How fast does thyroid hormone leave the body?
July 12, 2013 2:50 PM Subscribe
I realize this is a rather complex question, because there are a lot of variables. IANAD or chemist or any kind of degreed medical professional. But I've had thyroid disease (hashimoto's) for 17 years now, and have done a lot of experimenting with the different types of hormones, synthetic, +t3, Armour. I know from experience that in general it's way faster to lose it by decreasing dosages, to get to a lower circulating amount, than to have to increase it to effect what's circulating in the blood.
But roughly how fast?
For example, that this week, the doc says "we need to change your dose, your bloodwork is too high". She's going to reduce my dose of Armour by 15mg. There must be an approximate amount of time we could guesstimate it would take for all my stuff to lower down to the new amount we want circulating. I have no clue what that would be. Yeah yeah, every doc says "let's change thyroid hormone variable X and test in 3 to 6 weeks", and I'm sure using Armour vs. synthroid/levoxyl is different, but I'm positive that it's faster to lose it than to shove it in there, sooooooo......
legit approximations?
thx mefiters!
For example, that this week, the doc says "we need to change your dose, your bloodwork is too high". She's going to reduce my dose of Armour by 15mg. There must be an approximate amount of time we could guesstimate it would take for all my stuff to lower down to the new amount we want circulating. I have no clue what that would be. Yeah yeah, every doc says "let's change thyroid hormone variable X and test in 3 to 6 weeks", and I'm sure using Armour vs. synthroid/levoxyl is different, but I'm positive that it's faster to lose it than to shove it in there, sooooooo......
legit approximations?
thx mefiters!
As well as measuring fT4 and fT3, your doctor is almost certainly measuring Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) - this is produced from your pituitary gland in response to the circulating thyroid hormones. It's a very useful indicator of whether the the dose you're on is right for you. However one of the reasons it's useful is that it's quite stable and doesn't fluctuate as quickly as fT4 and fT3. It can take 6 weeks to fully respond to changes in dose and this is probably why the suggested interval is 3 - 6 weeks every time.
posted by *becca* at 3:07 AM on July 13, 2013
posted by *becca* at 3:07 AM on July 13, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by reformedjerk at 3:08 PM on July 12, 2013