Need Advice Lowering TSH After Having Bad Reaction To Prescribed Levoxyl

Sumbody

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Oct 23, 2018
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I'm new to the forum, but have been reading various posts over the past few days and could really use some advice and possible knowledge about what happened to my body after taking Levoxyl for 2 months. I have limited bloodwork that has been done throughout this duration, but here is what has transpired...

At the beginning of the year, I was made aware of the fact that my TSH was high, I believe about 8.1 or so at the time. The doctor wanted to wait another 3 months before taking any type of action because T3 and T4 were "normal", just the elevated TSH. 3 months later things remained the same, so I was prescribed Levoxyl. Btw, I am a 36-year-old male, about 5'10, 180-190lbs.

This was the first time in my life I was ever aware of anything thyroid related, and I was not happy about having to take medication as I have never taken any type of medication but was willing to give it a try.

I came to the realization that for roughly the past year or so prior, I was fairly unhappy. My life situation, finances, etc. weren't quite optimal therefore I was somewhat depressed and definitely not very motivated. For quite some time I would often drink about 8-12 beers just about every other evening or so. Aside from that I rarely got more than 5 hours of sleep and often times worked very physical jobs. I noticed when I was working I wasn't building muscle like I should have been and I would wake up feeling like I had been hit by a truck. I felt tired just about all the time and overall like ***t, even the brief times of unemployment I felt the need to sleep or nap often. My body was constantly bloated with water weight, I had more fatty buildup at the corners of my pectoral muscles than I had ever had before.

It's apparent to me now, a lot of this stuff could have been influenced by the elevated TSH and that my lifestyle choices/ stress more than likely contributed to my elevated TSH as well as other things.

I started 50 mcg Levo the beginning of April 2018, and at first, I felt good about it. I had a positive attitude was drinking much less and after the first week I felt like my mood improved and it was around that time that I lost all the water weight and immediately slimmed down. However, after the second week, I started noticing some side effects but didn't immediately attribute them to the medication. I started having these weird dizzy like spells, for a quick second, or if I went into a shopping store, seeing all the items on the shelves became almost overstimulating to me and would immediately cause what I felt like was the feeling that I was about to pass out. I don't know for sure because I have never passed out before, but I would assume that's what was about to happen. Another thing I noticed was that my testicles ached nearly the entire time I was on the meds, either one or the other or both. Practically every day, off and on throughout the day.

If that wasn't enough exactly 30 days after starting the meds, I noticed that I could no longer get an erection. This was the most alarming to me! This has NEVER happened in my life. I also noted literally ZERO libido, and all this practically happened overnight. Almost like flicking off a light switch.

Now prior to this despite my poor lifestyle, mood/depression, etc. I had a raging libido! I remember thinking to myself and even joking about how much more sexual prowess and desire I had in my mid-30s than when I was a teen or early 20 something. It was unbelievable! And here all of a sudden, that had just basically been "turned off". I immediately blamed the medication, I still don't know how but it caused changes in my body or caused my body to change because the immediate change was severe.

Despite this, I continued to take the medication for another 30 days. There were times I was able to obtain an erection, then keep it, maybe lose it, maybe it wasn't as full, or I just had a very low libido. Even had a dysfunction episode with my girlfriend. Absolutely unreal! Basically, like low testosterone symptoms. Definitely caused some new found stress and concern after that.

Once I stopped the medication the ache in the testicles went away. The odd sporadic dizzyness kinda lingered though, but this may have been due to some other supplements I was experimenting with afterward trying to regain my libido and erections back. I was tested after the two months and TSH was at about 5.4, and for whatever reason, I was tested a month later and it was at 4.68. So even after stopping the Levo, it looked like TSH was coming down.

It has been about 5 months since I stopped Levoxyl, and I have recovered somewhat since then. I would say libido and erections are probably at about 80%. My testosterone has risen since I was first tested after the two-month Levo mark, but there's still room for improvement. So assuming I was getting better I focused on bull**** to bring my testosterone up. Unfortunately, I made the poor mistake of supplementing with L-Carnitine looking for the increase in energy and androgen receptors. At 2 grams a day for a month my TSH went back up to 7.1. I had no idea that L-Carnitine suppresses T3 activity and is given to those that are hyper.

So here's where I'm at, I want to find a natural way to bring TSH down, no Levoxyl for me. Maybe an NDT, or something similar. I'm interested in the products Idea Labs offers but am unsure what to take. I'm currently taking a thyroid support supp that has B vitamins, iodine, etc. I don't know what my iodine levels currently are but I also take a ZMA supplement nightly, and sometimes L-Arginine/Citrulline. I have been dabbling with D3 10,000 IU and Vitamin A 25,000 IU as well as a high-quality Korean Ginseng which really helps while working hard at work. My vitamin D level was at 47 last test and I only recently started the A and D. Btw I work as a carpenter in construction, lots of heavy lifting and hard work daily.

Since I have started supplementing since June I have been able to build muscle and slim down again, despite my TSH coming back up. I want to lower that and restore better function as I know how bad I felt in the past when it was elevated.

Also if anyone can offer up any knowledge as to what possibly happened during that time I did take the Levoxyl I would love to know!

Thank so much in advance! I look forward to using this forum for health advice here into the future.
 

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