Hypothyroidism & Joining Military

Don't just stop taking your medication without speaking to a Dr first. I did years ago and I couldn't even walk in a straight line I was so exhausted and had an array of major symptoms that I had to take weeks off work. If you have hashimotos then it is sometimes possible to reduce medication with diet, but not always and this takes time. Be very careful about changing your medication if you're feeling good now as it can produce awful symptoms. Good luck with it all I hope you get accepted

Hello Michelle, stopping levothyroxin cold turkey is extremely hard on the body. Pretty much changing the dose in large quantities up or down is hard on the body. You might consider using an otc glandular such as ThyroGold, to ease the transition.

How advanced is your thyroid disease? What sort of symptoms do you experience? If you decide to try the military, you really should give yourself at least six months without meds to see you you do. You certainly don’t want to put yourself on a military situation with hypothyroid induced brain fog and other symptoms that impede your ability to function.

Consider, even if you’re able to get off levothyroxin, you still need to do something to treat your thyroid disease. It doesn’t just go away. Treating it naturally is time consuming and requires dietary constraints as well as frequent visits to holistic practitioners. 

Another thing to consider is the sort of stress military training would put on your body. Patients with hypothyroid disease often have adrenal dysfunction, gut problems and other related health issues.  Stressful conditions can actually worsen thyroid disease and related health problems.

I don’t mean to rain on your parade but you’ll want to really think this through carefully, as you’ll need to be. Lear on the consequences if your hypothyroudcdisease is out of control while in a military setting and how that would play out. 

Do not stop taking your levothyroxie, I too have hypothyroidism and is currently in the process of enlisting in the army. You’re right about the regulation that if your condition is controlled by medication it does meet the standard, as long as you have two regular thyroid stimulating hormone test at least 6 weeks apart within the last 6 months.

 If you’re still considering enlisting, it will be a process, get all of your medical records from the last 5 years (to date) and have all the necessary docs for enlisting (birth certificate, social security card, high school diploma or ged certificate). Along with those medical records it would be very smart to have your current doctor/endocrinologist write a letter saying that you are stable on your medication and that you have no physical abilities limitations and another letter stating what the medication is, what it is being used to be treated for and what is your dosage.

That being done take it to a recruiter and show them that you’re stable and under control with the medication. They will most likely say “not allowed or doesn’t meet the requirements”, I would highly advise going online and printing out the regulation. The regulation is DoDI 6130.03. Look in the table of contents for ‘endocrine and metabolic’ then find the regulation. Show the recruiter that you know your stuff, do not let them push you away because they don’t know medical, but do not be rude about it either. It will be a process and will be very stressful just do not stop taking your medication.