what do you need to do if you accidentally take a double dose of your thyroid medication
11 Thyroid Medication Mistakes Yous Don't Desire to Brand
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Thyroid hormone replacement medications treat hypothyroidism. The common drugs include levothyroxine (Synthroid, Levoxyl, Tirosint), liothyronine (Cytomel, compounded time-released T3), and natural desiccated thyroid (Nature-throid, Thyroid WP, Armour Thyroid.)
If you're beingness treated for hypothyroidism, how can you avoid making common mistakes that could interfere with your thyroid treatment? We asked thyroid patients to share some of their own thyroid medication mistakes, and so you can larn from their experience!
Mistake #1:
Y'all fail to check your prescription advisedly when you receive it from the chemist's shop.
When yous choice up or receive your thyroid medication, you should:
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Cheque to make sure it's the correct medication, at the correct dosage.
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Count the pills or capsules to brand sure yous received your total prescription.
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Ensure that a generic has not been substituted for your brand-proper name medication.
Marilyn was lucky that she routinely double-checked her prescriptions. She says: "I went to my pharmacy to choice up my thyroid prescription. They switched my name brand to a generic, and I defenseless it before I left their counter."
Linda had a similar experience, getting a generic instead of the make-name medication she usually took. In her case, information technology wasn't the chemist's'southward fault. "It was the insurance company that made the switch," says Linda.
Mistake #2:
Yous forget to take your thyroid medication
One of the nearly common mistakes is to forget to take your thyroid medication. Angie takes Synthroid.
"I forget to have it … a lot! That is my biggest fault. I tried writing myself a note, setting a reminder, getting a daily pill box, and leaving it out on the counter then I run across it. I will be great for like ii months, then forget 2 or three days in a row and wonder: 'Why do I experience like crap?'"
Even a few days of forgetfulness can take an bear on on your wellness. It is also particularly important to remember your thyroid medication if you are on a suppressive dose to prevent a recurrence of thyroid cancer.
Fault #3:
Yous double-dose your thyroid medication
Even if you remember to take your medication, y'all may forget you've taken it, and accept information technology again!
Kate says: "I keep forgetting I have already taken it and so take information technology another fourth dimension. Then I end upward and so wired and energetic that I tin can't slumber!" Tina reports that she sometimes takes her medication twice because she forgets she already took it. "Racing heart, much?!"
To avert double-dosing, some patients turn the bottle upside down or motion it from 1 location to another after it's been taken. A pill box with individual slots for each day, or fifty-fifty for morn and evening medications, can also help yous remember whether you've taken your medication, and aid you lot foreclose accidental double-dosing.
Mistake #4:
You don't accept your medication correctly
Thyroid medication should by and large be taken in the morn, an hr before eating any food, drinking coffee, or drinking milk, and at least three hours autonomously from taking any calcium or iron supplements or calcium-fortified drinks. If you take it in the evening, y'all should await at least three to four hours after eating.
Some thyroid medications, even so, have specialized instructions. Levoxyl make levothyroxine, for example, needs to be taken with a full glass of water, according to prescribing instructions from the manufacturer. Co-ordinate to Anne: "One of my worst thyroid medication mistakes was taking Levoxyl without plenty of water. One time I started drinking a total drinking glass of h2o after taking the pill, I started losing weight and my pill worked effectively."
Mistake #5:
You don't store your medication properly
If you lot don't store your medication properly, it can lose potency quickly and get less constructive. Ideally, you should store your thyroid medication in a dry place, away from humidity and low-cal. (This means the bathroom, or near the kitchen window, are non good places for your thyroid drugs.)
It'due south also important that your thyroid medication is not exposed to temperature extremes. Store your thyroid medication at no more than than 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Be careful about leaving your thyroid drugs in a hot motorcar or mailbox, or in areas without ac when temperatures exceed 80 degrees.
