A guide for life with a thyroid that isn't doing what it should

The ThyroBase Foundation Protocol

The AM and PM rhythm. How to time things around your medication. What to feel, and when. The questions worth asking your GP.

A letter from Jilda

Hi. I'm Jilda. Twelve months ago I had a full thyroidectomy. Cancer in the thyroid, spread to the lymph nodes, surgery in two weeks. The worst kind of phone call.

I survived the surgery. The recovery is what I wasn't prepared for. The fatigue that doesn't lift. The brain fog so thick I'd forget the word for fork halfway through dinner. Hair on the pillow every morning. The 2am wake-ups. Hot flushes. Cold flushes. Joint pain. Weight gain that came on regardless of what I ate.

And the line every endocrinologist gave me for the first six months.

"Your tests came back perfect. You're fine."

I wasn't fine. And the gap between what my bloods said and what my body knew is the reason this guide exists.

Manny, my son, started looking for a supplement made for people like me. Without iodine. Without kelp. Without the goitrogens that interfere with thyroid medication. Without the inflammatory fillers that wreck a sensitive gut. He found nothing. So we built it.

What you're reading is the protocol we wished had existed when I came out of surgery. It's also the protocol we use now, every morning and every night. It's been written for people on thyroid medication. Total thyroidectomy, partial, Hashimoto's, hypothyroid, undiagnosed-and-fed-up. If any of those describe you, this is for you.

Take what's useful. Leave what isn't. And reply to me directly any time. I read every email.

Jilda

Co-founder, ThyroBase

How to use this guide

This guide is split into four parts. You can read it cover to cover, or jump to the part you need. Most people find Part 3 (the week-by-week expectations) and Part 4 (the GP questions) most useful at first.

A note on language. ThyroBase is a nutritional supplement. It is not a medication, and it is not a substitute for prescribed thyroid hormone replacement therapy. Where this guide uses the word "supports," it means exactly that. Always speak with your GP, endocrinologist, or pharmacist before starting any supplement, especially if you're managing a health condition or taking prescription medication.

Part 1. The AM and PM Rhythm

The thyroid is a clock organ. Most supplements ignore that. ThyroBase doesn't.

Why morning support

The body's energy machinery is built for daylight. Cortisol peaks early in the morning. Mitochondrial activity ramps up with the first light through your retina. The conversion of T4 to T3, the active thyroid hormone your cells use, runs on cofactors your body needs to have on hand by mid-morning.

For people on thyroid medication, the morning hours are also when their replacement hormone is doing its job. Whether you take thyroid medication, liothyronine, or a combination, the medication needs an empty stomach, calm absorption, and ideally no competing nutrients for around four hours.

That's why the AM pouch is what it is. It's the morning slot that comes after your medication has had its absorption window. It delivers the cofactors that help the body actually use the hormone. Not the cheap forms that pass through, but the bioactive forms that go to work.

What AM is designed to support

• Energy and metabolism. Selenium (as selenomethionine), B12 (as methylcobalamin), iron (as bisglycinate), and the protein matrix all support the body's energy production pathways.
• Mental clarity. B12, vitamin D3, and the steady amino acid delivery from the four-source protein matrix support focus and cognition through the morning.
• Micronutrient replenishment. Zinc, selenium, B12, iron, and vitamin D are the nutrients most often documented as low in people on thyroid medication.
• Immune function. Vitamin C from acerola cherry, zinc bisglycinate, and vitamin D3 work together at doses chosen for daily use.

Why evening support

Evening is for repair. Sleep is when the body does the slow, expensive work that daytime can't. Tissue repair. Memory consolidation. Hormone regulation. Gut microbiome turnover. The thyroid has its hand in all of it.

For most people on thyroid medication, evening is also where the symptoms hit hardest. The 2am wake-ups. The "tired but wired" feeling. The slow wind-down that doesn't feel slow at all. The gut distress that creeps in after dinner.

