# How long does thyroid treatment take?



## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

Each dog is individual, but it often can be 2-3 months of adjusting dosages to get the dog at a good therapeutic level (which will require at least one more test to check). Usually, w/i 3 months you'll really start to see the benefits that you are looking for.


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## moverking (Feb 26, 2007)

Loocie didn't have any behavioral or energy level issues when I started her on Soloxine .5 mcg BID....it was more issues with skin and coat. I'd say at one month I noticed an obvious improvement in texture, fullness, and no skin flakies. And it continued to improve progressively for the next 3 months.

Make sure (you probably already know this, but it's sooo important) to give the Soloxine on an empty stomach and not with a protein treat if possible. Protein will bind the Soloxine and make it unavailable.
1 hour before or 3 hours after meals. Loocie gets hers in a mini-marshmallow:


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## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

moverking said:


> Make sure (you probably already know this, but it's sooo important) to give the Soloxine on an empty stomach and not with a protein treat if possible. Protein will bind the Soloxine and make it unavailable.
> 1 hour before or 3 hours after meals. Loocie gets hers in a mini-marshmallow:


Is this true for all formulations of Soloxine? The reason I ask is because many articles on the internet say there are lots of different "brands" of soloxine, and they can be slightly different. Some recommend giving it on an empty stomach, others say it's okay to give with food. When I asked our vet what to do with the kind she gave us, she said it didn't matter, we could give before, with or after meals.....:uhoh:


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## moverking (Feb 26, 2007)

In searching for back-up info....it's frustrating to see such a conflict of dosing directions. Soloxine is levothyroxine...same as my own thyroid pill. On _my_ bottle, it says to take on an empty stomach. The Soloxine insert says it doesn't matter . Dr. Dodd at Hemopet says absolutely empty stomach.
Dr. Dodd also told me if I was diligent in giving it on an empty stomach, we might be able to decrease Loocie's dose as it is far better absorbed. It is a med that binds to protein, so it makes sense that given on an empty stomach would increase it's bioavailabilty as its absorbed.

Look at this site:
http://www.itsfortheanimals.com/HEMOPET.HTM


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

3 of my goldens have had thyroid issues and it can take several months for the coat to recover; the energy levels increase sooner but keep testing the levels until the complete panel is well within normal range. You may need to speak with your vet about consulting with an endocrinologist since goldens frequently need a higher dosage that the blood work implies (low normal being too low for many goldens).

Casey and my previous 2 hypo goldens received their pills about 3/4 hour before their breakfast (their breakfast includes yogurt) - the timing does not matter so much as always giving the pill at about the same time; if you give the pill with meals the dosage can be adjusted to allow for that, but you would need to be consistent. My dogs evening pill is given closer to mealtime since they do not get any yogurt or other calcium with this meal. 

Ideally, calcium, any antacids or gas relief products and thyroid supplementation should be taken at least 4 hours apart, but in my case there just are not enough hours in the day for this seperation  just do the best you can.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

moverking said:


> In searching for back-up info....it's frustrating to see such a conflict of dosing directions. Soloxine is levothyroxine...same as my own thyroid pill. On _my_ bottle, it says to take on an empty stomach. The Soloxine insert says it doesn't matter . Dr. Dodd at Hemopet says absolutely empty stomach.
> http://www.itsfortheanimals.com/HEMOPET.HTM


I take Armour Thyroid which instructs me to take on an empty stomach, being careful of calcium etc. So I've always just kind of followed the human directions LOL Seems to work.


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## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

Thanks everyone!


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## MurphyTeller (Sep 28, 2008)

And remember in a dog an empty stomach is 4 hours after they eat...But you can give the pill as little as 30 minutes before a feeding...So my habit is to keep some pills in my night table - Murph gets one as soon as I wake up and then we watch the news for half an hour before getting up, pottying and breakfast...His evening pill is usually pretty close to 4 hours after dinner...When we're away at trials it gets tough to keep to the schedule though!

Erica


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

Moverkinrkind thanks for that info. MySAcooter and Buck were both on Soloxine Scooter, who had the symptoms was on .8 caps twice a day, and Buck who had no symptoms at all was on 1 1/2 ofthe .8 a day. Of course with Scooter, we started noticing changes in a about a week, but was a couple of months before we could tell his fur was getting thicker and softer.

With Buck, there was no way to see any change as he had no syptoms. Just had the tests done every 3 months.

I am also on he levothyroxin (75 MCG, whatever that is) and I am suppose o take it 30 minutes to an hour before breakfast...which I do. I had no idea it was the same drug my boys had taken. KayCee was on th sae blood pressure med hubby takes, only 1/4 the strength of hubby's---her's was due to enlargedhert chamber. Seems our "babies" take a lot of our drugs.


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## PhuFighter (Jun 22, 2009)

My gf and many women in my family have thyroid issues. In general, we found that it's best to avoid taking the synthroid with mineral supplements - especially Calcium. Since a couple of my sisters don't talk calcium supplements and don't really drink milk (they're lactose intolerant), they regularly take their synthroid with their breakfast (toast?). But my gf takes a significant amount of calcium per day, and has to have her synthroid at least 30 mins before anything else in the morning. Over the last 3 years, we found that 4 hours is about the best since there will be lower levels of calcium in the bloodstream, but that's near impossible to do. I suppose, for a dog, there won't be much calcium in their food..will there be? That and other minerals will be the main concerns since they will bind easily with the synthroid.


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