Does Levothyroxine Cause Acne

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I have been taking 25mcg for about 6 weeks and feel much better, no weight loss, but no gain. I have developed acne on my chin and around the right side of my mouth...is this a side effect? Anyone else had this happen?

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1

ive been taking a 25mcg for a week now and am worried that i will develop acne. do many people get this ?

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2

I have been taking the same dosage as you for about 2 months and have had really bad breakouts EVERYWHERE that I didn't used to get. I now get them on my back, face, shoulders and neck. It's pretty gross and I've never had this problem before but I think it does have something to do with Levothyroxine.

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3

Hi, I am on thyroxine 4 weeks now and also have gotten acne on my chin and around the mouth. I am now 47 and have not had this problem since I was a teenager.There is obviously something in this pill that triggers acne.

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4

Uggghhhh Having the same problem on 50mg levothyroxine 6 weeks in. Breakouts all around mouth & chin and those horrible underneath pimples. Tried about 10 washes & zit creams and nothing seems to work :( Did it ever go away for any of you?

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5

I hve been on levothyroxine for almost two years now and have had horrible acne. The doc said that this medication has nothing to do with acne but obviously it does.

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6

My doc ended up giving me cream to help...... clindamycin phospahte gel usp 1% generic for cleocin-t 1% gel) My doc said it wouldn't prevent them it would just control them once they surfaced. Which it did exactly that. Once i started using it i had less scaring from the pimples and they weren't as painful & didn't stay as long. He eventually put me on orthotrycyclin b/c i also have cysts on my ovaries. Once on the pill my breakouts stopped completely. I hope this helps... I know how horrible it was having that acne, you just wanna hide your face all the time :( Good luck to you guys

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7

Yes! After my MD instructed me to increase (double) my Levothyroxine, acne around my chin and mouth just erupted. I am 58! Pimples again! I have decided to stager me medication: one in the morning and one in the afternoon to see if that helps. Taking both in the morining seems to be too much.

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8

I just started taking Levothyrixine about a year and a half ago and now all of a sudden I started breaking out really bad. Ive had acne before but never this bad. Do you think it has to do with Levothyrixine??

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9

Yes, I never had acne (except during my teens - I'm now in my mid 30s) and then exactly 1 year after being on levo 75mcg I have painful cystic acne and its scarring very badly. Docotors also said it has nothing to do with the medication... hormones checked out fine too. Their solution is birth control or accutane to fix it (neither are ideal options for me)

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10

I have been on levothyroxine for 8 months and I never have had acne so bad till now. It is all over my cheeks, chin, forehead and back. It has to be the medication but my doctor say the same thing it's not the medication.

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11

Shoot, my doctor said my acne is totally from the levothyroxine. But he said it's because my levels were too high. He lowered them and it got better but didn't go away completely. I can tell I'm still too high (hair loss) so next appointment I'm sure I'll be lowered again and hopefully that will help more. I knew it had to have something to do with my thyroid drama because I've never had bad skin. My skin was even clear as a teenager.

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12

me too 4 weeks zits on the left side and these are not budging so they look as if they are here to stay

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13

I was diagnosed with a hypoactive thyroid about 5 years ago and was put on 100MCG Levothyroxine 1x day. I never had bad skin until I stopped using the medicine....when I run out of my prescription or am not taking the pills I get large, painful cysts mainly all on my chin, which is extremely embarrassing at 27 years old. Once I am back on the meds my skin clears up and the cysts go away. Seems like I am the opposite of a lot of cases I've read about where taking the medicine brings on cystic acne.

*For those of you who are having trouble with the cysts, what worked extremely well for me when I was managing my skin issues was Queen Helene Mint Julep mask or tea tree oil....those were the only things that helped me.

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14

I am also on Tri-Nessa, which is similar to Ortho Tri-Cyclen, which may help as well.

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15

I've been taking levothyroxine since having radioactive iodine. My thyroid hormone level went down to hypothyroidism so I was prescribed levothyroxine and now I am taking the 100MCG. Ever since I started taking levothyroxine, my face was starting to break out like it had never happened before. I used to have beautiful and healthy skin, but now the acne is getting worse to the point that there are cystic acne developed, which is the worst type of acne. For the past summer, I skipped taking levothyroxine because of the medical insurance conflict, and I noticed my skin was getting much better. Unfortunately, as I started taking it again, my skin is turning down again with acne all over. From this experience, I am sure that levothyroxine does trigger acne, at least to most people who take this medication.

I have talked to my doctor about this but she didn't seem to consider about my concern. I am 22 years old and I do concern about my skin since physical appearance does play a role in what people think about me or if I can find a good job. I wish there are other medications that helps with hypoactive thyroid besides levothyroxine.

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16

I have been on 50mcg of levothyroxine for 3 months and also have started breaking out on my chin and around my mouth. Hope it gets better.

