Expert: Karen Brawner - 4/1/2004

Question
My wife has Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism. About a year ago she developed a rash, fever and slught paralasis in her joints. It lasts about 2 months and is very painful. She has seen many different doctors over the last year. Not one of them can seem to find the cause of this outbreak. Have you ever heard of this? When she wakes up she is about 90% rash free but after 6 hours her rash and fever kick in. This happens everyday. She is very depressed and no one seems to have a clue. Could she be reacting to the Levoxyl 175mcg?Should she have her thyroid removed?  

Answer
Dear Bruce,   It is common that a person with an autoimmune disease such as Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism can also have other related or unrelated autoimmune diseases such as Lupus (SLE), Scleroderma, Celiac Disease etc...  

You stated that she has been to MANY different doctors over the months, but did not say what type of doctors and what SPECIFIC types of blood work they have done...  I would need this information first, before I would be able to give you help in finding a doctor or Teaching Medical College that could help you find the problem....  Most doctors are NOT qualified to run all the blood work and tests that are needed in diagnosing an autoimmune disease.. Also, it often can take month to a year to get a proper diagnosis just because there are so many blood tests that must be taken in order to rule out common causes and to rule IN autoimmune disease and the exact type of autoimmune disease....

As for having her thyroid removed, this would NOT mean that she could stop taking synthetic hormone suppliments, instead she would still be on them the rest of her life, just like now....

As for the Levoxyl, fever and skin rash CAN occur if the dosage is too high causing an imbalance within itself...  Levoxyl comes in 12 different STRENGTHS...  Each has it's own color to identify the strength....  The strengths are
25mcg
50mcg
75mcg
88mcg
100mcg
112mcg
125mcg
137mcg
150mcg
175mcg
200mcg
300mcg

You can see that your wife is on a HIGH dose of this drug and it may be just too much for her body and this could be causing the rash and fever....  It can't be ruled out and the doctor needs to check her for over-dosing due to HIGH amount of medication....   Also, there needs to be more blood tests done to rule OUT or IN other related or unrelated autoimmune diseases....

I hope this helps and thank you,    karen