How long for levo to entirely leave the system?

[Jamima]

I stopped levo 2 weeks ago as I was self medicating and felt it wasn’t suiting me in a variety of ways. I feel better than I did 2 weeks ago but I’d like to monitor my thyroid without the levo. How long should I wait to ensure all levo is out of system before testing my levels?

[Lalatoot]

Jamima Levo has a half life of about 1 week. I would wait at least 6 weeks.

[tattybogle]

the levo will be 'mostly gone' within about 2 weeks .... and 'totally gone' within perhaps 3/4 weeks ? But that is too soon to retest , because you are not just waiting for the levo to have 'left the building' .... you are also waiting for the TSH to respond to lower T4 levels and then for the thyroid to respond to the new TSH level.

So to see what your 'natural' thyroid levels are , you really need to wait at the very least 6 weeks and preferably quite a bit longer than that.

I would say 3-6 months is more like it if you really want to know what your natural thyroid is going to be able to do .

This may not be wise though ... if you do actually need thyroid hormone replacement , you could become very unwell by 6 months without any at all ..... so i wouldn't wait that long unless you still felt reasonably OK as time went on.

[Jamima in reply to tattybogle]

Thank you tattybogle - I'll test at 8 weeks and then again at 12 just to monitor, appreciate the explanation.

[Cwbsi]

Most drugs are completely eliminated after half-life times 5. Levo has a half-life 7-10 days, so you will be clean in 35-50 days

[Jamima in reply to Cwbsi]

Thank you Cwbsi.

[Esmielola]

Hi Jemima, I am thinking of stopping Levo. I went on it in Dec 2013 when I was under enormous physical and emotional stress. My TSH was 8 ( range 0.4- 4.5. ( approx) T4 was 11.(range 9-20 approx) .I am curious as to what made you start Levo? Did you have many symptoms? Thanks 😊

[Lalatoot in reply to Esmielola]

Esmielola, have you had antibodies tested? If you have autoimmune thyroiditis aka hashimotos as shown by positive antibodies then your thyroid will have been damaged in some way. This would imply that its output of hormones has been compromised which may influence your decision of whether or not to stop levo.

[Esmielola in reply to Lalatoot]

Thanks Lalatoot, I have reduced by 12.5mcgs (from 62.5 mcgs to 50mcgs daily ) only since last September 2021This so far has not reduced my T4. ( 15 in a range of 9-20) and TSH remains the same as it was when I was having the 12.5 mcgs ‘extra.( so far) blood test done 4 times in this period to date. I am due blood tests in a couple of weeks so may post the results to gather opinions from the community.I did have antibody tests , on 3 previous occasions (no 4 coming up soon) and there were low antibodies which was interpreted as a ‘negative’ result according to the lab guidance.

I was also thinking of having a thyroid ultrasound, cortisol, and oestriol levels done.

I am being ultra cautious whilst also feeling abandoned by the medical workforce!

Thank goodness Gina pessaries are being made available via the pharmacy from September. No

more need for GP to prescribe.Some good news at least there.

That’s one less barrier, although it’s not ideal for all.

[Jamima in reply to Esmielola]

Hi Esmielola - I was treating what I thought/still consider might be central hypo. My tsh never went high, just low t4/3. I had a lot of typical hypo symptoms and also had low cortisol. I initially felt better on levo but struggled A LOT trying to increase from 50 to 75 dose. As I’m self medicating and some of the side effects were somewhat alarming, I decided to stop levo and see what happens. I’m going to monitor my thyroid and adrenals and will trial ndt if I think my levels/symptoms are struggling. I’m also post menopause with under range testosterone, dhea and oestrogen, so I’ve introduced very low dose hrt to see if that has any impact on my state of flux hpa axis. Before my symptoms started, like you, I’d endured a 3 year period of extreme stress. I now have a much calmer life so hoping to find a way through somehow.

[Nollig]

Hello Jamima.I would wait six weeks at least. Please be carful with your TSH readings as they may go too high.I came off levo.some time ago and at the time I started to feel human again but my TSH gradually crept up to 47 which is dangerous . I then had to go back on levo again to reduce my TSH .This has been going on for ten years now and my life has been a mess health wise so I have decided to get off this “poison “again.Iam going to try a obtain NTE ( natural) but in Australia where I live the G.P. is not allowed prescribe it so it i s going to be a problem but I do not have any options left .Levo has been responsible for my loss of muscle etc.(6;7kilos) with all inherent problems that go with that.You should be able to obtain NTE in U.K.easy enough so please check it out .Stay safe and take care.

[Jamima in reply to Nollig]

Thank you Nollig, I will monitor all my levels, but my tsh was never high as I think I may have central hypo which typically has low/normal levels across the board. Like you suggest, if I feel I’m struggling, I’ll trial ndt. I can pm you the supplier I’ve got if you like?

[Nollig]

Thank you for your prompt response Jamima and it sounds to me you know what you are doing which is great.Also thank you for your kind offer of a supplier for NDT but my problem is finding a doctor willing to write a script for it..Look after yourself and best wishes