What happens if I quit taking levothyroxine?

[tpigg]

I was diagnosed with Graves at 27. In a years time I had a complete thyroidectamy(?). I have been taking levothyroxine ever since. What would happen to me if I just quit taking the medicine all together? I hate taking a pill everyday and sometimes to get refills for up to a week. Just curious......

[nessa425]

my story is much the same as yours my anxiety woz so bad i stopped living,but now i take pregablin within 3 days my anxiety stopped and within 2 weeks my life changed,i found a hobby and a job and my 2yr old daughter is happier too,i take 50 mcgs of levothyroxine and i do feel weirded out by an animal hormone and have been thinking of coming off it coz ive put on weight and just dont feel like me,i seem to be more boistrous which i really dont like coz before i had no aggression in me at all sometimes i feel like im on steroids?but also i dont want to get ill and before id be bedridden with pneumonia wot 5 times per year and actually i cud lay and switch off for days it woz like slipping into a coma i suppose it woz really?im just currently reading up in forums if coming off it is an option coz i dont like the way i have to take a pill fpr nausea and a pill for migraines and now anxiety and the list goes on.a friend of mine came off it now for 8 months,she says physically she feels so much better and lost a lot of weight but mentally shes very confused and nervous?wot i do hate about this disease is family and friends thinks its more hypochondria than an illness that really upsets me coz ive never been ill b4 i woz 40yrs old and now always ill if anything i keep alot of my ills back coz i dont want to be called a hypochondriach,a very confused hypothyroid sufferer?

[Barb135]

Death is a permanent solution to what is, often, a temporary situation, even when we suffer from debilitating conditions.  Depression can convince us that things are worse than they really are.

Just to make sure we're talking about the same thing, is your CMT, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease or is there another disease called CMT?

[1Ammy]

A little over a year ago, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism caused by Hashimoto's disease, and goiter. I had to emergency surgery due to obstruction with breathing, eating, and swallowing. My surgery went well, I guess, except having Captain Hook who inserting the breathing tube down my throat and  tearing my throat extremely bad. I only have a very small portion of my thyroid left and currently taking 88 levothyroxine.
My situation is a little unique because at the same time I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, I was diagnosed with having severe CMT disease, which is a nerve atrophy, and is a muscular dystrophy disease.
I am curious what happens to the human body and how long death will occur. I am tired of feeling a burden to my family and society. I battle depression on a daily basis, due to my diagnoses and the severity of my disability, embarrassment to my family, which is domestic abusive, and feeling no way out, except death. Every dream and set goal have been literally flushed down the toilet. I fight everyday and feel it is better that I go sooner than cause more medical expenses for my family. I have asked my doctors how long without my meds, they say about one week, which I don't believe at all. So how long can one go without medication and how long does it take for the human body to shut down? There are so many misleading posts, I guess it depends on each individual. I rather die a quicker death than a long painful one, either way I am already dead in spirit.  

[mamajw]

I was at a nineteen but now I am at over five hundred and have every bad symptom possible, super sick and feel like I'm slowly dying I am so bad at taking my pills and was on 1.25 levothyroxine but missed tons of days plus I feel way worse when I take them, so I never know what to do as I have 4 Lil kids and hate being sick but now I'm way sick and hate this feeling and my doctor said this is so dangerous for my levels to be so high its scary! But does anyone else feel sick off their pills?

[goolarra]

If you're hypo, and especially after thyroid cancer, thyroid meds are not an option, they are a must.  Ask your doctor about generics.  Also, ask him about prescribing twice the dosage you need and instructing you to take half per day.  I recently bought 100 tablets, which are twice my dosage and will last me 200 days (that's over 6 months) for $30.  That's less than $5 per month.  You can't afford not to do it.

Nothing naturally restores TSH levels and anything that claims to would probably cost you a lot more than $5 per month.

[afterthestorm]

I had thyroid cancer and had to have my thyroid removed two years ago.  I am on meds now, but want to stop taking them on go on something that naturally restores my TSH levels.  I recently became unemployed and now I can't afford my medication, so I am very worrried after reading all of these comments.  I am not trying to refrain to taking the medication, but I am no longer able to afford it.