Side effects of carbimazole

Side effects usually improve as your body gets used to carbimazole. There are things you can do to help cope with them:

Stick to simple meals and try not to eat rich or spicy food. It may help to take your carbimazole with food or just after eating to avoid feeling sick.

If you're being sick, try small frequent sips of water to avoid dehydration. Signs of dehydration include peeing less than usual or having strong-smelling pee.

Contact a doctor if feeling or being sick lasts for more than a few days.

Tell your doctor if you are vomiting due to a stomach bug or illness that lasts for more than 2 days.

If you take the combined pill or progestogen-only pill and you're being sick, your contraception may not protect you from pregnancy. Check the pill packet for advice.

Lie down until the dizziness passes, then get up slowly. Move slowly and carefully. Avoid coffee, cigarettes, alcohol and recreational drugs. Do not drive, cycle or operate machinery until you feel OK again.

If the dizziness does not get better, or this keeps happening, speak to a doctor.

Make sure you rest and drink plenty of fluids. Do not drink too much alcohol. Ask your pharmacist to recommend a painkiller.

Headaches should usually go away. Talk to your doctor if they do not go away or are severe.

Cooling treatments can help with joint pain. Try putting an ice pack wrapped in a cloth on the joint for about 15 to 20 minutes, and repeat several times a day. Avoid keeping the joint still and take gentle exercise to stop it becoming stiff. Ask a pharmacist to recommend a painkiller.

Speak to your doctor if the pain does not go away or is severe.

Use unperfumed moisturiser or skin lotion, wear loose cotton clothing, keep your nails clean, short and smooth, and pat or tap the skin instead of scratching it. Ask your pharmacist to recommend an antihistamine.

No one knows if taking carbimazole causes this or if it's the changes in your thyroid hormone levels. Hair usually grows back, but this may take a little while because the natural cycle of hair growth takes several months.

Talk to a doctor or pharmacist if the advice on how to cope does not help and a side effect is still bothering you or does not go away.