Synthroid Levothyroxine Side Effects & Adverse Reactions

Due to the fact that insomnia may have deleterious implications for neural health, it may be necessary to pursue treatment. Sometimes insomnia is caused by too high of a synthroid dose, but other times it’s simply a normal side effect that eventually diminishes and/or subsides with time. If the results significantly differ between pre-synthroid and during treatment, you can confirm that synthroid detrimentally affected your cognition. Cognitive dysfunction may be a serious concern for those in cognitively demanding occupations or academic settings. If cognitive deficits are considered a severe side effect, a change of medication and/or adjuvant cognitive enhancer may be warranted. Similarly, high blood cholesterol, clogged arteries, and brain strokes were more frequent among people with a history of thyroid replacement therapy in a study on over 27k people 133.

Synthroid (Levothyroxine) Side Effects & Adverse Reactions

Counseling patients with hypothyroidism who complain of brain fog has traditionally been challenging for clinicians, as there are limited data on effective treatment options. Over 5000 people who complained of brain fog while being treated for hypothyroidism participated in this study. The average age was about 50 years-old, almost all were women and about half had Hashimoto’s thyroiditis as the cause of their hypothyroidism.

This study represents a laudable endeavor to characterize brain fog in people with hypothyroidism. Limitations include the survey instrument was not validated, it was not known whether symptoms were related to underlying hypothyroidism or other medical or psychiatric comorbidities, and lack of information on thyroid hormone levels. Low-dose synthroid users are less likely to experience side effects from the medication and more likely to still experience symptoms of hypothyroidism (or another condition being treated with synthroid).

Do Thyroid Disorders Cause Forgetfulness and Brain Fog?

If you are worried about losing your hair and/or are experiencing substantial hair loss from synthroid, you may want to pursue an alternative treatment. Keep in mind that if you can tough out the first few months of treatment – hair loss is unlikely to worsen. The fatigue experienced while taking synthroid may be accompanied by brain fog, inability to think clearly, and/or cognitive deficits.

The symptoms are generally reversible with thyroid replacement therapy, even in the most severe cases, as seen in 3 small clinical trials on 56 adults and 58 children 35, 36, 37. Low thyroid hormones also reduce oxygen supply (through a reduced blood flow) and sugar breakdown in regions controlling memory and attention (hippocampus, amygdala, and anterior cingulate cortex). synthroid doses This may result in reduced production and usage of the energy molecule ATP 12, 13, 14, 15. Brain fog is also a common symptom of Hashimoto’s disease, additionally known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, which is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the United States.

What Is Known About Hypothyroid-Associated Brain Fog

Should you experience diarrhea as a side effect, it should be discussed with your doctor – especially if severe. Keep in mind that adjuvant administration of an over-the-counter agent such as Imodium may prove helpful in normalizing your bowel movements and minimizing gastrointestinal distress. The World Health Organization regards synthroid as an “essential medicine” or among the most important pharmaceuticals necessary in a basic health system. Sometimes referred to as L-thyroxine, synthroid functions by mimicking the effects of the endogenous hormone thyroxine (T4) manufactured by the thyroid glands. This yields favorable metabolic effects via modulation of DNA transcription and protein synthesis.

In respondents with known thyroid disorders, the rate of reported fatigue increased to 50% and was independent of the TSH level (85). Another study reported that there was no correlation between subclinical hypothyroidism and depressive symptoms when people were unaware of their thyroid status (86). These studies suggest that patients who know they have hypothyroidism are more likely to notice symptoms and attribute them to their thyroid condition, even when they may be unrelated, termed diagnostic labeling or attribution bias. One explanation for this discrepancy is that most studies do not specifically recruit participants with these symptoms. It is possible that the chest pain is a result of your body adjusting to synthroid, and that with time, the chest pain may subside.

According to the American Thyroid Association, an estimated 20 million Americans have some form of thyroid disease. In addition, one woman in eight will develop a thyroid disorder during her lifetime, and women are five to eight times more likely than men to have thyroid problems. Negative impact scores represent the frequency at which each participant rated brain fog negatively affects their life, where 1 indicated never and 4 indicated all the time. The Student t test and chi-square test were performed as appropriate to assess statistical differences between age groups.

Your Frequent Forgetfulness Could Actually Be a Sign of Thyroid Brain Fog

• If you feel as if synthroid has sapped every last ounce of physical and mental energy, and as if you can barely roll out of bed in the morning – it is important to understand that fatigue is a side effect.
• You may also want to consider whether the co-administered substances have synergistic and/or antagonistic neurophysiological effects.
• Optimizing LT4 doses and maintaining serum TSH levels in the reference range is an obvious first approach, although the unimpressive neurocognitive data in treating mild hypothyroidism suggest that this may have only minor effects.
• The goal of your doctor should be to determine the minimal effective dose of synthroid to normalize your TSH levels.
• If your joint pain continues to worsen, interferes with your ability to exercise and/or well-being – you may need to evaluate other treatment options.

If the dosage of synthroid that you’re taking is too low, you run the risk of experiencing symptoms of hypothyroidism (or the condition being treated with synthroid). On the other hand, if the dosage of synthroid is too high, side effects may be extremely likely. The goal of your doctor should be to determine the minimal effective dose of synthroid to normalize your TSH levels. Among individuals that report memory loss as a side effect, it is difficult to pinpoint whether the memory loss was triggered by the synthroid or a result of dysfunctional thyroid.

• Know that synthroid could cause you to sweat excessively throughout the day, leaving your school/work clothing soaked by the afternoon.
• Since the thyroid and ovaries are interconnected with the endocrine system, it makes sense that altering thyroid hormone has menstrual implications.
• However, 10–15% report residual symptoms, poor quality of life, and dissatisfaction with LT4 treatment despite normal thyrotropin (TSH) levels (1–3).
• These two approaches are complimentary, as they measure overlapping but nonidentical variables.

Compared with placebo, hypothyroid rats have an altered pattern of T3-responsive gene expression, which only partially reverses with LT4. If the rats are treated with combined LT4/LT3, DIO2 activity in the cortex and hippocampus is restored, and T3-responsive gene expression normalizes (52). Many people taking synthroid listen to their doctor’s dosing instructions, as well as those given by a pharmacist, but fail to actually implement them. Time of dosing as well as whether synthroid is taken without food – are important factors that affect therapeutic response rates and side effects. You may still experience some unwanted side effects, but many short-term side effects will have improved. However, you may also notice the onset of some new side effects that didn’t occur during the short-term.