Taking levo at night

[emmylou71]

Hi. Just wanted some advice. I've recently changed from taking levo when I wake up to just before bedtime. I do feel more focused and don't have that terrible energy crash around 5pm but seem to take ages to fall asleep. Should I switch back to taking it in the morning?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Has taking it at night made a difference to your test results? Some say it's absorbed better at night.

Sleep is important and if it disturbed my sleep like that I'd not take it at night and maybe split the daytime dose to try and avoid the 5pm crash. But realistically only you can make the decision when to take it.

[emmylou71 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll try that as not sleeping properly is no fun. I've done it for a few days so won't have chance to effect my levels.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

If you regularly get up for the loo in the night try taking it then

[emmylou71 in reply to SlowDragon]

Sounds like a good idea. Normally I don't wake up until morning tho.

[Lulu2607]

I agree with SeasideSusie in that everyone is different and you need to find what works for you. I tried taking it at night but I didn't feel 'right' the next day so now take it early morning when I wake. What works for one person may not necessarily work for you.

[emmylou71 in reply to Lulu2607]

Yeah totally agree. Just thought I'd try it as fed up of feeling so tired after work.

[Sparklyjenson]

Hi. The same thing happened to me and I ended up switching back to morning. V disappointing as I really like a cup of tea when I wake up!

[Noelnoel]

My sleep has been awful for years but since taking my afternoon dose at bedtime it has improved dramatically. Still far from perfect but I feel so much better

Originally I was dosing on waking and in the afternoon but after a suggestion on here to another member to try night time dosing I gave it a go and it worked for me

Whether you split your meds or take it once a day is up to you. As long as you take it with the recommended space between meals and supplements I don’t think it matters what time of day but perhaps before lunch might be a good place to start. You won’t at least experience an afternoon “crash” and it just might be a time that’s far enough away from bedtime to avoid it preventing you falling asleep

[tattybogle]

Two things come to mind .... firstly ...... any change in dose timing is quite likely to affect sleep pattern for a short while , while you body and brain initially goes "?? WFT just happened ?"But this doesn't mean it will continue to be an issue once you had become used to the change... so for any experiment like this give it a try for a few weeks rather than a few days .

Second ..... if falling asleep does continue to be a problem , you could consider taking just half your Levo dose at bedtime and the other half first thing in the morning. I first started splitting my Levo years ago because i felt i helped me avoid my 4 pm crash ..well actually i took half in the morning and half about 2pm ... but nowadays i do bedtime instead of 2pm because it seems logical to try to replicate the natural circadian rhythm more closely .. and when healthy we had a natural increase in T4 very early morning which follows shortly after the nightly rise in TSH)

p.s , re. levo and morning cuppa ~ i realise this is 'not as recommended' , but i've always had a cup of 'tea' with my levo .. and because i do it consistently every day the same , any reduction in absorption from that dose of Levo is taken into account in my annual blood tests ,and therefore my prescribed dose has always been based on taking 'Levo + rooibos tea with a splash of milk'

My Levo dose would probably be slightly less if i didn't wilfully compromise it's absorption like this... but so what ? ( i was in my 30's when i was diagnosed and decided there was no way i was spending the rest of my life without a cuppa first thing in the morning) However , i do still wait an hour before eating , and i wouldn't have a massive milky double strength coffee with my levo , cos that would be taking the P***

[emmylou71 in reply to tattybogle]

Thanks for all the info. I think I'll try splitting them for now and see how I feel with that.

[KathFrances]

I split mine - half at night and half in the morning and it works best for me.

[humanbean]

When I go to bed I tend to read for quite a while. The only way I could tolerate thyroid hormones at night was by taking them with water immediately before I turned out the light to actually settle down to sleep. Even taking them 20 minutes before I went to sleep would keep me awake.

I gave up on night time dosing and now take my thyroid pills as soon as I wake up, but I may experiment again with night time dosing in future.