Hi, I have only recently started thyroid medication. Just 25mg of Levothyroxine. I took it for about 9 days.
Yesterday I felt a bit out of breath, then I had a sort of pressure in my chest, sweating, trembling, palpitations and diarrhoea.
I had a paramedic check me over and he suggested I go to A&E to be checked out. So an Ambulance was called.
Anyway I had bloods taken and ECG's etc done and fortunately all was ok. But they think it maybe the Levothyroxine that had caused this.
Has anyone else had a similar experience.
As I mentioned in my other thread Levothyroxine has never given me any side effects in 17 years of taking it and it didnt seem to help me with anything good or bad physically or mentally but when I did stop for three years it did enlarge my thyroid and my dosage needed to be increased .
Hi Anthony
Thank you for replying to my message.
Did you not have any symptoms when you were first diagnosed?
When I first went on the levothyroxin, I had migraines so bad I feared they would cause a stroke, severe anxiety, and a myriad of other symptoms, including water retention so bad, I went from a size 4 to a size 12. I blew up like a balloon, even though my weight had been stable prior to that. Honestly heart palpitations and difficulty breathing were minor in comparison to the other symptoms. I felt like the medication was causing heart failure. It didn't work for me at any dose, after trying for nearly three years on this horrible medication.
Hi MtViewCatherine
Thank you for your reply. Sorry to hear you have had such an awful time with this medication 
So how have you been able to control your Thyroid problems? Were you given an alternative?
I did as I was playing Hockey 7 days a week and hardly eating and I was gaining/keeping weight around my abdomen so they ran the tests and to be honest I have always felt unbalanced emotionally very high or very low so Im sure my thyroid was a issue well before it was discovered when I was 30 .
So to recap I do feel the emotional side of thyroid always which can then effect my physical to but by staying active I can at least counter balance that part .
On a side note Im now taking my Thyroid pill at midnight and eating a better diet less calories and its help greatly with the emotional issues in that short time as I have more energy and im not sluggish (stay away from breads !).
In years past I could go weeks feeling unbalanced and then as I got older it turned into months of almost feeling depressed and lethargic really bad stuff .
Good to hear that it has helped greatly by taking your meds at midnight and eating a better diet. I hope it continues to do so too. The symptoms are awful.
Is bread really that bad? I live on it, I eat sandwiches daily. I love bread.
For me bread if I eat a lot of it regularly I feel the effects quickly almost like being drugged and I becoming lathergic with no energy so just listen to your body as we are all different .
Hi Anthony, not surprising about the bread. I struggled with bread for years and eventually went completely gluten free. It helped incredibly! If you do some online research, you'll find that gluten intolerance is strongly connected with thyroid disease. Going off grains was a huge aspect in my health!
After being on Levothyroxin since 1999 last year a developed an adverse reaction to it and now have Hashimoto's, I can't say for certain that it was caused by Levo, but when I first went to tmy GP just after Christmas she told me that some brands of Levo are causing symptoms of hyperthyroidism in some patients and she thought that was what was happening to me. Before being on Levo I was on Thyroxin until they changed it all to Levothyroxin in 2011, since then I noticed a big difference and didn't feel as well. I have done a lot of research on all of this since becoming ill at Christmas and one of the things I found out online is that the NHS are buying cheaper versions of generic drugs from China and India, which makes me wonder if this is why lots of us are having strange side effects with it. I was on a mixture of two different brands and had two seperate sets of side effects, shortness of breath was one of the symptoms.
Hi Rosie, if you have hypothyroidism, you have either Hashimoto's or Grave's disease, since these two auto immune conditions are the cause of low thyroid. Often, doctors aren't able to detect the autoimmune disease in either the blood test (antibody), or the ultrasound, which shows the cysts, but only if they're large enough to see.
i certainly am not arguing your point, just clarifying. And I must agree with you that this medication worsens thyroid disease because, 1) it doesn't work, and 2) it triggers the immune system, accelerating the Hashimoto's. In my case, I had a cyst that had remained the same size for 15 years, but while taking the levo, the cyst became so large that it nearly completely covered the entire love of my thyroid.
If you want to entertain yourself, check out an online search for Synthroid FDA approval, specifically newspaper articles. You might find this interesting, since Synthroid is the original/ brand name for levothyroxin.
Im not surprised at all by the increase in your symptoms. The levo basically accelerated my thyroid disease.
