Underactive thyroid symptoms and conditions

I have been on levoxyl for about 8-9 years now. I have an under active thyroid which I believe is from radiation over my neck area for benign tumors. I have been reading the side effects from people and I am starting to think that most of my symptoms or side effects are from this medication. Slowly over the years I have developed several of the same things people are talking about on this, especially restless leg syndrome, fatigue, chronic pain in legs, trouble sleeping, anxiety, lack of energy, cold feet/hands, lack of sex drive depression, b-12 deficiency, neck and back pain. I am talking to my doctor tomorrow and see if I can go on something else. I am being treated for all these other things that could all be related to the levoxyl side effects. I had none of these other things before taking this medication, what is going on?

Hi everyone, I just came upon all this yesterday and can't believe it! I have been thinking I am going crazy and have been going down a shame spiral! I have had the Mirena for about a year after the birth of my twins. When I first got the Mirena I really didn't seem to like it...I had weird bleeding, cramping, headaches but my doctor told me there were really no side effects except for the on and off again bleeding so I didn't think much of it. Soon, I started having heart palpitations and weird panicky feelings when I would be out places which I have never had before. I wrote it all off due to the rough twin pregnancy and moved on. Soon, I really started worrying something was wrong with me because of all these weird things, the headaches and heart palpitations and panicky feelings, also I started feeling foggy like I was walking around feeling out of it and sometimes a little dizzy or something just having weird head feelings. We always had in the back of our minds that it could be the Mirena but never really took action. Just for the past couple of months things have gotten much worse. Those panicky feelings really got worse and combined with anxiety and sad and crazy depression thoughts and feelings. I also have been feeling this weird nervousness.....even in my quietest moments of my day. This is so out of my normal character and I feel like I can't even remember what I used to feel like. I have been to my PCP who gave me medication for anxiety and have had a hard time adjusting because I just can't believe all of this craziness and I just keep thinking is the problem really my IUD? Then my mom came upon this because she just felt that me feeling this way is just to weird and I feel like I relate to all of your stories! I have truly been feeling like I am going crazy...and I have never felt this way before...ever. I called my doctor yesterday to talk with her and I am going to have this removed...although I am a little nervous about the after effects. I just keep thinking a year ago I was fine.. and now look at me...I am on anti-depressants...how did this happen?? I know that I have stress but there is no reason for me to be feeling this way. I would love to hear about anyone else who felt this way and got the IUD removed and how that went. I know that I probably won't feel better right away...but I am hoping with time I can forget all of this and move on.

Has anyone suffered severe dandruff and itchy scalp, to the point of distraction like???

Hi ladies, i have had mirena coil since august 2003 and was supposed to have it removed august 2008. Due to a crap childhood i don't like anyone coming near me and my doc will not let me get it removed under general anaesthetic, but i so want to get it removed.
I have had the same problems, weight gain, depression (which doc gave me prozac for, and still taking), pains in the stomach, hair loss, mood swings (felt really sorry for the person on the other end of them), stringy brown blood (old blood),poor concentration, really bad memory and so on.
I put all my problems down to an under active thyroid which i do have, because some of the symptoms are the same. I am so glad i found this site and to know i am not the only one.
For anyone reading this site and considering having a Mirena coil fitted, i strongly suggest you think about it long and hard, i know some people have no problems at all and think it's the best thing since sliced bread, they are the extremely lucky ones.
Good luck everyone

I took Yasmin for 2 years and about 6 months after starting Yasmin I started getting migraines at least 3 x per week and sometimes 5 x per week (before not even really getting many normal headaches). I thought it might be my birth control and saw my OB who referred me to a Neurologist who put me on a medicine for migraines. About another 5 months later I noticed I had a small bald spot in my hair line. Saw a Dermatologist who diagnosed it is alopecia. I immediately stopped Yasmin and migraine meds and decided to get an IUD (GREAT CHOICE!) My migraines stopped almost immediately, however my hair loss continues to progress. I now have 3 additionally bald spots on my head and areas on my scalp that are very thin. I feel great otherwise, no headaches, no depression (other than losing my hair), no anxiety, appetite is normal. I'm so desperate to find someone else that has had this specific problem as no one believes the hair loss is connected to Yasmin. I just pray after awhile the hair will grow back. Please if anyone has experienced this same situation please post what might have helped you get through it and if it does ease up! One more thing - I have scalp pain, like burning on the front and top and back part of my scalp, wide spread, not only in the bald areas.

