hypo for life?

[oldie]

does a medically damaged thyroid return to normal when treatment brings is back to normal or is the  damage permanent? I was given amiodarone for 15 months without checks. TSH rose to 38.78. Brought down to normal with levothyroxine in three months. but I've since been kept on the pill even though results are normal. Can my thyroid have been damaged for life? How is that fact diagnosed if tests have been normal for four years.?

[Red_Star]

"If stopping amiodarone is considered appropriate (possibly because of a lack of beneficial effect on the underlying arrhythmia), then spontaneous remission of hypothyroidism often occurs within 3–4 months in patients without underlying Hashimoto's disease, while those with underlying thyroid disease usually require T4 [Weetman, 1997; Martino et al. 1987b]." - Medscape - Management of Amiodarone-related Thyroid problems.

[Barb135]

Hi oldie; how's it going?  Haven't seen you in a while.

If your thyroid has actually been damaged, it won't repair itself.  If you're still on the levo, that's what would be keeping your levels in the normal range.

About the only thing you could do, would be to go off the med for a couple of months and see what happens to your thyroid levels.  Don't go only by TSH, though; be sure to get the Free T3 and Free T4 tests as well.  

While it would take several weeks for all the med to leave your system, you'd probably start feeling pretty cruddy within a couple weeks.

I don't recommend doing this and you certainly shouldn't do it without your doctor's blessing.