Guys im on 100mg thyroxine mon wed fri sun and 50ng to other days. I forgot my dose last night and this morning i took 150! After reading i heard double dosing was NOT OK. will i be ok shpuld i eat something straight after? Im afraid something bad will happen symptins etc
Double does on medication : Guys im on 100mg... - Thyroid UK
Double does on medication
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Contra21
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I do that more often than not, double dose and forgeting 2 days in a row.
to me that makes no difference, in how I feel.
the body stores what is not needed.
the danger comes if you take the 150mcg for a long time...
I did that too! and it made me feel, nervous, shaky, forgetful, jiddery, could not communicate as I forgot words or how to get my point across!!
so, don't worry too much, if you get your dosis wrong for one time.
my 125 mcg of levo was taken mon-thu 50 mcg and fr-sun 100mcg. easier to remember.......if you remember!!
x
shawsAdministrator
There's no problem. You can take a whole week's dose once a week as shown on the following:
endocrineweb.com/news/parat...
Hmm I had a doc who suggested this (which makes me question the pre test fasting people keep suggesting)
I am not medically qualified but if I took one week's dose in one go, I'd get my blood test on the 7th day at the earliest, etc etc.
Remember Levo is astorage hormone and your body takes what it needs to. Invert the T4 to T3 which it needs.
I am on 200 mcg every day, which is my regular dose. I have been on as much as 250 but it was too much.
It is a hormone at the end of the day. The odd time won't matter but I would not do it on a regular basis as if you are getting too much, it can be equally as harmful as not getting enough. Your body should let you know anyway.
The last thing you want is palpitations and damage to your heart. I would not advise to take the medication in one go though. Yes it is a hormone, but like with any medication, too much in one go, is still overdosing in my opinion.
My advice would be, if you miss a dose, literally just miss it and carry on with your regular regime.
Take care 
Levo is a storage hormone and has to convert to T3. It is T3 which runs our whole metabolism and is the Active thyroid hormone needed in our billions of T3 receptor cells.
helvellaAdministrator
Whilst absolutely encouraging care and attention to all medicines, and not minimising the possibility of bad effects from overdosing, levothyroxine is one of the safest medicines on the planet. There are stories of huge overdoses being survived, and minor overdoses (such as described) being not even noticed.
From a pharmacy perspective, the standard action to take when missing a dose is to NOT double up on the following dose but instead, to just take the next dose at the regularly scheduled time. Effective therapy requires actually taking the medication...the more times one has to take it, though, the more opportunities one has to forget, which leads to the doubling strategy. This is ONE of the reasons that doctors don't like T3 and refuse to prescribe it.
However, as others have pointed out, this is an inactive prodrug and can be taken once weekly. Even if you find that you're consistently missing doses, I don't see a problem with "doubling up" the following dose. At the end of the week it's six of one; half a dozen of the other. HOWEVER, I would suggest that you document this for your own records.
What really matters is the therapeutic effectiveness...is it still working? Everything else is academic. There's more "opinion-based medicine" being practiced in thyroid disease than anywhere else. Only you can determine if this is a problem...my opinion doesn't count. For that matter, neither does the opinion of your doctor. This drug seems to have wide variability from patient to patient...you can be your own 1-person clinical trial and report your findings back to us.
If you don't experience any symptoms of overstimulation or certainly, hypothyroid symptoms from missing daily doses that are being double-replaced the following day, then all is well. It definitely WON'T kill you.
THANKYOU all very much. I had ectopocs for over 6 mths and still cant figure out if it was thyroid levels. So if dr says i need to up my thyroxibe dose i get nervous about the palps returning.
If you read all the posts here, you would find quite a number where people who are under-dosed suffered palpitations. Some of them never get palpitations when over-dosed (or at least, not within the range they have experienced).
The idea that palpitations are only caused by over-dosing (or simply being hyperthyroid) is a widely held belief all too common within the medical professions.
So it can't happen from over dosing? Also you do think ECTOPICS happen fron too high of a tsh?
Sorry if I didn't explain properly.
It varies. It is possible to get palpitations and/or ectopic beats from too much or too little thyroid hormone. People vary. Some seem prone to get them when under-dosed but not when over-dosed. Others seem prone to get them when over-dosed but not when under-dosed.
TSH is an indicator of thyroid hormone levels and, for all its imperfection, high AND low TSH levels are likely to be associated with ectopic beats.
You and your doctor(s) need to appreciate that both directions can be problematic.
I had severe palpitations but found out they were caused by levothyroxine and since I went onto T3 I haven't had any at all. I had investigations by the Cardiact Dept etc etc and they couldn't puzzle out what was going on either. I keep meaning to write to Consultant but haven't got round to it yet and I will do so this year.
