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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Does Prolonged Eltroxin Intake Damage The Liver?

Good day When my son was 2 years old he suffered from constipation. We took him to his pediatrician which indicated that the reason for his constipation could potentially be as a result of a potential thyroid problem. We had blood tests done and afterwards my son s pediatrician prescribed Eltroxin. This carried on for years and every three months we had blood test done. The pediatrician either adjusted or kept the dosage the same after each blood test. About a year ago my son s pediatrician retired and my son got treated by another dr who had a look at previous blood test results and indicated that he is not sure if my son ever had a thyroid problem. Therefore the dr indicated that my son (then aged 13 years old) should stop taking the Eltroxin. Therefore it appears as if my soon took Eltroxin unnecessarily for 11 years. Can you please advise if the taking of Eltroxin could have caused any long term damage e.g . enlarged liver? Thank you for your assistance.
Wed, 2 Jan 2019
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hi,

This is a bit strange to believe that your son did not have any thyroid problem in spite of testing every three months. Because reading the tests is not a very difficult job and it can be easily understood wither there is any thyroid problem or not so I can't know how this was possible. Because if someone uses Eltroxin with normal thyroid the test would go grossly wrong in up to 2 months (suppressed TSH), not to mention for 11 years so I think there might be some misunderstanding with the new doctor.

Whatever using Eltroxin without need may cause many problems but not necessarily. If you have any concern about liver damage you can do his liver test and ultrasound to see for that but I don't think that would be the case if he is healthy.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Regards,
Dr. Mahboob Ur Rahman, General & Family Physician
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Does Prolonged Eltroxin Intake Damage The Liver?

Hi, This is a bit strange to believe that your son did not have any thyroid problem in spite of testing every three months. Because reading the tests is not a very difficult job and it can be easily understood wither there is any thyroid problem or not so I can t know how this was possible. Because if someone uses Eltroxin with normal thyroid the test would go grossly wrong in up to 2 months (suppressed TSH), not to mention for 11 years so I think there might be some misunderstanding with the new doctor. Whatever using Eltroxin without need may cause many problems but not necessarily. If you have any concern about liver damage you can do his liver test and ultrasound to see for that but I don t think that would be the case if he is healthy. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further. Regards, Dr. Mahboob Ur Rahman, General & Family Physician