Thyroid Medication

[ThyroidHell]

I am having a total thyroid gland removal on Monday. Does anyone have any idea what kind of a dozage I should be having ( of tyroxine) or what is the norm ?

[helvella Administrator]

If you follow this link:

dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u...

That is a spreadsheet which has several formulas for estimating how much levothyroxine will be needed following a total thyroidectomy.

Please be aware that this is simply an estimate. Though the formulas are based on published research, nothing guarantees the answers they give.

There are several formulas and they will disagree with each other. And do read the text in the spreadsheet!

Hope it goes well for you. Do let us know!

Rod

[marram in reply to helvella]

Rod, When I tried to look at this I cannot read it, it tells me it does not have a program associated with it. What do I need to read it? I've tried Excel but no good.

[helvella Administrator in reply to marram]

Sorry marram,

Works in Excel and Open Office and Libre! Quite possibly some others but I have not tried.

It was written in Excel and no-one else has (yet!) reported an issue.

What version of Excel do you have? Older versions cannot cope with .xlsx files - though there is a compatibility pack which does allow you to open them:

microsoft.com/en-gb/downloa...

Do let me know.

Rod

[ThyroidHell]

Thank you Rod having a look now :O)

[ThyroidHell]

That chart is interesting , just printed it for reference as I haven't got a clue about medications because I have never been given any ( I got nodules and the blood always came back as 'normal' )

[maggykriti]

I had a total thyroidectomy 11 years ago and now take 4 grains of Erfa thyroid and also T3. It can be better for some people to take natural thyroid if they have no thyroid gland as the thyroid produces several essential chemicals for the body such as calcitonin which are not present in synthetic thyroid hormone replacement. I started on levothyroxine before moving to natural thyroid six months later. The amount of thyroid replacement needed is very specific to the individual person. I wish you a speedy recovery and good health.

[Mumtoboy]

Just wanted to say that if you feel well now ie pre op, then make sure you have a full thyroid profile blood test and a copy of the results. That way you know what to aim for post op.

I felt well before and was started on 100 mcg post op. it was increased to 125 which was too much and I'm now on 112.5, 4 months post op.

Dosage is quite an individual thing though so try not to compare with what other people are taking and focus on how you feel as well as blood test results. Good luck!

[ThyroidHell]

Thanks to Maggy & Mumtoboy , Its just that as I have never been to any medication I haven't a clue what is normal and vice versa. I don't even know what a normal thyroid reading is let alone whats not normal. When I do get the copy of the blood tests I wouldn't understand them :o(

[Hidden]

I had my thyroid removed last Tuesday, I'm a complete mess, my emotions are all over the place, no one understands what Im going though, feel like going back into hibernation once again, every one including my hubby and sisters are avoiding me!!!!! Although I've explained to them what's going on they just can't cope with it, I feel soooooo alone. I've been given 100 levo for the time being, that's amongst several other meds for high blood pressure, calcium and vit d, gall stones , eye drops, and last but not least acid reflux, it's been a mine field working out when to take my meds so they don't clash with each other, think I've got that right now, so they should all be working properly now, hey ho I'll see what today brings.....