Prescribing Thyroxine in Primary Care course for GPs

This session will discuss the initiation of thyroxine for the management of primary and secondary thyroid failure, together with appropriate recommendations for monitoring stable patients.

This session was reviewed by Khyati Bakhai and last updated in July 2019.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Compare the common causes of hypothyroidism and their clinical presentation
• Describe how to start thyroxine in newly diagnosed patients, including initial dosing strategies
• Describe the frequency with which thyroid functions need to be monitored during follow up
• Explain the common issues around concordance with thyroxine

In a newly diagnosed patient with confirmed hypothyroidism, initiation of thyroxine therapy is required with subsequent tailoring of the dose to restore thyroid function tests to normal.