I had my blood work re done at 6 weeks and my TSH went from 4.9 to 2.64 so the doc said stay on the levo 25mg. I also began doing a lot of reading, and started taking a multi vitamin geared for women over 50. It has 200% rda of vit D. I am experiencing aches and pains like I've never had before. One thing I did have prior to the diagnosis and the levo was painful feet after a lot of walking, I bought better sneakers and tho they still ache they have not gotten worse. One foot goes numb also so I stop take a break and continue the walk. I have not had time to go to the foot doctor but still plan to. I'm just reading here what others are saying and I'm thinking the levo is making me sore. It is not crippling but I fear it will get worse, and I'm literally afraid to tell the doctor for fear of being misdiagnosed with fibromyalgia. The end of the day is the worst especially if I sit down for a while, I ache getting up, arms, shoulder area, knees, just kinda an all over ache. I'm in the USA. As for hypo symptoms I was not symptomatic prior to this so I've had to watch for changes and try to relate it to the hypo and I do not see anything drastic. Slight possibility of less hair in the shower, more alert during the day. But nothing that makes me go WOW. So wondering that you advise, should I bump u the vitamin D more?? Should I call the doc and ask about being switched to a natural thyroid med?? Is it still too early to tell anything from this I started the levo 11-25-15 thanks for reading.
If you are taking over 50 muilti vits . could it be the menapause? both seem to hit me at the same time so on hrt as well. Not saying it is but just wondered
Do you mean you've only been on the levo six weeks? If so it can take longer than that to kick in properly, so you might not be feeling the full effects yet. It can send your levels a bit haywire too while your body gets used to it so you might get new symptoms, I had a month of weird hyper and hypo symptoms until I levelled out. 25mcg is also quite a low dose, so it could be that you need more. I haven't heard of levo causing aches, but there are lots of people on this forum more knowledgable than me who might have advice there. Have you had your ferritin checked? It needs to be at least mid range to be able to absorb the levo properly, so taking an iron supplement is a good idea if it's low. Make sure you take it at least four hours away from the levo though as it can interfere with absorption too - so confusing! I would imagine that if you're already on 200% RDA of vitamin D it wouldn't be a good idea to take more
My blood. Work was re done at 6 weeks I've been on the levo for about 11 weeks now.
Im 51 but still get regular periods I was on the pill until I was 49, I don't really have menopause symptoms yet
My guess is that you are not converting the T4 (Levo) to T3, the hormone you need to get into your cells for energy. I say this because it was my own personal experiece. If you have a good doc, interested in thyroid matters, you could ask him/her to measure all of the catalysts you need to successfully convert your T4 to T3. The fast way of fixing everything is to just switch to NDT, I use Armour but there are others on this site who use others (e.g. Erfa, ThyroGold,..etc, Google NDT). That was my fast solution when I got exhasperated with my useless Endo.
I cannot take Levo or Synthroid because of massive muscle pain.
I was fine in Armour ( before change but haven't tried it since). They don't make 80mg dose anymore so switched to:
I take WP Thyroid. There's only 3 ingredients. Had no problems with it.
Hi,
I am wondering if you actually need the levothyroxine at all if you were not symptomatic before you were prescribed this. I have spoken to people before who have been put onto levo and then experienced symptoms where before they went onto levo they didn't have any symptoms of hypothyroidism. One they came off, they got better. Could this be you? Perhaps have a chat with your doc about coming off for atrial period.
I guess that is possible also, I may even do a trial on my own!! I was not specifically symptomatic however my old doctor never addressed my thyroid levels and just kept prescribing Zoloft for anxiety and I was also on birth control pills, so Im also considering that those hormones and the Zoloft could have masked any thyroid symptoms. I was only off all those other things a little over a year when prescribed the levo.
Hello Jobismom:
It is nurse Shelly here.
Good news! Sounds like you are doing better now. It sounds like Levo is working on you, and you should see the Podiatrist for Plantar Fascisitis a common problem that can cause heel and foot pain. It can be checked by a podiatrist.
You could ask your doctor to prescribe NDT and see if it makes a difference. Our bodies do absorb it differently. It is more like a human's thyroid and I was on it many of years ago.
