Early Morning Vs Bed Time Administration of Levo-thyroxine – A Comparative Study

Abstract

Background: Levothyroxine is a commonly prescribed drug in the treatment of patients with hypothyroidism. Levothyroxine is traditionally administered in the morning, on an empty stomach, to increase its absorption. However, many patients have trouble for taking levothyroxine in the morning. Aim and objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of changing administration time of levothyroxine from before breakfast to bed time on serum levels of TSH & serum FT4. Methods: This was a prospective, longitudinal, comparative study. 60 Participants who were stable on morning dosage of levothyroxine were instructed to take LT4 tablets at bed time and another 60 participants who were stable on bed time dosage were instructed to take the drug at morning at least 1 hour before breakfast. After 3 months Serum TSH and serum FT4 was measured. Results: In the present study, changing the administration time of levothyroxine before breakfast to bed time, resulted in decreased in the serum levels of TSH also decreased level of serum FT4 levels but were insignificant and negligible (P > 0.05). And changing the administration time of levothyroxine from bed time to before breakfast, resulted in increased in the serum levels of TSH, and also increased in serum FT4 levels but were insignificant and negligible (P value > 0.05.) Conclusions: So levothyroxine can be given either before breakfast or at bed time without any significant change in serum TSH and FT4.