How can I get off Levothyroxine & know I’m being safe?

[StelAnd]

Is there ever a way to get off this stuff Thyroxine in UK? Has anyone ever self medicated and then if you do is it always private blood test needed doing or should GP still do it on a regular basis. I want off this as I feel in doing me more harm with my BP raising

[cjrsquared]

As seasidesusie suggested in your last post you need comprehensive blood tests before you move forwards otherwise you won’t know what to treat. It may be as simple as not enough levothyroxine as you have been on it for 17 years, or it may be that your ferritin, folate vit b12 and or vit d are low and your body cannot metabolise it as well as it could. It could also be that you are not converting t4 to t3 very well but until you have more information you cannot safely move forwards.

GP’s sadly will not and often cannot order full set of blood tests. For example in my area only hospital consultants can order ft3. If your gp is supportive ask them to test ferritin, folate, vit b12 and vit d and then you only have to pay for TSH, ft3 and ft4 as private blood tests.

Good luck on your journey to better health.

[Clutter]

StelAnd,

If you need thyroid replacement you need it for life. The only way to get of Levothyroxine safely is to switch to an alternative thyroid replacement but you will probably need private prescriptions or need to buy online as Levothyroxine is the NHS preferred therapy.

[StelAnd in reply to Clutter]

Yes, I understand this but I am just concerned with the blood pressure connection with thyroxine. If I was to buy on line does it then mean having private blood tests too? And then is trial & error as to which is the best bought on line?

[Clutter in reply to StelAnd]

StelAnd,

I think if Levothyroxine has raised your blood pressure it's likely NDT or T3 may have the same effect. If your GP won't do the TSH, FT4 and FT3 tests needed to guide your dosing when self medicating then yes, you will need to order private blood tests and, yes, it's trial and error to find which NDT or T3 brand suits.

[StelAnd in reply to Clutter]

Why is it the case that it can raise your blood pressure? Is it that my dosage isn’t quite right?

[Clutter in reply to StelAnd]

StelAnd,

Possibly. If you post your most recent thyroid results and ranges members will advise whether you are optimally dosed.

google.co.uk/search?q=Does+...

[Marz in reply to StelAnd]

Blood pressure is a symptom and NOT an illness in itself

[humanbean]

You may find this link of interest :

stopthethyroidmadness.com/b...