Chewing Natural Dessicated Thyroid Before Swallowing

[ZenR1]

I read on STTM's website that some people like to chew or dissolve under the tongue their NDT pills in order to speed up absorbtion. I did some research about this and I found that certain medications should not be absorbed too quickly (thyroid meds being one of them). Speeding up their movement through your system can make them less effective supposedly.

I'm all for thinking outside the box on this stuff, but I don't believe in throwing the baby out with the bath water and that there are some medical guidelines that should be followed. It's just hard to know which one's sometimes. But in this case, it makes sense to me to swallow the pills whole, for the reason stated above. Not sure though.

[shaws Administrator]

I know that is the recommendation by STTM but if you followed this procedure you might not be getting the dose you assume. This is due to tablets not being made as 'sublingual' and chewing etc mix up with saliva so you may not be absorbing the dose you think.I will look for a link I've read/posted previously.

Thyroid hormones are made to be swallowed - on an empty stomach - with one full glass of water and wait an hour before eating.

verywellhealth.com/how-to-t...

[ZenR1 in reply to shaws]

Yeah that's what I've learned as well. I used to chew my Naturethroid with a couple gulps of water and my levels and symptoms were always fine, but I've decided to take it as directed, swallowing whole with a big glass of water.

[shaws Administrator in reply to ZenR1]

You might need a slightly lower dose but always keep an eye on pulse/temp. If either rises too high reduce hormones slightly.

[shaws Administrator]

This is another excerpt:

"This is an excerpt from the following link:

Oral vs. Sublingual Delivery

With natural desiccated thyroid medications only, some people have argued that allowing the medication to dissolve under the tongue (either whole or crushed) may result in faster absorption into the bloodstream. The counter argument is that these molecules are large and most will be absorbed through the intestine anyway, so taking the medication sublingually could result in irregular absorption.

The bottom line is that if you are considering taking your medication this way, talk to your doctor and make sure your thyroid levels are monitored.

[Hidden]

The advice on the STTM is to take NDT sublingually and, if that is not possible (due to the cellulose content), they claim chewing the pills up to break down the cellulose is the next best thing to do.

However, as others have pointed out, thyroid hormones are not made to be taken sublingually, and it seems you end up swallowing most of the pills anyway, meaning they will still end up in your stomach.

[MaisieGray]

The pharmacokinetics of a drug is a very important factor in their design, development and effect, and if NDTs or any other thyroid meds were designed to be taken sublingually, buccally, or chewed before swallowing, then that would be the advice given by the manufacturers to those taking them. I take most things written by STTM with a large pinch of salt.