Hypothyroid meds?

Question

I have congenital hypothyroidism.I take meds daily.What will happen if i stop taking the medicine? How long would it take for me to become seriously ill?

Answer 1

this is a bad idea for obvious reasons. it's tough to say exactly what would happen, as i'm not sure how functional your existing thyroid gland actually is. the meds tell your body to stop producing (in the brain) a hormone called TSH, which stimulates the thyroid to make T3 + T4, the thyroid hormones. Without the meds, your brain (pituitary) will begin making TSH and your endogenous thyroid might start making some hormones. Probably not much, but i don't know without seeing your labs and history. The second thing is that T3/T4 have a half-life of 120 days. Thus it would be more than half a year before all the exogenous hormones were gone. I imagine it would be a slow descent in hypothyroidism: lethargy, bradycardia, cold intolerance, depression, constipation, weight gain. Basically, it would be no fun!