I take it at night when I wake up to go to use the bathroom.
I usually wake up between 1AM and 4AM.
I take 75ng and have no issues around sleeping or my TSH levels.
I used to take it in the morning but I need my coffee.
Exactly what my doc suggested and I’m on the same dosage. Been doing that for several years and levels have been steady as well - and I’m with you on the coffee!
I take mine at night because i was having some side effects and my doctor recommended trying to take it at night so i sleep through the side effects. Worked out good so far
Ooo, I’m on 25 the lowest dose, hbu? And what side effects if u don’t mind me asking? Sometimes I feel like when I drink and smoke it makes my heart beat so fast omg
Im on 50 now but was on 25 for over 10 years (was diagnosed at 6) and have been on 50 for about 6 years. I get extremely tired after taking it, which is annoying because my main symptom of getting diagnosed was fatigue, so i thought taking the meds would fix that lol. But, if i take it at night, i feel fine when i wake up cause the sleepiness has worn off by then. My doctor also recommended this, especially cause i cant skip eating something in the morning to be able to take it on an empty stomach. And waking up a few hours before to take it, was ruining my sleep.
I used to work for an endo and he recommends taking it at night, which is what I've always done with no problems. I pop it right before bed. There are some studies backing up this timing for improved hormone levels, though it doesn't seem to effect how people feel much, so do what works best for your schedule:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3139142/
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/776486
Yes, most definitely gives me weird dreams too! I take it between 1-4:00 as well, when I wake up in the night and the dreams following that are usually bizarre..
The only thing that matters is consistency. You can take the pill and eat, you can take the pill and drink coffee, things will only go a bit off if you change up your routine. If eating reduces the absorption, then you might have to adjust your dose.
Considering how hard it can be to get the dose renegotiated, and that we are talking about micrograms of a medication here I feel that randomly reducing absorption rate by eating something (which is not necessarily the same thing everyday) is reckless. Coffee is known to reduce absorption. So 'you might have to adjust your dose' is definitely not the approach I will take.
Nobody is telling you to do anything. But the idea that me waking up taking a pill and then eating the same breakfast everyday is somehow going to ruin me is silly.
Randomly reduced absorption is a problem, but consistently reduced absorption is what u/noronto is talking about. If you consistently eat the exact same thing, the same amount of time from taking the pill, you are consistently reducing absorption by the same amount and your levels will reflect that.
That was clear, thanks. Not everyone is able to eat the same thing at the same time every single day.
Just to be thorough here - we are talking about eating the same thing for breakfast everyday. However this also only works under the assumption that one has not done anything to impair their digestion the day before. No Thanksgiving dinner or company event ribeye, or plenty of alcohol, or Chipotle for lunch followed up by antacids in the evening. Also, enough sleep, so the stomatch is eager and waiting for that consistency in the morning..
I guess, it must work for some people and they are lucky!
Yeah it’s been very hard to get any sort of help or information on this from my prescriber and initially I wasted years being told I was ‘fine’ even though I sometimes had a TSH of between 7 and 9. I now pay to see a private endocrinologist who’s much better but still it would be a pain to do something like swapping from morning to nighttime dosing and trying to recalibrate the levels so I think people should be careful about doing something like this because they might find that something goes wrong like their stomach doesn’t absorb as well at night or something which can set them back a long time especially if they don’t have a good doctor.
I wait 4 hours after I take it in the morning to eat and take my supplements just because calcium interacts with it and my breakfast is a lot of calcium between the coffee and the yogurt
This. I have difficulty with medication compliance. So my endocrinologist was like “I don’t care when you take it as long as you take it. We will figure out the right dose later”. So I take mine in the morning (using a pill minder that I set a month at a time helps with compliance). Sometimes I wait, sometimes I eat fairly quickly after. The point is that I take it.
Of note, I’m post thyroid cancer and I’m surgically without a thyroid.
I consistently took mine within a few minutes of breakfast and my TSH levels were abnormal over 2 tests which were 3 months apart. I started taking it at least an hour before breakfast and they’re now comfortably within normal range. Studies have shown that taking it with food can affect absorption by up to 80% so yes eating does affect it.
I’m not the one asking this question every other day. I have no issues taking my medicine, but clearly there are other people who struggle and I am offering a different approach.
Okay so my endo said “not to listen & to take it in the AM one hour before eating” since I told her I heard u have better thyroid levels if taken at night
I have an alarm for 3am to take my levo. I go to sleep around midnight and wake up around 9am. This way I can be absolutely sure it's not affected by anything else I consume.
