thyroid

eringabs
eringabs Posts: 17
edited October 7 in Health and Weight Loss
Does anyone know if you start taking medication for hypothyroidism if you can ever come off the drugs in a natural way?

Replies

  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    From what I know there is no "cure" for hypothyroidism so unless it magically returns to normal, we're pretty much stuck with the medication.
  • Phoenyxtears
    Phoenyxtears Posts: 173
    I don't think so, but I'm not sure. My mom and grand mother have hypothyroidism, and they haven't found a way yet. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
  • KCherry
    KCherry Posts: 61 Member
    Do you mean drugs like synthroid? Usually you take hypothyroidism drugs for life. They have all sorts of nasty side effects if you d/c them too quickly or even change from one to another in some cases. I would 100% talk to a MD before deciding to change a thyroid med regimen.
  • MrsJackieH
    MrsJackieH Posts: 151 Member
    My husband was diagnosed with hyper first then after having the Radio Active iodine switched to hypo. according to his doctors this medicine is something he will be on for the rest of his life. i know its probably not what you want to hear. He was slowly taken off once and his thyroid flared back worse then before and was hospitalized about 30 days later. I know when he had hyper he lost around 60 lbs and was super skinny. and now since he crossed over to hypo he is gaining it back. As from everything we have heard from his doctors and his mother (she has hypo to, and a very close friend of mine does as well) they are all still on medicine, and all are in there 50's besides my husband. He is having to come to terms now that this is something he will always have to deal with. PM me if you want to talk.
  • Boring2Fit
    Boring2Fit Posts: 182
    Once you start taking the medication, I don't think you can go off it. It's a chronic condition but you can definitely keep it under control with treatment.
  • roberts1013
    roberts1013 Posts: 103 Member
    Sorry to say but nope its a life long treatment. How ever if you find some magic cure on your journey with this condition please let me know so I can stop taking that pill everyday!!
  • chicky89
    chicky89 Posts: 260 Member
    I have heard kelp can help regulate your thyroid, but still need to take synthroid or other meds
  • ALH1981
    ALH1981 Posts: 538 Member
    i've never been officially diagnosed with any thyroid disorder despite having a blood test return an abnormal result. I have been taking a herbal thyroid supplement and fell better than i have ever felt - not sure if this is explicitly related but if i forget to take it i can deifnately feel it!!!
  • sunrize_sc
    sunrize_sc Posts: 157 Member
    It's a forever thing....side effects of not taking it are not good....weight gain, depression, lack of energy and just generally feeling pretty blah!
  • chicky89
    chicky89 Posts: 260 Member
    It's a forever thing....side effects of not taking it are not good....weight gain, depression, lack of energy and just generally feeling pretty blah!

    omg!! I can vouch for this!!!!! I stopped taking it for 2 weeks, and just got so low and also gained 10 pounds!!!
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
    I'm on Synthroid. I don't think it's a big deal to take it every day. I'm taking it for 7 yrs already.
  • sexysize12
    sexysize12 Posts: 105 Member
    My friend has hypothyroid and gained lots of weight 50 plus pounds, was put on medicine. Then was taken off the medication and given radiation treatment for her thyroid and now she isn't taking medicine and will be getting more radiation treatment for her thyroid, now she is losing a little of the weight at a time. This has been an ongoing process for the last couple of years. Hope this helps, so far she isn't back on any type of pills just the radiation.
  • gloriann1
    gloriann1 Posts: 27 Member
    Sadly, no. You might even have to take more once you thyroid stops making it's own hormones and starts relying on the pill dose. That happened to me. I was doing well with my levels for a year, then dropped back down to square one and had to up my dosage. This is a "for life" medication, but you do have a say in what kind you take (levothyroxine, synthroid, Armor, etc.) Don't EVER wean yourself off of it without your doctor's consent. Almost all of your organs rely on your thyroid in some way. At first, I hated the idea of being reliant on a medication (I am a semi-food-hippy.) However, you're going to notice that the medication is worth it's weight in gold in how much it resolves health-wise.
  • learning2fly4
    learning2fly4 Posts: 303 Member
    Hi All,

    For those of you that have either hypo or hyper, what types of symptoms did you have?
    At one point when i was younger, i was put on medicine and the dr ended up taking me off bc at the time they couldnt manage whatever was wrong. I have avoided the dr for a while now, but lately have been feeling "off".
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
    I gained a lot of weight in a very short time. I had to sleep a lot. Little things bothered me a lot. I had black black moods. Life was HORRIBLE.
  • deanap1232
    deanap1232 Posts: 7 Member
    It depends on why you had to start taking the medication and why you have hypothyroidism. If it is an autoimmune type, Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism, then you will have to take the medication for the rest of your life. If it isn't that, then at some point you should, with your doctor's help, be able to go off the meds. You can try Iodine supplements, but they can cause other problems, so I would be careful.:smile:
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    It depends on why you had to start taking the medication and why you have hypothyroidism. If it is an autoimmune type, Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism, then you will have to take the medication for the rest of your life. If it isn't that, then at some point you should, with your doctor's help, be able to go off the meds.

    Not likely. I wish it were true but it's highly unlikely that a thyroid disease will suddenly resolve itself, whether autoimmune or not.
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    To the person asking about symptoms.. My only real symptom was I had cold hands and feet. Actually I still do, even on medication. I'm only mildly hypothyroid so maybe that's why I didn't have crazy symptoms. I wasn't suspecting it, it came up in bloodwork when my doc was doing some testing for another issue.
  • MrsJackieH
    MrsJackieH Posts: 151 Member
    It's a forever thing....side effects of not taking it are not good....weight gain, depression, lack of energy and just generally feeling pretty blah!

    omg!! I can vouch for this!!!!! I stopped taking it for 2 weeks, and just got so low and also gained 10 pounds!!!

    Yes thats what happened to my husband. but he had the hyper at the time and he wound up in the hospital for almost a week
    :/
  • chicky89
    chicky89 Posts: 260 Member
    Hi All,

    For those of you that have either hypo or hyper, what types of symptoms did you have?
    At one point when i was younger, i was put on medicine and the dr ended up taking me off bc at the time they couldnt manage whatever was wrong. I have avoided the dr for a while now, but lately have been feeling "off".

    I had whats called Graves Disease, which from my understanding, your thyroid goes back and forth between hypo and hyper...
    My symptoms included,

    depression
    Weight loss (lost 50lbs probably in 2-3 months)
    than weight gain, added all the 50lbs backt, plus lots more
    *****y-ness -according to my mother.. I was a *****, and she even said that there were times that if I wasnt her daughter, she wouldnt have wanted to be around me.

    I think thats all I had
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