Congrates on the remission, how long is she gonna wait before she test you again. This is great!!!

right before my appt on 12/6 unless I start feeling bad and then I can do it early

I have been in remission now for almost 4 years now. Its really important that your gradually stop taking your ATD rather than just stop taking them. I cant remember what doses you are on but the goal is to reduce to the smallest amount daily and then even skip a day or so before stopping. If you quit cold turkey you could yo yo into hyper again. If you have reduced slowly already then just ignore what I said. Good luck with this ann...I am so enjoying my remission. I always say...I must have had angels sitting on my shoulders when I found this site and group of people. Thanks to them I still have my thyroid and it has been working normally now for a little over a year...Big Hugs...Kathy

Yes, I agree with Kathy. If you are taking a real small amount it's okay to stop . I went down to 1.25 every other day, then stopped. I went into remission and have been (from Graves) for almost 16 months.

I am taking 2 1/2 in the am and in the pm. So I think I should be ok. I am hoping to get my results in the mail by Monday so I can post them and see what you all think. ALL of you have been awesome to me and to everyone on here asking questions.

Is this 5 mg total? If so, it is wise to get down as low as 1.25 mg per day before quitting cold turkey. We've seen too many people who have quit at higher amounts and had rebounded hypER.

{{{hugs}}}

not sure what to do, I only have a few pills left, I could try to break them in half and see what happens

Going hypo on 5 mg per day means the dose is too high.

Stopping the MMI prematurely only undoes all the time invested up to this point.

Most go to 2.5 a day.. then 1.25 a day..then 1.25 every other day, then 1.25 every third day.
Then they check their antibodies to see if they have dropped sufficiently.

If you choose to stop cold turkey..and you do go hyper again, it is so important to understand this is not a drug failure or a failure on your part. It is a problem with not being treated correctly..and you can start meds again and get back on track.

I just think testing remission by stopping meds is disrespectful of the patient, when proper testing avoids such trauma.

I've got my fingers crossed the doctor did test your antibody levels.
But even then, weaning off MMI slowly can still have a big positive affect.

Hi Ann,

It seems we were typing at the same time, so I missed the fact that your running out of pills.

Admittedly we have not been stressing the importance of a stash recently. Patients on any kind of medication, and more importantly Graves' patients on ATDs should always have some extra pills around, just for moments like this. One never knows what's going to come up. Trouble here is tomorrow is Friday and you could potentially run out over the weekend, so if I were you I would be on the phone now.

I think it is a more than reasonable request to get a refill ( first check your pill bottle..any refills left? ), as you are more comfortable coming down of the drug slowly, rather that cold turkey. I can't imagine a good doctor refusing such a request.

A stash of pills is so important. It's easiest to get ahead on the pill count when we are first diagnosed and on high doses. Just refill ahead of time, and use the older pills first. Like a store clerk properly restocking shelves.. older in front, newer in back. LOL

You can do this , I have no doubt. I'm so happy your doing so well and needing much less medication ! Yes.. the times right before dose reductions are the pits.. but the big picture looks good here.
Keep up the good work. :)

Yes, Pam is right. One thing about anti thyroid pills, they usually give you TOO much so it's very easy to have a lot left. I always did. Yes, I would definitely work down to 2.5 then 1.25.

if no refills left, please ask doctor for refills on smaller pill sizes. Tell her you'd like to take of the 5 mg you were on. Make sure to cut those into 1.25 mg for in the AM, 1.25 mg for in the PM. Then retest labs a month later and see if it's time to do another dose change to 1.25 mg per day.

Remember...slow and steady wins the race here.

{{{hugs}}}

Stash.. stash.. we need to remember to tell people that.

Let me tell you about my stash. Did you know I still have about 350 PTU pills left ? LOL

It cost me about the same to buy two 100 count bottles separately as it took to drive about an hour, and buy 500 pills. So I always waited till I was going that direction, and bought the big order. The last time I did that' I thought I was probably going to have bunches left over. But maybe not... Then at the same time I got to know a little homeless girl on PTU. She was one of our very best students. She took her dose on time, got her labs, got her copies of the labs, and made it to the library, and computer access each Saturday morning to talk.

She was amazing. One of those people you just know are going to do well, no matter what the situation. We got to know her over some time, so when I couldn't decide on how many PTU bottles to buy that day.. I went ahead an got the full amount. I figured if she got in a bind, illegal or not, I would meet up with her. She was close by. I know the face to face meetings I've had with other group members has always been able to confirm what we thought was going on.

Anyway.. come to find out.. neither of us ever needed those last 350 tablets. And that's all good. :)

Pam....are they still good. I've got a stash myself but they are 3 years old. I get a sense of security knowing they're there but not sure if they would work if I needed them to...lol...weird eh! Big Hugs..Kathy

Kathy,

Lol.. only 3 years old ? Probably just fine. This is one other advantage of PTU over MMI.. the shelf life seems more stable than anything I've ever heard of. The best example I remember was a guy named swimmer ron. He got in a spot where he had to use pills about 3 years old, and his labs came out perfect. Go figure.

I always think of him becasue he was one of those group members you talk to several times a week, good times and bad times, over the years. We knew his story, his labs and his dose.. all along. He never exaggerated or got into the drama. Just a fellow we could trust.

While MMI can last a bit, some that are sensitive to it and notice small changes , felt it did age, and older MMI allowed their FT4 to climb a bit. These were people on long term, one steady dose MMI. They found being consistent in getting fresh scrips, using the older, saving the fresh, worked best. Same thing with making sure the manufacture is always the same.

I know what you mean about the security blanket. I felt the same way. Even more so with my little bottles of anti-thyroid herbal tinctures. Carried one in my right front pants pocket for a very long time. It was one of those " Never leave home without it" things.
Gosh.. the silly things that can reduce stress huh ? It worked is all that matters though.

Yup, I still have some "Meth" stashed too..LOL!