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17

I have been on Levothyroxin 125MCG since Agust 2011. I had my thyroid removed because of cancer. They want me on this high dose for at least a year to prevent any regrowh of cancer(if there is any left). I took the radioactive iodine so the cancer should be gone. Taking this high does in almost like have low thyroid. Lot of the sam symptoms.
I too have gotten acne on my back shoulders. This sucks. Not on my face though. so I can hide it. But while all the other woman are wearing cute little tops with there sholders showing i am all covered up. Sucks.

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18

ive been taking 25 mcg of levothyroxine for about almost 2 months and all along my jaw line my skin has been breaking out badly, never had acne even when i was a teenager and now my skin is out of control. ive also lost alot of energy throughout the day since ive been taking it. it is indeed this medication is a horrible side effect.

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19

I have been on levothyroxine 50 mcg for 2 months now. I have oily skin but only had bad acne on my teens years. Now, at 36yo and I am having really bad acne breakout. I tried different acne medication, but nothing seems to work. My doctor stated the same thing.. acne and levothyroxine have no connections. But, i believe there is one. Possible increase of estrogen levels?

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20

I have been taking Levothyroxine for 4 days and started developing acne.

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126

Re: tom180 (# 7) Expand Referenced Message

Did it help to split the medication and to take it in two times a day?

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125

Re: Rebeccah (# 2) Expand Referenced Message

I have been on it for about a month as well, and I am getting cystic acne. I have NEVER had acne before. I don't know what to do, I don't want to go off of it, but I can't handle the acne.

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124

Depends if you are allergic to any of the ingredients. I have a corn and lactose allergy and had to switch to Levoxyl as I got the same reaction as you from Synthroid as it hacorn, lactose and Acacia all problems with me. It can also trigger histamine or you may have a salycilate allergy. Corn and lactose are histamine liberating and high salicylates

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123

Doctor just put me on Levothyroxine and oh my goodness I am getting big red pimples around my mouth, chin, beside and on my nose. I'm 55 and never have this type of acne. I am going to stop the levothyroxine and see what happens.

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122

I've been on that dose for a little over 2 years and have no acne issues.

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121

Re: HB (# 1) Expand Referenced Message

I am taking 8 mcg of Levothyroxine since 2-2010 after having my thyroid really due to cancer. There were also 2 very large goiters that grew to an enormous size on top of it. I have been lucky I guess (after reading all the comments here) that I have not gotten any skin issues / acne from it. When my nephew was in puberty he had one of the worse cases of severe cystic acne too the point that he had them all over his entire face and a majority of them would form huge whiteheads that were the size of a dime! His dermatologist told us NOT TO POP THEM. To just use a a special (prescribed) washcloth everyday when he was in the shower, with the water on as hot as he could bear it so there would be a good amount of steam and to gently take the washcloth and apply a prescribed facial cleanser that would help them to pop naturally so there wouldn’t be scars and after a whole bunch of trial and error thru different types of medications he was finally allowed to take acutane (because he was obviously a minor they don’t like prescribing this particular medicine because one of the bigtime side effects is depression and suicidal thoughts and or actual attempts.. luckily he didn’t get those negative side effects from it and it cleared-up his face immediately. Plus he only had to take it for 6 months and it never came back!! Thankfully because of the careful way/manor that we used to get those huge whiteheads popped with the hot water/steam special washcloth and facial antiseptic wash his face didn’t become scared and now you can’t the severity of the condition he’d suffered from. If I were you id go see a dermatologist too see if you are a candidate for this medication.

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120

I have been taking Synthroid for about 17 years and have been having terrible body trunk acne. I thought it was from our water as we had recently moved to the country. About 2 months ago we put in a filter system for our water and my skin is no better. I then thought about the fact that shortly after we moved into this house I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and put on Synthroid! All of my years and through my adolescence my skin was ALWAYS clear. Not anymore. My skin is so scared and damaged now and after trying everything I am now going to try a different thyroid medication. If this works I will be so happy and so mad at the same time. If this does work I may look into skin treatments for my back and trunk to help repair the damage.
Thanks to all of you that shared your stories so that I can finally have hope for better, pain free skin. Fingers crossed!

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119

Re: Stratfordkit58 (# 118) Expand Referenced Message

I tried Synthroid one more time about a year ago and with a few days the cystic acne was on my scalp !!! I would suggest everyone find out if they have Hashimoto's as that could be what is attacking your Thyroid 99% of doctors don't even check.My thyroid was fine when all of this started but my diet more than likely caused Hashi which attacked my thyroid so now trying to control with diet but happy with no acne!!

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118

Yes I’ve been on 50mcgs for about two months now and I have zits all over my body but not on my face...yet. The zits are full of puss and in really odd places like on my knee or in the crease of the back of my knee and over my torso. Really not happy about this.

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117

Yes it is a side effect but your doctors will not admit it or don't know better. I dealt with this for a few decades and only in this last year I figured it out and unfortunately I have major scaring from it. I no longer take any Pharm meds for it as I tried them all with no hope. I now take supplements for my thyroid along with adrenal support as they go hand in hand.

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