Levothyroxine at night instead of morning?

[Philly2748]

Hello readers, I wonder if I could ask if anyone takes their Levothyroxine at night instead of in the morning as I want to change to night time. Any advice on 'do's & dont's' and how much time I must leave between eating and taking the tablet would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

[jimh111]

Night time is easy as you shouldn't take levothyroxine with coffee or within an hour or so of eating. So whatever your routine you are likely to be consistent unlike in the morning when you might have a coffee or something to eat an hour or so after taking the levo.

[Marz]

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You may have to scroll around a bit - hopefully there will be lots of helpful comments

[rosiebones]

This is just me and I am on armour thyroid. I tried last night following some discussion here yesterday, I had a very bad night and would prefer to have a good sleep and start with my medication early than take it late. I do think it was worth trying though. Rosie

[jimh111 in reply to rosiebones]

Bear in mind that Armour contains T3 which has a short half-life and will peak a few hours after taking it. This will not happen with levothyroxine which has a half life of around 7 days and has to be converted to T3.

[rosiebones in reply to jimh111]

Thank you that makes total sense. Rosie

[Philly2748 in reply to jimh111]

Don't really understand the science of what you are saying but I would be interested to learn especially in relation to Levothyroxine which is what I am taking

[jimh111 in reply to Philly2748]

Levothyroxine has a long half-life which means it stays in your system for a long time. On average if you take 100 mcg of levothyroxine today there will be 50 mcg of it left in one week's time. So, if you take levothyroxine daily you will have many days levothyroxine in your system. 100 for the first day, 90/5 for the second and so on, giving 100 + 90.5 + 82 + 74 + 67 + 61 + 55 + 50 + ... After a few weeks you will accumulate about 1,000 mcg levothyroxine. So, if you take your 100 mcg levothyroxine in the morning the 100 mcg will have dropped to about 95 mcg by bedtime. This is only 5 mcg out of the 1000 you have accumulated and so makes next to no difference.

However, T3 from liothronine or Armour NDT has a half life of one or two days. Much shorter, so you would accumulate much less. If you took 10 mcg T3 in the morning it would drop to around 7 mcg by bedtime. Not only has it dropped much further but also you have accumulated less, so the overall effect is much greater. If you take T3 containing medication it is best to take it in two daily doses.

I'm sorry, there is no way of avoiding the mathematics. In short, it doesn't matter what time of day you take levothyroxine as long as you are consistent, do not eat at the same time and avoid coffee for an hour or two. Having said that I take my levothyroxine three minutes before I have my morning porridge and have no problems.

[RedApple Administrator]

Night time works very well indeed for some on levothyroxine, but doesn't suit everyone. The only way you'll know if it's appropriate for you is to try it. The empty stomach rule applies... two hours after eating, no milky drink etc.

We had a poll here a few years ago asking people when they take their thyroid medication. You can see it here

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

You'll see lots of people commenting about taking it at night. Worth reading!

[eeng]

I have never had a problem taking Levothyroxine at night, and it fits in with my routine much better. Give it a try - unless you like to go to bed with a hot milky drink!

[lifexperience]

I have been taking my dose just before bed as it does clash with my tea and food and other medication. Dr's never tell you any of this. For years I didn't know this and I would take it and eat and drink.