Synthroid and insomnia

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.

Wow! So glad and sad to find other sufferers. I wish our doctors would listen to us and take us seriously! Why are they stuck on forcing Synthroid on us? At this point, I think I'd rather not take any Synthroid. I stumbled upon this site while looking for something I might take to counteract the effects of Synthroid. I had to halve my 112 mg pills because of the side effects: frequents headaches, bloating, weight gain, irritability and anxiety, dry mucus membranes (eyes, nose, throat, etc.), allergies, muscle fatigue, achy joints. Of course, my doctor is slowly upping the dosage again, because my TSH is chronically high, but I feel like sh*t, physically and mentally. I used to feel so much more normal and like myself before I was diagnosed and "forced" to take Synthroid.

I'd like to say that I think the Old version of Synthroid that existed
before 1982-83 was MUCH better than what is produced today,
I'd done quite well on Old Synthroid from 1975 to 1982 after
RAI treatment for a bad case of Grave's disease when I was
eleven years old....but when Synthroid was changed to be
more "cost-effective" for its manufacturer, my life was basically
destroyed--and I haven't recovered since then, despite trying many
different doses of various thyroid drugs.

Symptoms I've gotten since Synthroid changed in '82 include:
Severe breathing trouble that really limits what I can do every
single day; extremely dry skin in certain places--like legs and
feet; much poorer memory and thinking ability; much drier hair
and too much hair falling out; tendency to get chest pains whether
dose is too low, too high, or "normal," have had a lot of trouble with
blood pressure at times; getting red in face; too much weight gain
for what I eat; lymphedema (much swelling in legs and feet),
inability to sleep well; always feel congested or blocked up;
vision problems like black spots floating before eyes; sensitivity
to light; double or triple vision at times; involuntary eye-twitching
at times. I'm sure I've forgotten some things, too....

A very odd thing about Synthroid since 1982 (and the other drugs
that've copied it, since that time) is that it tends to give me
symptoms of both high and low thyroid trouble at the same
time, while also causing new symptoms that I'd never had in
the first place. Old Synthroid was much more clear-cut for me.
If the dose was too low, I'd have typical low thyroid symptoms
only (too tired, dry skin, etc), and if too high, I'd get only typical
high thyroid symptoms (too nervous, insomnia, racing heart, etc),
Much easier to adjust and work with than today's Synthroid.

At any rate, I was left with little working thyroid gland after my
intitial Grave's treatment, so I am (unfortunately) very dependent
on GOOD thyroid medicine to help me. In my opinion, I haven't
had any good stuff to take since Old Synthroid left the market
in 1982-83. Haven't been well to accomplish much since that
time--feel like I'm getting punished for being a thyroid patient,
which is ridiculous, really--because I know better medicine once
existed, and I want it again!

Have tried many avenues to get someone to produce Old Synthroid
again, but no luck--I'm not rich, famous, or politically connected,
so no one listens to me. But if anyone out there reading this can
help in some way, please feel free to contact me--maybe we can
work together to bring back a better treatment that would help at
least some folks out there who are really suffering. S.D.

I have been on synthroid for 30+ years. It has steadily been increased throughout the years. Last April 2007 I ran out of medication and was going through a stressful move. I hadn't been on the medication for about 6 weeks. Once I got my new doctor they checked my levels and instead of putting me on the same dosage of .175 they increased it to .2mcg. I gained 10 pounds overnight. I looked like I was pregnant, mood swings, aching joints, insomnia, etc. I went back in 2 weeks to have it rechecked. That was the second problem. It takes 6 weeks for the medicine to level out in your system. So not only did they increase my dosage after telling them I had been off of it for some time they retested my levels too soon. So it was again increased to .225...more weight gain...another test...another increase .25mcg. Now my neck is swollen and I have an enlarged gland, hard to swallow, shortness of breathe, 43 pounds of weight gain, severe anxiety, acid reflux, gerd, on top of the other symptoms mentioned above. In 8 weeks of increments I have been retested and the dosage has gone down and as of last week it was finally decreased to the original amount of .175mcg. It has only been a week but I have lost 2 pounds. Oh Lord please let it keep coming off! My neck isn't as swollen and my 5th doctor who finally could see the light explained that I was having a thyroid storm. It is very important that when your levels are checked you wait 6-8 weeks to let the medication level out in order to get a true reading. He also said that you need to take your meds on an empty stomach...which I knew...sort of. I took my synthroid on an empty stomach but I also took my other vitamins with it which can effect the absorption of the synthroid throughout your body. He also gave me a beta blocker to help with my symptoms until my levels even out. It is called metoprolol succinate (Toprol-XL) 50mg. My gut doctor put me on Paxil as well to help with the acid reflux and gerd which he felt was caused by the anxiety due from the synthroid levels being off. I hope this info helps but it makes sense to me.

I have read a lot of these blogs and I am seeing that many other people have the same side effects. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism when I was in 6th or 7th grade I think and I am now a high school senior so about 5 years taking Synthroid. the doctors said that my antibodies had completely destroyed my thyroid gland so I wasn't getting any of the hormones I needed which became very noticeable when I started gaining weight and loosing energy in 5th grade. I haven't really seen any weight gain in a while but I still look like I am overweight. I am 5'6 and 130 lbs so I am about average. Side effects that are also occurring are rapid mood changes, one minute I am happy and something sad happens or I think about something and ill be tearing up. I feel depressed a lot. I am currently on 150 mcg. also during 9th and 10th grade I was put on this drug to stop my puberty so that I could grow more while on the Synthroid I guess it helped a little with height but I still look like a freshman. I don't know if I should stop taking it or keep taking it because I stopped for about a month once and started getting really sick, I would get really bad nose bleeds at random, had constant migraines and felt sick to my stomach. I started taking the Synthroid again and felt fine. I really don't know what to do.

