I had 1/2 my thyroid removed with a benign golf ball sized tumor 3 months ago. After 1 month, I was put on levoxyl.
I have joint pain, cold and hot flashes, inxomnia sometimes for several days and the rest of the time - extreme fatigue. My period has decreased from 7 days to 2 days. I experience dull headaches that will last for 3 days.
My mood swings range from severe bitch to total calm - nothing can bother me. Depression is followed by mental high.
My vision is changing so much that in the last 4 weeks, the doctor has changed my prescription 3 times because I am trying to get glasses that work for me. Sometimes I have double vision, sometimes I have large blotches in front of my eyes of areas that I cannot see. Sometimes everything is just fuzzy.
I have constant nausea. In the beginning I gained 15 pounds. Now, I have lost 5 pounds. What I eat has absolutely nothing to do with my weight.
I go through periods of extreme thirst.
The levoxyl causes me acid reflux - severe and getting worse.
It causes me to have acne which I do not normally have.
The hair loss is scary.
Loss of memory is acute and mental fog comes and goes. This is difficult to deal with as my job is technical.
At times I sleep for 18 hours - straight. I have had narcoleptic incidents when I have been driving. These are scary because I feel like I am falling asleep at the wheel and by some miracle - bump in the road - etc. I come back awake. I find a place to pull over, get out and walk, go to the bathroom, whatever, get back in my car and instantly fall asleep.
I get home from work and have no energy to do anything. General malaise and feeling like an old, old, old woman. I am only 47 and the doctors excuse so far is that I am in menopause. I say, no way because menopause does not have cold flashes, etc. menopause is not caused by meds!!!
I also have the dry skin and itchy. Oh my god, I itch constantly - all over.
As you can see, I am experiencing all the symptoms of everyone else. For those of you who question whether or not we are taking this medicine on time and according to all the strict rules. The answer is YES. I even take my vitamins now during the evening. The doctor told me not to worry about that stuff so much but I have tried to follow the instructions hoping that it would help and it has not helped at all.
The only symptom that I have that has not been mentioned is that I am constantly flushing red. When I flush red it is not associated with any of the other symptoms. Sometimes I flush red only in my hands and my neck and face. My skin will feel tight. This has happened up to twice a day but is entirely random. Othertimes when I flush red, my whole body will flush like I am severly sunburned and I have experienced intense itching. This lasts for about an hour or two and happens up to 4 times a week. Several times I have turned completely red and had no itching. Once the red flushing with itching happened while I was sleeping and was so intense that I awoke from a deep sleep and had to stay awake for 3 hours until it subsided.
I have just switched doctors myself. I have been told that reactions such as mine are extremely rare. That the doctor has no idea what is happening. The endocrinologist ran one test for Cushings (which came out normal) and then basically said have a happy life. So, I am printing this web page and taking it to my new doctor. I want OFF this levoxyl.