I had been on Throxine for twenty years. Shortly after starting Eltroxin my palms, soles of my feet and gums developed a stinging itching prickliness. Pharmacist, dentist and doctor had no solution and the latter did not consider it a result of eltroxin.I have been on a roller coaster ride since, even being off any thyroid medication for three weeks with with very unpleasant results. I'll mention only the nausea and swollen tongue and throat. To take eltroxin again on an empty stomach with only water was impossible. It felt as though this small pill was lodged in my throat. I am on an increased supply of eltroxin and expect little change for another four weeks.I exist in hope.

Thank goodness I may not be losing the plot and going crazy on my own accord. I'm off to the chemist tomorrow to try and source an alternate to the evil levothyroxine I'm taking.

In the last few months I have been having headaches and some depression and not knowing why......can it be that my prescription has been changed to levothyroxine. Can you tell me please which medication you are now taking? I would really appreciate your response.

Thank goodness I'm not going mad! I have been on thyroxine since the early 90's and over the last 3 months have experienced some very disturbing side effects which I now know come from the new drug Levothyroxine. These side effects include, heart palpitations, lethargy, depression, feeling extremely cold, continual stomach upsets, blurred vision, flaky skin and worst of all memory loss. Shame on Pharmac! Something has to be done.

My mother has been sick since october last year and her doctor can't find/get an alternative she has all the side effects that come with taking eltroxin and is desperate and is now being sent to hospital for tests. Somebody do something!!

Like everyone else I have wondered what was wrong, since August 07, when the name on my thyroxin bottle changes, - different name, same product was the associated assurance - when all the symptons of untreated hypothyroyidism and a few extras beside started.. I began asking for blood tests and higher doses to no effect. Now I can't get Goldshield... whats going on??? Another supply hopefully coming but what are we expected to do in the meantime??

Like many others I too have felt what was wrong,I had asked my doctor to test my thyroid as I was extremely lethargic and tired, had bad migraines, and very sore eyes, red and runny and felt dry all the time, and had extremely sore muscles and aching which I had to have strong pain killers in order for the pain to ease, Iam going to try an get an alternative now after advising my doctor of the side effects and weight gain, the government really need to do something about this problem ...

I have been treated for hypothyroidism for 9 years. The first five years with Thyroxine. On commencement of treatment I noticed a rapid improvement in my health. I was wrapped to have gotten my health back on track.
In 2004 I moved to another town and my new GP continued to prescribe Thyroxine however after about 6 months I began to feel unwell again, my thyroid disease (Hypothyroidism) appeared to have returned with full force. I discussed my symptoms on many occasions with my new GP who I felt thought I was psychosomatic. I was given antidepressents and sleeping pills to assist me getting to sleep at night. In late 2007 I became so fed up with constantly being sick ( at times I thought I would rather pass on than continue to live the way that I was feeling).
I asked my GP to refer me to an endocrynologist to assist me in solving the problem once and for all. The specialist altered my dosage of thryoxine and sent me for several very expensive tests ($1000) later it was discovered that there was nothing wrong with me other than I had moderate sleep aponea. There goes another $2000 for a CPAP machine. I still have not had a follow up blood test for TS3 / TS4 ordered by the specialist despite it now being September 2008.
When I went to my pharmacy in January 2008 to uplift my three month repeat of thyroxine I noticed that the label on my bottles had changed to Levothyroxine (ELT) I questioned the pharmacist about the change in my drugs and was told that the drug was EXACTLY the same one I had been on for years but that the name had changed in September 2006 from Eltroxin to Levothyroxine. I said that my bottles still up to that time had showed Thyroxine and I was told that Pharmacies had been told in late 2008 that they now had to to label the pills Levothyroxine. To my horror I was told when I enquired at my pharmacy today that I had in fact been taking Eltroxine since January 2005 and possibly for several months prior to that. I was told Levothyroxine and Eltroxin were one and the same drug. I have yet to enquire with the pharmacy / GP in my old town exactly when I was put on this new drug - I suspect from the deterioration in my health that it could have been late in 2004.
Good luck in your quest to sort your health out - I feel for you as I know how wretched I am feeling.

I've been on old form since 1971& never 1 problem with it Started the new pill 5/9/08 then to stay with daughter in Dunedin for 6 days & couldn't get warm (cold in marrow, dry irritated throat, then severe frontal headache(never before) Developed 16 cummulative symptoms,now gone on natural thyroid since 1/8

So tell me, is this considered a medical treatment injury? Maybe we should all start claims at ACC, that might get their attention to stop messing with our medication. More than likely the changes only occured to save money without real consideration to the very minute variations the new drug obviously has.

