I've been on 100mg Thyroxine for 20 years and n... - Thyroid UK
I've been on 100mg Thyroxine for 20 years and now it has been reduced to 75mg. How can this happen? I am still putting weight on!!
If you can get a copy of your latest blood test results, complete with ranges, post them here and someone will comment.
Doctors have no reason to reduce your medication because of the TSH and, in fact, it can have a bad effect on you altogether. How were you feeling before the reduction - that is really how your GP should treat you - the question he should have asked is 'How do you feel'. The majority of people who are hypothyroid and are on levothyroxin, are kept within the 'reference range' put on weight and they have done research that proves this. See this link and there are also other topics at the top of the page which may interest you.
The Recent Popular Questions at the right hand side has many comments on just your sort of question, including an interesting analysis of the doctor's obligations to the patient under the NHS constitution by NBob. This might help your objections to this (75mcg) very small dose. Even the original 100mcg was small on its own.
Dr Anthony Toft's little book, Understanding Thyroid Disorders, gives guidance on TSH levels etc., well worth its fiver cost.
Sorry, was interrupted and lost way - it is the question by Eibhin whose doctor reduced dose by 25 withput a test.
Hi Make sure you have had a Free T3 test as this is usually associated with weight. If low you could need T3 on a script. I have to keep mine just below the top of range. It does lower the TSH.
Jackie
Hi, please don't accept this bad medicine from your GP. S/He is wrong in at least 5 areas.
1)
Your GP has a legal duty to have regard to the NHS Constitution and the NHS Constitution states that a doctor MUST discuss your treatment with you.
Then, a doctor has to discuss your treatment with you under the GMC's own code of conduct for doctors called Good Medical Practice.
So if a doctor wants to reduce your medication s/he HAS to discuss that with you. Discussion doesn't mean the doctor tells you what he is doing. You have the right to put forward your views and demand proper treatment.
2)
Your doctor also has a legal duty under the NHS Constitution to provide you with information to enable you to make informed decisions about your treatment. If s/he has just reduced your meds without consulting you s/he has not complied with his/her legal duty. Your doctor must tell you why s/he thinks that s/he wants to reduce your dose, You can disagree with him/her.
3)
If your doctor is worried about atrial fibrillation or osteoporosis his/her concern is unfounded. There is a lot of research that shows that low but not suppressed TSH does NOT increase the risk of atrial fibrillation or other heart problems or osteoporosis.
Particularly "Is it safe for patients taking thyroxine to have a low but not suppressed serum TSH concentration? Graham Leese & Robert Flynn University of Dundee, Tayside, UK. Endocrine Abstracts (2010) 21 OC5.6
4)
Even if there were genuine concerns, the way forward is not to make a patient ill but keep the patient well. Monitor bone mineral density by DEXA scans and supplement with appropriate (for you personally) amounts of Vitamins D3 and K2. For heart problems your doctor should carry out a ECG with regard to the P wave maximum and dispersion (Int J Cardiol. 2005 Mar 10;99(1):59-64. Simple electrocardiographic markers for the prediction of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in hyperthyroidism).
5)
Case law says that a doctors decision must be logical (Bolitho v City and Hackney Health Authority 1997). To just reduce medication without discussion based on an unfounded worry is not logical.
There is no excuse for lazy and bad medicine. Your doctors decision is not logical and you should refer the above 5 points to him/her and complain about his/her poor performance if s/he doesn't make you well.
