General Medicine

» dana65 - Maintenance Dosage of Tapazole

Hi Elaine . . . Is a maintenance dose of Tapazole usually 2.5 mg or 1.25 mg? And if a doctor wants to take you off the medication once your labs are normal, should one ask to continue a maintenance dose for a longer period of time? (I seem to recall you mentioning once that those on medication for at least a year have a higher rate of permanent remission. Can you reference an article showing that result)?
Actually, when the doctor is ready to take me off, I'd like to stay on and return to a more normal diet to see if that has any impact. (I especially want to do that because the doctor seems to not put much credence into following a low-iodine diet.) Any thoughts on that?
To catch you up: I've been on Tapazol for four months now (10 mg for 6 wks, 5 mg for 6 wks, and 2.5 mg after that.) My labs were completely normal when the dosage was reduced to 2.5. I was due for another appointment 6 weeks after that but couldn't make it so must now wait another 4 weeks to be seen. When I asked if I could reduce the dosage to 1.25, the doctor said, "Yes," but now I'm wondering if I should do that or not. My only symptom at this point is hair loss (which could also happen if I'm hypothyroid, right?).
Thanks for your time, as always.
Dana

-- posted by dana65