Not feeling better on your levothyroxine? You aren’t alone.
But making a few simple tweaks can dramatically improve how well your thyroid medication is working.
Try these tweaks if you feel like your thyroid medication isn’t doing its job:
#1. Change HOW you take your thyroid medication.
If you’re like most thyroid patients, then you’re probably just swallowing your medication with a glass of water.
But did you know that you can take your meds sublingually?
If you crush up your medication, turn it into a powder, and then place it under your tongue for about 5 minutes, you can help your body bypass your intestinal tract.
This means better absorption and better symptom control.
Does it taste great? Not really, but it will help you feel better.
And, FYI, if you don’t want to crush up your meds, you can opt to get a liquid form like Tirosint-Sol.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28702889/
#2. Change WHEN you take your thyroid medication.
Contrary to popular belief, there’s no law that states you must take your thyroid medication first thing in the morning.
In fact, research suggests that taking your meds right before you go to bed are just as effective if not more effective.
Why?
Well, it turns out that when you take your meds at night, there’s nothing in your stomach to prevent their absorption.
As long as you take your meds 2 hours after dinner, you’re good to go.
Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3139142/
#3. Change what TYPE of thyroid medication you are taking.
Even if you can’t get your doctor to prescribe one of the fancier and stronger thyroid medications like liothyronine or Armour thyroid, you shouldn’t have an issue getting them to prescribe one within the same class as you’re already taking.
Here’s what I mean:
Are you taking levothyroxine? Switch to Synthroid. Are you taking Synthroid? Switch to levothyroxine.
Have you tried both without success? Switch to Tirosint.
Even though it doesn’t seem like a big change, it can have an impact. And research shows that certain people respond better to levothyroxine over Synthroid and vice versa.
Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8799578/
#4. Add T2 To your Current Regimen
You can’t control how much thyroid hormone your doctor is giving you, but you can do things to make that dose more effective.
And one of those things is taking T2 thyroid hormone.
T2 is a real active thyroid hormone, the only one available over the counter, and it can help stabilize T4 and T3 levels.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23736295/
You can purchase it over the counter as a supplement and take it at the exact same time as your levothyroxine dose (or other thyroid medication).
You can get T2 over the count here.
Try one or more of these simple changes and let me know how you feel. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what they will do for you.
I took Synthroid for at least 10 years. Medical insurance was great. Then I changed insurance and they suggested only using generics, for everything. I switched to Levothyroxin and found out it’s much less expensive.
However, Synthroid is the name brand, Levothyroxin is the generic and supposedly equal to Synthroid.
I tried Armour for awhile but that was the most expensive and I didn’t really notice any difference.
You mentioned taking all three at the same time. Doesn’t that mean you are taking the same dose three times instead of once?
Hi Cecyle,
No, what I’m referring to is something like this:
Tirosint (or Synthroid/levothyroxine) 100 mcg
Liothyronine (or Cytomel/SR T3) 10 mcg
T2 (as essential T2 or T2 Cream) 100 mcg
The first two require a prescription, T2 does not.
This allows you to titrate the dose of T4, T3, and T2 individually which you can’t do when using Armour.
I am on a low does 25 mg thyroid test has been normal for about 2 years fo I still need to take it. I take a blood thinner for irregular heart rate they said thyroid was the cause. I’m thinking I don’t need the thyroid pill.