Taking Synthroid in AM on Empty Stomach Causes Pain

[LeiL]

Currently on Synthroid 100 mcgs. I’ve had this problem for nearly two years. Every time I take this medication—empty stomach/mornings—-I immediately suffer Right Flank and Right Back pain. I’ve had multiple endoscopies, colonoscopies and nothing shows up. Also told that I have adequate stomach acid. I’m absent a thyroid. Recently my endo stated that maybe I’ve developed an allergy to the yellow dye in the 100 mcgs and switched me to two 50 mcgs tablets. However the problem still exist and yes Synthroid did cause my fasting blood glucose to rise when I initially started. I’m not considered a diabetic due to A1C - 5.2 (under 5.7 is considered normal) and last Fasting Glucose was 92 (under 99 considered normal)

Anyone else have this problem and any suggestions on how to mediate?

[Lalatoot]

Leil Is it the synthroid or is it maybe the glass of cold water that it is generally taken with that causes the pain?If it is the tablet then you could switch to taking it at bedtime or you could split your dose to take at different times of the day to reduce the hit. Or you could take it mid afternoon well away from lunch.

[LeiL in reply to Lalatoot]

I really think it is the sugar in the tablets.

[Lalatoot in reply to LeiL]

Have you tried different brands or T4 in liquid form. You don't need to stick to synthroid.

[LeiL in reply to Lalatoot]

I did try Tirosint liquid and the Tirosint gel caps. I developed really bad reflux on the Tirosint gel caps but that could have due to my very low diet.

[shaws Administrator]

You could try taking a bedtime dose and see how that works for you. If having a blood test next a.m. miss this dose and take after blood draw and night dose as usual.

[humanbean]

Since you are taking Synthroid I'm assuming you are from the US. You should definitely try different makes of Levothyroxine to see if you can find one that suits you better.

You can find out the ingredients in all FDA-approved US-prescribed Levothyroxine (which is what Synthroid is) from this website :

dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/

Make sure to only search for human drugs - the site includes info on drugs prescribed to animals as well as humans!

There are various ingredients that commonly cause problems for patients and the ones I know of are :

1) Various colours/dyes

2) Acacia

3) Lactose, for those who are or suspect they are lactose intolerant

4) Mannitol

5) Gluten, for those who are or suspect they are gluten intolerant

In the UK gluten is banned as an ingredient in medicines, and I think most (or all?) colours and dyes are banned too. But I know some colours are used in US tablets. I'm not sure about gluten.

[Cookieka]

How about taking a probiotic in the morning which will help stomach acid and your tablets at night. I do this mostly because I like to take my vitamins in the morning and don’t want to mix my tablets with any iron supplements.

[LeiL in reply to Cookieka]

I recently started eating a tablespoon of Sauerkraut each day. I’ve tried over the counter probiotics like Cuturelle and ending up in the ER with a stinging rash over my body.

[Chett]

If the pain is from the stomach, it might help to put the Synthroid in an enteric coated capsule. I did that when taking steroids to relieve bad heartburn.

[LeiL in reply to Chett]

I haven’t heard of this technique. How do you do it?

[Chett in reply to LeiL]

I purchased the capsules from Amazon, opened them up and put my meds in them. The coating stops it from dissolving in the stomach. I would get terrible heartburn in my chest, ears and throat if I didn’t do it.

[humanbean in reply to LeiL]

Search Amazon for either "gelatin empty capsules" or "vegetarian empty capsules". They come in various sizes but I have no idea how one goes about choosing the correct size.

Filling up capsules individually would be difficult and tedious. But there are products called "capsule filling machines" which can also be bought on Amazon.

[helvella Administrator in reply to humanbean]

My medicines document has a table of standard capsule sizes:

helvella - Thyroid Hormone Medicines

I have created, and try to maintain, a document containing details of all thyroid hormone medicines in the UK and, in less detail, many others around the world.

dropbox.com/s/shcwdwpedzr93...

Around page 21. See table of contents within the document.

[humanbean in reply to helvella]

I hadn't noticed that page before, and could be very helpful, thank you.

[Gem5987]

I have a friend who was on Synthroid and it caused stomach pain. Her doctor switched her to Levoxyl and that solved the problem, but she needed a slightly higher dosage. Hope this helps.