PM is built for that window. It's not a sleeping pill, and it isn't trying to be. It's the calm-and-repair pouch. The nutrients and botanicals that support the body's natural wind-down, paired with a probiotic and prebiotic blend chosen for the gut-thyroid axis.

What PM is designed to support

• Calm and natural wind-down. Magnesium citrate (300 mg), glycine (1,500 mg), chamomile, and passionflower work as a stack rather than as isolated ingredients.
• Sleep quality. Magnesium and glycine in particular are well-studied for their support of sleep onset and sleep depth.
• Gut health. Five named probiotic strains and prebiotic fibre support the gut microbiome. Roughly 20 percent of T4-to-T3 conversion happens in the gut, so gut health and thyroid health are not separate stories.
• Overnight recovery. The protein matrix delivers steady amino acids overnight, when the body's repair work is happening.

The full daily flow

This is what a ThyroBase day looks like, end to end. Adjust the times to your own schedule. The order is what matters.

On waking	Take your thyroid medication (or other thyroid medication) with a full glass of water. Empty stomach. No coffee, no calcium, no iron, no soy. The gold standard.
30 to 60 minutes	Black coffee, water, light routine. No food yet if you can hold off, but standard guidance is 30 to 60 minutes for breakfast generally.
4 hours later	Mix one serve of AM in cold water, oat milk, or your morning smoothie. Drink slowly. AM can sit on its own as a mid-morning shake, or with a later breakfast or brunch, whichever lands at or after the 4-hour mark.
Mid-morning	Continue your normal day. Hydrate. Eat real food at lunch.
Late afternoon	Wind down naturally. Lower screens an hour before bed if you can.
45 minutes before bed	Mix one serve of PM in warm oat milk or warm water. Drink slowly, like a hot drink.
Sleep	Magnesium, glycine, and the calming botanicals do their work overnight. The protein matrix delivers steady amino acids. The probiotics and prebiotics support the gut microbiome.

If you take your thyroid medication at night instead of in the morning, the order shifts. Take PM 30 to 45 minutes before your thyroid medication, then the medication on an empty stomach, then sleep. The 4-hour rule still applies. Don't take any other supplement within 4 hours of your medication.

Part 2. Timing it around your thyroid medication

The single biggest mistake people on thyroid medication make is treating the medication as if it's not affected by everything else they take. It is.

The 4-hour rule

Thyroid medication is the most prescribed thyroid medication in Australia, and it has a quirk worth understanding. It absorbs best on an empty stomach, with water only, and it's sensitive to a long list of substances that can bind to it in the gut and reduce absorption.

The standard guidance from endocrinologists is to take thyroid medication at least 30 minutes before any food or other supplement. That's the absolute floor. The better practice, especially for people who've had absorption issues or stubborn TSH levels, is to leave a 4-hour gap between thyroid medication and anything else you put in your stomach.

What competes with thyroid medication absorption

• Calcium. Including calcium-fortified foods, calcium supplements, dairy, and calcium-containing antacids.
• Iron. Iron supplements (any form), iron-fortified foods, multivitamins containing iron.
• Magnesium. Magnesium supplements (any form), magnesium-containing antacids.
• Soy. Soy protein, soy isoflavones, edamame, tofu, soy milk, soy-based supplements.
• Coffee. Even black coffee. Documented to reduce absorption substantially.
• High-fibre meals. Especially within the first 30 minutes after dose.
• Antacids and PPIs. Anything that changes stomach pH.

Why this matters in practice

Most people on thyroid medication aren't told this clearly. The standard handout says "take 30 minutes before food." That's accurate but underspecified. Three things commonly happen as a result.

Inconsistent absorption shows up blood tests. If you take your thyroid medication at 7am Monday with water, and Tuesday with a calcium-fortified almond milk you'd forgotten was calcium-fortified, your absorption on those two days can be very different. Over a week or month, the inconsistency shows up as TSH that drifts.

