Can Vitamin C Affect Synthroid?

Ask your doctor if you should take your Synthroid or other thyroid medicine with your morning orange juice. A 2008 study in the "International Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism" suggests that vitamin C helps thyroid medicines work better 3. Check with your health-care practitioner before taking any supplements with thyroid medication; food, vitamins and medication are known to alter the potency of thyroid hormones.

Synthroid

Synthroid is the name of a prescription medication made by Abbott Laboratories. The active ingredient in Synthroid is levothyroxine, a synthetic thyroid hormone that is just like the hormone made by your thyroid gland. Synthroid is prescribed for hypothyroidism, also called "slow" thyroid 2. Certain foods and supplements affect the way your body absorbs the medicine.

  • Synthroid is the name of a prescription medication made by Abbott Laboratories.
  • The active ingredient in Synthroid is levothyroxine, a synthetic thyroid hormone that is just like the hormone made by your thyroid gland.

Synthroid and Absorption

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According to the manufacturer, you should not take Synthroid within four hours of ingesting anything that may interfere or interact with the hormone. Certain medications and foods alter the way Synthroid is processed in the body. Abbott Laboratories' website, Synthroid.com, notes that dietary supplements also disrupt your body’s absorption of Synthroid and instructs patients to discuss Synthroid and supplement intake with their doctor 2.

Vitamin C and Synthroid

In the 2009 issue of "Thyroid International," Dr. Kenneth Burman of Washington Hospital Center lists vitamin C as one of the factors that change levothyroxine's gastrointestinal absorption 3. Burman says that, as of 2009, there was only the 2008 study on vitamin C and its effect on thyroid hormones. The results of the 2008 research showed significant improvement of levothyroxine absorption when taken with 1 g of vitamin C, but Burman suggests that more studies should be done to determine if the same effect could be achieved at different doses.

Considerations and Warning

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Follow your doctor's directions for taking Synthroid 2. Ask your pharmacist or health-care provider before stopping or starting any type of supplements, including vitamin C, while taking levothyroxine.

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