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Forum -> Yom Tov / Holidays -> Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh, Fast Days, and other Days of Note
Synthroid/levothyroxine on fast days
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How do you take your thyroid meds on whole-day fast days?
I take it as usual with a small sip of water.  
 28%  [ 17 ]
I skip that day.  
 40%  [ 24 ]
I take it at night after the fast has ended.  
 31%  [ 19 ]
Total Votes : 60



amother
Beige


 

Post Thu, Aug 01 2019, 7:11 am
amother [ Chartreuse ] wrote:
Im so sorry to hear.
Do all symptoms completely resolve when on the synthroids?

I'm losing weight and feeling better most days. There's usually one to two days a week I still feel depressed. It's hard. I'm on medication for 2 months and due for 3rd doctors visit and follow up.
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dv




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 01 2019, 7:25 am
I’ve been on synthroid my whole life...when I was younger I was told that on fast days you take daily medicines at the time with water
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stillnewlywed




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 01 2019, 8:08 am
I skip and take double the next morning.
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bet




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 01 2019, 3:30 pm
I have been on synthesis since I am 1 years old. My doctor noticed that my thyroid gland was enlarged.....While we are on the subject:?Does anyone know of a good endocrinologist in the tristate area? I’m having a lot of issues with mine
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bet




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 01 2019, 3:36 pm
*synthroid
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bet




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 01 2019, 3:37 pm
*10 years old
☹️Autocorrect
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Cheiny




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 01 2019, 5:31 pm
amother [ OP ] wrote:
All imamothers on Synthroid (levothyroxine) or other thyroid meds: What do you do on Tisha B'Av and Yom Kippur? I know that if not taking a medication would damage your health, you're allowed to take it with a small sip of water on a fast day. But I'm looking for creative solutions. For example, I sometimes take my levothyroxine later in the day, depending on circumstances. Or earlier, as in this Shiva Asar B'Tamuz, when I took it at 2 AM, so I could eat at 3 AM before the fast started. No bad consequences, as far as I can tell.

I'm thinking about taking it at night after the fast has ended. The drawback is that I'd have to fast an extra hour, because I wait for an hour after taking levothyroxine before eating. But at least I'd be able to drink water during that hour.

This isn't the same situation as taking an antibiotic multiple times a day. Of course, in that situation, there's no choice and you need to take it on a fast day. It also isn't the same as taking some necessary medication that has a short half-life. In the case of levothyroxine, the half-life is very long, so it's not like your T4 level is going to drop significantly if you delay it by 12 or 14 hours. On the other hand, they do tell you to take it at the same time every day. But I don't know if that's just to increase the chances that you take it every day.

Advice to ask my doctor is not helpful, so please don't suggest that. I have no desire to explain my religious practices to anyone if I don't have to. I am just interested in what you all do, and how you came to your decision.


Take it an hour AFTER you break your fast.
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, Aug 01 2019, 8:25 pm
Cheiny wrote:
Take it an hour AFTER you break your fast.


Most of us have been told to take levothyroxine on an empty stomach. That means that after we eat, we would have to wait two to three hours or even four hours until we could take levothyroxine. So if Tisha B'Av ends around 9 PM and I eat from 9 to 9:30 PM, that means I'd have to wait until midnight or later to take my medicine. I don't last very long after breaking my fast; I get really tired. I'd rather wait the extra hour after the fast, and start eating at 10 PM and get to bed shortly after 10:30.

But of all the answers that I've seen here, I like best the idea of skipping and taking two pills the next day! That seems the easiest.
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amother
Teal


 

Post Fri, Aug 02 2019, 12:26 am
amother [ OP ] wrote:
Most of us have been told to take levothyroxine on an empty stomach. That means that after we eat, we would have to wait two to three hours or even four hours until we could take levothyroxine. So if Tisha B'Av ends around 9 PM and I eat from 9 to 9:30 PM, that means I'd have to wait until midnight or later to take my medicine. I don't last very long after breaking my fast; I get really tired. I'd rather wait the extra hour after the fast, and start eating at 10 PM and get to bed shortly after 10:30.

But of all the answers that I've seen here, I like best the idea of skipping and taking two pills the next day! That seems the easiest.


