How long does 50mcg take to leave your System ? Side affects from medicine

I've been fortunate to have no side effects. My doctor took me off mine once and said it would take about 2-3 weeks to get out of my system. I too am on 50mcg. I am sure the meds can cause several side effects but so can your thyroid. I would talk to your doctor before coming off as if you have a thyroid disorder, it can cause several problems for you. Let them know of your side effects and see what they advise. Hope you feel better soon.

Hello Hlxxxx, it took months for the levo to fully get out of my system, but I was on 200mcg for nearly three years. I felt as if the bulk of it was out after three months. This was the worst if it, as I could smell the chemical detox as it came out. After 6 months, much better, now it's a year and I'm still improving. I can totally understand the horrible side effects. I had extremely bad side effects and the medication didn't work for me at any dose. Synthroid was the worst as far as side effects, as it contains additives that trigger the immune system. I tried compounded for several years, But it never really worked and my thyroid disease worsened dramatically, as shown by a massive increase in thyroid cysts. With the compounded, the side effects were less, but really, it didn't work at any dose.  My feeling is that if it doesn't work initially, it won't improve enough to be effective.

You might try NDT, Armour, if your thyroid disease is mild. Also, OTC ThyroGold is excellent, and is the closest biologically to human thyroxins. American Biologics makes a fairly good product as well. Just some things to try.

None of the thyroid meds are truly bio identical, so you'll have a tough time with the thyroid meds no matter what.

Also, since you're on a low dose, you may be able to reverse the thyroid disease with diet and nutrition. Time consuming but worthwhile.

Do read through the many posts here, especially, "unacceptable side effects of levothyroxin", as you'll find that others have had similar experiences, and are supportive and offer many excellent bits of advice.

Hope that's helpful.

Catherine

I was on 100. My sidecwffects stopped after 24 hours . And returned in 2 hours . I know that's not meant to be the case . They say 6 weeks

I was on levo for approx 7mths and stopped due to so many side effects. My dr I've just seen today (5mths after stopping levo) and she says that the meds may be out of my system by now but my body still need a few more months to adjust.

I'd think that the meds would be out of your system but it's also important to help your body function. If you are borderline hypo there are so many supplements that you can take to help boost your thyroid system. I'm currently on Actyr and find it's a huge help.

If you have any of the typical symptoms of hypothyroid like hair falling out, dull skin, weight gain, etc. and you are taking levothyroxine, I would say that it's not working for you unless you want to gain weight, etc. (e.g., you were hyperthyroid before taking it). That happened to me too and I stopped taking it and then I felt fine, my hair stopped falling out, I went back to my usual weight (which was less) and my skin returned to normal. For some people, levothyroxine (T4) does not convert to T3, which is the only thyroid hormone that is active/that your body recognizes. It could be converting to Reverse T3 because they do occupy the same receptors in your body. But, I am not a doctor. I just investigated and read a lot about my thyroid and took a biology class and ended up learning a lot. Doctors just assume that levothyroxine (T4) will convert to T3, but it doesn't always. I tried an over-the-counter thyroid supplement that had iodine, l-tyrosine, guggul extract, ashwaganda, and manganese and maybe a few other things. It's supposed to help your body convert T4 to T3. It helped me. I got it at a supplement store. I personally think we take too many supplements that we don't need, but this one actually helped me. It's the only think I take besides Vitamin D and Fish Oil because I live in the North and we don't get very much sun here.

Anyway, I hope this helps someone.

I too had horrible side effects from the levothyroxine (50mcg), aching all over, joint pain, brain fuzz, vision problems, weight gain. Complaints to my endocrinologist fell on deaf ears. So many people suffer from severe side effects from this drug, which, according to some webpages, is the most prescribed drug in the US. Why is there not a better solution for us? Endocrinologists hand this stuff out like its candy and recent peer reviewed journal papers suggest thyroid hormones cause insulin resistance which would explain why type 2 diabetes is at epidemic levels. Instead of actually addressing the thyroid problem(s) folks have, endocrinologists look at two things, free T4 and TSH blood levels and feed you levothyroxine until the levels of these two fall within some range someone dreamed up years ago. I stopped taking the levothyroxine a bit more then three weeks ago and I have not felt this good in three years ( the length of time I have been on this drug). How do we get the medical industry to respond to our needs?