Oh great! No, he isn't old at all. Middle age.

Ugh, so does that mean no milk with coffee in the morning I take it?

I've done a little checking here and there and find that there are people who take it at bedtime. One of those places was at the following link (in addition to a few forums I visited and read some of the patient posts). http://thyroid.about.com/od/thyroidd.../a/bedtime.htm

Thanks for that link.

What IS important, is the presence of FOOD in the GI tract.
This acts as an absorbant, and decreases thyroid absorption.

My GI tract is not slower at night! It is NEVER slow ...LOL

Do what you decide...but keep calcium, iron and magnesium away from that dosing time as well as having an empty stomach.
At least 6 hr after eating. (food with fat in it will stay in the stomach longer--and evening meals tend to be more fatty in content).

Starting off at 100mcg is not typical. If you get side effects, sweating, or heart palpitations, call your doctor.

Yes! I see problems with both times. I do not like meds that have to be taken hours before or after meals. My problem with the nighttime dose is that I'm usually a late eater. So that would make a major change for me. Or in the morning. Well, I wonder if I could find a non-dairy creamer that doesn't have the calcium, etc., in it. I am not a black coffee drinker, lol.

I haven't even looked at side effects which is something I always do before taking meds. I told Dr. that if it caused weight gain, forget it! I lost 30 lbs after getting off the darned Paxil a few years ago and don't want to go down that road again.

Thanks Mrs. D as always for your valuable input!

Well, Doody, if you are like some of us, you get up to go to the bathroom at night?

If you get up at 4am to do that, well, take the thyroid then.

You'll find some rhythm that suits you. I take lots of stuff at night, most of my meds. So night time is out for me.

But I might start taking the levothyroxine at a bathroom visit myself. My TSHs run between 1.5 and 2.0 normally on 75mcg dose.

LOL Mrs. D, yes, I normally do potty in the middle of the night. I've made a habit, though, of never looking at my clock at night. I used to do that all the time in years past and found just knowing the time sometimes kept me awake.

So, guess I'll have to start watching the clock when I wake up, oh goody again.

Maybe I should drink a whole glass of water before bed and hope it makes me wake up at the same time every night, LOLOL!

Again, my main problem with taking at bedtime, which is what he instructed me to do with no hesitation...which by the way, he was adamant about starting at 100 mcg!.... is that, I basically snack all evening. I know! Bad thing!

Oh and my TSH always seems to be okay. Last test was 2.01. It's the T4 that plummeted in my last 2 blood tests at physicals. First one was .89, next physical 0.25.

Oh, and I take my trazadone and fluoxetine at night about an hour before I go to bed.

I'm going to shoot for the night time and hope that I get up at around the same time...since it seems so important to take at the same time each day.

You can vary by hours.... T4 (levothyroxine) has a long half life in the body....190 hours.

T4 is stored in tissues and on special proteins in the blood that carry it around...once you have been on it...you will have a huge hedge for time changes. T3 on the other hand has a short half life of a few hours (less than 5).

Some people with normal TSH and low T4 values, may benefit from Iodine supplements. I don't feel comfortable with the new ultra high doses of Idoral some doctors give. But you could take a kelp extract that has 150mcg in each tablet...take 2 of those to increase your iodine intake. That might help too.

Thanks Mrs. D! Sounds good to me. Should be interesting to see if there is any rhythm to my kidney madness in the middle of the night.

I find my night time bathroom visits have 2 major triggers.

1) good blood pressure control minimizes night-time bathroom needs (for urine that is)

2) more carbs, poor blood sugar control = more night time visits also. Larger breakfast and lunch and smaller dinners make for less night time urine runs.

Of course drinking large fluid intakes after 6pm is also a factor.
Taking B-complex or other vitamins at night will get you up too.

I really can't stay up much past 8-9pm anymore. Very stimulating days I might be up til 10pm but that is rare now.
In summer with longer days, I stay up later. In winter I go to bed early. Being OLD is soooo much fun! (not)