Need Calcium Supplement

I have seen recommendations to NOT take calcium supplements within 4 hours of taking levothyroxine, which is usually taken early morning.

At my age, I don't sleep through the night without getting up at least once to go to the bathroom. I keep a glass of water in the bathroom, along with my Mon-Fri pill dispenser, and take my synthoid when I get up to use the restroom, typically around 3 o'clock a.m. That's how I get around the 4 hour waiting period to take my calcium supplement with breakfast, or any calcium from milk products. As an aside, calcium citrate is more easily absorbed than calcium carbonate. You might be loading up on calcium carbonate but it requires stomach acid to break it down and allow for absorption.

@mkoch I have been on Levothyroxine since 1996. I get most of my 1200 mg of daily calcium through diet, including almond milk. Knowing that the body does not absorb more than 600 mg of calcium at a time, I try to target 400 mg through diet at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. At dinner time, I take 2,000 IU of Vit-D3, 100 mcg of Vit-K2, and a 400 mg Calciium CITRATE (wich has another 500 IU of Vit-D3 - see pic)....Note: I only take the calcium supplement at dinner, if I don't consume enough calcium from dinner. Are you on a prescribed medication?

@cathy: I get an injection every 6 months, Prolia, for osteoporosis. Each time, before the injection, I am required to get a blood test to ascertain my blood calcium level. Mine is always low, barely meets the requirement of calcium to get the injection. I have celiac disease and even though I avoid wheat, rye, and barley like the plague (an old-timey expression) the tips of my small intestine villi are damaged from the years I had this disease and wasn't diagnosed. So even though I follow a strict gluten free diet, I still have absorption issues. Because of this my endocrinologist wants me to take 1000 mg. of a calcium citrate supplement in addition to what I get in my diet. A friend of mine, who is also on Prolia injections, but who does not have celiac disease, was told by her Stanford doctor to take a 500 mg. calcium supplement in addition to what she gets in her diet to meet the calcium threshold because it is imperative that you get enough calcium when on Prolia. Otherwise there can be negative health consequences. Thank you for your informative post.

I also take Levothyroxine in the morning and like the idea of taking it when I go to the bathroom around 4:00 am. I currently take 500 mg at noon and take the other before I go to bed, since I also take 500 mg of magnesium at dinner, I need to space it out. I have been taking sugar free calcium gummies, since capsules are hard for me to swallow. I get them on Amazon. Zetelixia calcium magnesium. It also has a small amount of vit D and some other vitamins. When I started on the gummies I wanted to make sure they worked, and confirmed with a blood test that they do.

Like others who have commented, I also keep water and a levothyroxine by my bed and take it before getting up in the morning. For me it is not early enough before breakfast, so I avoid calcium in food until lunch which is more than 4 hours after the thyroid medication.

It is good to hear that you cut back on calcium as 2,000 in supplements is very high unless under a doctor's orders. I only take calcium supplements when I estimate that my diet is not going to add up to 1,200 that day. I then vary the amount of calcium supplement by breaking a tablet in half so that I can take as little as 150 mg.

You may wish to read about and consider Vitamin K2 as MK4 and/or MK7 to potentially help direct calcium towards your bones, and away from your arteries, even if you are getting all your calcium via diet. There are several discussions about this on the Mayo Clinic Connect.

@mkoch You aren't taking all 1000 mg of your calcium supplement via one tablet (as one dose....unless time-released), correct? Time released would be fine, but Johns Hopkins told me that the body cannot absorb more than 600 mg at one time. The rest is just passed out through the urine. Thus, time-released or lower doses taken with each meal. I have also learned how important it is to be taken vitamin K2 to act as a traffic cop, directing calcium to the bones and away from the cardiovascular system. Best wishes to you!! 🙏🫂🙏

@cathyf31: My endocrinologist told me no more than 500 at any given time and so I do know to space it out. Thanks for the new information about vitamin K2. My heart calcium score is already at 60, maybe from taking calcium all these years. (My sister-in-law is 70 and her heart calcium score is zero. She doesn't have osteoporosis so hasn't taken supplements.) So I sure don't want my score to increase if I can prevent it. Thanks for the information.

@mkoch Glad to hear you know about the max. (I was actually told 500 - 600 mg for the max). I personally try to target 400 mg per meal. (The rest gets peed out. 🤣 But I don't want more than necessary....unless it's a special ice cream treat!! 😁🍦😁. (I am careful, due to a Hx of kidney stones). Take care & good luck!!

@cathyf31

Cathy thank you so much for the information. Can you recommend a brand of calcium?