Synthroid and sleep

i just started taking synthroid for the first time, iam 54, started me on 25mcg which is a low dose, i noticed after about a month i started getting hot flashes all over again and my appetite was increasing, iam not overwieght but i will be soon , I know i agained about 5 pounds in the last month, I do not like this so I decided (forget that) if it going to make gain wieght, not sleep, have hot flashes, and i don't have any more energy and even getting more forgetful, it not worth it, I'll see how I feel without it!

I am a female and was diagnosed with Hashimoto's three years ago (looking at old childhood photos I've probably had this all my life) and have taken Levoxyl and Synthroid in escalating doses over time. Initially 25mcg for about a year and that was the endo plan until bloodwork indicated a need for more. I quit taking it after a year as it seemed I was gaining weight. After a few months went to a different endo and he started the treatment again with 25 (I weighed 160 at the time) and now has worked it to 100mcg (I now weigh 178!!!). I thought that with the higher dose I would have more of a weight loss effect (definitely not weight gain) and thought I'd have more energy, better brain function and happier outlook. I am experiencing the complete opposite. The last time I visited the endo and he looked at my weight gain he just said to "stop it". I work out almost every day for 45 minutes to 2 hours, have a job that at times requires arduous work, I eat a very healthy diet full of fiber, low in fat, low in carbs. I'm always hungry and feel like eating to make up for a lack of energy. I come home from work exhausted. This isn't living. I've had it with the Synthroid and any form of T-4 alone. I'm going to see a natural healthcare professional to try Armour because none of the medical doctors I've seen will prescribe it or synthetic T-3.

I've been on synthroid now for about a year. My dosage is VERY little (0.075). My doctor keeps running blood tests every 3 months and assures me I am within the "lower-end" of the norm, but I still feel tired, sleep deprived, wake up with night-sweats and I keep gaining weight...

I am only 24 and have just been told that I need to take this medication for the rest of my life, it\s pretty depressing. I keep asking if there are other ways to lose weight and feel more energized. He tells me that I need to keep taking this medication and has put me on a "sleep hygeine" routine where I go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.

Does this "disease" mean I will always be overweight and tired for the rest of my life? I would like to know if someone else with more experience with this medication can give any sort of advice? Feeling a little hopeless about it and not really interested in complaining to my doctor anymore.

Thanks:)

I have Hashi's and have been on Synthroid for about 2 years. I was recently on 75 mcg and was teetering on the brink of being hypo again so my doctor increased my dosage to 88 mcg last week. Ever since I have been on the new dosage, I have had the worst insomnia. I wake up covered in sweat (in air conditioning) and I feel caffeinated all the time ( I don't consume caffeine). I feel strung out! Is my body just getting used to the new dosage or am I being over medicated? I don't want to complain yet to my doctor if this is just my body getting used to the new dosage but this really is terrible.

Hello To All,

I too am on this med, I have been on it for 1 year as of July 2008-

35 pounds, brain fog, headaches, eye sight for reading, chest pain and fluttering heart beat. My doctor who is my friend has told me that he will up my dose... "Dear God" any more and I will go nuts. Does anyone know of any study done in a medical journal that theu could forward to me so I can show my doctor.

Please email me at ****** I would be so very thankful.

Thanks to all and be healthy.

A couple of other symptoms I didn't mention before are I still get cold a lot and ibuprofen is my best friend because of all the aches and pains. But running on 3-5 hours of sleep a night with the occasional 7 hours has definitely diminished the quality of my life.

I was diagnosed as having Hypothyroidism in 1-07. My TSH was 83 and I was sleepy all the time, moody and anxious, hair falling out, gaining weight, heavy clotting peiods, etc. I was 51 and it was all blamed for a while in perimenopause. I have been on Synthroid .50 since then and some things are better like hair loss and sleepiness. My last check a few months ago was 1.3. What I hate most of all is waking up after a few hours of sleep and I feeing like I am on some kind of speed. My mind is wide awake and jumping from one thought to another, sometimes sweating heavily with my heart racing. I was diagnosed 10 years ago with Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia and was on Beta blockers for a while. I have a new doctor now and never discussed this with her. The anxiety is awful sometimes too . I start to get fears of not being able to swallow or breathe but can keep it under control. An average night of sleep is five broken up hours of sleep and every now and then from exhaustion I will get close to seven hours. I am foggy headed a lot but I never hardly yawn or feel sleepy in the daytime.

I just took synthroid for the first time last night, and had some intensely weird nightmare dreams, which is why I am here, googling "synthroid" and "nightmares" - has anyone had this experience and had it subside? Please respond if that's the case, I certainly don't want my sleep to be like this every night.

My thyroid troubles started in 1993. I am not sure how long before the discovery I had the problem. Mine started as a nodule on one side. I was immediately put on Synthroid and had to go see the Endo every 6 months for a biopsy. In 1995 I became pregnant. I had one more biopsy until after the birth of my daughter. The Endo told me he wanted to see me right away after she was born to do another biopsy. I had my suspisions, but didn't think anyhing until after she was born and went for my biopsy. Well, I had cancer. I went through the whole thyroidectomy, the 3 days isolation with radio-iodine, and every year to every few years after I had to go back and get the radio-iodine treatment, while not the high dose as the first time, it went with the complete body scan. In fact, I am due now, but don't have health insurance. My dose has been switched a lot, I have probably been on every dose from the lowest up to .200mcg, which has been the highest for myself.

