Armour

[crammo]

Hi

can anyone tell me can I take Armour for an overactive thyroid?
I take 200m of Levothyroxine and feel terrible
howuch Armour should I take?
had bloods back and everythings fine

Thank you

[flyingfool]

If your thyroid was removed that means you have no thyroid. Thus you cannot possibly be overactive anymore.  You are 100% completely dependant upon your oral thyroid medication.

Armour or other natural dessicated Thyroid (NDT) has a lot more T3 in it than a human thyroid output.  From what I understand, the armour website has information as to how to "convert" to an approximate equal dosage between straight T4 medication and the new Armour dosage.  So there should be some references out there.

Are you able to obtain Armour or other NDT in the UK without a prescription?  

[crammo]

Yes sorry guys ment I was overactive had my thyroid taken out 12yrs ago I live in uk my doc wont give me Armour said he doesn't know anything about it so buying it myself
thank you to everyone great advice very helpfull :)

[bedheadblonde]

Echoing the other two responses-I'm taking you either mean you were you formerly overactive, and now need replacement thyroid, or meant under-active? Some don't do well on levo alone-I have Graves', and needed two RAI treatments for it, now hypo, and my FT3 was in the basement after months of just being on levothyroxine, showing I'm not making T3 from my T4 drug alone. (For the record, some can convert, some can't.). I have been given Cytomel, (the generic) a T3 medication in addition to my levo to help raise my FT3. It's worthwhile to get FT3 levels checked to see if they need boosting. Some take what I do-a combo of T4 and T3 meds, some like the ones that are together, like Armour or Naturethroid (or a T4/T3 combo from a compounding pharmacy)-and all of us need different levels of T4 and T3 meds.

[sblythe]

First - thyroid supplementation is for an underactive thyroid, bot an overactive thyroid. Both Armour Thyroid and levothyroxine are thyroid supplements - levothyroxine is T4, which is the form of hormone produced by the thyroid gland, and which is converted to the active T3 form. Armour Thyroid contains both T4 and T3. Some patients don't seem to convert T4 to T3 quite the way they should and this may explain why some feel better on Armour Thyroid.  You should discuss this with your physician, because after making the change you will want to recheck your blood tests - including Free T3 - after a month or so.

[gimel]

Did you mean to say underactive thyroid gland?  If so then the answer is yes, you can take Armour or other NDT type thyroid meds in place of Levo.  If you are still feeling terrible, it may be that like many hypo patients taking T4 meds, your body is not adequately converting the T4 to T3.  Since Free T3 is the biologically active thyroid hormone that largely regulates metabolism and many other body functions, it is vital that your Free T3 level is high enough.  Many members say that symptom relief required Free T3 in the upper part of its range and Free T4 around the middle of its range.  Have you even been tested for Free T3 and Free T4?  If not, you should request those tests and don't take no for an answer.  

From your use of the word bloods in relation to tests, I assume that you might be from the UK or Canada.  In either case, the typical test protocol is only for TSH and Free T4.  That is inadequate.  In addition, TSH is most often used there as the sole diagnostic by which to medicate a hypo patient.  That simply does not work.  

First I'd like to mention that you don't have to have an Endo, just a good thyroid doctor.  Many times Endos have the "Immaculate TSH Belief" and only want to test and medicate based on TSH.  That absolutely doesn't work for everyone.  Other Endos that go beyond TSH often revert to "Reference Range Endocrinology", by which they will tell you that a thyroid test result that falls anywhere within the range is adequate for you.  That also is wrong.  

A good thyroid doctor will treat a hypo patient clinically by testing and adjusting Free T3 and Free T4 as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels.  You can get some good insight into clinical treatment from this letter written by a good thyroid doctor for patients that he sometimes consults with after initial tests and evaluation.  The letter is then sent to the participating doctor of the patient to help guide treatment.  In the letter, please note the statement, "the ultimate
criterion for dose adjustment must always be the clinical response of the patient."

http://hormonerestoration.com/files/ThyroidPMD.pdf

In addition, hypo patients are frequently too low in the ranges for Vitamin D, B12 and ferritin.  It is very important for a hypo patient to have all three at optimal levels.  Have you been tested for these?