[sarawebberdurnell]

#1060513

It’s been 7 months since my TT and up until May it seemed my dosage of Levo was right. Then the joint pain started in and the tiredness. It was no surprise when I saw the dr that my dose needed increase because I was hypo. Well, 6 weeks later, my face started breaking out and my rapid pulse returned, so again, no surprise that I had bounced in the other direction. We slightly decreased the dose and within a few weeks my blood pressure spiked. Re-checked my labs and they appeared within normal range. Due to the high blood pressure we decided to drop the dosage a bit (including skipping 2 doses throughout a week) and almost immediately the joint pain returned and I’m exhausted again. I know it takes at least 6 weeks before the medicine has worked its way into your system to get a good feel for the right dose, but is it possible that my body feels the effects fairly rapidly?

Started out at 100mcg, moved to 112mcg, then 112mcg 6 days a week and half a tablet on Sunday, now back to 100 again. My dr also told me that my body may not be functioning properly with the Levothyroxine and I may be one of those who needs to be on the actual Synthroid. She said there can be a margin of error with the generic and it doesn’t bode well for some people. Is that true, has anyone heard of that?

Symptoms still aren’t as bad as before the TT, but I’d like to find the right med dose so I can feel somewhat regulated and normal.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Sara

[SueAndHerZoo]

#1183054

Hi Sara.
We have similar problems (and similar threads) going at the same time. I had my TT in July of 2013 and we have changed my dose of Levothyroxine about every 6 weeks since then. We have been constantly lowering my dose and my TSH is still practically non-existent.

I have considered changing to Synthroid but since my TSH is always too low, I figure Levo work just fine for me – almost too good! And I fear making another change since I have been changing doses for over a year. I feel like I would almost have to start all over again if I change meds at this point. Perhaps if this latest tweak to my dosage doesn’t get me closer to “normal” then I will bite the bullet and change to Synthroid.

The constant battle I have with my endo is that he’d like to see me lower my doses quicker than I am willing to. I don’t want to go extreme in either direction because then, as with you, you bounce too far the other way. So when I change doses, I only change by 6 mcg. or less per day. If that’s not enough then I’ll lower it another 3-6 mcg the next time, but no drastic changes for me – I can’t handle the side affects.

My endo tells me that I can’t be feeling side affects from changing doses at such small increments, but I KNOW what I’m feeling and I’ve seen the pattern. About 10-12 days after a dose change I start feeling lousy and go through a series of ailments that last for about 4 weeks. I started tracking what I was feeling and when I was feeling it and there is a clear pattern.

The only advice I have for you is to start making smaller dose changes. Changing is hard enough, but to swing back and forth between hyper and hypo has got to be pure hell.

Good luck, and keep us posted.
Sue

[Kimberly]

#1183055

Hi all – Most doctors do prefer to prescribe a brand name replacement hormone (Synthroid, Tirosint, etc.). There are multiple generic manufacturers and if you are switched from one to the other (which your pharmacist *should* tell you if that happens, but that doesn’t always occur), the body could absorb the meds differently.

[sarawebberdurnell]

#1183056

Thanks Sue It is hard to make changes since some of us apparently bounce back and forth quite a bit. The “waiting period” between dose changes and when it finally hits your body is awful. Thanks for the advice and I’ll mention it to my endo when I see her again. She is really good about listening to me and my symptoms and she does believe that I can “feel” the differences much sooner.

Hang in there too and keep us posted. I hope you can find the right dose soon too, being back to “normal” would be nice

Sara

[sarawebberdurnell]

#1183057

Thanks Kimberly. I believe that is what my endo is trying to tell me. I thought I may have heard that before, but I couldn’t recall. My body is really strange about medications, so I guess this shouldn’t be a surprise

Sara

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