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Armour Thyroid

I just started taking Armour three days ago. I can't believe how much better I feel, however I have this itchy sensation on my face, neck and inner wrists. Not really bad just a little bothersome. Anyone else every get this and does it going away? I do not have any hives.
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Avatar universal
I know this is an old thread but I was wondering about what some mentioned here regarding taking the Armour sublingually? My doctor told me to take mine with water and wait an hour to eat, if taken sublingually do you still have to wait to eat?  
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The suggestion to take thyroid med with water an hour before eating is to assure better absorption through the digestive system.  From what I read, "Essentially, when a medicine is placed under your tongue, it diffuses through the mucous membranes beneath your tongue. And because of the plethora of capillaries there, the medicine has a fairly direct route into your bloodstream."  So if the med is being absorbed sublingually, there would be no need to delay eating.  My question is whether the current Armour works well sublingually.  Note the following:   "And patients liked that sublingual ability with Armour.  It allowed them to work around the problem of swallowing desiccated thyroid several hours from having swallowed iron, estrogen or calcium–all which can bind ‘some’ of the thyroid hormones in your stomach.

It also helped those with digestive issues, gluten intolerance or Celiac (a common problem for some hypothyroid patients) by bypassing the stomach.

But with the first newly formulated Armour in 2009, it became difficult. The pill became harder with less dextrose and more cellulose.  It now fell into the ranks of all other desiccated thyroid pills, including Naturethroid and other good brands, as a more dense tablet."

Bottom line is to do whatever works best for you and be consistent with it.  Regardless of the med/dosage/method for ingesting, the important thing is to get your Free T4 to mid-range, and your Free T3 high enough to relieve hypothyroid symptoms, without being influenced by resultant TSH levels.  Symptom relief should be all important, not just test results, and especially not TSH results when taking thyroid med.
393685 tn?1425812522
I can't add much to the stuff posted here. I think alot said is great ( always a but)

but I never heard of "chewing" the Armour - EWWWWW - nasty!!

I agree that Armour works entirely better when not swollowed and splitting the dosage for even levels throughout the day is best, but chewing has never been thought to be best. Higher levels taken in the morning is most recommended - then a balance (one or two more times) a day is good.

Taking the med Armour sublingually (under the tongue or between the inner cheek and gums).  Letting it dissolve works terrific.

Westroid is pork- based - not beef ( recently told) It's a New Zealand product based on ALL grain feed pigs no hormones or pesticides in their diets at all. Also less filler additives done during the dessication process.

The percentage of thyroid medication  dosed can never be given in a "number" ( dosage) for the majority. Many things need to be considered dosing a patient on Armour.

Adrenal issues - NO THYROID patients that had RAI - surgery to remove the gland - etc - etc -etc...... 90mgs of Armour thyroid - just "given" is and should not be said as a majority without proper testing and thyroid history evaluation. Actually a person considering replacement thyroid meds as treatment - with their doctor - should be started out LOWER with this med - compared to Levothyroxine- due to the direct
( higher) values of the T3 in it.

It takes about two weeks to stabilize on the dosage and having a lower dosage to start -the body accepts tiny increases frequently ( 2wks) until optimal dosages are found.

PLUS - starting higher only opens you up to more side effects - Headache - stomach upset - heart palps -  RASH and jittery ( hyper) symptoms.

-- shaking my head on labeling 90 mgs as the "choice for all"  here......."  sorry

MJL123 - You can cut your med in half. It isn't a problem at all. In fact - since you recently went to Armour - try taking it throughout the day as suggested above. I went to taking mine in 15mgs 4x's a day when I started b/c it took a while for me to adjust to it. Now that I am at a way higher level then when I started, I am able to take a higher dosage when it's time and I cut my splitting times to 2 times a day.

It's just the body "taking in" the T3 and getting used to it.

I didn't pick Armour b/c of it's non-synthetic qualities or not - I suggested using it b/c T4 Levothyroxine didn't work for me. As desperate as I was to feel better -  after many years of illness - I wanted something to help me live again. It didn't matter if it was synthetic or not - just something to help me live. I had conversion issues but that is a pretty technical thing to get into here.