So curious... why do you think something bad will happen if you skip/miss a day? Why would you take two pills instead of just go back to your routine the next morning?

I take a chronic medication and I've often skipped a day by accident. I don't double-up, I just move on as if nothing happened. If synthroid is cumulative and you've been taking it since yom kippur regularly, I doubt anything would happen if you missed a day.

You should probably check with your doctor if there's a benefit in taking a double dose the next morning.
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amother
Beige


 

Post Fri, Aug 02 2019, 3:07 am
I take my sythroid on an empty stomach in the morning and then wait 30-60 minutes after before eating. That is the ideal way to take it since it works best on an empty stomach.
But if I forget a dose, I've been instructed to take as soon as I remember, even if my stomach is not empty.
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amother
OP


 

Post Fri, Aug 02 2019, 5:40 am
amother [ Teal ] wrote:
So curious... why do you think something bad will happen if you skip/miss a day? Why would you take two pills instead of just go back to your routine the next morning?

I take a chronic medication and I've often skipped a day by accident. I don't double-up, I just move on as if nothing happened. If synthroid is cumulative and you've been taking it since yom kippur regularly, I doubt anything would happen if you missed a day.

You should probably check with your doctor if there's a benefit in taking a double dose the next morning.


It would make no sense to double up on something like a blood pressure medication because that might drop your blood pressure too low. I doubt it would make sense to double up on something like an antibiotic with a short half-life because I think the prescribed dosage targets the maximum effective level in your bloodstream anyway, and the extra dose would be eliminated soon anyway.

BUT: For levothyroxine, taking a double dose after skipping could potentially make sense _because_ the dose is cumulative and the half-life is so long. It has even been studied, in part because it's very hard for patients to be compliant about taking it on an empty stomach, and not eating for half an hour to an hour after, and not taking any other meds within 3-4 hours of taking levothyroxine. I just found an article about this. European Thyroid Journal in 2017 reports on a study of two groups of 50 hypothyroid adults. One group took a daily dose; the other took an equivalent weekly dose. The group taking the daily dose had better thyroid levels but the other group reported better quality of life because they didn't have to time things so exactly. But this was over a long period of time and a much more extreme version of what the skipping/doubling imamothers are reporting.

It seems reasonable, anyway, that over the week, it's better to have had seven doses, even if not in ideal circumstances, than just six.
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Moonlight




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Aug 04 2019, 11:18 pm
I did not read everyone's replies but my doctor told me that the way Synthroid works is the amount consumed per week. It is just divided into certain way over days but you could really take it all in one day for the whole week. So I asked about fast days and they said definitely just skip that day and take two the next day
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ail




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Aug 07 2019, 5:27 pm
I also take it in the morning without water.
If I miss even one day I feel swollen and difficulties with swallow...
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moomles




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Aug 07 2019, 7:11 pm
If you choose to double up it makes more sense to me to double the day before the fast.
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Dayzmom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 08 2019, 9:12 pm
amother [ Brunette ] wrote:
Wow. Bh I dont know of these things. Like your taking meds for life?

Yes. In my case it’s called a side affect of thyroid cancer. I don’t have one anymore. So the meds I take are not supplemental but a complete replacement.

I usually take my pill the second the fast is over and then wait 30 minutes. When it comes to YK I put one in a baggie and send it to Shul with my machzor before YT. The second they blow the shofar I go wash my hands and take my pill. By the time I hear havdalah I am ready to eat.
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Dayzmom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 08 2019, 9:17 pm
amother [ OP ] wrote:
Most of us have been told to take levothyroxine on an empty stomach. That means that after we eat, we would have to wait two to three hours or even four hours until we could take levothyroxine. So if Tisha B'Av ends around 9 PM and I eat from 9 to 9:30 PM, that means I'd have to wait until midnight or later to take my medicine. I don't last very long after breaking my fast; I get really tired. I'd rather wait the extra hour after the fast, and start eating at 10 PM and get to bed shortly after 10:30.

But of all the answers that I've seen here, I like best the idea of skipping and taking two pills the next day! That seems the easiest.


So I know my dr gave me that option as well. I’m always worried that I’ll have rapid heartbeats the day I take double. So I end up just talking it and waiting 30 min.
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