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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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How Effective Is Eltroxin In Treatinh Abnormal Thyroid?

Hi there, I have recently been diagnosed with an underactive thyroid. I'm currently using Eltroxin for this. I have two questions:
1. How long will it take before the Elxtroxin starts taking effect? I've been using it for 1 week now but don't feel any difference as yet.
2. I've read that Eltroxin is not an ideal drug for this, as a) the blood tests done to test your thyroid only measures one of the hormones/chemical substances in your thyroid instead of the whole spectrum and b) Elxtroxin only addresses this single shortage and not the whole range of shortages in the thyroid. Is this true? It sounds a bit weird to me...
Thanks!
posted on Thu, 13 Mar 2014
Twitter Tue, 15 Nov 2016 Answered on
Twitter Tue, 15 Nov 2016 Last reviewed on
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's  Response
Hello there. For your first question, the clinical effects of Eltroxin are slow to appear. You may not experience full relief of the symptoms until 3-6 months after normal levels of thyroid hormones are restored.
Second, if your thyroid is underfunctioning, it means that you are not producing enough hormones for your body. And Levothyroxine, which is Eltroxin, is an active thyroid hormone which acts as a replacement for your thyroid hormones. There are no other drugs used for Hypothyroidism. And if you are hypothyroid, you only need to measure the TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) for diagnosis and for monitoring if the drug your taking is already adequate. Eltroxin only addresses hypothyroidism. If there is an excess of hormones, hyperthyroidism, the treatment would be different.
Hope this helps.
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How Effective Is Eltroxin In Treatinh Abnormal Thyroid?

Hello there. For your first question, the clinical effects of Eltroxin are slow to appear. You may not experience full relief of the symptoms until 3-6 months after normal levels of thyroid hormones are restored. Second, if your thyroid is underfunctioning, it means that you are not producing enough hormones for your body. And Levothyroxine, which is Eltroxin, is an active thyroid hormone which acts as a replacement for your thyroid hormones. There are no other drugs used for Hypothyroidism. And if you are hypothyroid, you only need to measure the TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) for diagnosis and for monitoring if the drug your taking is already adequate. Eltroxin only addresses hypothyroidism. If there is an excess of hormones, hyperthyroidism, the treatment would be different. Hope this helps.