Not taking your hypothyroid or hyperthyroid medication can cause undesirable, dangerous, and even life-threatening conditions, ranging from fatigue and changes in blood pressure to death.
A person can go for many years without thyroid hormones. Indeed, people often go undiagnosed for decades despite suffering from hypothyroid symptoms.
If you suddenly stop your thyroid medication, you may be at risk of potentially serious symptoms, including: Blood pressure changes. Fatigue, muscle weakness or joint pain. Depression.
Without those necessary hormones, you can develop hypothyroidism, leading to long-term complications if you do not get treatment. In short, can you live without a thyroid? Yes, but you will need lifelong treatment with thyroid hormone replacement medication.
You'll need to keep taking thyroid medicine throughout your life to control your hormone levels. Keep up with your treatment and you'll see results.
Thyroid disorders can have a noticeable impact on your energy level and mood. Hypothyroidism tends to make people feel tired, sluggish, and depressed. Hyperthyroidism can cause anxiety, problems sleeping, restlessness, and irritability.
A thyroid disease is often a life-long medical condition that you will need to manage constantly. This often involves a daily medication. Your healthcare provider will monitor your treatments and make adjustments over time. However, you can usually live a normal life with a thyroid disease.
Recent studies show that 30%–60% of patients on thyroid medication are able to discontinue it and maintain normal thyroid status [1, 2]. Of course, this isn't to say that everyone should attempt to stop their medication on their own, as it should be done with a healthcare provider's careful supervision.
The risk for developing a depression is increased around the time of having thyroid surgery, regardless of the extent of thyroid surgery. The risk can persist up to one year after a patient has a total thyroidectomy. This is important to increase awareness of physicians and patients to identify and treat this illness.
If you have an untreated underactive thyroid, your risk of developing cardiovascular disease is increased. This is because having low levels of the hormone thyroxine can lead to increased levels of cholesterol in your blood.
What are the long-term effects of thyroid medication? The long-term effects of thyroid medication include weight fluctuations, sensitivity to heat, joint pain, changes to your menstrual cycle, and possibly even autoimmune dysfunction.
Missed doses of thyroid medication could lead to a noticeable increase in thyroid symptoms, such as fatigue, feeling cold, dry skin, and weight gain.
For those with particularly low levels of thyroid hormones, hypothyroidism is a life-long condition that will need to be managed with medication on a regular schedule.
The majority of the studies indicate a net increase in weight following total thyroidectomy, with the greater gain occurring within the first 2 years following surgery.
Getting regular exercise (especially aerobic) Doing mind-body exercises such as yoga. Meditating or practicing other mindfulness techniques. Taking hypothyroidism and anti-anxiety medications as prescribed.
Some people start to feel better soon after beginning treatment, while others do not notice an improvement in their symptoms for several months. Once you're taking the correct dose, you'll usually have a blood test once a year to monitor your hormone levels.
Do not suddenly stop taking this medicine without first checking with your doctor. Your doctor may want you or your child to gradually reduce the amount you are using before stopping completely. Make sure any doctor or dentist who treats you knows that you or your child are using this medicine.
Temporarily Stops Your Thyroid Hormone Medication
To obtain a high level of TSH, your doctor may choose to temporarily stop your thyroid hormone medication four to six weeks before treatment with radioactive iodine (RAI), or for diagnostic testing. This process is called thyroid hormone withdrawal (THW).
It takes 4–6 weeks for thyroid medication to fully leave the body and for TSH levels to rise to the level they will be without levothyroxine. Most guidelines recommend adjusting the dose according to lab results every 4 to 6 weeks. A doctor can decide a person's lowered dosage.
An overactive thyroid can affect anyone, but it's about 10 times more common in women than men, and typically happens between 20 and 40 years of age.
Thyroid disorders can range from a harmless goiter (or enlarged gland) that needs no treatment at all to life-threatening thyroid cancer. However, the two most common thyroid problems involve the abnormal production of thyroid hormones. Both conditions are serious and require medical attention.
Problems with the thyroid can be caused by: iodine deficiency. autoimmune diseases, in which the immune system attacks the thyroid, leading either to hyperthyroidism (caused by Graves' disease) or hypothyroidism (caused by Hashimoto's disease) inflammation (which may or may not cause pain), caused by a virus or ...
Thyroid hormones also influence the quality of your skin in various ways. For example, with hyperthyroidism, you may notice itchy and dry patches of skin. Your face may feel softer and swollen. You may even notice swelling around your fingertips.
With thyroid fatigue, you may feel like you can't get through a day without a nap. You may sleep more than usual but still feel completely exhausted. You may not even have the energy to exercise. At times, you may fall asleep during the day or very quickly at night.