Side Effects of Synthroid - Signs that Your Thyroid Medicine is Making You Sick

A lot of people are on thyroid hormone replacement medication for hypothyroidism or Hashimoto's. Synthroid is the commonly prescribed medication. Many people do fine on Synthroid, but some people actually get very sick taking Synthroid. I am one of those people and want to share my experience on Synthroid so others won't have to suffer through what I went through.

Shortly after starting Synthroid I became extremely weak and fatigued. I literally barely had the strength to get out of bed and get dressed. I started needing to take naps during the day. I had an internal shaking feeling. I started having severe hypoglycemic episodes and would have to eat something to be ok. I started gaining weight rapidly. I had pressure in my head all the time and often got severe headaches that would last for days. I always felt tense and was extremely irritable. I got boils over and over again and had to be put on antibiotics several times for them. I was always hot and never felt good. I felt horrible all the time.

My endocrinologist upped my dose of Synthroid and I grew increasingly worse. I started to have these terrible waves comes over me of weakness, shaking, trouble breathing and crying uncontrollably. I became almost bed-ridden with no strength. I had terrible insomnia at night and would sleep in in the morning and take naps during the day. My whole body felt extremely restless but had no energy. I couldn't relax at all.

When I told my endocrinologist what was happening, he said I was hyperventilating, to breathe into a paper bag and upped my dose of Synthroid. That's when I started having tachycardia (fast heart rate), chest pain, pain down my left arm and vision problems. I actually became bed-ridden. I had no strength, no energy, I was extremely overheated and very sick.

Another doctor lowered my dose of Synthroid twice, but I still ended up in the hospital thyroid toxic. I had to be taken off all thyroid medicine and put on beta-blockers to lower my heart rate and help remove the Synthroid from my body. I was in the hospital for three days while they monitored my heart rate and pumped fluids into me to help flush the Synthroid out of my system. I had never been so sick in my life.

I ended up going extremely hypothyroid about a month after getting out of the hospital and my new endocrinologist put me on Synthroid while weaning me off of the beta-blockers. I started to get sick again. My endo upped my dose of Synthroid and I got worse. I was no longer on beta-blockers and I was having tachycardia, chest pain and pain down my left arm again. My endo said she didn't know why I was having these problems and said maybe I had some strange anxiety disorder.

I finally said enough was enough and stopped taking the Synthroid. I started feeling a little better the very first day I didn't take it. I got a lot better, but I kept having problems with the tachycardia, chest pain, pain down my left arm, getting overheated and weak at times, fatigue and continuing to gain weight.

I ended up in the emergency room with tachycardia and high blood pressure. They put me on beta-blockers and referred me to a cardiologist. The cardiologist was very concerned that I could have heart damage from going thyroid toxic and had a ton of tests run for my heart, even putting me on a thirty day heart monitor. Fortunately, no heart damage was found, but I have had to stay on beta-blockers for tachycardia and am also on a diuretic for high blood pressure and water retention.

Before going on Synthroid, I didn't have tachycardia, high blood pressure or water retention. I also weighed seventy pounds less than I do now. I lost over two years of my life to the side effects of Synthroid and now have what seem to be permanent health problems caused by being on Synthroid. I am still trying to gain my health back and lose weight. I don't know if I will ever be able to go off of the beta-blockers and diuretics. I don't know if I will ever be able to lose all the weight I gained or feel good enough to be able to exercise regularly. I have lost a lot from being on a medication that made me very sick and doctors who wouldn't listen.

Don't let the same thing happen to you. If you are on Synthroid (or any other thyroid medicine) and it's making you feel worse, tell your doctor. If your doctor won't listen, try to find someone who will and stop taking Synthroid. Taking a medicine that is supposed to help you shouldn't make you feel worse. Don't be afraid to listen to your body, you know it better than anybody.

Synthroid - http://www.synthroid.com/