I have been on tablets for 14 years and have developed symptoms of what I call an old age disease since changing in June of this year. I am 43 and have pains in knees, top of legs and shoulders/arms in the joints. I am living off vultarin and am still full of pain, can't sit for long and when stand takes while to get moving. Can't bend over, and without vultarin cannot put socks on, I wake up heaps of time during night in pain and have difficulty moving in bed. Have stopped all normal activities and when do do something such as vaccuming or hang out washing am in pain and exhausted next day. I fed up. Was sent to rhumertologist and am waiting results from blood tests, but I believe it is these pills. I will change as soon as new ones come out - heres hoping!

Hi everyone, my wife and I have a 5 year old son who was diagnosed with hypothyroidism 12 days after birth. He has been taking thyroxine ever since then.
Up until late last year he didn't have any issues with his medication, then his medication changed to eltroxin, we have noticed some urinary issues, mood swings, behavioural issues and eye problems.
We have sort health profesional advice and care for all of the above problems but with little or no answers/outcomes.
We have been astounded at the lack of knowledge by either doctors and/or paediatricians about the complaints that have been steadily building up over the last 9 months around eltroxin, we had to ask them to google the drug so they could see the extent of the complaints.
We are absolutely p***ed off with Glaxo/Smith/Kline and Pharmac for endangering our childs wellbeing and possibly his life, there aren't enough expletives in the english language to let you all know how we feel.
If there is a legal avenue to deal with this, it should be explored!!!
There are a couple of lessons we have learn't from this experience, we should listen to our bodies as we know better than anyone what is going on with them, and probably the obvious lesson, drug companies are in the business of making a buck, at face value they couldn't care less about the millions of people who rely on their product to keep them alive, don't trust them, we have to keep them honest.
I am pleased to say that at last the NZ government is stepping in to help deal with this issue and should be naming an alternative drug sometime this week.

I had my thyroid removed when I was 21 due to cancer. I was told I would have a normal life. What a joke that has turned out to be. Can you imagine being 21 just getting out in the world and then getting hit with the side effects from hell. Anxiety, stomach pains, intolerance to foods, feeling good one minute - crap the next. Tired, moody, forgetfull. These symptoms started @6 weeks after my last operation - god only knows how my husband and kids put up with me. I have good days and bad days, I have given up alot of foods and coffee!!. I excercise, watch my weight and drink heaps of water. I have complained to my doctor and specialist from day 1 about this and have been told I have anything from irritable bowel to glandular fever and my all time favourite - it's all in your head. Now I'm on Levothyroxine - will it never end?! There must be something out there that will let me just get on with my life?

My dad has become extremely ill on eltroxin. His worst problem has been with his eyes. His attacks of blurred vision seriously distort the size, shape, length of printed words etc (it makes him feel as though he is hallucinating badly) ... and then the vomiting starts. He was hospitalised recently, and diagnosed with an ear infection! We all know what the real problem is now.

He has had to stop driving in the meantime because these attacks are vicious and unexpected. How many others are out there on the roads in a similar condition we wonder?

I'd be interested to know if anyone else has suffered vision problems to this extreme degree? I can only find references to 'blurred vision'.

Hi,
I started on Levothyroxine about four months ago. I feel no better and have gained weight. I have headaches and blurred vision. I am only 36 yrs old!! If I didn't have to hold down a full time job I feel I could sleep all day.
I thought I was going mad, didn't register that my systoms could be related to the medication until a friend pointed it out to me.

It has been a releif to read that there are others out there who have been going through this scarey ordeal like me. I have been on thyroxine for over twenty years with no problems outside of needing the dose adjusted here and there. About half way through last year though I started getting terrible nausea and vomitting every morning after taking my thyroxine. The nausea was so intense it was making me feel dizzy, and I would end up vomitting dark bile. I thought I'd developed hives or my skin on my arms had become sensitive as I had patches of pale coloured rash which would itch intensely. My vision became very blurry, and it was impossible to read small print. I already suffered from migraines but these became almost daily at some points. The nausea and vomitting were so bad that I was sent for an endoscopy to investigate, but of course that turned up nothing. Its hard to describe the mental confusion, anxiety, mood swings, depression and lethargy that became part of every day existence during that time although it sounds like many others actually do understand. Add to that the feeling cold and achey, and its a pretty miserable place to be. I had been asking about the change to my thyroxine more recently, and despite having a very helpful doctor and pharmacist, they were as puzzled as me. However, I finally managed to order a months supply of the "old" type thyroxine from Goldsheild (at a cost of $80) and my sanity is returning slowly day by day. Within an hour of taking my first dose of pills, my body began to warm up and kick into action again. My thinking is becoming "straighter" and some of the other symptoms are slowly going. I feel like I've lost a year of my life through this faulty medication. I just hope it has no lasting impact on my already compromised health (I have other health problems). Good luck everyone.