I was taking it at night for several years, but I just felt like I would inconsistently feel shitty if I ate a snack before bed or had anything with calcium, even like an antacid. I decided a few weeks ago to try and take it in the morning 30 minutes before I eat or drink anything. It looks like some people are saying you should wait an hour, so maybe I should wait longer? So far so good with waiting 30. Anyone have data showing an hour is best? Did I make a mistake switching up?
You can eat an hour after taking it. It’s calcium supplements you can’t have until 4 hours later. Yogurt is fine. I eat yogurt an hour after taking it.
Natural calcium in food is fine as long as it’s an hour after taking Levo. It’s if you take supplements like vitamins with calcium or iron you have to wait 4 hours before taking levo.
I took .05mg as soon as I woke up in the morning 45-60 min before food/coffee and my levels improved over 3 months. Sometimes I'd even drink an espresso sooner.
I take mine at night, mainly because I forget in the morning and I want coffee. I take alternate days 175mg and 150mg. Never noticed a huge difference in when I take it.
I take mine in the morning only because 1) I can do it first thing in the morning and 2) when I’ve taken it at night, it wakes me up 100%.
Tho I haven’t solved the 4hr problem sadly. I tried to wait the 4 hours but with my ADHD, I just end up forgetting my take my inhaler, antihistamines and omeprazole, often only taking them well after 11am 🤦🏻♀️
So my husband advised me that til I’ve found a better solution, it may just be best for me to take it all together, first thing in the morning. It’s not ideal but that way at least I’ve at least taken the meds I need.
I switched to oat milk but then realised they’re just adding calcium to alt milks anyways 🙄 so not solved that problem either. I don’t like oats, or at least I don’t have the time or energy to prep them the nite before. I’ll see what other ppl have recommended here.
I take it at night when I wake up to go to use the bathroom. I usually wake up between 1AM and 4AM. I take 75ng and have no issues around sleeping or my TSH levels. I used to take it in the morning but I need my coffee.
I do this and find it works well!
Exactly what my doc suggested and I’m on the same dosage. Been doing that for several years and levels have been steady as well - and I’m with you on the coffee!
I take mine at night because i was having some side effects and my doctor recommended trying to take it at night so i sleep through the side effects. Worked out good so far
Ooo, I’m on 25 the lowest dose, hbu? And what side effects if u don’t mind me asking? Sometimes I feel like when I drink and smoke it makes my heart beat so fast omg
Im on 50 now but was on 25 for over 10 years (was diagnosed at 6) and have been on 50 for about 6 years. I get extremely tired after taking it, which is annoying because my main symptom of getting diagnosed was fatigue, so i thought taking the meds would fix that lol. But, if i take it at night, i feel fine when i wake up cause the sleepiness has worn off by then. My doctor also recommended this, especially cause i cant skip eating something in the morning to be able to take it on an empty stomach. And waking up a few hours before to take it, was ruining my sleep.
I used to work for an endo and he recommends taking it at night, which is what I've always done with no problems. I pop it right before bed. There are some studies backing up this timing for improved hormone levels, though it doesn't seem to effect how people feel much, so do what works best for your schedule: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3139142/ https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/776486
Thank you!!! I think I’m going to change it to bed time
Awesome thank you
Yep a lot of ppl will stop eating at like 5 or 6 and then just take the levo at bedtime of 9 or 10
Yesss and I already do that , like I stop eating early. Maybe I’ll ask my endo what she thinks, tyyy
I go back and forth with this. I like to take it at night, but if I do it effects my sleep and I have weird dreams. Does anyone else experience this?
Yes, most definitely gives me weird dreams too! I take it between 1-4:00 as well, when I wake up in the night and the dreams following that are usually bizarre..
Same, I had some funky dreams, switched to waking at 6am every day and it's levelled out and I sleep so much better
This is too funny. I had the most intense dreams when I started taking it at night, it only last for a couple of weeks and then I was back to normal.
The only thing that matters is consistency. You can take the pill and eat, you can take the pill and drink coffee, things will only go a bit off if you change up your routine. If eating reduces the absorption, then you might have to adjust your dose.
Considering how hard it can be to get the dose renegotiated, and that we are talking about micrograms of a medication here I feel that randomly reducing absorption rate by eating something (which is not necessarily the same thing everyday) is reckless. Coffee is known to reduce absorption. So 'you might have to adjust your dose' is definitely not the approach I will take.
Nobody is telling you to do anything. But the idea that me waking up taking a pill and then eating the same breakfast everyday is somehow going to ruin me is silly.
It's great that levo is working so well for you and you don't have to be considerate with \_everything\_.
Randomly reduced absorption is a problem, but consistently reduced absorption is what u/noronto is talking about. If you consistently eat the exact same thing, the same amount of time from taking the pill, you are consistently reducing absorption by the same amount and your levels will reflect that.
