Thyroid and Thyroxine.

[Scruffy1941]

I have Hashimoto’s (under active Thyroid). I was diagnosed at the age of 11 I was treated by 2 lovely doctors Mr Talbot and Dr Ewan at Harold Wood Hospital Essex. I developed a goitre and for personal reasons had a Thyroidectomy ( but they left a small part of it there). I was then put on Thyroxine I am now on 175mg daily. I am now 75 years old and after all this time I never new my tablets had to be taken before any tea etc or food which I have just found out on here which I thank you for. Linda

[shaws Administrator]

As the saying goes "it is never too late to learn'.

Yes - when we're having blood drawn it is a fasting blood test which should be at the earliest possible and take thyroid hormones after blood draw not before blood is drawn.

It is beneficial to make the appointment weeks ahead. You can drink water but don't take thyroid hormones until after your blood draw. We need to take one glass of water when taking thyroid hormone tablets.

Many doctors are unaware of how best to treat hypothyroid patients. I know this from my own experience.

I hope your new routine will alleviate any unpleasant clinical symptoms altogether.

If you've not had B12, Vitamin D, iron, ferritin and folate tested, request these at your next appointment.

Put your results on a new post for comments from members. How we 'feel' is very important too as sometimes we just need a small tweak in our dose (small adjustment) to enable us to feel well and symptom-free.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

If you start taking levothyroxine correctly, retest thyroid levels after 6-8 weeks

You may need to reduce your dose levothyroxine slightly if getting better absorption

Always test thyroid levels early morning, ideally before 9am and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test

Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or all relevant vitamins

List of private testing options and money off codes

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Medichecks Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins

medichecks.com/products/adv...

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes antibodies, cortisol and vitamins

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

If you can get GP to test vitamins and antibodies then cheapest option for just TSH, FT4 and FT3

£29 (via NHS private service ) and 10% off down to £26.10 if go on thyroid uk for code

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

monitormyhealth.org.uk/

NHS easy postal kit vitamin D test £29 via

vitamindtest.org.uk

[radd]

Scruffy1941,

Yes, we take our meds away from foods to prevent malabsorption issues, the worst offenders being iron and calcium.

We also take meds on an empty stomach with a glass of water so it gets whooshed down to the part where most absorption will take place, 1 hour before food, 2 hours before supplements and 4 hours before calcium & iron.

If you have been taking meds with food all this time & feel ok, then I wouldn’t change anything, but if you do change then be mindful that you may require a dose decrease.

[Scruffy1941 in reply to radd]

Thank you for the information.