Levothyroxine side effect?

Levothyroxine prescribed for thyroid, question.....?

• my doctor prescribed levothyroxine based on my tsh levels being 29.7. he sent me for more blood work on the rest of my "T" levels, or its called a thyroid panel think. Anyways, he said in the meantime that hes prescribing me 25mg of levothyroxine, so my question is, is this a relatively safe small dose to test out if I will have side effects or benefits. I went in for blood work for my heart originally, and my doctor noticed my TSH levels wer high. I did not tell my doctor about feeling exhausted and to the point where my memory was so bad I would forget what I was talking about mid sentence. This explains alot now. Im not faund of taking pills as I get anxiety, so Im wondering if this low dose is not as bad as the higher doses for testing how it will effect me?

• Answer:

  That is very high TSH! Did they also test for antibodies? If not, you need it. This is something that cannot be rushed therefore they start w/ a low dose. It is also slow acting so it takes some time before you know what it is doing. You will be retested every 6 wks to start & it can take a few months until you are at your optimum dose. Take this 1st thing, on an empty stomach then do not eat for 1/2 hr. I will suggest this: You should also take Selenium, Folic Acid, D3, Zinc, and B Complex. Later, you may ask the doc to add Cytomel. Here is some info & good links for you: You need testing for thyroid ANTIBODIES as well as TSH. TSH ‘norm’ should be .3 – 3 (w/ most feeling best at < 2) but, for diagnosis, may not mean much if ANTIBODIES are present which is indicative of Hashimoto’s Autoimmune Thyroiditis (cycles between HYPER & HYPO at start)…it is the main cause of eventual HypOthyroidism but worse (...OR Graves Disease - HypERthyroid). WARNING: Doctors seem not to want to find/treat thyroid disease. You may have to go to more than one doctor before you get the right tests, interpretation, and treatment. Best wishes. Ck these: http://thyroid.about.com/bio/Mary-Shomon-350.htm http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ http://www.thyrophoenix.com/index.html http://thyroid.about.com/cs/newsinfo/l/blguidelines.htm ALWAYS GET COPIES OF YOUR LABS. God bless you