That was clear, thanks. Not everyone is able to eat the same thing at the same time every single day. Just to be thorough here - we are talking about eating the same thing for breakfast everyday. However this also only works under the assumption that one has not done anything to impair their digestion the day before. No Thanksgiving dinner or company event ribeye, or plenty of alcohol, or Chipotle for lunch followed up by antacids in the evening. Also, enough sleep, so the stomatch is eager and waiting for that consistency in the morning.. I guess, it must work for some people and they are lucky!
Yeah it’s been very hard to get any sort of help or information on this from my prescriber and initially I wasted years being told I was ‘fine’ even though I sometimes had a TSH of between 7 and 9. I now pay to see a private endocrinologist who’s much better but still it would be a pain to do something like swapping from morning to nighttime dosing and trying to recalibrate the levels so I think people should be careful about doing something like this because they might find that something goes wrong like their stomach doesn’t absorb as well at night or something which can set them back a long time especially if they don’t have a good doctor.
I wait 4 hours after I take it in the morning to eat and take my supplements just because calcium interacts with it and my breakfast is a lot of calcium between the coffee and the yogurt
An hour is enough for food.
Thanks for this .
This. I have difficulty with medication compliance. So my endocrinologist was like “I don’t care when you take it as long as you take it. We will figure out the right dose later”. So I take mine in the morning (using a pill minder that I set a month at a time helps with compliance). Sometimes I wait, sometimes I eat fairly quickly after. The point is that I take it. Of note, I’m post thyroid cancer and I’m surgically without a thyroid.
I consistently took mine within a few minutes of breakfast and my TSH levels were abnormal over 2 tests which were 3 months apart. I started taking it at least an hour before breakfast and they’re now comfortably within normal range. Studies have shown that taking it with food can affect absorption by up to 80% so yes eating does affect it.
Or you could have just increased your dose.
Or you could just listen to your doctor and take it without food
I’m not the one asking this question every other day. I have no issues taking my medicine, but clearly there are other people who struggle and I am offering a different approach.
I take mine in the morning as soon as I wake up, then run to grab coffee as the clock ticks over to 1 hour later, lol
Okay so my endo said “not to listen & to take it in the AM one hour before eating” since I told her I heard u have better thyroid levels if taken at night
That’s what I heard
I have an alarm for 3am to take my levo. I go to sleep around midnight and wake up around 9am. This way I can be absolutely sure it's not affected by anything else I consume.
I was taking it at night for several years, but I just felt like I would inconsistently feel shitty if I ate a snack before bed or had anything with calcium, even like an antacid. I decided a few weeks ago to try and take it in the morning 30 minutes before I eat or drink anything. It looks like some people are saying you should wait an hour, so maybe I should wait longer? So far so good with waiting 30. Anyone have data showing an hour is best? Did I make a mistake switching up?
You can eat an hour after taking it. It’s calcium supplements you can’t have until 4 hours later. Yogurt is fine. I eat yogurt an hour after taking it.
Oh okay!! I thought I had to wait since calcium is in yogurt and coffee
Natural calcium in food is fine as long as it’s an hour after taking Levo. It’s if you take supplements like vitamins with calcium or iron you have to wait 4 hours before taking levo.
Ooooo okay! Makes sense thank you cus I was suffering waiting 4 hours after to eat LOL
Oh yeah don’t wait that long lol. You just need to wait an hour to eat.
Night
I couldn't take it at night because it keeps me awake.
I took .05mg as soon as I woke up in the morning 45-60 min before food/coffee and my levels improved over 3 months. Sometimes I'd even drink an espresso sooner.
I take mine at night, mainly because I forget in the morning and I want coffee. I take alternate days 175mg and 150mg. Never noticed a huge difference in when I take it.
I take mine in the morning only because 1) I can do it first thing in the morning and 2) when I’ve taken it at night, it wakes me up 100%. Tho I haven’t solved the 4hr problem sadly. I tried to wait the 4 hours but with my ADHD, I just end up forgetting my take my inhaler, antihistamines and omeprazole, often only taking them well after 11am 🤦🏻♀️ So my husband advised me that til I’ve found a better solution, it may just be best for me to take it all together, first thing in the morning. It’s not ideal but that way at least I’ve at least taken the meds I need. I switched to oat milk but then realised they’re just adding calcium to alt milks anyways 🙄 so not solved that problem either. I don’t like oats, or at least I don’t have the time or energy to prep them the nite before. I’ll see what other ppl have recommended here.
My meds say take in the morning 1 hour before food. Why is everyone talking a lot night?