Levothyroxine--hip pain

[Gwen]

Hi all,
I just started the lowest dose of levothyroxine for hypothryroid about 6 weeks ago. I seem to have developed hip pain....I can't even sleep on my left hip it hurts so bad.

Anyone else with this? Would it make a difference to switch to name brand Synthroid?
Thanks,
Gwen

[Starchmonger]

Well, Levothyroxine is an amazing drug that does great things for a lot of people. The T4 hormone has an effect on virtually every cell in your body, and having an active thyroid can have myriad effects on you.

That said, I've virtually never heard a report of joint/hip pain from Synthroid. Has your hip ever bothered you before? The problem with trying to reduce or remove thyroid hormone to test the results is that it takes weeks or months to reach full effect in your system. You may, therefore do a lot more harm than good by removing the Levothyroxine to test and see if it fixes your hip pain.

I have heard a lot of testimonials that people had better results on the name brand vs. generic (usually I am firmly in the "generic is just as effective" camp) so you may try switching to the real deal, especially since - thankfully - synthroid is not a very expensive medication at ~$40 for a 3-month supply out-of-pocket.

You may want to consult your doctor about the hip pain. My suspicion is that it is unrelated to the thyroid meds.

Be healthy,
Starchmonger

[Gwen]

Thanks for the info.

My hips have been ok......I've been walking daily with no problems. Seems like an inflammatory response. I don't want to take NSAIDS, as they mess up your gut. I'll try eliminating certain foods and see if that helps. I've also been trying Turmeric, as it's supposed to be the top herbal anti-inflammatory.

[dteresa]

When I was in college, I remember the pharmacy students being against generic drugs. Although the drug must be the same, the delivery system could be different. For instance, a pill might have the drug but the substance it is mixed in with to make the pill or tablet might not dissolve as well as the original brand name. It is unlikely but if a sore hip is a side effect that no one has heard of it is remotely possible that it could be the cause of the pain. When I was given the five pack of drugs after an MI and stent placement it took me a while to find a pharmacy that I wanted to by from. I only wanted to by from a place that stocked a drug made in this country. I accepted finally something manufactured in canada and something else I knew was manufactured in the states. I think I was buying from three different pharmacies because different drugs are manufactured in different places. I would not buy the generic that was made in india for one of the meds. Everyone thought I was being ridiculous and a few months later it was on the news that some drugs manufactured in some countries either did not have the right dosage or were contaminated or had some other problem. You will often see on the label or package that a drug is distributed by a US manufacturer. But usually this means that the drug is manufactured overseas and just distributed by the US firm.

On the other hand you could be one in a hundred thousand who reacts to your med in a certain way. Good advice to go back to your doc.

didi

[sanlee]

Do you know if you are hypothyroid or have the autoimmune version, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis? I have the latter and had poor results with T4, no lessening of symptoms nor of arthritis-type aches, so after a lot of trial and error, found that T3-only helped the most, but did not entirely remove the aches and pains. But we're each different, hopefully T4 will be the right answer for you.

The thing that helped the most with my aches and pain was following Dr. McD's way of eating, especially eliminating dairy, along with eliminating gluten products. Maybe eliminating gluten will improve things for you, too. Best of luck, hip pain is is no fun.