Thyroid medication

[dingalingaling]

I am taking Levothyroxine Sodium every morning, on an empty stomach.  I know I am not to take the medicine with drinks such as orange juice, but rather take it with water.  My question is, can I add Mio, calorie-free water enhancer to my water and get the same results as taking the medicine with plain water?  It's easier for me to drink more water if I add the flavoring.

[dingalingaling]

Somewhere it said not to have any sugar in the drink as it would start the digestive process going before letting the medicine absorb.  The MiO contains sucralose instead of sugar, and has other things like sodium, potassium, etc.  I just want to know if I am reducing the absorption percentage if I add something like MiO to my water, as long as it is sugar-free.

[courtney48]

Thanks for this reply.  I just looked up that study.  Very interesting.  I don't drink OJ very often, but do love it occasionally.  Glad to know I'd be ok taking it in the a.m.

[Red_Star]

I love cold water (room temperature ugh!) and usually take my thyroid supplement with water but if i have OJ in the fridge i will take my thyroid supplement with OJ (not calcium fortified). I read a study showing vitamin C aids in the absorption of thyroxine - S. Licht et. al. "Difficulties In The Absorption Of Levothyroxine: Improvement Using Vitamin C".

[Barb135]

I'm not real familiar with MiO but I do know it has a lot of artificial sweeteners and other stuff in it.  It's hard to say whether or not any of that would interfere with absorption of the medication.  Best to stick with plain water.

You don't have to drink the entire cup right down.  You can sip it; or sometimes I don't even drink a whole cupful.  Sometimes it has to go down with much less.  

Once you've take the medication and waited 30 minutes to an hour, you can pretty drink what you want.

[courtney48]

I take mine on an empty stomach with about six ounces of water.  I don't take any chances with anything else interfering with it getting in my system appropriately/adequately. Could you possibly tolerate it with four ounces of plain water then after an hour drink water with flavor?  I know it is hard to make an adjustment, but one does not have to increase water/fluid intake while on this med, just take the med with water once a day.  So adding the flavor to make it easier to drink more water, as you suggest, isn't really all that necessary.