Mistake #6:
Yous mix up pills
Many pills look the same. If yous take multiple prescriptions, or there are many medications in your home for family members or roommates, it's of import to double check the labels. Donna's experience explains why this advice is so crucial:
"My Synthroid pills and my 15-twelvemonth-quondam son'southward Focalin (for attending deficit hyperactivity disorder - ADHD) are a similar size and color. The chemist's's printer ink was well-nigh out, then the bottles came with very lightly printed labels. We happened to get them filled at the same time. So, for 3 days, I accidentally took his ADHD medication, and he took my Synthroid. (I did get so much accomplished in those three days!)"
(Note: Donna did contact her healthcare provider and confirmed that in that location was no danger to her son from the mix-up.)
Andrea likewise had a snafu.
"I mixed up Cytomel (small-scale, white, circular, and flat) pills with someone else's blood pressure medication (a small, white, round, apartment pill) for iii or four days. I was incredibly at-home and subdued merely could barely motion. I already have naturally depression blood pressure, and being off thyroid meds for four days? Whoa!"
Error #seven:
Yous fail to bank check ingredients if you accept allergies
Various thyroid medications contain ingredients, used as fillers and binders, that can trigger your allergies or sensitivities. These ingredients include gluten, soy, acacia (from tree bark), and lactose. Teresa recommends that y'all talk to the pharmacist and "ask to come across an ingredient listing."
Note that if you have a pork allergy, you are non a proficient candidate for natural desiccated thyroid - also known as porcine thyroid - which is manufactured from the dried thyroid gland of pigs.
Mistake #eight:
You call up all compounding pharmacies are the same
Some compounding pharmacies have a bad track record when producing compounded, time-released T3 medications. Research and cull advisedly, ensuring that your pharmacy has a adept reputation for loftier-quality production of compounded thyroid medication.
Corey made this error.
"I moved my time-released T3 prescription from i chemist's shop to a local one. Subsequently taking simply i pill from the new pharmacy in the morning as usual, that afternoon I felt like I had electricity running up and down my artillery! I switched back to the old pharmacy, and it all calmed down."
Mistake #9:
Yous don't split coffee, milk, and your thyroid medication
Drinking coffee (including decaf coffee), milk, or milk products likewise close to taking your thyroid medication can reduce your absorption of thyroid hormone medication and make it less effective. Says Susan: "I used to take my Synthroid with a cup of coffee with foam and saccharide. I had no thought I had to wait!"
Experts recommend waiting at to the lowest degree an hour afterwards you accept your thyroid medication earlier drinking coffee or milk products.
Mistake #10:
You stop taking your medication while pregnant or breastfeeding
Most women are very conscientious about prescription and over-the-counter medications during and after pregnancy. Simply information technology'southward important to realize that for a healthy pregnancy and baby, non merely must you continue to take your thyroid hormone replacement medication, y'all will probably crave a dosage increase. Unfortunately, non all doctors know this, as Joyce learned. She says: "I stopped talking Synthroid while pregnant on my doctor'due south advice."
You should also continue to take your thyroid hormone replacement medication while breastfeeding. If yous are on the proper dosage, very trivial medication reaches your baby via breast milk.
Mistake #xi:
You don't recognize the symptoms of overmedication
If yous end up accidentally overmedicated on thyroid hormone replacement, you can experience many symptoms you lot may not realize are related to your thyroid medication.
Caroline spent ii years in this situation.
"I had rushes of adrenaline, a thumping heartbeat, racing middle rate, sweating, feelings of extreme hunger, and high blood pressure. They put all these symptoms downward to anxiety. After my prescription was accidentally lowered by 25 percent, all my symptoms take subsided!"
Some other symptoms of overmedication include diarrhea, weight loss, and insomnia. If yous have whatever of these symptoms while on thyroid medication, be certain to consult your healthcare provider.
Exist informed
Make sure that yous read through the advisory materials provided by your chemist with your prescription. For additional data, read, "How to Effectively Take Thyroid Medication."
Mary Shomon
Source: https://www.healthcentral.com/article/thyroid-medication-mistakes
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