Make sure your Vit D is between 30 -100 (ref. range) and get it tested so you can tell if you are low.
After age 30 we lose the ability to make enough VIT D from Sunlight. So I myself am on Vit D 2000IU a day and I am 54. Make sure your Magnesium is okay also and your Potassium is good.
Any questions, just ask.
Shelly
The foot pain and numbing is in the toe area, I've looked up plantar faciitis and I don't think it is it, but the foot doc is the best around and luckily my daughter is already a patient so I don't think I'll have a problem getting in with him, I just have some other non-thyroid related medical things going on with myself and my husband and time has been limited. I had a colonoscopy with multiple polyp removal and now have to have a nodule surgically removed next week, providing it goes fine and hubby passes his stress test after that things should calm down and I can re focus.
Hello Jobismom:
There are a lot of nerves in the foot area and you should see the Podiatrist when you can.
I see you have a lot going on right now. Do what you can to make sure all your Vitamins and minerals are good. Keep us posted on how you do.
Regards,
Shelly
Hi
There are some similarities between us. I have had hypothyroidism since birth and i am similar age to you (52). i take Levothyroxine (200mcg) a day. For the past few years I have had aching calves and soles of my feet, particularly the balls of the feet. I had attributed it to menopause (2 years since last period and this problem started at the same time as my periods became lighter). I have just 1 suggestion for you. After reading other discussions on this forum, I decided to try taking my tablets very early in the morning (at least 30 mins before eating anything). I have only been doing this for the past 4-5 days and I didn't expect any improvement straight away but my feet do seem a little better. The tingling in my hands,calves, feet seems to have subsided. I am only cautiously optimistic at the moment. I need to do it for a bit longer to be at all sure but it might be worth trying.
Yes Im 51, interesting you noticed the feet pain when your periods slowed. I did have the feet pain and numbness prior to my diagnosis and the levo and noticed it in the first year off the pill so maybe hormones have something to do with it. I do take the levo first thing in the morning before my feet hit the floor, I wait minimum of 30 minutes to have coffee and try to get to one hour, and I don't have food for 1 1/2 -2 hours. My hormones definately fluctuated when I came off the pill, because I had a high libido unlike I'd had in many years LOL. Sorry if that's too much info. I've gotten regular periods since being off the pill only once did I not get one for a month. My first couple months off the pill I about died from cramps when I ovulated, holy cow but that was only the first couple months. Again I associate that to hormone levels. So frustrating all of this, our bodies are such complex machines!!!!!!
Thanks Shelly
Another thought, have you checked your vitamin B12 levels? Low B12 can cause neurological problems. If you are very low in the range (some docs will not tell you this) it might be an idea to try some B12
Hello Jobismom - I have a similar story. I was on Levo for years without any problems. Then, out of the blue I started having really bad nerve pain in my feet and legs, especially in my heel. I walk every day and I was having trouble keeping to my walks. I also had restless legs, numbing in my fingers and toes and muscle aches really bad. It was so uncomfortable, especially at night. I am 50 years old. I suspect the issues are stemming from the changing hormones in our bodies brought on by pre menopaus. I decided to switch to Nature Throid (NDT) and most of my symptoms disappeared except an occasional vibrating nerve feeling which I think comes when I'm overmedicated. After doing a lot of reading I think that as we get older our bodiies have trouble converting the T4 to T3 so the symptoms pop up. I have read several posts from women in the pre menopause state that are having feet issues and they are on Levo. I'm really glad I switched to the NDT. I would be in a mental hospital by now with all of the symptoms that I had.
Hello Shannon
My symptoms are exactly the same as yours and they started just as my periods became lighter. First I had tight calves and then it moved to my feet. Unfortunately it is much harder to get alternatives to Levothyroxine in the UK. Doctors only seem to look at T4 not T3.
Katejo11 - I'm sorry you are suffering that way. I had to be quite pushy about it myself. My doctor didn't even really know about Nature Throid so I went to my pharmacist and asked which NDT they supplied in the pharmacy and then told my doctor I wanted Nature Throid prescribed to me. He did it, but I had to do the leg work and find out where it was available.