I hope Armour will be as good to you as it has been for me - if you need any additional information on directions or side effects - let me know.

Take care




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Hi Stella, Had thyroid out in 2000 and on Armour Tried all the other NDT s and Armour seemed to work the best Take 60mg in am Chew it and now 2018 since I had a small heart attack and 4 stents I take Ranexa (anti-angina) and Brilinta (anti-platelet) and then blood pressure pills Lopressor and Enalapril 20mg. Take these again in evening. If I get a little jittery I take Magnesium then I take 30mg Armour in the evening. For keeping blood sugar down I take a Cinnamon capsule and if I feel headachey Dhea 10mg compounded. Seems like all I do is take pills but they help heart. I used to take chewable calcium at lunchtime everyday but stopped per cardiologist Probably is what caused plaque in arteries. He also wanted me to cut back on milk. Do take a multi vitamin. Karen. ***@****
Avatar universal
Cut those Armour thyroid pills in half! Absolutely!
As my good doctor says, "The most common starting dose for patients with hypothyroidism is Armour thyroid, 90 mg which is cut in half with a razor blade and half is ideally taken twice a day, 10 to 20 minutes after breakfast and dinner. If you have trouble remember taking them, then take the entire dose before breakfast. It is also ideal to chew the tablet before swallowing. Taking it after meals also helps to reduce volatility of the blood-level of T3."

He couldnt be more right! I have only been on Armour a week now, but started out with 60mg (1 grain) and cut every pill immediately. I take the first half right away in the morning, wait 4 hours before I take my suppliments, and then do so.

My thyroid went on "vacation" after surgery. I knew something was wrong with my body, but I couldnt figure out what. After a year of back and forth appointments for various "symptoms" of several things, I finally focused on my migraines with the help of a naturalpath, some acupuncture, and SUPPLIMENTS. I go to the gym 4 times a week, get a great cardio in, tai chi, yoga, and pilates, and I eat WHOLE FRESH and RAW foods, no processed, no junk, all  organic.  My entire family is very healthy, except ME. Thats when I learned meditation, and started to pay attention to the FIRST symptoms my body was having. No energy, and constipation. My DIET suggests a lot of fiber. But my body wasnt metabolizing anything. I might as well have been eating air.

Being persistant with your MD or Endo is a MUST. Yes, they spend hundreds of thousands in med school. yes, they devote their lives to health. But they are also taught what the Pharma industry WANTS them to learn.

An MD that thinks outside of the box...back to NATURALS, is your best. GO SHOPPING for a physician! YOU PAY as a consumer anyway! They are providing a SERVICE, and you SHOULD be getting health from it!

I chose Armour because it is not a synthetic.
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Avatar universal
My dose is once a day taken at the same time as I am on the lowest dose possible. Don't know if I could cut it half. This prescription is from my regular MD, I'm going to the endo doc on June 1 (long wait to get into see those folks) I had been on Levo before and after a couple of weeks I was trembling and sweating. Its been months since I've been on anything but the weight gain and being so tired all the time were getting the best of me. At least now I feel more energenic, in a much better mood. Sleeping is still and issue. I haven't been able to sleep through a night in about 5 years. Regardless of whether I'm on a thyroid pill or not.
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499534 tn?1328704178
You will need to keep an eye on it and see if it goes away. Sometimes people can have a reaction to Armour because of the pork product in it, or the fillers. The most hypo allergenic thyroid "natural" medicine is Wes-Throid. Keep that in mind if you continue to have itchiness or do develop a rash. It is beef based and has least amount of fillers in it.
Glad to hear you are feeling better. Are you dividing your daily dosage into 2? First half when you wake up and second half around 5-6 hrs later. Also make sure you are retesting labs every 4 weeks, as increases can be done every 3-4 weeks as well. You don't want to go too long on armour without testing your levels or you can crash hard if you are on too little medicine.
The conversion charts are a little off and patients usually need to take more than what they say.
Good luck!! :)
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