Overdosed and now hyper I think..

[KetoOwnsMe]

I accidentally overdosed all of last week.. went from 150 a day to 300mg a day. Long story short = Stupid mistake, dont' ask.

My doctor knows, he said just to skip a day and do the 150mg. So I did. Now I just have major insomia. I'll be dead tired, yet can't sleep. Or I fall asleep for a half hour. And I'm sweating slightly more then usual. So I guess I'm hyper now. I stopped taking my pills for 2 days now (even my doctor said it's ok to miss a few days..worst effect will be I'll get tired after a week) figuring that would level it off, get rid of the extra. Seems to be helping, but I still can't sleep.

Anyone happen to know how long it should take to be back to normal? :o

[doreen T]

It's been a few days since you posted this, hopefully your hyperthyroid symptoms have eased and you're back to taking the regular dose as prescribed?

I'm sorry that you had to learn things the hard way, and glad you stopped after a week. I have a hunch there may be other folks who might've tried the same, perhaps in the hope of getting things to move along quicker. Treatment for low thyroid takes so long -- I know, I'm in the same boat. It can take months for levels to become ideal, and each increase of the meds you have to wait 10 - 12 weeks before blood tests can be done to see if levels are optimized. In the meantime, many of us still feel that we're having hypo symptoms.

Doubling up to 300 mcg per day is quite a jump, considering you're a petite person to start with. It's lucky that your main symptoms were insomnia and sweating. Some people get palpitations and the blood pressure can go quite high. Excess thyroid hormone can do more than just speed up the heart rate, it also increases the force of each heartbeat and increases the resistance in the arteries. Hyperthyroidism can cause permanent damage to the heart muscle and blood vessels if left unchecked.

Don't be surprised if your menstrual cycle is thrown off for a while too, since thyroid hormone also affects the function of the ovaries and pituitary.

Here's a little more information about levothyroxine and overdose symptoms from Medline (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a682461.html)


hth,

Doreen