Levothyroxine is generally taken life-long when used to treat hypothyroidism (low thyroid levels) unless the cause is transient.
Yes, it's possible. But you should always check with your healthcare provider first. Whether you're able to safely stop taking thyroid medication may depend on the reason you are taking it. Research shows that some people can safely stop taking thyroid medications.
An underactive thyroid is a lifelong condition, so you'll usually need to take levothyroxine for the rest of your life. If you're prescribed levothyroxine because you have an underactive thyroid, you're entitled to a medical exemption certificate. This means you do not have to pay for your prescriptions.
Stopping this medication may result in a return of symptoms such as: Fatigue. Weight gain. Difficulty tolerating cold.
If thyroid hormones were prescribed to enhance fertility, they can generally be discontinued after a successful pregnancy. If you started taking thyroid hormones while trying to get pregnant and are no longer at this stage you can most likely discontinue your medication.
The studies proving this are not limited in numbers, they demonstrate an association between long-term levothyroxine therapy and increased risk of heart disease, osteoporosis, and fractures. In addition to this it also increases the economic burden on the patients owing to price surge [5].
Armour Thyroid, Cytomel, Thyrolar, Synthroid, and Levoxyl are some levothyroxine alternatives.
Treatment with levothyroxine is usually lifelong. If you stop taking levothyroxine your symptoms are likely to come back.
Time frames and dosage
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.
However, without thyroid replacement medication, a person with overt hypothyroidism cannot function optimally and will suffer from the physical and mental symptoms of hypothyroidism. The half-life of levothyroxine is 6-7 days, which means it takes about 4-5 weeks for your body to rid itself of levothyroxine.
What happens if you don't need thyroid medication. Suppose you are taking medication to treat hypothyroidism and don't need it. In that case, you will likely have symptoms associated with too much thyroid hormone (or hyperthyroidism). These symptoms may include insomnia, anxiousness, diarrhea, and heat intolerance.
Alternate day dosing schedule may be plausible because practitioners generally recommend giving doubled dose of thyroxine next day in case of a missed dose. Daily life-long administration may be quite burdensome for some families and can lead to non-adherence to therapy (11).
Levothyroxine levels in the body start to drop significantly after about 6 or 7 days, so you'll likely notice symptoms of hypothyroidism if you miss a week or more of the medication. If you're taking a form of thyroid hormone that doesn't last in the body as long, the symptoms will be even more noticeable.
As of 2022, Australia now has four brands of Levothyroxine replacement hormone available for prescription; Oroxine, Eutroxsig, Eltroxin & Levoxine.
February 2022 sees two additional levothyroxine medicines introduced to the PBS: levothyroxine Eltroxin 125 micrograms (µg) tablet: new item listing.
Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc. is initiating a market withdrawal of lot L001323, Expiry July 2022, of Levothyroxine Sodium Tablets USP, 137mcg (0.137mg) to the retail level.
This is especially true in patients with heart failure. While levothyroxine replacement may improve heart failure, it is possible that in this group it could have harmful effects, especially if the levothyroxine dose is too high.
Athletes may abuse levothyroxine as a performance-enhancer, but sometimes, others abuse it to lose weight. Stimulants like Adderall and cocaine have been abused for this reason, and they are more commonly found as drugs of abuse among people who have eating disorders.
When given in high doses, thyroid hormone preparations can cause mild serum enzyme elevations. In addition, standard doses of levothyroxine have been linked to rare instances of mild, immunoallergic liver injury.
Skipping a Dose
If you miss your dose of synthetic thyroid hormone (Levothyroxine), don't panic. Supplemental T4 hormone circulates in your blood for several days, so one missed dose won't harm you.
In such case, splitting could bring about subpotency or superpotency issues which might cause harm to the patients. Levothyroxine tablet is cited as one of the drug products that could be safely split to cut the cost (14).
Permanent, or primary hypothyroidism is definitely treatable. Many doctors believe it can never be reversed. However, I disagree. Despite its name, the most common cause of “permanent hypothyroidism”, Hashimoto's disease (responsible for 90% of cases) can be reversed — and effectively cured.
ANSWER: For mild cases of hypothyroidism, not all patients need treatment. Occasionally, the condition may resolve without treatment. Follow-up appointments are important to monitor hypothyroidism over time, however. If hypothyroidism doesn't go away on its own within several months, then treatment is necessary.