Thyroxin

[moira]

If I, as a healthy person, took one of my mother's 100microgram Thyroxin pills, would I lose weight - and would it harm me?

[incitatus]

It would be very dangerous. You might lose weight but would be at risk from high blood pressure, aneurysm, stroke, heart attack, brain damage, kidney failure and detached retinas. If you think you have an underactive thyroid see a doctor. If you wish to lose weight eat less and exercise more.

[moira]

Thanks, incitatus; I'd guessed that all of that (apart from the retinas) would happen if you took a whole bunch of them, because I know they speed up the metabolism. I'm not actually overweight to any significant degree, but I just idly wondered what one would do. Are slimming pills thyroxin-based? And are you a doctor?

[incitatus]

I have a doctorate but not in medicine. It is in a related subject, though, so I have some knowledge of biochemical pathways. The thing is that even a low dose on top of what your body already produces could have a very dramatic effect. Thyroxine is a very potent hormone, and what is more individual sensitivity to it varies. Thyroid patients often require long periods of dose adjustment to eliminate side effects. All this means that it is well within the bounds of possibility that one pill could finish you off, if you were unlucky. It would certainly have side effects beyond weightloss.