Digestive enzymes/betaine pepsin in the morning

[The-Wasp]

Hi friends! I have a two questions. I hope that's okay: I avoid eating or drinking anything for one hour after taking my thyroid meds. By then, I am ravenous and need to eat because I have blood sugar issues (nothing diagnosable, just feel lousy). Is it okay to take Betaine pepsin and/or a digestive enzyme before eating (one hour after taking Synthroid and Liothyronine)? I know we're not supposed to take supplements withing 4 hours of taking thyroid meds, but I think we're always supposed to take supplements with food if we have low stomach acid?

Second question: I think we're not supposed to discuss/recommend doctors here and I can understand why, but are we allowed to ask for recommendation for naturopathic doctors on this page? I'm hoping to find a naturopathic doctor in the UK able/willing to prescribe naturopathic medication and testing for someone with Hashimoto's. I live in Exeter, Devon, but am willing to travel for a good naturopathic doctor. I recently moved here from Canada.

Thank you so much!

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

I know we're not supposed to take supplements withing 4 hours of taking thyroid meds,

We can take most supplements/medication 2 hours after taking thyroid meds, only certain ones need a 4 hour gap, ie iron, calcium, Vit D, magnesium, HRT, oestrogen, PPIs.

As I need the bathroom in the early hours of the morning that's when I take my thyroid meds, it's usually around 3-5am, which is well away from any food or supplements/other medication.

On the odd occasion I have to take my thyroid meds later (when doing a blood test and timing my Levo to be 24 hours before time of test) then that's the only time I might have a shorter gap, sometimes around an hour, so it's doubtful a one-off like that would make any difference in the long run.

but I think we're always supposed to take supplements with food if we have low stomach acid?

The reason for taking supplements with food is they might cause stomach upset and taking with food can alleviate this. Some supplements should be taken with food anyway, others are better without food if possible. The bottle usually tells you.

Second question: I think we're not supposed to discuss/recommend doctors here and I can understand why, but are we allowed to ask for recommendation for naturopathic doctors on this page?

Yes, we can ask on the forum for recommendations to be sent to us in a private message, we can't discuss individual doctors openly on the forum.

[The-Wasp in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you Susie! This helps a lot. I meant that I'm supposed to take betaine pepsin with my breakfast, but your first answer (that it's only certain supplements that should be taken away from thyroid meds solved this issue for me). Do I need to post a separate question to get someone to message me about naturopathic doctors or should I just sit tight and hope someone messages me? Thanks again 😀

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to The-Wasp]

but your first answer (that it's only certain supplements that should be taken away from thyroid meds solved this issue for me).

Maybe I didn't explain clearly enough. We always need a time gap between thyroid meds and supplements/other medication so that nothing affects thyroid meds absorption.

All supplements/other medication should be at least 2 hours away from thyroid meds.

Certain supplements/other medication need to be 4 hours away from thyroid meds.

I very occasionally have a shorter gap of less than 2 hours when I alter the timing of my thyroid meds when having a thyroid function test, that gap may be an hour.

[The-Wasp in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks Susie! For the most part I do the same thing as you, but I only wake up in the middle of the night about half of the time. So just to clarify -- if I take my medication when I wake up and I eat an hour late, you'd forgo digestive enzymes and/or betaine pepsin as it might stop the thyroid medication from working? I know there's probably no studies so maybe this is just one of those things we have to make an educated guess about? I know Hashimoto's is an understudied illness and sometimes there just aren't any solid answers 🙃

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to The-Wasp]

if I take my medication when I wake up and I eat an hour late, you'd forgo digestive enzymes and/or betaine pepsin as it might stop the thyroid medication from working?

If you think you need the digestive enzyme supplement then I think I would try it leaving an hour gap. You can do a thyroid function test after a few weeks to see if it's makes any difference to your levels. If so you'll know to leave longer, if not then you'll be fine to carry on.

When I tried Betain HCl with Pepsin a few years ago I took it with my main meal, if I remember correctly it should be taken with a meal with protein (??). It didn't work for me so I changed to raw, organic apple cider vinegar with mother and that worked.

[The-Wasp in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you so much! You're very kind 😀

[humanbean in reply to The-Wasp]

I would suggest you take betaine and pepsin with your breakfast.

Betaine is a strong acid, intended to be an artificial substitute for missing stomach acid. Taking the betaine on an empty stomach could cause ulceration or irritation. So, take it during your meal.

Digestive enzymes vary a lot so I can't comment on those, but I would suggest they are probably best taken with food as well. But they may not be needed at all. Experimentation and research is essential. You really, really don't want to end up with chronic gastritis.

Pepsin, which is included in some betaine products, is created by a healthy body to help digest protein. If your meal has no protein you wouldn't need the pepsin at all.

You should find these links helpful :

healthygut.com/how-to-suppl...

healthygut.com/4-common-bet...

[The-Wasp in reply to humanbean]

Thank you so much! And you don't think it will interfere with the thyroid meds if i've taken them an hour prior to eating and taking the betaine/pepsin?

[humanbean in reply to The-Wasp]

If you are taking betaine / pepsin with food it should not cause any more problems with your thyroid hormones than the food will.

[The-Wasp in reply to humanbean]

Perfect! Thank you! This is what i was hoping to find out 😀