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Hi, thanks for this. I was put onto the lowest levothyroxine dose of 25mcg post surgery. my TSH at it’s highest was around 8, but it normalised over time without meds. I don’t know what it was pre surgery but will look into that. either way, I am now at TSH of 3.5 and am not functioning. I also have Hashimotos which may explain many of the symptoms as inflammation can cause havoc on the body. The levothyroxine was definitely not right for me and sent me to ER with feeling like I was having a heart attack - I have read of others having similar experience.I am very medicine sensitive. Unsure if I should try NP Thyroid which is a natural desiccated hormone combo T3 + T4, which endocrinologists do not prescribe. I have been advised by functional medicine doctors a compound T3 + T4 would be a better route but at this stage after a year of such terrifying symptoms and no seeming clear answer I do not trust any doctors.
Replies to "Hi, thanks for this. I was put onto the lowest levothyroxine dose of 25mcg post surgery...."
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@fionalauren
I hear you about having a hard time trusting doctors. I have had some really bad experiences.
I do believe they can go even lower on the levothyroxine level. There are 13 mcg capsules. https://www.goodrx.com/levothyroxine/dosage
One thing to keep in mind is that your heart may have been really struggling after surgery. There are times it can cause symptoms of hyperthyroidism and make heart race then switch to hypothyroidism. Your symptoms that made you go to the ER and feeling ill in the early stages of taking levothyroxine may not necessarily be only due to the medication. It took me months to stabilize on the right levothyroxine dosage. Your body may be very sensitive to the change in thyroid hormone levels (increases/drops) so stabilizing is important. I think you may want to try the levothyroxine again at a lower dose (13 mcg) and try to get your TSH below 2.0. You should also check your T3 and T4 levels in the past, in addition to TSH, and compare to what they are now. See if you have lab results for thyroid that go back to a time before you started to not feel well.
1. https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-minute-how-the-thyroid-affects-the-heart/
2. https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/thyroid-hormone-how-it-affects-your-heart
3. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.036859
4. https://www.thyroid.org/patient-thyroid-information/ct-for-patients/november-2024/vol-17-issue-11-p-12-13/
5. https://thyroidresearchjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13044-025-00233-y
6. https://thesurgicalclinics.com/understanding-the-impact-of-thyroid-hormones-on-heart-health-what-patients-need-to-know/