How Synthroid Works

Synthroid adds back a specific thyroid hormone your body needs

Synthroid is a type of thyroid medicine called levothyroxine sodium. It works just like the thyroxine your body makes naturally. Synthroid is carried through your blood and absorbed by cells in your body.

Synthroid comes in 12 different strengths so your doctor
can choose the exact dose that is right for you

Each person with hypothyroidism is different, and the amount of medicine needed to help balance his/her thyroxine level may vary. Careful dosing and consistent treatment taken every day for life can help manage the symptoms of hypothyroidism. If your hypothyroidism is not treated, it may get worse.

It may take several weeks for you to feel that Synthroid is working

Your hypothyroid symptoms should improve within several weeks after starting on Synthroid. If these symptoms do not improve, if they get worse, or if you develop new ones, your doctor may have to adjust your dose of Synthroid.

As with any thyroid medicine, it may take several weeks
to find the dose of Synthroid that is right for you

Any time your dose is changed, your doctor will do a follow-up TSH test to check your thyroxine level. Once the doctor finds the dose that helps keep your thyroxine in balance, you will probably need to have TSH tests every 6 to 12 months. This is because the precise amount of thyroxine your body needs may change over your lifetime.

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