# Curious about dizziness and feeling light headed



## kristentx (Oct 8, 2016)

Hello!

I was recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism and my endocrinologist prescribed Levothyroxine, 150 MCG. I started taking it last Thursday. I have been taking it when I get up, which is usually 6:40am. Over the last few days, I have noticed that if I wait longer to eat, then I get really light headed and dizzy and I feel like I am about to pass out. I have only felt like this once or twice in my life, and now I am feeling like this at least once daily.

Has this happened to anyone else? Is this just me getting used to the medication? I plan on talking to my endocrinologist on Monday, but I was just curious, if anyone else had experienced these issues.


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

Hi and welcome to the board!

Do you have any labs with ranges you can share?

I've not had the issue you described - maybe it's related to blood sugar levels. Are you taking your thyroid hormone replacement with a full 8 oz of water?


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## kristentx (Oct 8, 2016)

I don't have access to my labs yet; the endocrinologist's office has not put them online for me to see, but as soon as I do get access, I can definitely post them, although I won't know what any of it means .

I have been taking the pill with lots of water.

I had thought maybe it was my blood sugar too, but when this happened to me last night, my daughter, who happens to be a diabetic tested my blood sugar and it was normal.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

That's a pretty high starting dose. I'm on that dose and I don't have a thyroid. I definitely would get copies of your labs.


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## BurntMarshmallow (Feb 26, 2016)

I felt that way when I stopped my corticosteroid nasal spray last February. Maybe you have low cortisol. Or low DHEA, the pre-hormone for lots of adrenal hormones.

The adrenal glands are responsible for keeping you going when you haven't eaten. Maybe your adrenal glands are not able to keep up with the new demand now that your metabolism is firing up from the thyroid hormones. I think you can take DHEA as a supplement, not sure.

I handled my symptoms by eating often. I kept a bag of sunflower seeds close by. I also felt better when I avoided sugar completely, and ate more protein and took a lot of vitamins, especially all the ones you need for the adrenal glands, like vitamin C, zinc and b-vitamins.

You might also be on too high a dose of thyroid hormones. Ideally you would want to be on the lowest dose that helped you. Starting a lower dose might be a good idea.


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## my3gr8girls (Mar 18, 2016)

I had this symptom from levothyroxine as well, and it didn't go away until I started taking T3. Even now, if I forget to take a dose of T3 (liothyronine) I feel shaky and weak. It feels like a hypoglycemic episode to me. So, in my particular situation, it appears to be a lack of the active thyroid hormone, T3, that makes me feel that way. I don't know if it means the same thing for you or not. It might just be that your body is adjusting to the levothyroxine. It took me 6 weeks to feel better on levo. I also had to take it at night instead of morning because I always felt awful when taking it in the morning. Now I take it at bedtime and take the T3 during the day. If you decide to try taking it at night, you have to make sure you don't eat anything 2-3 hours prior to taking it.


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

You are on a very, very, very high starting dose if you still have a thyroid gland. (As an example, after I had my thyroid gland removed, the doc started me on 125 mcg.)

Looking forward to seeing your lab results. If you were only "mildly" hypothyroid, your dose is going to need to be decreased quite significantly.


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## kristentx (Oct 8, 2016)

I finally got a hold of my test results, but they don't look anything like what I am seeing in other places on the board. I cannot make out what anything means, with the exception of this one, which is low according to what I am reading.

T4,Free(Direct)

Result = .71

The range was:

Thyroxine (T4) Free, Direct, S

Tests Result Flag Reference Low High Units Lab

T4,Free(Direct) 0.71 L 0.82-1.77 0.82000 1.77000 ng/dL DA

I think this is T3? It seems in the normal range (between 2.0 and 4.4).

Triiodothyronine,Free,Serum

Result = 3.2

I had a comprehensive metabolic test and everything there looks to be within the expected ranges. One other test which is way off what it is supposed to be is:

Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) Ab

Result = 104

According to what the paperwork says that is really high because it should be 34 at the highest?

Below are links to screenshots I took of my lab results.

https://postimg.org/image/qiak0cc67

https://postimg.org/image/omnrp6nbz

https://postimg.org/image/j11cl4mn3

https://postimg.org/image/dfexh2ly7

https://postimg.org/image/wyjiqfkpr

https://postimg.org/image/doci6zyqn/


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

kristentx, could you edit your post to show the range for your Free T4 test? And did they test TSH?


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## kristentx (Oct 8, 2016)

Below are links to screenshots I took of my lab results.

https://postimg.org/image/qiak0cc67

https://postimg.org/image/omnrp6nbz

https://postimg.org/image/j11cl4mn3

https://postimg.org/image/dfexh2ly7

https://postimg.org/image/wyjiqfkpr

https://postimg.org/image/doci6zyqn/


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Ok, so your free t4 is low, but your free t3 is decent (not excellent, but decent). You do have TPO antibodies and that points to an autoimmune disease. So it would make sense to do a trial run of thyroid medication, but none of those numbers remotely merit a starting dose of 150mcg. That's pretty outrageous. I would think you would want to start at 25 or 50 mcgs and then adjust as needed.

You should absolutely call your doctor and ask for your dose to be substantially lowered. You should also have a thyroid ultrasound.


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

Ditto what joplin said above. I see nothing in your labwork that justifies a starting dose of 150 mcgs for someone who still has a somewhat functioning thyroid gland. You are going to swing hyperthyroid in no time on that dose, and you'll feel horrible.


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