Hi you lovely lot,
I have been taking 100mg of Levothyroxine for the past year. I have no problem getting to sleep, but often wake and can't get back to sleep. I am going to the doctors next week - is there any link between underactive thyroid and poor sleep? Is there any questions I need to ask the doctor? Thanks in advance.
That would be of interest to me also as I have a similar problem!
hevamc,
That was my problem pre-diagnosis.
I take my levothyroxine at bed-time - always have. One of the very first improvements I noticed was that I became less likely to wake up, and if I did wake up, more likely to get back to sleep easily.
The effect was slight, and only really became certain when it continued and carried on improving. I found Mercury Pharma less satisfactory for some reason - you might or might not find the same!
You as well, Hidden , might benefit. I hope.
That's interesting because I've always taken my tablet in the morning before breakfast. As it's, very obviously, too late to do anything about it today I will see if I can break a 20 year habit of taking my tablet in the morning for bedtime! I hope it will help me sleep better.
Agreed that it is worth a try - someone I know was already taking theirs at bed-time so I was already aware of the option. Given that I like to have the choice of getting up, having coffee and (sometimes) breakfast before work, it seemed obvious. Some say they feel that doing so feels like a small dose increase - others don't. Unfortunately some people find it doesn't work for them. No promises but good luck and hope you are one for whom it does work.
I don't ever remember having been told WHEN to take it but it seemed the most natural thing to do. Other medications specify the time of day they should be taken but not for thyroxine.
The Patient Information Leaflets often say usually taken before breakfast (or something like that). It must have been around ten years ago that research came out endorsing bed-time dosing as an option. Doctors rarely, if ever, specify anything!
I'm going to try taking it at night - I suppose it won't make any difference if I start doing it tonight even though I took it before breakfast this morning.
I really hope the answer is this simple. I currently take Levothyroxine in the morning. Thanks
I took my Levothyroxine tablet last night so I didn't take it again this morning. I don't expect the difference to manifest itself right away but over a few months I hope to see a difference.
Hevamc, like you I hope the answer is this simple! Perhaps you could try taking it at night instead of in the morning like I've just started to do.
I also found significant improvement taking Levo at bedtime. (I don't think I ever waited long enough in mornings after taking Levo before having a cup of tea.)
Only exception is when doing a blood test, ........I don't take it the night before, but immediately after doing my Blue Horizon blood test about 8am. It's still fine to take the next dose the same evening. (Levo is a storage hormone)
verywell.com/should-i-take-...
Some research to back this up......
archinte.jamanetwork.com/ar...
Long research article - final conclusion paragraph below
"In conclusion, bedtime intake of levothyroxine in our study significantly improved thyroid hormone levels. This may be explained by better gastrointestinal bioavailability at night or by less uptake interference by food or medications. As shown in this study, bedtime administration is more convenient for many patients. Clinicians should inform their patients about the possibility of taking levothyroxine at bedtime. A prolonged period of bedtime levothyroxine therapy may be required for a change in Quality of life to occur."
Last time I went hypo this became an enormous problem for me, and I was absolutely spitting because of it. Nothing like sleep deprivation to make you really really cross all the time! As soon as my levo was raised I slept better. It was not a symptom I remember from the past but this time it was a real problem.
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