Posted by Noa on February 26, 2001, at 7:31:29
In reply to Thyroid Question for Noa (and anyone else), posted by Pandora on February 25, 2001, at 20:42:31
Offhand, I don't really remember how long it took for me to see any result when I first started on thyroid hormones, but I *think* it was noticeable pretty early on, like within a few weeks.
But for a few years, that level of treatment was insufficient. Finally, when my thyroid meds were raised last spring, I noticed improvement within a month, but the improvement continued for many months after that. I would say that I didn't feel well until my TSH was less than 1. Once it was down that low, I started to feel better, and in the months that followed, kept on noticing improvement.Acc. to my endocrinologist, some people benefit from raising the dose slightly, waiting about 6 weeks to see if there is any improvement in symptoms, and if not, raising it slightly again, until no further benefit is noticed, and then dropping back to the last dose at which benefit was added. This works, if you have a doctor who will tolerate the possibility that your TSH will go very low.
BTW, if your TSH test shows improvement with the synthroid, but your mood doesn't improve at all, ask your doc about cytomel (T3). For some people, the conversion from T4 to T3 is deficient, and also, there is discussion of T3 as an augmentor to ADs on Psychopharmocology Tips. One thing my pdoc didn't know about Cytomel, tho, was that it needs to be taken in a split dose, because it has a short action.
I will try to see if I can come up with old posts that might say more about how long it takes to start working.
Good luck.
poster:Noa
thread:54825
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010221/msgs/54863.html