Symptoms: pre-thyroid disease, I am 5'2. I was always 110-115 lbs, I was 22 yrs old and 120 lbs. when I married in 1993. I did notice gradual weight gain, probably because of my thyroid problems. I am sad to say that now I am around 180 lbs. I cannot seem to lose the weight unless I go on a total starvation diet. I managed to lose 10-15 lbs over the past summer, but unfortunately for me it has come back over the winter. I tried to stay as active as possible by going to stores and malls to walk around. I do for a fact notice that when my dosage for Synthroid goes higher, so does my weight gain. I was on .137mcg over the summer, and I think that was a good dose for me, that was through the regular dr. The Endo is the one who put me back up to .150mcg. My Endo told me the thyroid is a regenerative organ, so it CAN grow back. I guess they don't want that in case of cancer again, and I guess that is why he keeps me on higher doses.

I personally cannot stand it. I feel it is a horrible curse. I feel very robbed of my previous active life. I have been dealing with this now for 12 years not having a thyroid and being on this medication. I feel angry that I do not have the energy to do things with my 12 yr old and 3 yr old. I miss the way I was before having thyroid disease. I feel very sad when they come up to me asking to do certain things and they (nor anyone else I know for that fact) can understand that I just feel so whooped, and no energy. All I ever seem to want to do is take a nap. I have migraine headaches constantly, I am constantly tired. I cannot concentrate, I have some memory loss. My ex-husband, and my current husband too for that fact think I am just being lazy. Well, that is not so. There are moments when I do feel a burst of energy, but then, I have to use that burst to do the things I need to do around the house.

Pre thyroid disease I was always active, never tired, could do anything. After: TIRED, I was 24 in 1996 and felt like an old lady, dry skin, no matter how much lotion I put on. The tub is full of hair, while it doesn't come out in clumps and I still have thick hair, I have hair all over the place. Irritable, mood swings, happy to angry and the snap of a finger. I can have insomnia some nights, constipation, lots of the same stuff others have listed on this forum. Those side affects are the same no matter what dose I am on. And like I said the higher the dose for me, the more weight I pack on. It is instantanious. Over Christmas, and no, it wasn't from eating all the goodies, I gained a lot of the weight I had lost over summer back, and that was because a few weeks before, the Endo had put me on the .150 mcg.

I a 49 year old male. A little while ago I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism. My TSH was at 43. I have been taken Synthroid for a little over 3 months. I started with 25mcg and was recently increased to 50mcg since my TSH was still at a high 15. I also thought it prudent, since I had gained a lot of weight over the last year and a half, to also diet and exercise a little. In the last 5 weeks I have lost 32 pounds. (I was about 80 pounds more than I liked). I have more energy, have not lost anymore hair than normal, and my hair is not brittle. I have episodes of Atrial Fibrillation since I was 30 and occasional "heart flips" ever since. Since taking the Synthroid I have not experienced these "flips" at all. I sleep well. My blood pressure was High in the past and was taking two meds for it. Since taking the Synthroid (I'm also guessing the weight loss, diet and exercise has also helped) I am down to one med and I now have a BP of 110/65 with a resting heart rate of 64. By the way..I am taking the generic form of Synthroid.

I have no bad side effects on Synthroid, unless I am overmedicated. I get burning feelings on my shoulders, back, arms, and nape. I can't sleep, or wake for no reason during the night. I get very nervous, and have a jittery feeling all through my body. Has this ever happened to anyone?

hello everyone
i am a full time college student and I believe that i have some side effects from synthroid. As i was reading everyones blog i notice that some people feel the same way that i do. At times i feel that i'm normal but if something upsetting happens i get really tired, depress, and I have a never time concentrating at school and home. My body hurts all the time. especially my joints and i feel that i don't want to do anything. I have about a year left until i graduate and its the going to be hard. I cry sometimes for no reason. help! i'm going to talk to my doctor but if any body else feels the same way please reply.

I was born without a thyroid gland so I can't compare the way I feel now to the way I would've felt with a thyroid. I've been on Synthroid my entire life (22 years), and I'm up to 112 mcg now. I am very skinny (5'5", 104 lbs) and feel constantly fatigued no matter how many hours I sleep, what I eat, and how much exercise I get. I periodically get pain in my hip joints, heart palpitations, and intense mood swings. My thoughts race but I have very little physical energy. I feel restless and gloomy almost all the time for absolutely no good reason. My doctor tells me I'm depressed but I honestly have no reason to be depressed and I wish she would see it as a symptom instead of a diagnosis. I graduated from a good college, I've got a job I like, I have friends, I enjoy life and my hobbies, yet I feel overwhelmingly sad. This does not seem like depression to me.

I find that after I do aerobics I get a tightness in my chest, which makes me worry about my heart, but again my doctor doesn't seem to think this is cause for concern. I have been irritable/fatigued for YEARS and I suspect I'll feel this way for the rest of my life. The worst of it started when I hit 16 years old and started the 112 mcg. My tests are always normal and it frustrates me that my doctor disregards my symptoms. I've tried other doctors, but they always send me away with my 'normal' test results. Can anybody help?

Been taken synthroid for 2.5 years. I am 30 old male, Really athletic.
I notice that I get fatique very easly and memmory and concentration problems. But the most noticable is shortness of Breath, and I have very high anxiety. I lost wait since being on synthroid.

what are the side affects if your dictor feels your level is a litlle on the high side from taking this medicine? i will be having it re-checked in 3 weeks