Your personal experience with Levothyroxine or other synthe

[MINNIE]

Hi all,

if you have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism, have taken or are taking this medication, how did it go?

The reason I'm asking is that I will taking a blood panel for low thyroid next week. This was recommended by a my PCP due to some odd symptoms.

Since being on the McDougall plan for the past eight years, I have enjoyed excellent general health and have not taken any prescription or OTC medicines for anything at all.

So I was surprised by the suggestion that I might have sub-clinical or clinical hypothyroid, but it's not unreasonable to check.

i won't go into the symptoms right now, and I am not asking about "natural" treatments for hypothyroid.

But I would be interested to hear what experience others may have had with taking the prescription synthetic medication, in terms of effectiveness and side effects. Also if you had any experience with generic v. brand name.

TIA for any responses.

P.S.I should add that my primary care provider is very open minded about my diet and lifestyle, but did mention that a vegan diet can be low on iodine. I think this makes sense, and I had stopped using any table salt when I started this WOE.

Iodized salt had been my main iodine source in the past. Salt is not completely ruled out in the WOE, so I am adding a small amount of iodized salt to my daily diet to see if that helps.

BTW: I hate sea veggies, AKA seaweed, and will not eat it, unless I am sure that it is free of environmental toxins and can deliver a perfectly calibrated iodine dosage.

In other words, not going to happen!

ICK -seaweed!

[debknott]

I take levothyroxine daily. According to my blood tests, it works fine. I have never noticed any side effects of any kind. It's important to take it a least a half-hour before eating anything, and also not to take magnesium until at least four hours after the levothyroxine. Goofing on either of these makes the thyroid med work less effectively.

[MINNIE]

Thanks! That's encouraging. I hope I won't need it, but I'll be open to trying it if needed.

[Vegankit]

I take levothyroxine daily. According to my blood tests, it works fine. I have never noticed any side effects of any kind. It's important to take it a least a half-hour before eating anything, and also not to take magnesium until at least four hours after the levothyroxine. Goofing on either of these makes the thyroid med work less effectively.

I take it daily too. While many of my friends have had to up their dose, mine has remained stable for many years.

[MINNIE]

Thank you, Vegankit.

If I do need the drug, I'm hoping that the low dose will be enough to stabilize the condition.

[VeggieSue]

I've been on it since 2009, even though I had symptoms for decades. I had found out my TSH was 8.something at least 15 years before that day, back when doctors only told you if your labs were "good" or "bad" and not give you the exact numbers and I was told my thyroid tests were was "good", but the doc said their practice doesn't treat hypo until the TSH hits 10, a rule the reigning doctor, his grandfather, set out back in the 1960's or so. Well, I hit the roof and insisted my then 6.something TSH get treated STAT! I had every symptom in the book since I was a kid yet wasn't treated because that's how it was done in 1960?? He agreed, said he would be the rebel and be the first in the 4-man practice (grandfather, father, him and his brother) to treat for higher than 5 TSH numbers. I started on one dose, had labs checked 6 weeks later, dose was increased, then after another blood test 6 weeks after that had it decreased. Went through that cycle for about 2 years before we hit on the current dose.

Although my TSH now stays between 2 and 2.5, I still have every single symptom I started out with. I had read in a number of places that this happens sometimes if hypoglycemia goes untreated for long periods of time. If my hunch is right, I was untreated for at least 40 years.

As for what med, most of the time I was on Synthroid. My doc said it's best to stick with the name brand because each company's generic has different fillers and the dose in the individual pill can vary based on where in the drug batch's run it came from - the dose of levothyroxine may be more or less than the stated dose. But the price of Synthroid has been fluctuating wildly in recent years, and at one point my co-pay with insurance was over $100 for a 90 day supply! It's currently back in the $35-$45 range, but for a while I was tempted to ask for the switch to generic!

At one point near the beginning I convinced him to try Armour natural thyroid, but my numbers fluctuated wildly on that so we went back to the Synthroid after just a few months.

If it helps you decide, Dr. McDougall does recommend his hypothyroid patients take the Synthroid, and said this is what he always ordered for his patients.

[MINNIE]

Thank you, VeggieSue.

I'm sorry you had such an awful struggle to get treated. I think there was a lot of ignorance,and sexism if the patient was female, around this condition.

I will definitely take the drug if needed, and was leaning toward taking the brand name, if the price is affordable. I'm lucky to have good insurance from my employer, so it probably will be doable.

[pundit999]

I am a man in late 50s.
I have been on Synthroid for about 20 years.
I think I started with 50 MCG but for several years now, i have been at 100 MCG.
No symptoms/bad side effects of any kind.
I initially started when I was having some heart palpitations and the doctor did blood work.
Not sure if low thyroid was the cause, but I don't have palpitations anymore.
Low thyroid is very detrimental. It can cause heart disease and myriad of other things.
Please get your hormones in range.
I see lots of hypothyroidism/hyperthyroidism around me. I think there is something in our environment that is affecting the gland.

[VeggieSue]

I see lots of hypothyroidism/hyperthyroidism around me. I think there is something in our environment that is affecting the gland.

Dr. McDougall blames it (and other autoimmune diseases) on the food we ate since childhood, especially things made with a mixture of meat by-products (especially the glands), like sausages and hot dogs, 2 of my all time favorite childhood foods (Especially those hot dogs!).

[viv]

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis over 30 years ago and have been on Levothyroxine ever since. Since starting the McDougall Diet in 2013 and losing weight, I have been able to lower the dosage and I feel better than ever. So the meds have been literally life saving for me. There was one time a few years ago I tried going "natural" and not taking the meds for a few days to see what would happen as I hear about people who can stop taking the meds without side effects. Well it was a bad idea, I went downhill really fast, nearly to the point of coma. I won't try that again!

[vegman]

I've been on levothyroxine for years, and have found that the brand matters a lot.

Synthroid causes unpleasant symptoms due to the filler ingredients. I did well with Levoxyl. When it became temporarily unavailable I switched to Tirosint, which I still take.

Tirosint has no additives and is the purest formulation, but comes in a gelatin capsule. More recently, it's also been available in liquid form, which I haven't tried.

My endocrinologist has indicated that my experience with different brands is not unusual, and that Tirosint is well tolerated by the largest percentage of people. It's also the most expensive, and is not covered by many health plans.

Many people are apparently OK with Synthroid or others.

As for iodine, I don't use salt, and take a potassium iodide supplement of 225 mcg every other day, about the same amount of the same chemical as in iodized salt.