thyroid

Thanks for the positive and informative responses, a consensus is always a good thing.

I've been taking Levothyroxine since I was 15 and diagnosed with Hashimoto's (I'm 30 now). I take it at night right before bed. Always have and always will. My levels have always been great! I didn't do this to be a rebel- but I just don't remember it ever being mentioned to me in the first place to specifically take it in the morning ( I was also a teenager so I may have chosen to ignore). I think the main thing is that it's taken on an empty stomach or at least an hour or two before/after eating (could be wrong on this though).

I remember one time asking my dr about it after seeing "take in morning on empty stomach" on the RX bottle- she said "when do you take it now? I said at night before bed" She said it seems to be working totally fine so just keep doing that.

youngmomtaz wrote: »

I have always been told to take my meds an hour before food, COFFEE, and other meds, so as not to affect absorption. I do this despite the fact that I take desiccated thyroid and all the absorbtion studies I have seen have been done with synthetic. But not taking any risks as they have me undertreated anyway. I need every drop my body will absorb.

How do you know you are undertreated? Do you have hypo signs? What does your bloodwork indicate? Have you talked to your doc about changing your dose?

deannalfisher wrote: »

youngmomtaz wrote: »

I have always been told to take my meds an hour before food, COFFEE, and other meds, so as not to affect absorption. I do this despite the fact that I take desiccated thyroid and all the absorbtion studies I have seen have been done with synthetic. But not taking any risks as they have me undertreated anyway. I need every drop my body will absorb.

How do you know you are undertreated? Do you have hypo signs? What does your bloodwork indicate? Have you talked to your doc about changing your dose?

I do still have hypo symptoms, fewer than before at least, my free t3 is rarely even in the range(below) and free t4 is very low in range. My primary treats based on tsh alone but won’t refer me to an endo or listen at all because my case seems uncomplicated and we have had results. She is the first person in 15 years to actually listen to me and do anything about this an d some other issues including 13 days/month of migraines that we have down to 1 or two now. I do have high hopes that one day she will learn or read something more that prompts her to try and treat more than just tsh.

@youngmomtaz Just wanted to comment on the headaches. I suffered for years and no one could do anything about it until they put me on synthroid. I had thought that I'd suffered a mini stroke so they tested me and it was one of the worst my doc had seen in years he said. Who knew it would also cure my headaches and chronic constipation, lol. I wonder how many folks are suffering from chronic headaches that are caused by low thyroid?

youngmomtaz wrote: »

deannalfisher wrote: »

youngmomtaz wrote: »

I have always been told to take my meds an hour before food, COFFEE, and other meds, so as not to affect absorption. I do this despite the fact that I take desiccated thyroid and all the absorbtion studies I have seen have been done with synthetic. But not taking any risks as they have me undertreated anyway. I need every drop my body will absorb.

How do you know you are undertreated? Do you have hypo signs? What does your bloodwork indicate? Have you talked to your doc about changing your dose?

I do still have hypo symptoms, fewer than before at least, my free t3 is rarely even in the range(below) and free t4 is very low in range. My primary treats based on tsh alone but won’t refer me to an endo or listen at all because my case seems uncomplicated and we have had results. She is the first person in 15 years to actually listen to me and do anything about this an d some other issues including 13 days/month of migraines that we have down to 1 or two now. I do have high hopes that one day she will learn or read something more that prompts her to try and treat more than just tsh.

Can you self-refer with your insurance?

I had similar issues -- known hypothyroid, previous endo and current PCP wanted to treat based on TSH alone. My PCP tested T4 and T3 because I demanded it, but despite low T3 and hypo-consistent symptoms, refused to increase my meds. She said that *something* was going on that was thyroid-related, but she didn't know how to manage it -- and my previous endo said I was clearly fine, because my TSH was not consistent with hypo. PCP encouraged me to get a second opinion since I wasn't happy and didn't feel well. But unfortunately, in the meantime, she'd already reduced my thyroxine based on the endo's input.

So I fired the previous endo, self-referred to Cleveland Clinic, and finally saw someone who treated based on *all* results, but primarily looking at T3. He re-ran labs, and my T3 had dropped to .1 above the bottom of the range. Cleveland endo upped my meds to where I was when I had last felt well.

That was at the end of April/early May, and I feel so much better. My PCP conceded that she messed up, and she apologized, I found a new diabetes endo, who is fully is aware of why I'm going to Cleveland, and things are so much better...

collectingblues wrote: »

youngmomtaz wrote: »

deannalfisher wrote: »

youngmomtaz wrote: »

I have always been told to take my meds an hour before food, COFFEE, and other meds, so as not to affect absorption. I do this despite the fact that I take desiccated thyroid and all the absorbtion studies I have seen have been done with synthetic. But not taking any risks as they have me undertreated anyway. I need every drop my body will absorb.

How do you know you are undertreated? Do you have hypo signs? What does your bloodwork indicate? Have you talked to your doc about changing your dose?

I do still have hypo symptoms, fewer than before at least, my free t3 is rarely even in the range(below) and free t4 is very low in range. My primary treats based on tsh alone but won’t refer me to an endo or listen at all because my case seems uncomplicated and we have had results. She is the first person in 15 years to actually listen to me and do anything about this an d some other issues including 13 days/month of migraines that we have down to 1 or two now. I do have high hopes that one day she will learn or read something more that prompts her to try and treat more than just tsh.

Can you self-refer with your insurance?

I had similar issues -- known hypothyroid, previous endo and current PCP wanted to treat based on TSH alone. My PCP tested T4 and T3 because I demanded it, but despite low T3 and hypo-consistent symptoms, refused to increase my meds. She said that *something* was going on that was thyroid-related, but she didn't know how to manage it -- and my previous endo said I was clearly fine, because my TSH was not consistent with hypo. PCP encouraged me to get a second opinion since I wasn't happy and didn't feel well. But unfortunately, in the meantime, she'd already reduced my thyroxine based on the endo's input.

So I fired the previous endo, self-referred to Cleveland Clinic, and finally saw someone who treated based on *all* results, but primarily looking at T3. He re-ran labs, and my T3 had dropped to .1 above the bottom of the range. Cleveland endo upped my meds to where I was when I had last felt well.

That was at the end of April/early May, and I feel so much better. My PCP conceded that she messed up, and she apologized, I found a new diabetes endo, who is fully is aware of why I'm going to Cleveland, and things are so much better...

I am in Manitoba. No self referring. Basically, I am lucky to have a family doc and be treated. We have decent health care but endos are few and far between, and we have extremely high turnover rates of family docs, lots of docs on stress and family leave, and just a general shortage. I am so glad things are going your way! At this point in my treatment I just try to insert info I have learned without ticking anyone off.