Symptoms get blamed on the medication. If your absorption is being throttled by something you're taking with breakfast, you may feel under-medicated even at a clinically reasonable dose. The fix is timing, not necessarily a higher dose.

The doctor gets blamed for the dose. Most GPs and even most endocrinologists ask about dose, not about timing. If your timing is suboptimal, the dose conversation is the wrong conversation.

This is the foundation of why ThyroBase is a system, not a single supplement. AM is taken after your thyroid medication has had its absorption window. PM is taken at night, far away from any morning dose. The whole rhythm is built to sit alongside your medication, not against it.

A sample daily schedule

Bedtime dosing of thyroid medication works well for some people but isn't right for everyone. Speak with your GP before changing the timing of your medication.

Part 3. Week-by-week expectations

An honest map of what to feel, and when. Knowing the timeline ahead of time is half the work.

Week 1 to 2: settling in

The first two weeks are about getting the routine on the rails. Most of what you'll feel is logistical, not biochemical. Your body is adjusting to a new daily input, and you're working out where the AM and PM pouches fit into your existing rhythm.

What's normal. Mild gut adjustment as the probiotic strains in PM colonise (5-7 nights, settles by end of week 2). Slightly more vivid dreams (a common, harmless effect of glycine and magnesium taken before sleep). Better hydration awareness. Subtle morning energy by day 5-10 for some people, not yet for others. Both are fine.

What's worth flagging. Sustained nausea, persistent diarrhoea, an allergic-type reaction, or any symptom you'd flag to your GP outside ThyroBase should be flagged to your GP.

Week 3 to 4: the small things

Around the end of the first month, the small things start to lift. Not the big-headline changes. The quiet ones. The ones you'd miss if you weren't paying attention.

Sleeping a bit more deeply. Fewer 2am wakings. Less of the 3pm crash. Brain fog softening. Word-finding easier. Skin and digestion shifting.

It's worth taking a quick written note around day 28, before the changes feel "normal." Most people forget the baseline they came from within a few weeks.

Week 5 to 8: the deeper changes

Weeks 5 to 8 is where the underlying biochemistry starts to show up. Your micronutrient stores have been topping up for a month. The cofactors for T4-to-T3 conversion are now more reliably available. Gut microbiome shifts have settled. The system is working at full output.

Cleaner energy through the day. Steadier mood. Less reactivity. Hair shedding often starts to ease in this window. Sleep depth improves. Some people notice cycle regularity settling here, others not until later.

If you booked a follow-up blood test for around the 8-week mark, this is a good time to take stock. Bring the GP questions from Part 4 below.

Day 60 to 90: where the data lives

Day 60 to 90 is the window where the data actually settles. The body has had two full months of consistent input. The micronutrients have replenished. Sleep, gut, and cofactor work has compounded.

A few people feel a clear lift inside the first 30 days. Most feel it between day 60 and day 90. A handful need longer. None of those timelines are wrong.

The most common mistake. Making a final call at day 50 or day 55. By then, you're past the settling-in phase but not yet past the part where the deeper changes show up. The instinct to refund early sits exactly where the data is most likely to land in your favour if you keep going.

The 60-Day Empty Pouch Promise window is open for 75 days, not 60, specifically so you have a full 60-day use period plus a 15-day grace window to make the decision after you've actually felt where things land. There's no pressure to refund at day 50. Stay with it.

When to keep going. When to talk to us.

Keep going if: small things are lifting but the big shift hasn't landed; you've been consistent for 6+ weeks but started later than you remember; you took a break (illness, travel) and are back on the rhythm; you've recently changed thyroid medication dose.

Talk to us if: you've been consistent for 60+ days and feel nothing has moved; you've had a reaction or new symptom (talk to GP first, then us); you're considering refunding and want to talk it through; you have a question about how ThyroBase fits with another supplement or medication.

Email hello@thyrobase.com. Replies to any ThyroBase email also work. They land in our inbox, and we read every one.

