Levo not helping many people's symptoms.....did you see this?

[Raucous]

I haven't looked up the actual research but this is a link to the article - express.co.uk/news/uk/80722...

it is about a study that looked at elderly people with mild hypothyroidism suffering from many of the symptoms - tiredness, weight changes, muscle weakness - and it found that it made no difference to their symptoms. it therefore recommends advice to GPs should change because prescribing it is a waste of time and money.

However, what I'd like to know is will anyone now do research in to what might help their symptoms or will they just be told to put up with them and get no help?

[shaws]

This was posted a few days ago and apparently the test involved not giving the elderly an optimum dose of levo to see if symptoms improved. So the suffering goes on due to inability to use sensible parameters when dealing with a dysfunction thyroid gland.

[Clutter]

Raucous,

Levothyroxine works well for the majority of people when they are optimally dosed.

That study found that Levothyroxine didn't improve symptoms in subclinically hypothyroid patients >75 years. Hardly surprising when they only dosed them sufficiently to bring TSH down to around 3.6.

[Raucous in reply to Clutter]

I know it is shame they didn't have a 3rd group who were given higher doses so they could compare with low doses. I just find it rather annoying that the conclusion is don't medicate because it isn't helping rather than we need to find out what will help.

[Clutter in reply to Raucous]

Raucous,

The problem is with the trial, not Levothyroxine. If they gave an adequate dose then I'm willing to bet most of the cohort will have felt some benefit. The trials which found patients found no benefit on T4+T3 compared to Levothyroxine were done on people who were fine on Levothyroxine and they also reduced T4 too much when they introduced T3.

[Raucous in reply to Clutter]

I know that's what I'm saying.

[Pascha1 in reply to Clutter]

I read they did the trial on people who were normal and didn't have a thyroid issue, if that's the case then that's not a fair trial

[Raucous in reply to Pascha1]

Yes, well it is a question of what 'normal' is they may have had a TSH within range but at the top, but if they had lots of Hypothyroid symptoms then that isn't really 'normal'. It isnt just a matter of whether the medication is working it is a matter of how much medication and how you diagnose 'normal'...

[Clutter in reply to Pascha1]

Pashcha1,

They had a thyroid issue if TSH was 3.6 on 50mcg.

[greygoose]

They will be told to put up with them and go away!

[AngieAsh]

Yes I read it. It only brought their THS down to I think 3.8 they were only on 50mg for the whole of the year. It did reduce THS from the higher starting average but symptoms were not eased and no mention was made of Hashi or antibodies.

[Raucous in reply to AngieAsh]

Wouldn't it be great if Thyroid UK could be asked what they thought ought to be studied so we could get evidence that was actually useful for us?

[Pascha1 in reply to Raucous]

Well at least we are real and all suffering so they would get a better result how it worked . Can not believe that one drug works well for all as I do not feel like I benefit from Levo and I have been on 10 years

[Raucous in reply to Pascha1]

No I didn't feel it did much either but then I probably wasn't on high enough dose but the GP wouldn't put it up. The cause of the symptoms is complicated and varied and just taking T4 will work for some and not others, but the NHS won't recognise that at the moment.

[jimh111]

TSH rises with age. Many elderly subjects are put on levothyroxine because they have an elevated TSH. This study showed that it made no difference to many. The reason being that the prescription was based on TSH, regardless of whether they had any symptoms. It's thought age related reference intervals should be used. This is only solving half the problem, they are still making a diagnosis on the basis of a blood test rather than physical assessment.

[jgelliss]

I'm always suspicious when studies come out about any meds or any product for that matter . I'm always wondering who is paying for the study . When you follow the "MONEY" you see that the study is going to go in the favor of the ones behind the study . Studies don't always pan out to be truthful .

[Hidden]

Disgusting if this nonsense is treated as "convincing evidence" for the total withdrawal of levo for certain people who really do need it.