[EllieT]

#1059649

I take my Levoxyl in the mornings an hour before I eat. Prevacid instructions say to take before eating in the morning. I know the Prevacid will absorb the Levoxyl, but trying to find out the best time to take it to have the least effect possible..any ideas??
Thanks,
EllieT

[snelsen]

#1176516

I am not sure. It is a proton pump inhibitor, not a vitamin or supplement. First, I’d talk with the pharmacist, one who seems like they rEALLY know, and ask clearly if Prevacid will interfere with the absorption of your Levoxyl.

Another idea might be to change to take your Levoxyl at bedtime.
So, clearly a conversation is in order and I think the pharmacist is a very good start, cause they are readily available. I don’t suggest asking any of the help at your endo’s office.

Shirley

[Bobbi]

#1176517

I have to do something similar, Ellie T. Do get info from your own pharmacist and doctor (endo) about this issue. What I was told to do by mine was to take the replacement hormone, with a good drink of water (to propel it into the intestines more quickly), then wait a half hour or so before taking the PPI (prevacid-like drug). THEN wait a half hour or so before eating. Pain in the neck. But it seems to work for me.

[Bella1]

#1176518

Just to let people know what can happen, I was on Ranitidine (Zantac), which is milder than Prevacid, for 11 years for a hiatal hernia. I got more and more tired over time and my PC couldn’t explain why, but then my magnesium and calcium levels started bottoming out. So my PC told me to take supplements. Then came a significant drop in vitamin B12, Vitamin D2 & D3, and then came the anemia. But the startling part was the sudden upshot of cortisol. After telling me to take more and more supplementation and testing me for every absorptive disorder their is, an Endo suggested that proton pump inhibitors can prevent all absorption of the larger-moleculed nutrients and to come off Ranitidine. It took one year for all my nutrients to reach normal levels again, especially Vitamin D, and for my cortisol level to return to normal. Apparently the pumps were so completely inhibited that I was actually starving for the larger moleculed nutrients. In fact, my Graves was masked for a long time, because several nutrients that I was incapable of digesting are required in the manufacture of thyroid hormone, so I tested much lower than my actual values.

Please be very careful taking any medicine that inhibits digestion.

[gatorgirly]

#1176519

EllieT, this is really a question for your pharmacist or physician – preferably your endocrinologist or your gastroenterologist. Why do you take the Prevacid? I have been on omeprazole for nearly two years for severe GERD, ulcers, and temporary gastroparesis (when I was hypo as all get-out). Both my endo and GI were in communication about me regularly, and agreed I could take my Synthroid, propranolol, and omeprazole at the same time in the morning. Because I keep my Synthroid on my nightstand, I usually take it a few minutes before I get to my medicine cabinet for the propranolol and omeprazole, or hours before if I end up sleeping late on the weekend, and was told this is perfectly fine since neither propranolol nor omeprazole are supplements or vitamins. My endo also told me the same is true of Claritin, which I take during the late spring and summer for seasonal allergies.

Because I get terrible GERD symptoms if I eat or drink too soon after taking my omeprazole and not letting it start doing its job first, I usually eat 30-90 minutes after taking all my morning meds, including Synthroid.

[snelsen]

#1176520

Yep. I still suggest you discuss this with your pharmacist, a good one.
Shirley

[shasha]

#1176521

Hello all –

Wow – I am just stunned to read this. I have GERD and have been on PPI (prevacid, aciphex,omeprozole) for years and have had severe Potassium, Calcium and Vitamin K deficiencies. Not one person (including GP and pharmacy) has suggested that the proton pump inhibitors could be interfering with absorption. I am currently taking a prescription potassium and Vit K. I plan on mentioning all of this to my endo – maybe he will have a some info on this subject that my GP didn’t. Thanks so much Bella for posting!

shasha

[Bella1]

#1176522

shasha wrote:

I was shocked as well when I found out, because I’d been told that ranitidine is so safe that it’s regularly given to women during pregnancy. Even with prescription supplementation my numbers were not recovering until I was taken off ranitidine. Then, it was heavy supplementation, B12 shots, and Prescription Vitamin D2 at 100,000 iu per week to get me back to normal. I am still on D2 50,000 iu /wk 15 mos. later.

I spent nearly 3 years trying to get my PC to figure out what was wrong, while she treated me like a hypochondriac. So I finally went to an endo on my own because I was exhausted, depressed and miserable all the time. After he’d checked me for every absorptive disorder, he noticed that I was taking ranitidine and told me that some patients on it were having trouble absorbing magnesium and some other nutrients. So he took me off it and started me on very large doses of vitamins and iron. It was more than 3 mos. before I even had any gastric reflux, nearly 6 mos. before most of my nutrient levels started to return to normal, and nearly a year before I got above 50 on vitamin D and my cortisol returned to normal range. I think the length of time (11 years) I took ranitidine played a large role in the severity of my deficits.

I really don’t think a lot of people are aware of this. Obviously my old PC was not, even though nearly every month she’d tell me something else had dropped below normal levels. She just kept having me add more OTC supplements, which did nothing for my levels. Apparently, you have to have to be able to produce enough stomach acid to break down larger-moleculed nutrients.

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