Hi Moose72. I have heard of someone whose thyroid recovered after getting off of Lithium, but I believe they got off of it very quickly after discovering very mild thyroid issues.

I developed hypothyroidism very early on in my Lithium treatment. At that time I had been taking a rather high therapeutic dose for me at 1,200 mg per day. A psychiatrist did take me off Lithium for that and maybe another reason. Once off, my TSH level stayed the same. I'm not sure, but I think my T3/T4 levels normalized. I was taking maybe 50 or 75 mcg Synthroid at the time. My dose was kept the same for at least 3 years until another psychiatrist put me back on Lithium. He said that patients can take Lithium while being treated with Synthroid.

I was on a low/moderate therapeutic level of Lithium (for me) for about 5 or 5.5 years before being taken off of it again, slowly. By that point my TSH levels had worsened so my Synthroid dose went up. When I went off Lithium (for kidney reasons) my Synthroid dose was 150 mcg. It's been 3+ years off Lithium and I still take 150 mcg. With that dose my thyroid blood work is fine. It's not improving in any way to reduce my Synthroid. I will take Synthroid forever. It's not a big deal, though. The pill is small and cheap and gives me zero side effects.

My maternal grandmother had hypothyroidism. I'm not 100% sure if that might have been a factor for me, however, I didn't have it before Lithium.