TSH lab levels jumped in one year (thyroidectomy due to thyroid cancer all in 2014)

Diabetes
1

Hello,
I had thyroid cancer in 2014 and as a result had a thyroidectomy. It took a long time to get my “levels” right and I finally started Levoxyl maybe 4 years ago, and have felt great since then. However, in December 2022 I was notified (after I had received 2 notifications that my prescription was “delayed”) that Levoxyl was not longer being manufactured, or that it may be a supply-chain issue. Long story short, I had to abruptly switch to Levothyroxine at the same level as the Levoxyl.

I’ve been on the Levothyroxine for a little over a month now, and noticed my fatigue hitting hard at 7 - 7:30 p.m. which is not normal for me - I’m usually a 10 p.m. bedtime person, but now falling asleep at 7:30 ish. I’ve also kicked up my exercise and decreased my calorie intake, yet I’ve gained a couple of pounds in a month. I’m not a small girl by any stretch, but the extra couple of pounds is annoying. Granted, I am in menopause, and turned 55 in December.

Here’s the question. I just got labs done last week, and in one year my TSH (third generation) went from 1.33 to 2.89. I can’t help but wonder if it is the medication switch. My endocrinologist put me off telling me that I was in the “normal” range. Perhaps on a normal-person-scale this is true, but historically, my numbers are: 2020 - 0.304, 2021 - 1.580, 2022 - 1.330 and now 2023 - 2.89. My endo told me I was normal and should go to my PCP to discuss my symptoms because it’s not my TSH levels causing my new symptoms - and fatigue.

I also wanted to ask if anyone out there experiences a weird kind of sensation starting in my feet, and traveling up my body … it tingles, feels like my nerves or metabolism or hormones or something are like waking up… it doesn’t hurt, or cause any other pain, it’s just a sensation that happens occassionally when I’m trying to sleep - and it feels like my body is just sort of getting a shot of adrenaline or something. Again, this tapered off until I switched medicine and now all of a sudden I’m experiencing this again. It doesn’t alarm me, but it’s weird, hard to describe without sounding strange, and I just wonder if anyone else experiences anything like this.

Any thoughts?

Thank you for your time in reading this.
MKP

2

Hi mkp9067, hope you are doing well. Just wanted to mention that even though Levoxyl and Levothyroxine contain the same active ingredient, the inactive ingredients and the formulation might be slightly different resulting in a different absorption rate. Make sure to take your medication as instructed (usually on an empty stomach with plenty of water).

To adjust your daily dose it might be good to have a full thyroid functions test (measuring FT4, FT3, and not just TSH) to check your actual thyroid hormone levels and see if they are within the normal range.