Can you take thyroxine with a latte?

[Corygal]

So I've got used to breaking the breakfast habits of a lifetime and am now sadly having thyroxine early with just a cup of decaf, then waiting glumly for it to sink in before I actually eat or drink anything.

But can I drink coffee with milk? Any GPs around? All advice gratefully received.

I've been on thyroxine for some years and always worry about taking it at the best time.

I'm not medical but this is what I've gleaned over the years.

Stay away from calcium for some hours before before after taking the pill. I avoid drinking/eating anything before/ after taking my pill for an hour. I don't take indigestion tablets (very calcium heavy) for 6 hours either side ( difficult for me as I often suffer) .

Think about setting your alarm early and resetting it for your normal time (hard, I know). Also there's no problem with taking it before bed if you follow the same rules. I feel fine thyroid wise these days and my blood tests show I'm ok levels wise. Hope this helps.

I have been taking Thyroxine for 10 years and have never been told not to have it with certain things - I just take it when I get up and carry on as normal?

Same here Nancy75. Take it straight before breakfast. A colleague did say don't take it close to having soya products but I don't have those anyway. Why aren't GPs saying anything if yhere are genuine issues?

Just to say this is what I've picked up from those who take thyroxine. There's a lot of controversy about thyroid issues and yet I do side with the medics rather than the layman. My taking of thyroid pills at certain times don't cause me much of a problem but I sort of follow my rules on a may aswell, belt and braces basis.

I don't remember being told about taking the pills in a special way by GP or practice nurse. But then again, I also take iron tablets. I just picked up prescription. I was only told when I specifically asked, to take them with some form of vitamin c and avoid taking with calcium.

Here's the patient information leaflet.

www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/18104

It just says to take before the first meal of the day, but the online community would say to take with a full glass of water and leave at least an hour before eating or drinking anything.

Now Iron tablets I have been told not to take them at the same time as thyroxine - Endo said if I take thyroxine in the morning I should take the iron at night.
I have to be honest my levels are generally all over the place (I had thyroid removed 10 years ago and have never got back to normal) Maybe it is something to do with how/when I take the tablets

Losingmyreligion - I don't think GPs are great when it comes to thyroid issues - my gp suggested that maybe my thyroid had started to work properly to explain the odd levels- I pointed out that although the symptoms were similar as I don't have any trace of a thyroid left it is highly unlikely that it had suddenly started working

nancy. I did not know that about thyroid replacement and iron. That's very useful info. Thanks for posting! Do you know the hours you should leave between? I'm trying to avoid taking iron near to my late night milky decaf. Sorry to hi jack thread a bit.

Tobee, he said a couple of hours should be fine. I don't think its an exact science, I have had some off the chart levels recently and they suggested vitamins taken at the same time as the thyroxine as a possible reason but they weren't sure if that was the problem. I don't drink anything milky so just taking it before bed stops me forgetting to take it!

Thank you!

Consistency is the key but quite a lot can interfere with its absorption, even fibre which is where I can go wrong taking it too close to my porridge! So best to wait a while. Iirc vit c/ orange can help as increases stomach acid.

Magnesium, calcium and iron are the big no nos, tbh any sort of other medicine it's worth checking out thoroughly. Allow 4 hours before taking.

The book by Dr a toft has a good list of drug interactions, eg any sort of reflux medicine etc.

Grapefruit can actually affect the liver enzymes and reduce its processing for a couple of days. I think I saw by 10%.

In studies where it was taken in the evening / before bed, it seemed to impact blood tests, but I'm too much of a milky drink drinker to do this.

Sertaline affects it too, it seems to vary person to person but I had to be on more with that, as well as any oestrogen eg contraception.

Consistency is the key but quite a lot can interfere with its absorption, even fibre which is where I can go wrong taking it too close to my porridge! So best to wait a while. Iirc vit c/ orange can help as increases stomach acid.

Magnesium, calcium and iron are the big no nos, tbh any sort of other medicine it's worth checking out thoroughly. Allow 4 hours before taking.

The book by Dr a toft has a good list of drug interactions, eg any sort of reflux medicine etc.

Grapefruit can actually affect the liver enzymes and reduce its processing for a couple of days. I think I saw by 10%.

In studies where it was taken in the evening / before bed, it seemed to impact blood tests, but I'm too much of a milky drink drinker to do this.

Sertaline affects it too, it seems to vary person to person but I had to be on more with that, as well as any oestrogen eg contraception.

I take mine with water first thing, then leave at least 1/2 hour before I eat or drink anything else. When I was taking Iron 3 times a day, I tried to leave 1 hour before breakfast, and then take my iron then with fruit juice or some other vitamin C. And I try to avoid drinking tea to close to any of it.

I have wondered about taking it at night instead, but haven't tried that yet.

It does make you wonder why no doctor ever mentions this stuff! Can I also suggest that next time you get your bloods done you ask for a vit d test, apparently people with autoimmune diseases can be more likely to have vit d deficiency, I had mine checked recently and it was stupidly low. It was only tested because I have been very unwell. In all the years I have had thyroid problems vit d has never been mentioned before.

What on earth am I meant to have for breakfast if I have to avoid dairy? I'm on iron and thyroxine. I don't know how to time it all in.

I take mine last thing at night just before a coffee.

My levels are fine with the meds so I carry on taking them this way.

ItsADinosaur I agree.I'm on 3 types of high pressure pills too. Maybe I should set my alarm at various intervals through the night?!

High blood pressure I meant. I don't take pills to change the weather.

It shouldn't be taken with milky/high fibre foods, iron tablets or calcium tablets. Doesn't matter hugely the time of day as it has a long period of action so choose a time you can avoid these things for a while after. I would suggest first thing, then snooze button and shower before coffee.

From everything I have read (medical studies, not just anecdotal information), taking anything other than water with your levothyroxine may affect absorption. I have a dreadful problem with absorption at the best of times - so will do anything to enable the levothyroxine to work at its best. The longer you can leave it before eating, the better.

As U2 demonstrates, it's consistency that's the key. So don't make drastic changes you can't keep up with the 6 weeks or so before a test.

I take mine with lots of water first thing. I then have a cuppa with milk, sometimes straight away. It hasn't stopped my thyroxine working, it's actually worked too well and swung me the other way! I wouldn't take it with any supplements but I think you'll be fine with a latte.