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Help! Is Armour Thyroid more harmful to take than Levothyroxine? ?
Hi have just been to see an endo today to see if he would be prepared to let me try Amour Thyroid as I am still very symptomatic on Levothyroxine. He told me that my TSH result at 2 was in the normal range. He has ordered tests for my TSH, FT3, FT4, Cortisol and vit D levels. He said that I would need to go back for another appointment in 2 months time to discuss the results. He said that as my TSH was normal it suggested that my body was converting the T4 into T3 effectively and that it was unlikely that I had low T3. I asked for a trial of Armour Thyroid as it contains T1, T2, T3 and T4 whereas the Thyroxine only replaces the T4 which the body needs to convert into T3. However, the Endo insisted that the human body does NOT produce T3 in addition to T4 and that it just converts the T4 into T3. Is this correct as I understood that the human thyroid also produced T3 as well? He also told me that it was NOT a good idea to just trial Amour Thyroid to see if I feel better on it because the natural dessicated hormone replacements are much harder to monitor than the Thyroxine alone due to the shorter time release of the T3 in the dessicated thyroid hormones. He said it could be potentially harmful for me to try taking the Amour Thyroid because I would be more likely to be over medicated which puts me at risk of heart problems, stroke and osteoporosis. He said that only if my test results came back showing that I was low in T3 would they be prepared to consider adding T3 to my regime. I am now confused, I desperately want to feel well yet do not want to suffer with heart problems etc. Is there anything I should do before going back for my test results as it it is looking unlikely that I am going to receive any further treatment and I don't know if I can carry on feeling the way I do indefinitely.
Hi, I've had my latest blood test results for Thyroid and Cortisol they read as:
TSH - 0.2 (0.35 - 4.5)
T4 - 20 (11 - 24)
FT3 - 5.5 (0.8 - 3.9)
Cortisol 292 nmol/l (175 - 600) Blood test taken at 10am.
I have had a letter from my endo saying that my results are 'in keeping with a slight over replacement of thyroxine.' He has also ordered a short synacthen test to test the ability of the adrenal glands to perform under stress, I am having that test tomorrow. Do my test results show that I am over medicated? Is it at all likely that my symptoms could be attributed to adrenal fatigue or anything else? I am hopeful that this test tomorrow will show up something as I don't want to end up being told that there is nothing wrong with me. Any advice you can offer would be appreciated.
TSH - 0.2 (0.35 - 4.5)
T4 - 20 (11 - 24)
FT3 - 5.5 (0.8 - 3.9)
Cortisol 292 nmol/l (175 - 600) Blood test taken at 10am.
I have had a letter from my endo saying that my results are 'in keeping with a slight over replacement of thyroxine.' He has also ordered a short synacthen test to test the ability of the adrenal glands to perform under stress, I am having that test tomorrow. Do my test results show that I am over medicated? Is it at all likely that my symptoms could be attributed to adrenal fatigue or anything else? I am hopeful that this test tomorrow will show up something as I don't want to end up being told that there is nothing wrong with me. Any advice you can offer would be appreciated.
I have tried to contact patients from the UK in a previous post but have not had any responses so far. Thanks for your advice, I will keep you posted as to how I get on after my next appointment when I get one!
I didnt see you were In the UK........well that can be a challenge for thyroid patients.
There used to be more here from the UK. It would be beneficial if all of you got to know each other and shared your strategies dealing with NHS system.
Well, you know what you need as far as your thyroid goes. Maybe a question for yourself is :It this Dr conceivable at all?
There used to be more here from the UK. It would be beneficial if all of you got to know each other and shared your strategies dealing with NHS system.
Well, you know what you need as far as your thyroid goes. Maybe a question for yourself is :It this Dr conceivable at all?
Thank you for your replies. I queried why it would take so long to get the results back and was told that it was not the results that take the time but that is the waiting time for an endo appointment. As I'm an NHS patient I have to accept it as I'm a full time carer for my partner and I can't afford to go private. I know it is different for people outside the UK as you have to pay for your treatment anyway. Another problem I have is that Natural Thyroid Hormones are not licensed to be used in the UK so the doctors prescribing it are personally responsible for my treatment which makes them more nervous about prescribing it. I will have to try and see if I can see someone else for my next appointment and see if I can persuade them to let me try Amour Thyroid. In the meantime if you know of any articles that I can use to help persuade them I would appreciate it if you could let me have the web addresses. Many thanks
2nd what Gimel said.
A Dr like this one is a waste of your time. Life is short. Find a better Dr, one that has less ego and more a more openmided, properly educated brain. Been there done that.
Natural thyroid also has other thyroid hormones that modern medicine pays no attention to, some people might benefit from this.
A Dr like this one is a waste of your time. Life is short. Find a better Dr, one that has less ego and more a more openmided, properly educated brain. Been there done that.
Natural thyroid also has other thyroid hormones that modern medicine pays no attention to, some people might benefit from this.
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Second, why do you need to wait for 2 months to go back for discussion of your test results? Nothing is going to cause you to feel any better in the interim.
Third, having a TSH of 2 doesn't mean that you are converting the T4 to T3 adequately. TSH cannot be shown to correlate well with either Free T3 or Free T4, much less with symptoms, which are most important.
Fourth, the body does produce both T4 and T3 in a ratio of about 20 to 1. Here is a link about that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thyroid_hormone
Fifth, the T3 portion of natural desiccated thyroid hormone replacements do build up in the blood faster than T4 types, but they are no harder to monitor than T4 meds.
Sixth, NDT type meds have no greater potential for over-medication than T4 types. The risk of heart attack, stroke, and osteoporosis is only a concern if greatly over medicated, with either type of med, beyond the reference ranges.
Seventh, if your Free T3 test shows to be within the reference range, you can be certain that the Endo will not even consider giving you a T3 type med, even with your hypo symptoms. Even though the reference range is far too broad and a functional range for Free T3 is approx. the upper half of the current range.
You'll recall that in my reply to your prior posts, I gave you the definition of a good thyroid doctor. That is what you need. You are going to have to find a different doctor that will treat clinically as I described, or else you are going to have to beat your Endo into submission and get the treatment you need. Based on what he has said/done so far, I am not very optimistic that he would ever consider being wrong and changing his treatment protocol. .