6 Thyroid Medication Mistakes You Don't Want to Make

It may surprise you to know, but thyroid issues are far more common than most people think. Rather than being relegated to a tiny minority of people, it turns out that as many as 20 million people in the United States alone face thyroid problems. Even worse is that it’s estimated that as many as 60% of these people don’t know that they’re affected. That poses a serious problem. For those who have gone to the doctor and have been officially diagnosed with thyroid problems, they might think that everything is over and done with and they can get on with their lives as long as they undergo the treatment they’ve been prescribed.

As with most other things medically-related, it’s not that easy. Constant vigilance is still necessary to make sure you’re taking care of yourself and not interfering with (or negating) the treatment you’re undergoing, especially when it comes to medication. Your doctor will likely agree that there are lots of things that can go wrong while you’re treating your thyroid condition, and knowing what to look out for will go a long way in helping you avoid the mistakes other people have made. We’ve made a list of 6 of the most important mistakes people can make while taking thyroid medication, the reasoning behind them, and why they can cause problems. Armed with this information, you’ll be more knowledgeable and able to avoid the pitfalls others have stumbled into, and you’ll be all the healthier for it.

1. Eating soy – sometimes. While otherwise a relatively harmless (and healthy) source of nutrition, soy products can pose a problem to people who have thyroid issues. While there’s no reason to totally avoid soy products altogether, the medical community has noted that soy can inhibit the absorption of synthetic thyroid hormones taken by people with hypothyroidism. Some advise that people taking thyroid hormones avoid consuming soy products within four hours of taking their medication, otherwise it could limit the amount of hormone absorbed.

2. Taking biotin supplements. Biotin is a popular supplement, but recently it’s come under scrutiny in the medical community, particularly for the way it can affect medical tests. One of the B-vitamins, biotin is commonly included in supplements to promote healthy hair and nails. It’s also in foods like liver, egg yolks, nuts, fish, and avocados, among others. It can also pose a major problem by affecting some lab test results, particularly tests that measure the amount of biotin in the blood – including thyroid tests that measure the level of thyroid hormone.

3. Skipping doses. In many cases, thyroid treatment will be ongoing and last for the rest of a person’s life. The sheer length of treatment time, the tediousness of taking medication every day, and the complacency that can settle in after months or years of treatment can cause some people to think they can go ahead and skip a day. Once in a while, they might think, couldn’t hurt. The problem is that skipping doses can pose a major problem, because (particularly with hormones) it can throw off the balance of hormones in the body, and when someone slacks off once, they might be more likely to do it again – and more frequently, which would make things even worse.

4. Taking birth control. Like with soy products, some forms of female birth control can interfere with thyroid medication. This is evident in the case of levothyroxine, a popular synthetic thyroid hormone that many take to treat hypothyroidism. Female birth control commonly contains estrogen, which can interfere with the way levothyroxine is absorbed in the body. Women who want to introduce this type of birth control into their lives will have to let their doctor know beforehand, as the exact amount of thyroid hormone per dose would have to be reevaluated and increased accordingly.

5. Taking medication alongside supplements. While natural health supplements are all the rage, they can pose a unique problem for people who are taking thyroid medications. Just like estrogen in birth control and soy products, some nutritional supplements can also interfere with how thyroid hormones are absorbed into the body. The most important of these are calcium and iron. How does this happen? Calcium and iron ions can end up bonding with some of the molecules of the synthetic thyroid hormone, rendering some of it inactive and the whole dose a lot less effective.

6. Taking too much. Just as skipping a dose can cause harm, taking too much can also pose some problems. Side effects can include increased heartrate, diarrhea, insomnia, irritability, and weight gain/loss.

As always, talk with a doctor about the course of your thyroid treatment, and make sure that whatever you change about your diet or your lifestyle is harmonious with their treatment plan.