My elderly mother has been on thyroxine for 12 years post thyroid irradiation with no ill effects until about a year ago when the brand was changed. Around this time she was hospitalised for electrolyte imbalance from gastric intestinal upset and dizziness which caused a fall. These symptoms where attributed to old age. As a registered nurse, I thought this plausible although very sudden as she was always a busy active person. The last several months she has had sore eyes, blurred vision (for which she got new glasses) dizziness most of the time where she feels faint, a tremor, lethargy, headaches, depression, new joint and muscle pain. Memory loss, confusion with loss of logic/reasoning and deafness occurred rapidly and she has an extremely itchy rash on her back which resembles flat hives. Every symptom has been attributed to her age. When I requested Goldshield thyroxine, the GP did not specify this on the script and the chemist informed me that there was none in the country and probably no more would be accessed by Pharmac. His attitude implied i was quite stupid and fussing about nothing. Should my mother feel absolutely lousy and not enjoy life at her late age? Just let her try the Goldshield brand.

Anyone out there having problems with the government funded eltroxin in NZ come and join us at:

http://keenkiwi.orconhosting.net.nz/index.html

You are not alone - there are hundreds of others getting terrifying side effects and nothing is being done about it.

Like all of you since taking the above i have been really unwell. Want to have the right to return to goldsheild tabs as there was none of this rubbish with that brand. Unfortunately i dont think we will ever be well again with the current drug option that we have no choice about.

For goodness sake, I am pleased & frustrated to find that it's this medication that's to blame for how I feel! My next step was to go to a rheumatologist. I'm sure my family & my doctor were starting to think I had lost the plot!

I was changed onto the levothyroxine Nov 2007 By Dec/Jan 2008 I have been in severe lower back pain,dry sore eyes,muscle pain in legs,plus thinning hair which my doctor said is a side effect. Now in Oct 2008 I am worse and unable to walk up or down steps unaided.Had two falls. I have been diagnosed with mild fibromialgia and degeneration which at 64yrs I would expect to have but these problems all happened without warning.
I had total thyroid surgery 10 years ago and have never had a problem, always been active, enjoy sport and dancing but that suddenly has all stopped this year since being on Levothyroxine.

I have been on Thyroxine for 17 years due radiation treatment for cancer. some time ago my medication was changed to levothyroxin and my latest batch is eltroxin.Since on this medication I have been moody/not coping/fogetful/tearful at times /have had itchy skin and have had blurred vision. At times looking at the computer screen I cannot see anything as the words are all distorted in shape like looking at it through oil that is being moved round. Thought I was having a break down but maybe not.

I changed from Eltroxin on 12 September 2008 after having been really crook for the last twelve months (and more) I now feel considerably better than I did on the Eltoxin.
No longer want to sleep all afternoon, have energy, can walk without stopping all the time to let the pain in my legs subside and to catch my breath.The daily dull rear headaches are gone, the lower backpain is gone.No longer cry for no reason (overwhelming sadness) I can have all my children and grandchildren around without panicking about the kiddie babble.
I am not losing any weight yet (trying to)
My hands and feet are still swollen
I am not sleeping well at night yet
I still have the odd eye migraine
I still need to watch the issue of constipation.
I will continue on Synthroid for the three months wort of pills that I have purchased at $144.00.
That price is not bad when you consider that in three months I would have paid $69.00 just to go to my doctor to try and resolve why I felt so rotten.

Hi There, I tried to respond to you about the eye problems, my message kept getting rejected for abusive words, but there were none, I edited it several times to overcome the problem. So I will try and explain another way. It is true many eye symptoms are reported according to a doctor I saw this week. I have experienced many problems with my eyes including a film, black spots and black lines.

I have been taking thyroid supplements since the age of 12..(I am now 59) never have I had any problem or sideffects like I am having now..I have just found out from my pharmacy that the levithyroxin I am taking is the Elthroxin that is in question. Up until I learned this I thought that I was very ill and that my age was also a factor in the symptoms I was having. Now I'm just MAD..How can they continue to dispense this poison when they know that it's hurting people..I will be making a appointment with my doctor and filling out the proper forms with the pharmacy to let the government know there is one more victim...This is shameful..