Morning or evening for levothyroxine?

Hello, I’m thinking of switching to taking Levo in the evening as I find it makes me unpleasantly high in the morning be interested to know what people think is the best time and how to ensure it gets absorbed in the evening

Thanks Mike

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Mike77

Everyone is different, try it and see.

If you take it in the evening, same "rules" about taking on an empty stomach with water only, and water only for an hour each side, also taking it away from other supplements and medication.. The only difference is if you have your main meal in the evening then leave a good 3 hours after eating before taking your Levo.

[Hidden in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks Seasidesusie

[TimD250172]

Hi Mike77

I used to take mine in the morning but got frustrated with not being able to have breakfast and a cuppa straight after I got up.

I’ve taken it last thing just before bed for a year or so now and get on fine.

Must admit I do enjoy a bit of a drink in the evenings but that hasn’t really caused me any problems.

Like seasideSusie says, give it a go and see how you get on.

[Hidden in reply to TimD250172]

Thanks for the reply, and good to know a cheeky glass of red wine might still be ok

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Hidden]

Just make sure it's 2-3 hours after dinner, longer if you eat a feast. Or in middle of night if out eating late.

Nothing apart from water for an hour before or after

verywell.com/should-i-take-...

It can be more effective, so you may need to retest bloods after 6-8 weeks

Personally I found it much better taking in evening (as recommended by my endo)

[Hidden in reply to SlowDragon]

Thanks SlowDragon, I struggled a lot to tolerate dose increases in levo but finally seem to be able to handle 125microgram, so now I’m keen to do all I can to tolerate it and get some benefits from it. So will experiment with nighttime.

Mike

[knitwitty in reply to SlowDragon]

Sorry to but in, if I wanted to change to taking my levo in the evening would I need to miss the morning dose, leaving about 36 hours between doses or would I take an extra tablet in the evening of the same day. I am only on 50mcg at the moment as I have just started medication about 10 weeks ago. Thank you.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to knitwitty]

You could do either.

Or take a half-dose in the morning and full-dose that night, and every night after.

[knitwitty in reply to helvella]

Thank you so much. I'll give it a try tomorrow. I'll have 25mcg in the morning and have 50mcg at night, I hope it doesn't rev me up!! when I next do a blood test I'm assuming I'll leave off the evening dose and I could repeat the above after I've taken the blood sample.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to knitwitty]

Leave off the evening dose and take straight after the blood draw - as you are walking down the corridor works well for me.

[knitwitty in reply to helvella]

Thanks again, I've got another two weeks before my next blood test it's a private test that I'll do at home so I won't have a problem taking my tablet after it!

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to knitwitty]

When I changed to night time dosing I did it over couple of days

First day I took dose at 4-5am (when got up for loo) instead of usual 7-8am

Next night - about 2am

Following night at bedtime (11pm usually)

Don't take it the night before blood test. Delay dose until immediately after blood draw

You can still take next dose that evening.

[knitwitty in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you slow dragon, I had considered taking 25mcg tonight and then revert to 50mcg tomorrow night at about 11 but I think maybe I will take 25,mcg if I wake in the middle of the night instead then take the 50mcg tomorrow night at about 11, I am hoping for a dose increase when I have the next bloods taken.

[Trill]

Luckily for me (since being on Levo only!) I wake every night about 3am, ideal time to take the Levo. Whilst researching this evening v morning comparison, I did find a medical paper which said it is actually more effective taken at night. As regards taking other medications at the same time, I have also to take Clonazepam, and I checked the interactions and there were none, so not sure if all medicines are taboo taken at the same time.

[Hidden in reply to Trill]

Hi Trill, thanks for the reply. I had a look at some papers too, I must post the liink, but in one trial of 155 people (half randomized to morning and half to evenings) at the start of taking levothyroxine those on the evening dose were slightly quicker to get their TSH down ...so evenings definitely not a problem according to this study.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[Trill in reply to Hidden]

Well done for finding the article, Mike77 - which, of course, I should have done. GPs seemed programmed to say take it in mornings; also my phramacist. How anyone working has time to wait an hour before breakfast and leaving for work beats me.