Soloxine timing

[Nemo]

Can anyone treating their dogs with Soloxine (for thyroid) comment on how much room there is in the timing of giving the medication? The recommendation I have is one hour before meals or three hours after meals for maximum absorption.

Thanks,
Clay

[tanza]

When OJ was on soloxine, I gave it about 1/2 hr before meals, give or take and seemed to work just fine

[agilebasenji]

i've also heard do not give them with protein - so no meat/dairy. i'd always used cream cheese to hide pills in; now i use sweet potato fries. everybody seems to love them

[curlytails]

Hi Nemo,

We do that too – an hour before meals or 3 hours after meals. The main thing is that it should be taken on an empty stomach. Should not be taken with calcium or soy products, I have heard. Didn't hear anything about proteins in particular.

For us, the main thing seemed to be giving the pills as close to 12 hours apart as possible. Otherwise the shiba gets jittery and acts nervous and starts to behave strangely... not sure if it's exactly related to the drug, but it's all I could think of to explain what was happening when we were giving the pills at 9 in the morning and 6 pm at night, as opposed to 7 in the morning and 7 at night.

[MacPack]

I was told a half hour before or 2-3 hours after meals. And recently learned (via internet) not to give with dairy so gave up cream cheese too. But, we free feed so Ed may not have a completely empty stomach at any given time, and his levels are pretty stable. So if you miss your timing once in a while it isn't the end of the world, but it is optimum for best absorption most of the time.

[Nemo]

Thanks. Here is what was in the thyroid FAQ Dr. Dodds sent me which is consistent with what my vet said.

Because thyroxine binds to calcium and soy, it should be given at least an hour before or three hours after each meal, to ensure proper absorption.

So, the no dairy comments make sense. If could do 30 minutes before the meal in the morning that would definitely help sometimes. I'm totally not a morning person. :rolleyes:

[curlytails]

@Nemo:

If could do 30 minutes before the meal in the morning that would definitely help sometimes. I'm totally not a morning person. :rolleyes:

I completely know where you're coming from there. We pre-load the pills in advance (we stuff ours in a mini marshmallow), and keep the morning dose in a weekly pill container on the nightstand. That way, I barely have to be awake to just pop out a dose, roll over to the end of the bed where Bowdu sleeps in his bed, hand it to him, then crawl back to my end of the bed and continue sleeping. Sometimes he's deep in sleep too and won't open his mouth to take the pill… but after a little coaxing, he will gulp down his pill and go back to sleep, too.

[Nemo]

@curlytails:

I completely know where you're coming from there. We pre-load the pills in advance (we stuff ours in a mini marshmallow), and keep the morning dose in a weekly pill container on the nightstand. That way, I barely have to be awake to just pop out a dose, roll over to the end of the bed where Bowdu sleeps in his bed, hand it to him, then crawl back to my end of the bed and continue sleeping. Sometimes he's deep in sleep too and won't open his mouth to take the pill… but after a little coaxing, he will gulp down his pill and go back to sleep, too.

Lol, that is a great idea. I need to get some mini marshmallows.

[nomrbddgs]

I give Zina hers about an hour before meals with peanut butter. Apparently, there was a study done (I did read it, just don't remember where) that there is something in PB that gives the soloxine a boost. Zina has done quite well. And she is always up to take the PB! When I first started giving Zina her meds, she was bald and within a couple of weeks she started getting hair back.

[Nemo]

Thought I would share something funny. I followed curlytails approach of keeping a pill container full of pill-stuffed marshmallows in my nightstand drawer. After a few weeks of doing this, Zoni is now conditioned to wake up when the alarm goes off, crawls out from under the covers, stares at the nightstand as I get the marshmallow out, and then retreats back under the covers to go back to the sleep after she has had her pill. It's a pretty smooth process now.

[curlytails]

@Nemo:

Zoni is now conditioned to wake up when the alarm goes off, crawls out from under the covers, stares at the nightstand as I get the marshmallow out, and then retreats back under the covers to go back to the sleep after she has had her pill. It's a pretty smooth process now.

laugh They learn quick, don't they?
Sounds a lot like my shiba. Minus the crawling out from/back under the covers bit. I just hope he doesn't get bored with the ritual since it's gotta work for the rest of his life!