As a patient who has difficulty tolerating levothyroxine, I second the caution posted in the article against stopping it without a doctor's supervision. It was giving me feelings of heart racing, nervousness, sweatiness, and general anxiety even at the lowest therapeutic dose (25 mcg), but when I stopped taking it due to these side effects, I began fainting. Which obviously is really dangerous. I need to see an endocrinologist, but in the meantime I also need to stay on at least a little bit of levothyroxine. Don't totally stop it on your own!

I've been on levothyroxine since the early 90's and just today decided to read the paperwork that comes with it. Be aware that continued usage will cause osteoporosis and diabetes. I went from having the bone density of a 20 year old when I was 58 to osteopenia in 8 years. Depending on which doctor I see, I am either pre-diabetic or diabetic. And I see absolutely no difference, even though my strength has been increased over the years. I started at 75 and am now at 200. I am still tired ALL the time and because of that, I am the poster child for depression. That will remain untreated !I wish I could stop ALL drugs !!

I had been on thyroid medication for 10 years and stopped taking it 4 mths ago. I have absolutely no effects from doing so. My tests were never conclusive so I don't think I had hypothyroidism at all

I was on Synthroid for 17 yrs and stopped taking it almost a year ago. I can tell you that I feel sooooo much better off of than on it. It gave me such bad heart palpitations, hip pain, heel pain, severe insomnia and severe hair loss. Never told my Dr. I stopped taking it. I am taking Thyroid Balance as well as Selenium, Kelp, Super B Complex, and I feel a lot better now. Not sure what my TSH levels are but do not want to go back on Synthroid. Anyone who has a underactive thyroid really need to watch your diet. Stay away from gluten (wheat) and all processed foods. Try to eat organic if you can and make sure you're eating fish and lots of fruits and veggies. If you change your diet, you will feel soooo much better.

I've been doing research on taking levothyroxine because after having a thyroidectomy 4 years ago it was prescribed to me and made me feel somewhat worse than I felt before the surgery. I decided to stop taking it all together. For 2 weeks I did feel better, but woke up this morning with a very puffy face, swelled fee and, hands. I decided to research a bit further and learned it was likely from not taking my medicine. I've struggled to find the right dosage, but I have learned that it's very important to take it on an empty stomach with water and not to mix with other medications of any kind. I read some articles that taking it at night was really helpful since you're less likely to eat or drink, which I did try before I stopped taking it completely and noticed it did help. I'm thinking that I'll continue to do that rather than not at all until I find a better solution since I also have learned the dangers in taking nothing. The swelling had me quite worried and unable to function in my daily routine. Hoping I'll wake in the morning with the swelling and puffiness gone now that I've taken it tonight. Any advice would be much appreciated though on what to do from here because I can't help but feel there has got to be something that doesn't leave me feeling sluggush, over weight, which I can't control no matter how I try, fogged memory, and just multiple things. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

I was on the Levothyroxin (50 mg once a day) for about a year I really never liked it. I never felt any relief. I fell asleep, kept putting on weight etc.. My doctor wanted me to get more blood test until he would renew my prescription, but I didn't get the test and stopped taking it. Now I think that I may have developed Hyperthyroidism, due to the amount of weight that I've lost. I just don't know what to do. If I talk to my doctor, he's just going to change the dose of that Levothyroxin. Why are these doctors so "BIG"on prescribing medication? There has GOT to be a more natural alternative to Levothyroxin or any other medicine used to treat Hypothyroidism.

I have been on levothyroxin for about 10 years here ... I take it correctly in the morning wait 30 mins to an hour before anything else . This past year I have had these symptoms I told my doctor that I had been feeling depressed my period was lasting 14 days I had absolutely no energy . He told me that was normal for my period to last 14 days . I just knew it couldn't be normal oh and also my weight soared . My neices introduced me to a supplement totally natural I take this along with my levothyroxin.. My period is back to 5 days my cholesterol has dropped I've lost at least 20 lbs because now I have energy I am no longer depressed. I am seriously thinking about not taking my levothyroxin I am on 175 mg .. I have been taking this triangle of health for 2 months absolutely love it and I feel 100% better...

I have been on levothyroxine and synthroid for more years than I can remember. It has been atleast 15years since they removed my thyroid. They told me once it was out and I was on my meds I would be back to myself. That was a total lie. First of all they still to this day can not get my meds right. Its either to high or to low so they keep changing the dosage. I am so tired of going to the doctor just to hear them tell me that my blood work is normal and nothing is wrong with me. Pretty much teling me its all in my head. But for 15 years I have been tired, feel like crap all t he time and have a ton of weird things that happen to me. First of all my memory has gone to crap. Im tired all the time. I cant ever sleep, I am up all hours of the night so that doesnt help my tiredness. But when I do finally sleep, if my husband doesnt wake me I can sleep the day away, and still feel tired. I have extremely dry skin, I lose hair like crazy, we eat very healthy, lots of fish and chicken but still can not lose this weight. I can not do anything with my hands for more than a minute or two at a time before they cramp so bad. I have stopped taking my meds just cause i get tired of all the side effects, and because i just get so tired of being so tired and depressed. I can go about 3 months with out taking anything, but then I start getting differnt effects, like my arms going numb, major itching all over that i can not stand, and body pain I can not explain. I start feeling bad but can not pin point it. I am so tired of going to doctors that do not listen to what is going on. That only believe that if i take the prescription they give me i will be fine. But I am not. I barely have the energy to go to work. I dont have a hard job but I can barely do it. I am so fuzzy in the head, tired, and just fed up with it all. So if anyone has any ideas please help.

June of last year is when my world turned upside down. Diabetes, Hypothyroidism being the top two OMGs. My symptoms were gastric, yet I was put on 75 mcg of Levothyroxine due to lab work. My hair started to fall out and my nails became so painful and brittle with horizontal lines in them that I could not use my hands. When I told this to the next pcp in the clinic, I was told not to worry, it would stop. Yet it didn't. The next pcp was not happy and said that the dose was too high and she reduced it to 25 mcg. For a year, she has tried to increase the dosage due to the TSH level taken every few months and I have not complied for long due to the side effects. The worst is the the lesions on my scalp and body. The ones she said were scabies. No tests other than "she thought" it looked like scabies. I disagreed with her and attempted to explain that it was a reaction to the thyroid med. I asked for a full thyroid panel with T3,T4, etc but was told no. Well, got sent to a heart specialist due to an abnormal ekg and he ordered a T4. It came back normal. He said that a normal T4 meant that it wasn't really necessary to do a complete panel. I decided to stop the levo for several reasons, the best being I never had any of the problems noted with hypothyroid and now felt worse with painful joints, lesions that itch and bleed, blood pressure going up, very dry skin, so tired I couldn't get out of bed, sleeping up to 20 hours a day. gaining weight then losing it all in less than 6 months, and shortness of breath that got so bad I couldn't walk to the bathroom and back without thinking I would pass out. It has been since the 4th of July and the lesions are going away! Something my pcps said was not caused by my medication. All the other problems are slowly going away also. The down side is my blood sugar went thru the roof, but I can handle that.

I've been on levthyroxine for 3years now my Dr keeps up it I'm now on 137 Mcg every time I take it I get really sick and throw up I've stopped taking it for a few days and I don't get sick what I'm asking why does the levothyroxine make me so sick