Part 4. Questions worth asking your GP

If "your bloods are fine" hasn't matched how you feel, the conversation may be the wrong conversation.

Tests beyond TSH

Most GPs run TSH and stop. TSH alone tells your doctor whether your dose is broadly safe. It doesn't tell them whether your body is using the hormone, whether your conversion is working, or whether you have the cofactors in place.

Worth asking for:

• Free T4 and Free T3. The actual circulating hormones. Free T3 is the active form your cells use, and it's the one most often missed when only TSH is measured.
• Reverse T3. A marker of how the body is handling stress and conversion. Not every GP will run it, but it's worth asking.
• Thyroid antibodies (TPO and Tg). Important for ruling in or out autoimmune thyroid involvement, even after a thyroidectomy.
• Vitamin D, B12, ferritin, zinc, selenium. The cofactors most often documented as low in people on thyroid medication.

How to phrase the request:

"I've read that TSH alone doesn't tell the whole story for thyroid medication. Could we run Free T4, Free T3, and the standard cofactor panel (vitamin D, B12, ferritin, zinc, and selenium) at my next blood test?"

When to ask for a medication review

If you've been on the same dose for more than 12 months and your symptoms haven't matched your bloods, a medication review is a reasonable conversation. It doesn't have to mean a dose change. It often just means a closer look at timing, formulation, and whether the current approach is the best fit.

Things worth raising: timing (consistent empty stomach, gap before food and other supplements?); formulation (some people respond differently to different brands of thyroid medication); T3 component (some specialists prescribe a small dose of T3 alongside T4, a specialist conversation worth asking for a referral on); cofactor levels (the issue may not be the medication but a missing nutrient).

Bring specific symptoms, specific timings, and specific bloods. The conversation goes faster and lands better when you arrive prepared.

What's in the pouches

The full deep-dive (with doses and form-by-form reasoning) is at /pages/ingredients. The short version is below.

What we left out, and why

The list of what's not in ThyroBase matters as much as the list of what is. For people on thyroid medication, the wrong ingredient on the label can quietly undo the right ones.

• No iodine. Unnecessary if you're already on thyroid hormone medication, and excess iodine can interfere with treatment.
• No kelp. Naturally high in iodine, often inconsistent dose, contraindicated for people on thyroid medication.
• No soy isoflavones. Documented to impair thyroid medication absorption.
• No goitrogens. Substances that can interfere with thyroid function. Counterproductive in a thyroid-support formulation.
• No glandular extracts. Unregulated hormone content.
• No hormonal compounds. ThyroBase is not a hormone replacement and isn't pretending to be.
• No artificial stimulants. No caffeine, no guarana, no synthetic energy compounds.
• No synthetic fillers, gums, or thickeners. No xanthan, no guar, no carrageenan.

The 60-Day Empty Pouch Promise

Take ThyroBase daily for 60 days. Empty all 8 pouches if you need to. If you don't feel a real shift in your day to day, we'll refund both months in full. Keep the box.

This is the strongest guarantee in the supplement category, and the structure is deliberate.

Who it's for. ThyroBase isn't for everyone. If you're looking for an overnight fix, a magic pill, or a one-time hit, this isn't it. If you can't commit to taking it twice a day for 60 days, please don't order. ThyroBase is for people ready to give their body 60 honest days of consistent support. If that's you, we made this for you.

How it works.

• Window: from delivery to day 75. The 15-day grace window means you have time to make the decision after you've actually felt where things land.
• How to claim: email hello@thyrobase.com with your order number and a one-sentence note about your experience.
• What's covered: the cost of both months of subscription product. Shipping is not refunded.
• One per customer, lifetime.
• Subscription only. One-time purchases ($399 SKU) are not eligible for refund. That's the tradeoff for buying outside the subscription system.

How to reach us

This guide is the start of a conversation, not the end of one. The most useful thing you can do now is reply to any ThyroBase email. They land directly in our inbox, and we read every reply.