Afternoon fatigue

[Sofie007]

If you are on levothyroxine and your energy is good but in the late afternoon you become very very tired, could that mean that your dosage is too low ? I will have new blood results in 2 weeks. Just wanted to know if anyone is familiar with this and if you were able to “fix” it? Thank you very much.

[Redditch]

It's more likely to be low sugar after too much sugar at lunch. If your lunch is low glycemic index you would keep your sugar constant. Levothyroxine is long acting. The tablet you took two days ago is beginning to work now, you don't run out of steam by the afternoon.

If your dose was too low you'd be tired all the time. Change to a low GI diet and see if that helps because this sounds very like sugar related spiking

[Sofie007 in reply to Redditch]

Hey Redditch, thanks for the reply. I eat quite low GI, but i will pay more attention to it. Thanks.

[Poppy_Ann]

Hi Sofie, I am on thyroxine on a dose of 75mg and as far as I can tell it has made zero effect on my energy, another thing to look at is your vitamin d level as because here in the UK we do not receive enough sunlight for us to produce enough vitamin d I noticed that I had a little more energy after a couple of months of taking them I believe that if you are taking medication it can take up to 2 to 3 months before you get the full effect, how long have you been on thyroxine? more than 3 months if not just give it a chance to build up so you are getting the best results from it. Regards Poppy Ann

[Sofie007 in reply to Poppy_Ann]

Hi Poppy_Ann,Sorry to hear you don’t feel the effect of the levo. I was on 50mcg for 5 months, now i am on 75mcg (50mcg in the morning, 25mcg at noon) . I am also not sure i feel anything. I will try to be more patient. Thanks a lot for the reply! This forum is very helpful.

[Poppy_Ann in reply to Sofie007]

You are welcome to the reply, I had typed out a different one first but after reading it at the end I decided that I had gone off topic just after the start and was giving my life story and not keeping it to the correct topic so I scrubbed it out and started again, hope that you find out the problem is and find an easy way to correct it, Regards Poppy Ann

[Sofie007 in reply to Poppy_Ann]

Haha, i don’t mind a life story. Have a nice day!

[Poppy_Ann in reply to Sofie007]

And you

[Ziggy17 in reply to Sofie007]

I'm interested to hear you're splitting the dose - is that the GP's idea? Could it be that you're eating too close to the doses, perhaps?

I get an afternoon slump, especially if I've been active (walking/working etc) and I've come to think it's me not converting T4 to T3 quickly enough. I have to pace myself and schedule breaks (all a bit tedious) and sometimes a biscuit helps.

As T4 is a storage hormone, it's interesting that the body doesn't just keep converting until it's all used up - I think it needs the favourable conditions of adequate vitamins etc, and perhaps a 'minimum' level of T4?

Oh, and magnesium helps...

[Sofie007 in reply to Ziggy17]

Hey Ziggy, no it was mine. Because my gp is of not much help. I am slowly upping my dose. Today i did the 75mcg in the morning and will continue this for a few weeks to see if that helps. I wait 1 hour before eating . My breakfast also includes 1 cup of coffee and maybe that is not good? Yes it seems such a fragile balance sometimes. And it’s impossible to check your vitamin levels every week. I just take them and hope for the best. I have a blood test scheduled in 2 weeks. Thank you for your kind reply! I hope you have a nice energetic day

[Ziggy17 in reply to Sofie007]

Ah, thanks Sofie! I take mine last thing at night now, at least three hours after eating, it suits me better than delaying that first cup of coffee... And I take it with as little water as possible, so I can sleep through the night without needing to pee.

A good day to you, too, and, hopefully, without an afternoon slump! x

[Pearlteapot]

I often crash late afternoon. It’s happening less since my dose was increased but still happens. I take Reddit h point about GI but I eat very low GI. When I was on 75/100 I dreaded the 75 days and looked forward to the 100 days. Purely psychological? Maybe, who knows

[Sofie007 in reply to Pearlteapot]

Hey Pearlteapot thanks for the reply.

[Regenallotment Ambassador]

This is very familiar, I agree with the comments above, I’m definitely affected by what I eat at lunch, anything carby or sugary gives me such a dip by 3pm often needing a nap by 4. It’s got better recently, been working on D vits and diet (gluten and sugar free). Helps if I get more sleep at night, magnesium and routine helped me. Good luck!

[Poppy_Ann in reply to Regenallotment]

I could never stick to a low gluten diet or a low sugar diet, I would love a hi gluten diet due to my love of good bread that I can get my Teeth into along with things like steamed puddings like spotted dick or jam rollie polly "sorry for the bad spelling but I am dyslexic and even the spell checker cannot find what I wanted"Some days the only thing I have is a can of custard or rice pudding as standing up is painfully and the easiest thing is straight out of the can so if I had a low sugar diet there would not be anything for me to eat.

[Workingitout]

I found this Zoe podcast on how to control blood sugar spikes interesting:

joinzoe.com/learn/podcast-h...

I've been having a tablespoon of vinegar in water before meals (also helps with digestion as l have low stomach acid) and ordering my food to eat my veg first (usually salad) and gently moving around for 10 minutes after eating. I immediately noticed this way of eating stopped the intense sugar cravings and sleepiness l had been experiencing in the late afternoon.

[Pearlteapot in reply to Workingitout]

I had salad for breakfast for at least a week after listening to that podcast

[Workingitout in reply to Pearlteapot]

Did you notice a difference?

[Sofie007]

Hey Workingitout, thanks for your reply and suggestions! I will try them. Have a nice day!