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Diagnosed With Hypo Thyriod. On Thyroid Medicine. How Long Should I Continue This Medicine?
Question: My mensturation cycle has become once in two months and diagnosed with Hypo thyriod. Last year i have been diagnosed with the thyriod. At the begining of this year i had a blood test to check tehe thyriod levels and my family doctor reduced the medication from 100 mg to 75mg. when i started taking 75mg i was not feeling hungry and so medication changed to 100mg back.
I am contoniously taking 100mg medication and iam not sure
how periodically i should consult doctor for thyroid checkup
how long i need to take this medication
what are the symptoms of recovery of this thyriod
I am contoniously taking 100mg medication and iam not sure
how periodically i should consult doctor for thyroid checkup
how long i need to take this medication
what are the symptoms of recovery of this thyriod
Hi,
Thanks for writing in. What you have is hypothyroidism where there is decreased production of thyroid hormone from the thyroid gland. What you have been asked to take is this very hormone. With a few exceptions when you develop hypothyroidism, the dysfunction of the gland is permanent so you need to keep taking the thyroid hormone essentially all your life.
Regarding the testing for thyroid hormone
We test for TSH to assess if the dose of thyroid hormone we are giving you is the ideal one, usually the dose varies from person to person and we need to do this by trial and error. Usually wait for 6 weeks at least on the same dose and then check the TSH. Once the TSH becomes normal 0.5-4 IU/l we continue the same dose. Once the correct dose has been identified for you need to do the TSH test only once in 6m or a year. After a few years of stable doses you may check the TSH once in three years also , provided you are taking the dose daily.
In the interim period if you develop some symptoms of hypothyroidism like tiredness, weight gain, edema etc we tend to do an out of turn test.
Pregnancy is a condition where we monitor TSH frequently once a month initially because we want a tighter control and want to be sure that we XXXXXXX the pregnancy related increased demand for thyroid hormone in the body
Hope that answers your query
Regards
Anantharaman
Thanks for writing in. What you have is hypothyroidism where there is decreased production of thyroid hormone from the thyroid gland. What you have been asked to take is this very hormone. With a few exceptions when you develop hypothyroidism, the dysfunction of the gland is permanent so you need to keep taking the thyroid hormone essentially all your life.
Regarding the testing for thyroid hormone
We test for TSH to assess if the dose of thyroid hormone we are giving you is the ideal one, usually the dose varies from person to person and we need to do this by trial and error. Usually wait for 6 weeks at least on the same dose and then check the TSH. Once the TSH becomes normal 0.5-4 IU/l we continue the same dose. Once the correct dose has been identified for you need to do the TSH test only once in 6m or a year. After a few years of stable doses you may check the TSH once in three years also , provided you are taking the dose daily.
In the interim period if you develop some symptoms of hypothyroidism like tiredness, weight gain, edema etc we tend to do an out of turn test.
Pregnancy is a condition where we monitor TSH frequently once a month initially because we want a tighter control and want to be sure that we XXXXXXX the pregnancy related increased demand for thyroid hormone in the body
Hope that answers your query
Regards
Anantharaman
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Aparna Kohli
Answered by
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