I am so glad I found this site. This is my second Mirena and I am having such problems!! I also have an under active thyroid and thought the way I have been feeling was something to do with that, but now I think it might be my coil. I loved the first one and had hardly any problems. My problems started when I needed a new one and got an infection, which made me tired and low, then I had my new Mirena fitted (& i have never felt such pain - had my first one fitted at the same time as having a laparoscopy - spelling??) and a lot of my troubles started. I have a lot of the symptoms others have listed and my main two at the moment are extreme tiredness and bad leg cramps and leg muscles aching. Have had loads of blood test for other stuff which are all showing nothing. My GP cant think of anything else and so is referring me back to the Endocrinologist. But the more I think about it (and read), the more I think it might be the Mirena causing a lot of my problems. I am in two minds whether to have it removed straight away though, because periods are also a living hell for me (only 1 good week in every 4), so I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place :-)

Hi Girls,
I haven't posted in a while, but I was wondering how everyone was doing with the weight gain. I have now been off Yasmin for 1 yr. I am feeling really great, I am now back to being able to run/walk or rollerblade 4-5 miles a day 4-5 times a week. My cycles are more normal than ever. Not exactly 28 days more like 38, but I'm ok with that.

The thing that is still getting me is that I not only can't lose weight, I'm still gaining it. I think I have now gained 40 lbs. I am taking vitamin b as well as women's one a day. Don't really want to take any more drugs though.

I had my thyroid checked when I was on the pill and going through the awful hell, had most of the side effects you have all posted, tingling, chest pains, anxiety, the list goes on. But they said thryoid normal and of course nothing wrong with me. Like most of you went to a zillion doctors about a yr. ago. But decided I was just going to give my body time to get back to normal.

Has anyone had similar problems with their weight. I just don't get it, I couldn't feel healthier, or be any healthier with my activity and lifestyle, but I just feel like I'm getting bigger and bigger, and according to the scale I'm right!

Any thoughts would be great. Silke how are you feeling?
Thanks,
Hill

I started taking Torpol 100 MCG the night of the day I ended in the ER for high blood pressure due to a too high a dose of my thyroid medicine. I have an underactive thyroid, and my med had been increased in the last month or 6 weeks before. It takes a few weeks for the full effect of a thyroid med increase to take place. I didn't realize what it was at first but was having bouts of nausea and dizziness.

Now I still get the racing heart. I went through all the stress tests at the cardio and they were all normal. On Toprol, I get the anxiety, some chest tightness, but sometimes my heart races. Maybe the dose needs to be adjusted.

I never had high BP before this. It was 175 in the hospital, and last night I took my thyroid med at 9. An hour later my heart was racing and I had anxiety and that almost numb feeling all over. By midnight I got up and took my BP. 189/89 Took my Toprol, even tho I wasn't due to take it til the next morning. It helped some, but woke again at 3 with the anxiety.

My cardio says my heart is fine and I'm not going to have a heart attack or anything. I'm not convinced! It's scary. I am hoping that once we get my thyroid med straight, my BP will return to normal. I'm seeing my primary doc this morning to test my TSH again - that's the hormone level of your thyroid.

A friend of mine's mom took Toprol and had all kinds of muscle and joint aches. She finally conviced her doc it was the Toprol, and when she went to another BP med, the aches went away.

At any rate, I think I want to get off of Toprol after all the nasty things I've read about it here.

hey ladies... i've been on yasmin for a year, had all the effects - i went from being a 34 c, now a 38c/d... i gained 3 stone, in part due to the yasmin, had really teary times, id cry for no reason, and wonder why i cried the next day...

anyway... i came off yasmin - my partner realised that i had headaches at the same time each month - a day or too after comin off the yasmin, until my period started, felt like my vision was... flickery wi the headaches...

so when i last saw my partner - he wrks, an im stil at uni - on the 15 oct, wen my last period started, i decided, no more yasmin...

but today, i woke up feelin crampy, and have had to put a pad on, coz im bleeding! not sure if its jus break thru, or a period, or a withdrawal bleed from the yasmin? any ideas?

also, ive had SO MUCH probnlems wi doctors - one suggested to me this was just "mental issues" i was experiencing - didnt go back to him... ive had coutless blood tests, coz they think i may have an underactive thyroid, goion in for another one, and coz i was originally put on the pill for heavy crampy periods - wen i was 11, thats 9yrs ive been on the pill now, im scared that they will be as heavy and crampy as they used to be - an i may have investigations, swabs etc to see if im alright inside, to see what makes me so crampy... n then, i may be put on the mini pill to stop the cramps!

wish id know how yasmin does make you feel - some drs will not prescribe yasmin, others think its amazing...

its the most expensive contraceptive on the nhs in the uk...

but for me, its not the best for my body...

sorry for the long post, but it needed to be said:)

any advice anyone?

