# Libido issues



## Glenda (Feb 10, 2011)

Hi, I have been on levothyroxin 125mcg for about 10 years for Hashi hypo. Ever since my diagnosis I have had practically no libido... is this a known side effect of the medication or is it just coincidence?
Is there anyone else out there with this problem? What do you do? My relationship is suffering because of it.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Glenda said:


> Hi, I have been on levothyroxin 125mcg for about 10 years for Hashi hypo. Ever since my diagnosis I have had practically no libido... is this a known side effect of the medication or is it just coincidence?
> Is there anyone else out there with this problem? What do you do? My relationship is suffering because of it.


Hi, Glenda!! If you are not euthyroid, this could be a huge problem. If you will share w/us your most recent lab results with the ranges; perhaps some of us can advise.

I trust that you have talked to your ob/gyn about this and have had estrogen and progesterone checked?

Welcome to the board!


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## Glenda (Feb 10, 2011)

Hi Andros,

Thanks for your quick reply. Actually I have not been tested for almost 18 months and am scheduled for a blood test next week. Have not talked to the ob-gyn either, honestly, I just made the connection in the past few days that this libido issue could be related to the thyroid. It has been this way for a long time, but only now started to become a bigger issue (spent the last 7 years having kids and so the low libido was attributed to the stresses of daily life).

I have heard that taking T3 supplements can have very positive effects, but I live in Europe and I don't think they are available here. Any input on that would be appreciated.

Is it common to have estrogen and/or progesterone supplements with thyroid issues? I am a bit worried about the connection between estrogen and certain kinds of cancer, but I guess that is a question for my gyno...


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Glenda said:


> Hi Andros,
> 
> Thanks for your quick reply. Actually I have not been tested for almost 18 months and am scheduled for a blood test next week. Have not talked to the ob-gyn either, honestly, I just made the connection in the past few days that this libido issue could be related to the thyroid. It has been this way for a long time, but only now started to become a bigger issue (spent the last 7 years having kids and so the low libido was attributed to the stresses of daily life).
> 
> ...


Actually, I don't personally believe in HRT unless it is a life-threatening situation. I am 68 and have never ventured there.

Well.......................you do need labs for a thyroid panel. That is a given. I recommend the TSH, FREE T3 and FREE T4. If you are in europe, I doubt that they will run the FREES. You may have to go out of pocket for the FT4 and FT3. They want to run the least expensive tests which would be the Totals (T4 and T3) and that poses a problem because the Totals are bound and unbound hormone. What we specifically need to know is the unbound (free) portion of the hormone available for cellular uptake.

T3 is useful "only" if you need it. The labs will tell us if you can get the FREES.

Also, it would be good to get your Ferritin checked.
Ferritin http://www.thewayup.com/newsletters/081504.htm

Why is having low Ferritin a problem and what are symptoms? First, though the slide into low Ferritin can be symptomless, it eventually becomes the precursor to being anemic. And once the latter occurs, you can then have symptoms which mimic hypothyroid-depression, achiness, easy fatigue, weakness, faster heartrate, palpitations, loss of sex drive, hair loss and/or foggy thinking, etc, causing a patient to think they are not on enough desiccated thyroid, or that desiccated thyroid is not working. Excessively low Ferritin can also make it difficult to continue raising your desiccated thyroid, resulting in hyper symptoms when raising desiccated thyroid.

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ferritin/


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