How long does it take synthroid to work?

[Alyssa57]

I had a thyroidectomy about 5 weeks ago and they gave me 88mcg of synthroid to start off with. I had a blood test 4 days ago and my results came up too low so they increased my dose to 100mcg. When I was on the 88mcg, I felt fine except my mom says my attitude was really bad. Now that I am on 100mcg, I am less sassy, but I am extremely tired. Is this because I am still adjusting to the medication? How long will it take for me to be back to normal? Is this increase to 100mcg a lot?

[AJWS6]

Hi friend, I had TT nearly 3 yrs ago.  Recovery time, med adjustments are different for everyone.  From my experience, took approx 6 months to a year for my body to return to activities.  Alot of bouncing up/down for a year, between 200/225, then 200/175. Then 2nd year 150/175 now my optimal dose is 162, going on 3rd year.    

My surgery was 7 hrs, so took my body several weeks to re-establish energy/stamina.    

While your adjusting, do your best to be patient.  Keep notes/journals of your progress to share with pcp/endo.  Make sure physician test FT3/FT4, lot's of physicians forget TT patients have half a thyroid or no thyroid, only test TSH.  Wishing you well.    

  

[Barb135]

It takes 4-6 weeks for a med change to reach full potential in your blood, then after that, it can take another few weeks or even a couple months for your body to get well.  

While I don't condone sassiness and talking teenagers talking back to their parents, ask your mom to be patient and understand that the thyroid controls quite a few body processes, so without it, your entire body has to readjust and get used to the medication.  It can take some time to tweak the dosage so it's it's just right for you.

Tiredness can be a symptom of either, too much or too little medication.  Is that the only symptom you have?  

Do you have a copy of your labs that you could post so we can see what they were?  That would help us determine how low they were and how long it might take you to feel better.   Be sure to post reference ranges for the results, because ranges vary lab to lab and have to come from your own report.  If your doctor didn't give you a copy, you should ask for one each time you get labs done and keep them, so you can see what results are when you feel well and when you feel bad.  Then you'll know what dose is best for you.