[BlueMajo]

Hello everyone,

Im wondering... Does anybody know about side effects of levothyroxine ??? I cnt find any except of those due to hyperthiroidism due to overdose, but, I have been experiencing dry skin and dry eyes.... Does that make any sense ?? Im just wondering if it could be the medicine or just coincidence with anything else...

Thank you so much !

Im not taking anything else except my omegas capsules... and vitamin C...

[BlueMajo]

Of course it was levothyroxine instead of levothiroxyne.... Dont know how to change the thread title...

[Kitty]

I take this drug. it's very important to have your blood checked regularly so that you're taking the correct dosage. Mine's been changed several times. I'm now taking 100 mcg....up from 75 mcg. I really don't have any side effects from it. You might not be on a high enough dose, thus the sx you're experiencing.

[BlueMajo]

Thank you Kitty.

I was starting to worry about my eyes... hopefully it has nothing to do with the medicine as I have to take it for life...

Do you take it with an empty stomach ?

[mrsD]

I don't think levothyroxine is causing your dry eyes.

And yes, you MUST take it on an empty stomach in order for it to be absorbed properly. In US, this direction is given with the drug info at dispensing at the pharmacy. I don't know if you have that where you are, however.

If you have dry eyes, try a preservative free lubricating eye drop/artificial tears and see if that helps. Dry eyes can come from allergies, air conditioning and many other things. Did you ever wonder if your lab where you work has the proper ventilation, or perhaps too much ventilation?

[Kitty]

I take it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Whatever time I happen to get up (and it varies greatly! ) I take it before I even have coffee.

[BlueMajo]

Thank you for replies dear Mrs. D and Kitty.

Mrs. D, my doc only told me to take in the mornings... but he never mentioned an empty stomach

I think Im "allergic" to air conditioning and white light... However, I have been feeling my eyes fine, just these 2 days, ouch... they hurt like hell... I put ice packs today over them and they felt way better...

Will try the drops you suggested... do you recommend any trademark in particular ?? Thanks a lot !

[Kitty]

I was reading the directions on my rx bottle and it doesn't say anything about taking it on an empty stomach. I've just always heard that you should so I take it first thing in the morning. It doesn't upset my tummy even if I don't eat anything afterwards.

[watsonsh]

Yep always supposed to take on an empty stomach and wait at least 1/2 hour to hour before eating. One doc said 1/2 hour, another said 45 min to an hour.

And try not to take iron or calcium right after taking it blocks thryoid meds.

My doc recently told me that I could split my doses to first thing in the AM ad then right before dinner since I feel that I am running out of stream by dinner time.

And my dry eyes...too much estrogen. Estrogen dominance can cause dry eyes. I recently added some progesterone(prometrium) and I feel better and so do my eyes.

Darn hormones and getting older sucks. Can't wait for menopause

[mrsD]

There is an auxiliary sticker that should go on the thyroid bottle.

Complete directions should appear on the handout the pharmacy gives, at least, if they forget the sticker!

Here is a copy from http://www.rxlist.com/synthroid-drug.htm

# Take SYNTHROID as a single dose, preferably on an empty stomach, one-half to one hour before breakfast. Levothyroxine absorption is increased on an empty stomach....
# Keep SYNTHROID out of the reach of children. Store SYNTHROID away from heat, moisture, and light.
# Agents such as iron and calcium supplements and antacids can decrease the absorption of levothyroxine sodium tablets.
# Therefore, levothyroxine sodium tablets should not be administered within 4 hours of these agents.