 weeks for the levo to reach full potential in your system, so the effects you were feeling would have come from the liothyronine (T3 med), which is fast acting and leaves the system within a few hours.

50 mcg of levo + 10 mcg of T3 med might have been too high a dose to start on.  It's best to start at the lowest possible dose and work your way up.  For instance, you could have started with 25 mcg levo, for a couple of weeks to give your body a chance to adjust to having the hormone again, then raise to the full 50 mcg.  

T3 med is rarely given as a starting med. Typically, one is started on the levo, then when/if blood tests show that conversion of T4 to T3 is not adequate, the T3 med is added, again at the smallest dose and worked up as needed.

All of that said, what are your current thyroid hormone levels?  You should have been tested for TSH, Free T3 and Free T4, prior to starting meds. Please post results and be sure to add reference ranges, since these vary lab to lab and must come from your own report.
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Avatar universal
I started 50 mcg of levothyroxine once  a day and 5 mcg twice a day of liothyronine 17 days ago.  I felt awesome, absolutely awesome for the first week, then my ears started the whooshing/ringing sound and worsened to the point that I just couldn't stand it.  Too, I felt really aggressive.  My RNP told me to go off both meds for a week and start just the levothyroxine.  I tried no thyroid meds for 24 hours and felt absolutely awful, achy joints, lethargy, etc.; however, the ringing stopped. Two days ago, I took 50 mcg of levo and felt some better, but not as good as I felt before.  I took the same dose of levo again yesterday morning, and at 1 a.m. today I took 5 mcg of liothyronine and then at 7:30 a.m., I took 5 mcg of liothyronine and 25 mcg of levo.  So far, no ringing in my ears, but I do have a little ache in my legs.  Should I try 50 mcg of levo once a day and 2.5 mcg of liothyronine?

I'm just glad to find some people who are having the same symptoms.  My pharmacist had never heard of such complaints.  If the symptoms weren't so severe with my ears and the aggressive feeling, I'd grin and bear it for a while.  However, I teach high school, so I have to be able to hear, and I certain don't want to feel aggressive around my students.
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649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
I've had ringing in my ears, most of my life; nothing seems to help a lot.  I've learned to live with it, but if your thyroid hormones are off, that could be the cause.  You have another thread going, maybe you could point out the ear ringing on that thread and get more comments.
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1139187 tn?1355706647
this is a very old post.  I did it almost 2 years ago.    Guess what -  i still have the ringing but its not as bad on armour as it was on synthetic.  but everyone is different.
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Avatar universal
I have a low t3 and lower range  t4 I have ringing in my ear a lot & I get dizzy
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1139187 tn?1355706647
How long did it take to feel better
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185634 tn?1257071139
I was on Levoxyl and this was one of the things I noticed, and brought up to my doctor.  Mine was a *whooshing* sound.  They said it could be blood pressure, although I never had that problem before being on the meds.  I've since switched to the canadian version of armour and no - I don't have that problem anymore.  Hmm....
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1139187 tn?1355706647
Buehler?
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