Thyroid

[irenegiff]

I have been on thyroxin for several years and have stopped taking it can anything happen

[cjrsquared]

Depends if you have any thyroid function left but yes potentially you can lose consciousness and die, so not an intelligent move.

[Clutter]

Welcome to the forum, Irenegiff.

Why have you stopped taking Levothyroxine?

It will depend on how much thyroid function you have left. You may actually feel better for a few days after stopping Levothyroxine but it doesn't usually last beyond 7-10 days and then you can expect to gain weight, become fatigued and cold to the core, experience musculoskeletal pain, muscle loss and weakness, depression,lose head and body hair, skin to thicken, coarsen, become dry and flaky, and nails to become brittle or flaky.

If you have little or no thyroid function your heart, liver, lungs and kidney function will slow and become impaired. Damage may not be reversible. You will be susceptible to infection which you may not be able to fight off and eventually slip into a myxoedema coma. Someone without a thyroid, not taking thyroid replacement, is expected to die within 3 to 6 months.

[Slimjac]

Was this under the advice of a medical professional? Have you replaced it with any other medication? Otherwise it seems a very rash move. I had my dose lowered from 150 to 125 mg and feel like I could spend all day asleep but cannot sleep because I am in so much pain!!

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

The question is in a bit of a vacuum. We have no idea of your circumstances, dose, what else has changed, why you have stopped, ...

You will only get speculative answers without more information.They could range from "lived happily ever after" to "died after quite a long period of illness".

[positiveperson]

I was on 50mg of thyroxin for many years, but always felt it made me quite ill. I saw a sympathetic endocrinologist who did some blood tests and stopped my medication abruptly, then did further tests. My TSH. went up at first and I felt amazing actually, but then it gradually came down to 3.9. As it came down, so did my energy. He told me that because I was older, I could accept this level and to continue without medication. I feel I am in with a chance to get better or maybe not get worse. Time will tell. I only take Vit. D.(3000) This all happened from April 2014, so it is over a year. I would not recommend anyone stops there meds without supervision. Everyone is different. I eat a good diet and try to have some exercise every day. My next step is to ask the Dr for a celiac test as I have gut problems. To sum up, I don't feel fantastic, but I don't feel as bad as I did before when I was on thyroxin. If my health deteriorates, I will go back to see the endocrinologist. and ask to try Thyroxin again with T3. For the present though, I feel I did the best thing for me, but am aware that the situation could change, as the endocrine system is so sensitive.