Anyone tried this when increasing dose

[Andypandy30]

Has anyone increased levothyroxine from 75 to 100 mcg but done this by splitting dose throughout day .I thought if I took 75 and an extra 25 mcg every few days i will eventually get to 100 which is the dose I am trying to get to

[SlowDragon Administrator]

yes several members have done this and some continue to split dose indefinitely

You could take 50mcg waking and 50mcg at bedtime

Or split as you suggest…..75mcg waking and 25mcg at bedtime (or vice versa)

Many people find they prefer taking levothyroxine at bedtime

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

There seem to be two lots of people!

I did not like alternating 100 and 125 to average 112.5. But was fine on 112.5 every day. It was the changing dose that did not work well for me.

Adding in 25 every so often, and increasing frequency as I think you mean, would not be my choice. 100 is 33% more than 75. (And, of course, 75 is 25% less than 100!) Which is quite a big variation. Furthermore, you would be having this going on for, potentially, quite a long time.

If I wanted to slowly increase from 75 to 100, I'd prefer to have an intermediate step of, say 87.5. If I felt the need, yes, add 12.5 maybe every four days. Then change to every three days. Then every other day. Then two days and skip the third, and so on. Until reaching 87.5 every day. Then move to 100 every four days, and so on.

However, I'd be ready to adjust the pattern depending on experience. Plan as much as you can, but accept you might change as you see how it goes. It might take just as long as adding in 25 every few days, etc., but I'd hope it would be more gentle.

Others would just go for 100 every day. But I don't think you are like that!

[FallingInReverse]

Hi Andy, what you explain above is exactly what I did to go from 75 to 100.

Edit: this is similar to the suggestion above but I only had 100 mcg pills and so couldn’t cut them up small enough to do an even increase every day.

I was at 75 a day. That was 525 a week. I wanted to get to 100 a day. That’s 700 a week. I cut up a few 100 pills into quarters. I then added 25 mcgs spread out over 4-5weeks, from memory it was something like this

- week 1 and 2 - I added 25 mcgs on Mon, Wed, and Fri. This averaged about 10 mcg extra a day; and brought me to 600 total for the week.

- week 3 and 4 I added 25 mcgs on two more days, now it was Mon100 Tue100 Wed100 Thurs75 Fri100 Sat100 Sun75 (650 total for the week)

- week 5 I was up to 100 a day

- I then stayed on 100 a day for 5-6 more weeks before testing again.

We are all different, but you’ve received a lot of great replies in your other post. There are many ways to do this, but yes, it is your decision.

That being said - Whatever you choose - you need to have a plan and directionally stick to it , then stay 6 weeks on a stable dose until you test again. If it all gets too much, come back to the forum and get more support and advice.

As I mentioned earlier in my other post - our body’s hormones do not do well with zig zagging ups and downs and up again.

I will also say that between weeks 2-5 of most dose increases for me I use this forum to talk me off the ledge of how anxious and unpleasant it has been for me. But we are told time and again we have to wait it out, and by 6-8 weeks we do feel more calm.

Now. I know that the anxiety I feel is completely from being in the middle of a dose increase. I am able to really separate it out from anything in the external world. Anxiety “should” be our body’s warning system that something is wrong. But I am able to see through it and realize that nothing in the world has changed… that it’s just my blood chemistry playing tricks on me.

I do not know you. If your anxiety is overwhelming and you simply can’t hang on, then review your doctors advice and the forums input on how you may consider the antidepressants you’ve been given. I can’t help with that as I’ve never been there before.

But if you find you can hold through the feelings, then chopping/staggering or ideally increasing by 12.5 a day over the weeks is something many of us do to great success. Some need the same dose every day. I’m sure I’d feel better with that, but I only had 100 tablets so had to stagger.

Especially since you felt good on 100 for years, if you can head back towards there slowly and retest I think it’s a better bet than staying on 75 where you never felt right even for the long 7 months you were on that dose where your TSH rose and T4 dropped.

Andy, do you think you can write down a 3-5 week plan for a slow path to a steady 100 a day? At which point you can start the 6 week clock again and plan for your next blood test.

[BB001]

I am very sensitive to levothyroxine dose changes, and even I found absolutely no benefit from splitting the dose during the day. The important thing is to make sure you take it on an empty stomach, which means at least 4 hours after food, and don't eat for an hour. Also to take it away from certain medications, such as iron, calcium, magnesium and to avoid soya.