[Anonymous]

#1020388

It seems like every medicine I now take tells me to take it the first thing in the morning; however, I’ve been told that you don’t take everything at one time (which makes sense to me). Any suggetions on how to take the medicine and which time to take them? I am taking synthroid & propranonol for Graves, Lisinopril for Blood Pressure, Prevacid for GERD. Today I went to the Dr. and I have a bladder infection and need to take the antibiotic. I feel like I’m taking pills all the time. Does Graves disease increase the incident of bladder infections. The doctor said if I get another one they would want to do a work-up. It is hard to imagine doing that when I don’t feel good from everything else yet. I’m just wondering if the Graves disease can be a trigger for some of the illnesses.

Thanks so much for ya’lls help. I know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel–today it just seems like the tunnel is longgggggggg.

–Teresa

[Anonymous]

#1077008

Hi TeresaW,

I think this question is best posed to your pharmacist — they have a lot of information on drug interactions, and they may also have experience guiding people who are on medicine regimens such as yours.

I know that thyroid hormone CAN interact with many substances, and I’m not sure that all of the interactions have yet been documented, so the *typical* advice is to take thyroid hormone by itself, on an empty stomach, then wait 45-60 minutes to eat, and avoid taking other medications (including vitamins/minerals) for at least four hours. Some medications will not “allow” for that schedule (for instance, if you’re taking something three times a day, you can’t wait that long after waking up to take the first dose), so then you have to make some decisions.

If you’re taking medications long term, then taking them “near” your thyroid hormone might be okay as long as you keep track of your levels and change your thyroid hormone dose if the other medication interacts (in other words, if your thyroid hormone level goes up or down due to an interaction with the other medication, adjust the thyroid hormone dose and you’re back into normal ranges, everything accounted for). If you’re taking antibiotics, or something that you only need to take for a short while, then it might be okay to take it near the thyroid hormone pill because the entire course of treatment won’t be long enough to make a substantial difference to you.

But overall, I’d say the best source of information to help you will be your pharmacist. They’re the experts!

~Ski
NGDF Assistant Online Facilitator

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