Originally, i was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. This was about 6 years ago. I was on a beta-blocker for 3 years. Afterwards i was diagnosed as being hypothyroid (about 2.5 years ago). I've been taking synthroid ever since. At first my dosage was .075 mg. It was changed to .05 mg a year ago. I haven't gained any weight since i became hypothyroid, but i've had many other problems. Some of them include, difficulty swallowing and breathing, heaviness in throat area, memory loss, insomnia, lack of focus. These are the most serious problems.

Palpitations, insomnia and shortness of breath and hot flashes and stressed out. Perhaps my levels are too high? I take 100 mcg daily 5x week and 50 mcg 2x week.

Labs last checked about 6 weeks ago and TSH was around 1.0

I haven't taken my Synthroid for a couple of days and then I am going to decrease dosage to about half the prescribed dose until I can get in touch with my M.D.

The palpitations are worrisome so I certainly don't want to aggravate those.

I had my total Thyroid gland removed March 15.
I am taking Synthroid Levothyroxine Sodium 0.112 mg. since that date. I have been experiencing insomnia for about 7 days and runny, puffy, irritating eyes. I thought it might be allergies, but after trying some non-drowsy allergy medication this anoying eye problem continues.
I am going to call my Thyroid specialist on Monday because I can't stand it.
Now I am thinking are these symptoms because I do not have a Thyroid anymore or from the medication which I was told by my surgeon and my Thyroid specialist that since it is synthetic drug there are no side effects.

Is there anyone else that is experiencing the same symptoms with their eyes? My husband thinks I'm crazy.

Help
Julie

Well....I had missed a few days of my synthroid because I was on vacation, and started to feel really sluggish and just "off". I had a thyroidectomy a few years ago due to a growth in my thyroid that was only getting bigger. So...after reading all of these, the few problems I have been having over the years (hair loss, insomnia, horrible leg cramps), have gotten me worried. What are the options for someone like me? Who doesnt have a thyroid? What happens if I totally STOP taking this?

I have been on synthroid for about 4 months now, I am having a great deal of trouble sleeping and have pain in all my joints, so bad that I had to stop therapy, that was after back operation, I have nogules in my neck and have had them checked for cancer, because had part of thyroid removed in 1963 with cancer. Not feeling like myself since I went on these meds and wonder if it is a side affect from it.

Extreme itching all over body, insomnia, weight gain, psoriasis, high blood pressure, rapid thoughts and speech, water weight gain, swelling, diarrhea, mood swings, gall bladder removal, irregular periods, fibroid cysts in uterus, heavy period bleeding and clotting. Miserable everyday!

I have been taking synthroid for 20 years due to a nodule. It shrunk the nodule almost imediately but my eye, ear, nose and throat dr. insisted I continue to take sythroid. Today I had an regular appointment to check levels and he said that we are going to take me off synthroid. That a recent school of thought is that Synthroid doesn't need to be continued after the nodule is reduced!! I inquired several times about going off synthroid thru the years because I had alot of side effects. Hair loss, anxiety, heart palpitations, chest pain, sweating constantly, insomnia....all of the symptoms described by others on this page. I am kinda pissed but relieved to finally get to STOP TAKING IT!! Ask your Drs. about this if you just had a nodule and take synthroid for shrinking the nodule!!

I have been between 110 - 115 lbs most of my adult life. I tried everything to gain weight, but it didn't work. I was diagnosed with Graves Disease when I was pregnant with my son. I took PTU for the duration of the pregnancy. I was symptom free for about 4 years. About two years ago, I started to experience symptoms related to Graves Disease. I saw an Endo doctor who told me that I have a non-cancerous goiter that needed to be removed. I have thyroid surgery 8 months ago. I started taking Synthroid shortly thereafter. I have been trying to explain my symptoms of Hair Lost, Dry skin and nails, Insomnia, weight lost, lost of appetite, and leg cramps to someone for 6 months. Nobody listens. They just discount my symptoms. Today I decided to do some research to find out if I was alone. I AM NOT ALONE. I've been taking Synthroid for 8 months. My hair is so thin that you can see my scalp. Combing my hair makes me upset because I have chunks of hair in the comb. I too called my doctor and he replied,"I can't believe that your symptoms are related to your synthroid use." Reading these articles helped to prepare me for his responses. I insisted that I didn't want to take Synthroid anymore. He ordered blood work and advised that I have to continue taking this medication. I don't want to feel this way for the rest of my life. I have a 6 years old son who is full of life. I don't have the energy to keep up sometimes. I felt better before my Thyroid Surgery. (34 years old Woman, post Thyroid Surgery for an Enlarged Goiter and Hyperthyroidism). Where is the support????

No side effects. I just wanted to reassure all these people that are unsure about taking Synthroid, that it is the best medicine I've ever had to take. Two years ago, my hair was falling out in big clumps, I had all the symptoms of menopause-night sweats, mood swings, sleeplessness, etc. and my doctor tested my thyroid and found that I have hypothyroidism. It took a few months to get the dosage correct, but I have felt wonderful ever since and I also have all my hair back!

hi everyone...

i have been taking .075 synthroid for a lil over a year now....i know that that is not a high dose but i have still had some side effects...i have forgotten to take mine from time to time and the side effects ae just as bad as if i had just started it.....i have nausea,dull headache,anxiety(moderate to severe),and insomnia....has anyone else ever had this?

Does anyone have any side effects which affect voice quality - husky, airy or weakness in the voice speaking or singing? I'm hypothyroid, 200mcgs synthroid daily, some depression, insomnia, weight gain and struggling with getting back to my pre-hypothyroid state of well being.