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Thyroid Medication in the AM + Eating Breakfast


TrayS

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Hi all, for the hypothyroid people out there, I am curious to know the effect Whole30 has had on you.

I am on just a low dose of levothyroxine. It has helped my symptoms quite a lot and some others have disappeared since I started Whole30, such as dry skin/eyes. Overall I feel much better, aside from the past few days.

I'm on Day 26 and the past few days I am feeling the fatigue and charlie horse-type leg cramps characteristic of more symptomatic times. One possible explanation I have considered is the timing of medication. I understand that you're supposed to take it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. This hasn't been a problem for me in the past because pre-whole30 I was not a breakfast eater. I have since gotten in the habit of eating first thing in the morning like you're supposed to, right after I take my medication - maybe it's affecting the absorption?

Thyroid medication-takers, how does your medication fit into this picture? I am interested to hear your solutions.

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I recommend doing whatever necessary to take it apart from food. I've been on both synthetic and dessicated at different times in my life, and if I take either too close to a meal I can tell it doesn't absorb as well, and bloodwork has backed that up. It sounds inconvenient, but my current strategy is that I wake up an hour before I have to get up, take it and go back to sleep.

Other options are to take at a different time in the day that you have an empty stomach window, but if I do it too late it can occasionally interfere with my sleep.

Or, if you absolutely must take it with breakfast, you could ostensibly take a higher dose. The was suggested to me by my doctor but I didn't want to go there so I can't speak to the efficacy of that method.

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@ Joey - That's exactly what I do - I usually am up before I actually need to be up so I take it then and then go back to sleep. Otherwise take it right when I get up. It takes me about an hour to get ready and I eat breakfast at my desk so it's been about 2 hours since I've taken my medication before I eat anything (or drink my tea). I know we are supposed to eat first thing - but that doesn't work in my schedule and I've always eaten by 8:30 in the morning so I have adequate timing between my meals.

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The key is consistency. If you consistently take your thyroid meds close to breakfast, it will be reflected in your absorption, but your doctor can adjust your meds to account for it. But if you then start skipping breakfast, you'll throw everything out of whack again. I take mine first thing in the AM, then throw last-minute items into the kids' lunches for school, take my shower, and go through my morning routine. By the time I get back downstairs and cook my breakfast, enough time has passed that I can eat.

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Thanks for your replies, for the past week I have made sure to put an hour between taking the med and eating (and drinking coffee). My symptoms have thankfully gone away again and my energy is back up. All part of the learning process!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I haven't actually started the whole30 yet (next week) but I am hoping it will help get me off of thyroid meds but here is my experience with them otherwise as a fairly healthy already. I started seeing a different doc (more holistic in practice) and he switched me from levothyroxine to Armour and I feel 10X different. My energy is more steady throughout the day and without doing anything special (I'm actually working out a little less) I've dropped a couple pounds. In the research I've done, depending on the source of your thyroid issues, it needs to be medicated differently. I'm guessing that I needed Armour. My doc also told me to just take it as long as I don't plan on having food an hour before or after. I usually get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom so I just take it then. Hope this helps and gives you some ideas.

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I've strugged with a hypothyroid for a very long time and have always been on medication for it. Basically my thyroid is a 600 pound man running the Boston marathon, it never gets better and my doses are constantly being upped. I've been Paleo for 2 years and, in my experience, you will always need some type of thyroid medication. I was extremely hopeful that I would be able to go off any medications through regulation of diet but when I took myself off my medication, against the advice of my doctor, I felt pretty normal for the first few months and then fell completely off the deep end. I was always extremely tired, to the point of having to drink a ridiculous amount of coffee to function. I was angry/sad/depressed and not a fun person to be around at all. Every little thing would set me off. I gained weight when I had been the same weight consistenly for months prior to that. I would go to CrossFit and struggle to get through the WOD while hating being there, a fitness program that I previously couldn't get enough of. I've been back on my medication for a few months now and I feel back to my regular old self. The long and the short of this post is that if you decide to go off of your medication I would strongly recommend doing it ONLY under the supervision of a physician. Don't make the same mistake I did and suffer the consequences of thinking you know better than your MD.

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I just finally got the dx today that I have Hashimoto's and have been rx'd 200mcg of Synthroid. I think I'm going to try the trick of waking up early, taking the pill and then going back to sleep. Since I'm pregnant I'm always up to pee anyway so that will be my opportunity. I'm glad there are others here to relate to.

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