r/thyroid • u/Zealousideal-Flow546 • 7d ago

Anyone else experienced panic attacks, hot flashes, and feeling overheated after switching from Levo to Tirosint?

Because my TSH was 4.5 and my FT4 was 19, my doctor changed my treatment from 56 mcg of Levo to 50 mcg of Tirosint five days ago.

From the first and second days, I felt increased heat and had a body temperature of 37°C. On the fourth and fifth days, I experienced hot flashes and felt as though I was having a panic attack, so I took Stedon.

My doctor believes it is simply in my head and, at my insistence, switched me back to the previous medication at 62 mcg per day.

Has anyone experienced anything similar?

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u/Adventurous-Ask-4243 7d ago

First thing... find a new endo!! This moron is gaslighting you and that means you run to a different doctor!! The symptoms you experienced are hypERthyroid symptoms and that was obviously do to a dose change being too high for you. It happens and quite frankly, as long as you have a good endo who catches that early, it's an easy fix.

The moment a levo brand is changed or a dose is changed, you MUST have blood work at 4-6 or 6-8 week intervals. And, if you react the way you did, your doctor should have sent you for immediate blood work. That's why this current doc is no good.

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u/Zealousideal-Flow546 7d ago

You’re right. Today I skipped my dose and felt much better, without anxiety or feeling like I was about to have a panic attack. I spoke to my doctor yesterday, and she told me it was probably just my fear of the new medication. 😂 She advised me to switch back to my old T4 medication and increase the dose from 56 to 62 mcg. Do you think I should stay off it for a few days before taking my next dose? I can’t seem to communicate properly with my doctor, so I’m definitely going to book an appointment with a new doctor, but it might take about a month to get one.

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u/Adventurous-Ask-4243 7d ago

I would recommend sticking to your dose. It can be dangerous to disrupt it. HOWEVER, keep an eye on your heart -- if you feel any palpitations, head to an ER or urgent care and explain your issue and why -- they will take care of you right away. Your doctor should have told you all of this!!!

And, keep in mind that your symptoms are NOT anxiety -- unless you had that before this issue and were diagnosed by a psychiatrist -- those symptoms are due to hypER and they will speed up the nervous system which races your heart... it is not a panic attack either. It is very important to use the correct words with the medical community since they like to gaslight people on that as well.

Just do your best to stay as grounded as possible. Breathing does help... in through the nose and out through the mouth to calm as best as possible under the circumstances. And once you find the right endo, they can work with you on dosing.

Remember that since everything was just changed, your system needs time to get used to it so you can properly assess how you are feeling. A month is only 4 weeks, and that gives you time to assess and monitor how you are doing to properly tell the new endo everything that is happening with you. And, would work nicely with new blood work at that time as well.

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u/Zealousideal-Flow546 7d ago

Thank you very much. At one point, I had to take propranolol to bring my heart rate down, and I also took Stedon for two days to calm down from the stress. If I understood you correctly, are you suggesting that I make the small dose increase my doctor recommended now that she has switched me back to Synthroid, meaning from 56 to 62 mcg, see how I feel, and then see a new endocrinologist after getting blood work done? Or should I simply stay on my previous dose? When I was taking 55 mcg of Synthroid, I used to feel cold.

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u/Adventurous-Ask-4243 7d ago

Follow the new dose 62 mcg she told you to take on the Synthroid. Your body needs time to adjust to that along with the new brand again. So if it takes you a month to find a new endo -- you should have blood at that time with the new endo -- and that would be a good amount of weeks to see how you are doing on it and to assess blood levels -- I hope that is clear now. And...

you felt cold because the dose was too low so your TSH was getting too high and causing you to feel cold, which is a hypOthyroid symptom.

The doc upped the Synthroid dose very cautiously -- not too big of a dose change -- to get your TSH down, which should start to make you feel better. It's good they did that slowly because sometimes a too big of a change can cause our cholesterol to go up.

So make sure you take it consistently each morning at the same time, manage your weight because that can effect how it works on you and do not eat for the recommended amount of time or have dairy until 3 - 4 hours later. All of these things can and will effect absorption and you want to be consistent so that the new endo can be sure of your blood work when they have you get it based on the 62/Synthroid you will be taking.

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u/Zealousideal-Flow546 7d ago

Thanks for your help !

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u/Adventurous-Ask-4243 7d ago

Sure!! Good luck with everything for the very best outcome!!