# How long does it take to feel the effects of medication?



## tiredgirl (Jul 26, 2011)

Since i haven't been able to get a doctor to listen to me so far, i started taking some Levoxyl that i got from a family member. How long does it take to know whether or not it is helping?

I have been taking it a week and i feel a little different, actually got some things accomplished yesterday besides sleep. I am taking 50 a day. I also stopped taking the Nuvigil that was perscribed after i did a sleep study trying to figure out why i was tired all the time because i read depression was a side effect. I don't think i am depressed. I have a wonderful husband, two great kids, and i am a stay at home mom. I just want to feel like participating in life. With a 16 and 12 year old they will be grown and gone before i know it. My husband bought me a 2010 camaro for my 40th birthday last year and i don't even feel like washing it and driving it and it is a very fun car to drive. Maybe it is a good thing i feel bad, don't need any more tickets! lol

I am so grateful to have found this forum and to know there are others out there that understand what i am going through. The doctors i have seen just want to call you crazy and give you antidepressants.

Blessing to all of you!!:hugs:


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

tiredgirl said:


> Since i haven't been able to get a doctor to listen to me so far, i started taking some Levoxyl that i got from a family member. How long does it take to know whether or not it is helping?
> 
> I have been taking it a week and i feel a little different, actually got some things accomplished yesterday besides sleep. I am taking 50 a day. I also stopped taking the Nuvigil that was perscribed after i did a sleep study trying to figure out why i was tired all the time because i read depression was a side effect. I don't think i am depressed. I have a wonderful husband, two great kids, and i am a stay at home mom. I just want to feel like participating in life. With a 16 and 12 year old they will be grown and gone before i know it. My husband bought me a 2010 camaro for my 40th birthday last year and i don't even feel like washing it and driving it and it is a very fun car to drive. Maybe it is a good thing i feel bad, don't need any more tickets! lol
> 
> ...


That is very interesting that you have done that and that you are feeling better. Expected, of course because you are in dire need.

What to do, what to do? This family member; who is his/her doctor and can you see that doctor?

What do you foresee in your future re all this? At some point, you won't be able to get the Levoxyl from the family member, correct? That will be a bad scenario to the maximum degree.

Do you have a lab where you can go get your own labs? I never advocate that one plays doctor on one's self but I have to say that I and many others have been where you are at with no help on the horizon.

We all have an innate survival instinct. Just be careful; okay!


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

tiredgirl, you posted this in another thread a few days ago...



tiredgirl said:


> I have gotten my family doctor to refer me to a new doctor that treats the symtoms and not just by lab work. May take awhile to get in. In the mean time i am going to have some other labs run and see what they come up with, make a list of all my symtoms and hopefully get someone to help me.


It's great that you'll be seeing a different doctor! BUT, by taking the Levoxyl, you're going to skew future lab results, and that concerns me. I totally understand your desperation, and I certainly hope the new doctor is a better listener and takes a more holistic view of your health.

I've heard radio ads for Nuvigil, and based on those ads (and the warnings contained therein), I'm shocked that the FDA would approve such a drug, let alone that any doctor would prescribe it. The ads I've heard say it's for "shift work disorder," not depression. (I suspect the term/diagnosis of "shift work disorder" was created in order establish a market for this drug.) Good for you for stopping taking it!


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## bigfoot (May 13, 2011)

You're likely to feel the effects of taking the Levoxyl within a week or two. It takes 3-4 weeks for the medication to really start to peak, and a full 6-8 weeks before it's doing everything it possibly could at a given dose. As a lot of folks here can tell you, there will be some ups and downs. Some days might feel like one step forwards and two steps back.

That being said, I'd be _extremely_ careful. You are taking a medication that was not prescribed to you. Your health is on the line, as is any future rapport with your doc.

:anim_32:


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## wuselino1412 (Dec 24, 2010)

i am on 75micrograms levothyroxyl and i lost a lot of weight since i started taking it in april 2010. BUT that is the only good effect i have from it. Anything else is still the same. So i dont think you will feel any better in the long run especially since its not even the right medication for your blood results.


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

tiredgirl,

Taking other people's medication is not a good idea no matter how poorly you feel.

Did you have any thyroid function tests before beginning?

Are you aware you can order lab tests online without a doctors prescription? HealthcheckUSA.com is a very reasonable place to order tests and they send the results directly to you.

The tests you need run are a free T-4 and a free T-3.

A good habit to get into is asking your doctors to give you copies of the lab results when they run them.


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