Expert: Karen Brawner - 3/10/2004

Question
Thank you for your help!. Due to cancer I had a total thyroidectomy three years ago. I have been cleared of the cancer and now would like to know what would happen if I stopped my synthroid meds. What would happen potentially short term and long term? Would i simply be irritable or could it cause serious damge somehow?
Thanks again!
DJ

Answer
Dear Dave,   DO NOT under any circumstances STOP taking your thyroid medication.....  It is the thyroid that controls the body's metabolism and when the improper amount of thyroid hormones are not produced it can cause MAJOR problems to your health in the long run as well as the short term....

The thyroid is simply ONE of MANY Endocrine glands that MUST function TOGETHER inorder for the body to work like it should....  Since you do not have a thyroid gland to produce it's own thyroid hormones, then you HAVE to take the medication for life.....  Just like myself, this is something or many things we have to do inorder to try to live as normal a life as possible....

The thyroid gland OR in your case synthetic thyroid hormones help control blood sugar, cholesterol, overall metabolism etc....  SO you must take it....

Here is just one of many web sites that will tell you EVERYTHING that thyroid hormones do and what a normal thyroid is suppose to do....  It will also explain why THYROID MEDICATION is a MUST for those with no thyroid or only half a thyroid like myself....

www.downwinders.com/health.htm

Thank you,    karen