emily

hi silke,
i'm so glad to hear that you still look in on us everyday,i think yours were some of the earliest post i came across on this site and you seemed to be the one to ask all the questions. i am glad that your cycles are beginning to return,i am also 32,mine came back at 28 days for the 1st to post yasmin cycles but now can be anywhere between 32 and 40 days (pre yasmin you could have set your watch by my cycles,i was 28 days without fail and always between 5 and 6 o'clock in the evening!) when you mentioned the anti anxiety drugs making you worse that really struck a cord with me,i was on diazepam for about 2 months and they were among my worst times,i never realised that they could have made me worse,i had really scary vivid dreams on it,i stopped taking diazepam and i started improve a little,when i stopped taking the yasmin too i improved a lot! like you ,silke, i am still suffering the mid cycle anxiety although not at extreme levels like on yasmin,i also have monthly cystic acne and hair loss,while all these things are upsetting they are preferable to the yasmin nightmare symptoms. talking of thyroids,i have an underactive thyroid (hashimoto's) and whilst on yasmin i became more hypothyroid and had to have my dose doubled! now i have been off yasmin for 6 months my levels have come down again so i have now had my dose reduced to avoid becaoming hyperthyroid. i still take the b-complex and b6 as well as magnesium and zinc but like you i have also stayed off all kinds of medication to treat the symtoms that yasmin caused. one of my doctors even suggested going back on the pill to sort out my hormone chaos (good way to describe it silke!) i won't tell you what my response was to that,but be assure my doctor got the message that i will not be putting that rubbish in my body ever again! i will let my body heal itself and let nature do it's thing from now on,i am through messing with my hormones,if i had found this site sooner i never would have let my doctor put me on yasmin in the 1st place,he sold it as the new wonder pill to cure acne,water retention and would help me loose my baby weight...ha! i would rather be fat,spotty and bloated than a skinny ,mental & physical wreck! just out of interest silke how did the b-complex make you feel worse? i take it everday and have not had any problems that i know of but it is useful to know what the symptoms were just in case!
best wishes to you silke

sarah

hi alicethecamel,
just a thought but have you had a tyroid test? you could be hypothyroid and the pill can cause you to becaome more hypothyroid,i had trouble with low moods, heavy period,clotting etc due to an underactive thyroid,it eased when i went on to levothyroxine but started up a again when i went on yasmin but a dose change sorted it out again. unfortunately my experience with yasmin was pure hell/anxiety/depression, emotionally unstable (and sometimes felt mentally unstable too!) regardless of whether you choose to stay on yasmin i would definately get a thyroid (tsh and ft4) test done.
best wishes to you,i hope you feel better soon.

sarah

I started on 50 MCG of Levothyroxine last late May, due to a slightly underactive thyroid. The sides effect I am experiencing that is troubling me the most is that my hair is thinning dramatically. No bald patches, just thinning, and I had thin hair to begin with, so that makes it even more bothersome. I've also noticed that hair has completely stopped growing on my lower legs and upper thighs, and my eyebrows have thinned also. According to my doctor, my latest blood tests indicated that my thyroid levels were in ideal range now, and thinning hair isn't a side effect of the levothyroxine. I've read that it is, unless my thyroid levels still aren't ideal..and the levothyroxine is making my hair thin more than usual when in conjunction with the hypothyroidism. I'm also taking 25 mg of toprol to control tachycardia. If anyone could give me some advice, I'd really appreciate it! I'm at my wit's end as it my hair.

I got a shot of Kenalog by my dermatologist on 3/9. The next week I had a severe case of constipation, followed by hemorrhoids. Once those cleared up, I started my period (an unusual thing for me as I have an underactive thyroid and am taking synthroid for that and to help regulate my periods). As of this writing, it has been 28 days and counting of non-stop bleeding. My OBGYN has even put me on birth control pills to try to control the bleeding. Does anyone know if birth control pills will help stop the bleeding or does it need to run its course? How long before this stuff gets out of your system?

While taking Aggrenox following a stroke, I am having stomach problems "Gastroparesis" a condition in which the stomach moves porly, and is delayed in its emptying of liquids and especilly solids. I have underactive thyroid after having pituitary surgery to remove a tumor. I stopped taking this drug because I kept seeing bruises on my arms that I could not remember brusing.

I was prescribed levothyroxine by my nurse practitioner for a "slightly" underactive thyroid. I have experienced at times, headaches (feeling like the top of my head is going to blow off); stomach problems, cramping, loose stools; anxiety, sleeplessness, fatigue and a lowered libido. I am prescribed .50 mcg, but I took that dose for 2 months and then lowered my daily dose, myself to .25 mcg. I felt better, but still tired. I didn't tell my NP that I lowered my dose. After a month or so, I upped it again, just because I still felt tired. I have been on the full dose, once again, for a month. I still have some of the previous symptoms, but am due for a blood test this month to see where my levels are at. If they are close to being correct, I am going to ask her to lower my dose or stop it all together and try exercising more. I don't know that this is a horrible drug, but I am sure that it is not something to mess around with, if you don't absolutely need to be taking it.

I started taking .088 of synthroid for an underactive thyroid. My levels were actually not that low. After about a week, I had a severe anxiety attack and have felt anxious for about a week now. I completely stopped it and have no intention of starting it again unless it is on a much much lower dose. My MD said that this was a low dose but now I hear there are much
lower doses.

What is the usual starting dose and has anyone else experienced the
anxiety effects?

24 years old. I've been taking a low dosage of synthroid for 3 months (75mg) for my underactive thyroid. My side effects have been really bad hives on my neck, and some on my back and chest as well as moodiness. And now i may cry at any moment over little things, which didn't use to be the case.