Getting my tsh right has been 2 yrs in the making and still not right
The TSH is from the pituitary gland and the aim when diagnosed as hypo is to relieve all of the clinical symptoms. The TSH is advised to be 1 or lower - not higher and some of us need it to be suppressed. Whereas doctors believe if TSH is somewhere int he range (even top) that we're on sufficient hormones. We are not. The most important aim when taking thyroid hormones is relief of all clinical symptoms. When NDT was all that was prescribed up until the 60's we were given a dose of NDT due to clinical symptoms and increase of dose until they were relieved. Nowadays the priority seems to be the TSH alone forgetting about Free T4 and Free T3.
This is a link and read from 'Dear Thyroid Patients'.
thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...
You'll be fine. I usually spread the dose over next 2-3 days rather all in one. Why not alternate your doses anyway? Whatever suits though.
I do 100 mg monday wed fri sun amd 50 alternating days. Tsh was 15 but he kept me on same dose so hope i dont have to change as i get afraid ectopics will return
Sounds like you are under medicated from that reading. Please discuss your fears with your doctor. I had more heart flutters when under medicated. I went up to 200mcg to get initial good reading (took 2 years to stabilise maybe as started from a very underactive base) then gradually reduced to 150 and now 125. Sometimes being underactive, as it affects you mentally as well as physically, can make you feel quite neurotic and paranoid which is horrible but should pass as you improve. I look back on that period and remember the terror that I was going to die! Good supportive friends, patience and jigsaws helped but do confide in your doctor too. Upping your dose could be the very thing you need. Good luck!
Its been 2 yrs of need.more need less. Why cant they get it right? I felt best on tsh of 7. Acares if my dose gets uoed flutters will return . I totally relate being scared of dying. Ive haf vertigo and dizzies false sense of movement floating last 3 yrs too. Absolute NIGHTMARE
So you need to up your dose to reduce reading from 15 to 7 though you need to check the range on your read out. (Always ask for a print out of your test results anf if they are only testing TSH ask for full bloods to get a fuller picture.) You may want to add Vit D as it helps with all hormones. Have you read up on thyroid problems to make sure you understand test results. Your dose is actually under 100mcg taking the average. Most people seem to take at least 100mcg. Please get back to your doc ASAP and maybe get second opinion too!
Hes my second endo and haa heloed me the most. I have amemia but working in it. He tests vit d folate b12 ferritin t3 amd t4.. last time whwn it was 15 i said its high he said yes but t3 amd 4 are.good so lets wait another 3 minths. Have a feeling i need to up it bit scared i will get heart palps you know? Been 6 years with all this from graves to rai removal now hypo forever on meds .
Sorry but if you are still feeling like this you desperately need more thyroxine and your endo is ignoring TSH and most importantly YOUR SYMPTOMS! I also had Graves and RAI and if an arrogant doctor had decided not to check bloods I would have taken so long to recover as went so underactive.and eventually developed Thyroid Eye Disease. I have been Normal and don't think much about raking pills every morning , apart from the TED, for 30 plus years.
I take it your in US and not UK. I'm so grateful to the NHS as would hate to negotiate my case with someone I'm paying.
Im actually from Australia. Wow 39 yrs could we keep in touch amd mayne ypu cpuld help me. My endo app is in 3 weeks. Hes not checking enough? Hes been the best ive so far
The majority of Endocrinologists are very poorly trained. They are not the 'old school' doctors and endocrinologists who were trained to detect and heal our clinical symptoms. There were no blood tests then and we were given natural dessicated thyroid hormones made from pigs thyroid glands.
If you've had your thyroid gland removed it is even more important for him to give a combination of T4 (levothyroxine) and T3 (liothyronine).
Levothyroxine has to convert to T3 and we don't always do so effectively. Also I don't think he's checked your Free T4 and Free T3 so ask him the next time. on the link you will read why both Frees are important for us to know if we're taking enough.
Read the following and particularly number 5.
hormonerestoration.com/Docs...
Give your doctor a copy of it and it will help educate him. You could post it so he reads it before your apointment.
hormonerestoration.com/Docs...
when i get my bloods done he tests t3 t4 is that diff to free t3 t4?
Yes they different and are rarely tested. This is a link and you will see the reason:-
thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...
Most of the times our free T3 and free T4 can be low when they should be higher.
You should get Free T4 and Free T3 tested. T4 - levothyroxine - is an inactive hormone we only begin to feel better when it converts to T3. Some don't convert levo into sufficient T3. We have billions of T3 receptor cells in our bodies and they all need T3.
Also if you have thyroid antibodies, sometimes it is those that flood our body and cause unpleasant hyper-type symptoms. Going gluten-free cab help reduce the attack of the antibodies on the thyroid gland..
You can get 25mcg tabs to take every day with your 100 mcg instead.
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