Thyroid medicine and coffee? Hypothyroid help - Thyroid UK

Thyroid UK

137,137 members160,814 posts

Thyroid medicine and coffee? Hypothyroid help

Runner95 profile image
10 Replies

Hello, I have Hashimoto’s Autoimmune hypothyroidism and Primary adrenal insufficiency. I take my thyroid medicine early in the morning and wait an hour to two hours to have my daily coffee which I really love. How long do I need to wait prior to drinking coffee in the morning after taking my 90mg of NP Thyroid? Is an hours wait long enough/ good? My thyroid labs are still low and not optimum. If I quit drinking coffee, what would be a good substitute?

Written by
Runner95 profile image
Runner95
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
10 Replies
SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering

Runner95

It's well documented that coffee affects the absorption of synthetic T4. I haven't found an article that mentions NDT; however, I wouldn't want to risk anything affecting absorption so personally I would treat all thyroid hormone replacement the same and leave an hour between taking it and drinking coffee.

As for a coffee substitute, that's down to personal choice. I tried Barleycup but was never a fan. I'm not that fond of tea. I have one decaff coffee daily, other than that I tend to stick to water, I've not tried to substitute anything particularly for coffee.

jimh111 profile image
jimh111

Leave an hour or more. Coffee and bran impair abosorption pdfs.semanticscholar.org/87... . I assume NDT absorption would be affected in a similar manner but we don't have any evidence. T3 is absorbed much quicker than T4 (smaller molecule) so maybe NDT is not affected so much. If you are OK at the moment don't worry.

I have a cup of tea first thing, then breakfast of cereal with milk. I also like coffee with milk midmorning. So have decided to take thyroid meds a bedtime instead.

SeasideSusie I thought you had to wait 4 hours before and after tea, coffee and anything rich in calcium (such as dairy products), and about 2 hours for anything else?

SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering in reply to

The advice is to take Levo with water and water only for one hour either side.

I think the amount of milk most people have in a cup of tea or coffee would be very small (maybe a table spoonful-ish) and the amount of calcium contained in it not enough to make any difference after an hour.

in reply to SeasideSusie

Wonder where I got 4 hours from. Someone on here has said it but can't remember who.

SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering in reply to

Calcium supplements need a 4 hour gap. Mentioned often by quite a few of us.

in reply to SeasideSusie

I thought the 4 hours included tea and coffee, as well as milk, (if you drink a lot of it) cheese, eggs yoghurt... Iron needs 4 hours too, doesn't it?

SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering in reply to

Yes, iron needs 4 hours, as does magnesium and D3.

in reply to SeasideSusie

Thank you x

Sorry for butting in on your thread Runner95 , but useful information for all of us.

thyroidmom84 profile image
thyroidmom84

I have heard of (but not tried) Dandy Blend as a good coffee substitute

You may also like...

Hypothyroidism (under reactive thyroid)- side effect of tb medicines?

tb drugs I have a doubt, is Hypothyroidism a side effect of tb medicines ? Because I have read that...

Help please!!! Hypothyroid now not hypothyroid but subclinical thyroid dysfunction whaaaaat

He has basically said I am not hypothyroid but I have subclinical thyroid dysfunction and I have...

Hypothyroidism? Help with my thyroid test results.

and insomnia along with fatigue. I just got my thyroid tested. Can someone tell if these results...

Coffee benefits for hypothyroidism

interesting article on the health benefits of good coffee and thyroid health. The article showed...

Thyroid hypothyroidism

was on 50micrograms levothyroxine. Haven't felt good for ages but continue to be told you are in...