It seems more complicated than it should be, doesn't it? Here are the rules.

1. No matter what kind of medication you take, take your morning dose first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach and with a full glass of water.

2. Don't take an supplements for at least an hour and a half before and after you take your medication.

3. If you take a multivitamin, take it at night so keep it far away from your thyroid medication as it could specifically have nutrients and minerals that directly interfere with absorption.

4. Ideally, don't drink anything except water for at least 30 minutes and wait an hour before eating. I am lax on this with my patients and only tell them not to eat or drink anything for 30 minutes because, well life gets in the way doesn't it.

5. If you take natural dessicated thyroid (things like armour thyroid, Nature-throid or westroid) be aware most people feel better with a second dose in the afternoon. Take this around 2:30-3:30pm which is a couple hours after lunch.

**Bonus tip: Don't let any of this advice make you so particular that you skip a dose as opposed to not taking it just right. Any absorption is better than none, so don't stress and thyroid-on.

Be well,

McCall

There are a thousand explanations as to why you are still having thyroid symptoms or not being diagnosed, despite having each and every symptom on the list. There's no reason to just accept your symptoms as permanent. The bottom line is this is a solvable issue if you have someone on your team who understands the intricacies of hypothyroidism. Believe it not, that someone can be hard to find.

Check out some reasons people have symptoms below:

your doctor is only using TSH to diagnose and treat your thyroid problem
they are adopting whatever the lab range of whatever lab you went to as being "normal"
you're being told you don't have a thyroid problem based on the above reasons. this one is the worst in my opinion.
your free t3 isn't being checked
no one has any idea what t3 is
the medication you're on doesn't work for you. many people need medicines other than levothyroxine or t4 based medications
you have a "conversion problem" and can't convert your t4 to t3
maybe you are on natural dessicated thyroid but are only dosed in the morning and feel exhausted by 3pm.
you have active hashimoto's which makes thyroid even more complicated to treat
you aren't taking it on an empty stomach or taking it too close to vitamins

Don't wait, let me help you. I was once the person with persistent symptoms being told everything was fine. I know how it feels, it's miserable and keeps you from living your life the way you want to be.

~McCall