Underactive thyroid

[Harrispat]

I have been unwell on levothyroxine for years I am now 76 years old and I feel they are not doing me any good I have no symptoms of thyroid problems and my TSH has come back at2.78 doctor has said no further action to be taken .i am on 50 mg ,I have come to the point that I want to ween myself off them any help would be appreciated thanks

[bantam12]

Why do you want to stop taking a Levo ? how do you know the Levo is causing symptoms ? surely if you have no thyroid symptoms the Levo is doing its job. After many years taking it your normal thyroid function may not return.

[Harrispat in reply to bantam12]

Thanks for you r reply I only feel like this when I am taking levo so many side effects heart palps irregular heart beats stop taking them for a few days everything came back to normal .felt more like my old self

[bantam12 in reply to Harrispat]

Have you got copies of your latest blood tests, TSH, T4 and T3 ? It's possible your dose is not quite right.

[Harrispat in reply to bantam12]

No sorry don't have my results all they said was TSH 2.78 and that everything else was fine our doctors are not very good I'm living in Wales and we are way behind the rest of the country

[bantam12 in reply to Harrispat]

You are undermedicated to have a TSH of 2.78, rather than coming off Levo you probably need a dose increase, you really need to find out what your T4 and T3 are, if your GP hasn't tested or won't test them you can do a postal finger prick test from Medichecks.

If you stop taking the Levo you will become more unwell as your TSH rises.

[greygoose in reply to Harrispat]

Never take a doctor's word for everything being fine! Fine is just an opinion, and their opinions are often wrong - we see that time and time again, on here.

Ask for a print-out of all your results - it's your legal right to have one in the UK. You need to know exactly what they're testing and exactly what the results are. But, I agree with bantam12, if your TSH is 2.78, you are under-medicated. The aim of thyroid hormone replacement (levo) is to reduce the TSH to one or under, wherever you feel well. If you feel well at 2.78, good. But you won't feel as well if you stop taking it.

You say you don't have any symptoms, but do you know that there are over 300 known hypo symptoms? It's not just putting on weight and feeling cold, it can affect every part of our bodies. And, if you don't have any symptoms it's because the levo is doing it's job - as bantam says. If you stop taking the levo, the symptoms will appear - slowly, probably, one by one, but they'll appear. But, I'm not quite sure what you expect the levo to do? I don't think you're being terribly logical, there.

[Kay2016]

I wouldn’t take myself off because it’s not a safe. Doctor have told me it could actually kill you if you are deficient. I’ve recently noticed that my thyroid has been responding differently. I had thyroid levels checked yesterday and they were elevated. Doctor will test again in three months before deciding to increase dosage. I had a problem with a vendor at one point and had my pharmacist change to another and saw improvement. My age is 55 and have been on levothyroxine for 10 years. Check to see what pharm company is supplying the drug and change. I can’t use the Mylan brand. Hope this helps