So are you saying dont take Levo at all ? I stopped for 3 years and mine got worse .
Hi Catherine, Please tell me that this will not happen to me. Im currently taking Levo 88mcg and I'm experiencing very bad side effects but no weight gain or migranes so far. I was hyper prior to this, I've only been on the meds for approximately (3) weeks and I feel awful! I had my thyroid removed (3) weeks ago and the Levo meds it's working me over already. Hair loss, bad sweats, fatigue, palpitations, fog brain, insomnia, muscle aches, etc. I never felt this way in my entire life. Can you suggest anything that would help me feel better? What questions should I ask my endo? Please help!
Hi Catherine, Is gluten free products best for all types of thyrodism? Is biscuits & breadsticks ok? What are healthy veggies to eat? Will I have muscle aches forever? What types of foods can I eat to help suppress it?
Thanks dear!
Yes. Gluten free is best for all thyroid disease. Do some online research. Cutting back isn't enough, any small amount triggers the immune system to attack your own body, and contributes to the destruction of your thyroid tissue. If you have thyroid disease, the gluten protein is similar to thyroid, lung, brain, intestine and other tissues, so the gluten triggers an autoimmune response in any if these organs.
So no. No biscuits, no breadsticks. Substitute root vegetables for grains. Even go grain free if you can. You can start out by substituting foods you love like pasta with rice pasta. But I recommend working towards grain free and getting out if the habit of trying to make other goods into wheat products.
I do eat eat a slice of gluten free bread now and again. But tend to avoid even gluten free breads and pastries. I eat ice cream. If you must have treats, there are bakeries that specialize in allergy free breads and deserts, they usually will ship. If I'm not feeling well, I avoid all grains until I feel better. This may be a few days, or months, or years, depending.
Like I said, you'll gave to do some research.
Hi Anthony, I no longer take any of the prescription pharmaceutical meds. I've been on an OTC Bovine thyroid glandular, and that's helped me recover some from the horrible degradation caused by the levo. Also helpful are acupuncture, herbs, good diet and other natural treatments.
I had the severe migraines starting the first few days. The migraines lessened some over time, but the weight gain, bloating, hair loss, spinal arthritis, food sensitivities and fibromyalgia symptoms continued to worsens in till I couldn't exercise. I eventually broke my foot and have been out of commission for over a year. This horrible medication actually caused my previously stable (for 15 years) thyroid cyst to grow like crazy. In a nutshell, this medication causes and worsens thyroid disease.
Do do some online reasearch.
it's been six months since inswitched off the levo and onto an OTC, and my hair is still icky, I'm just starting to lose weight (finally!) and I'm hoping my hair will grow back. The migraines are way less frequent. The arthritis and damage from that will take years to heal, if ever. In the mean time, my life has fallen apart, yet another time, as I ride the roller coaster of thyroid disease.
I'm hoping my weight will go back to normal (size4, not 12), hoping I can get rid of my 6 sizes of clothes. Hoping my hair will recover. Hoping the massive pain will eventually subside and hoping I'll be able to put my life back together again.
So, if you didn't have migraines to start, they won't get worse, but in my case, everything else did get worse. Sadly, I was so overwhelmed because I was so incapacitated, I didn't realize how bad my health had gotten.
Hi Rosie
Thank you for your reply and sorry to hear you have been feeling so unwell.
That is some interesting news. So what, if anything has your GP done to help you?
Hi Catherine, thx for responding and informative info. I luv breadstick & biscuit I'll truly miss them, I usually have one or w/every meal. I've did some online research but it's a bit confusing to what one should and shouldn't eat. Prior to taking Levo I pretty much ate whatever I wanted w/o problem, I never had to watch my weight because I've had a fast metobolism and weight gain was never an issue. I've always been a stable size 4, weighing 125lbs but I'm sure it'll change soon but I'm not looking forward to it.
Ive noticed in prior threads that you've mention water Retention. Is there anything I can do to prevent it? A water pill perhaps? I notice that I do not use the restroom often as I did before taking Levo. What questions do I need to ask my endo about weight gain?
Oh, can you check your personal messages box please, I left you (2) messages. Thx so much!
Hi Catherine, I didn't get your respond regarding this topic/matter. It says it's in moderation. Maybe you sent a link that wasn't approved. Perhaps you can inbox me some info.