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Puffy and weight gain on Armour

Hi!  I am a 30 year old female, and I've been on Armour for about a year.  Before I started Armour, I had severe cold spells, insomnia, weight gain (particularly thighs and hips), overall "puffiness", constipation, and bloating.  I also had very little appetite and felt full really fast.  I started with 15 mg.  I also was diagnosed with estrogen dominance and low functioning adrenals.  I felt better for a couple of months, but about 3 months after I started Armour, I started gaining weight like crazy.  I eat a very clean diet (gluten free, dairy free, sugar and alcohol free) of mostly veggies, fruits, and meat with some occasional gf grains.  I started generally feeling puffy and my face puffed up.  I've also been ridiculously bloated no matter what I eat and whether I eat.  In January, my Armour was upped to 30 mg, then in March, to 45 mg, and recently, to 60 mg.  My thyroid numbers have gotten worse since I started Armour.  I'll post them below.  My doctor thinks I may not be absorbing the Armour.  I've started digestive enzymes to see if that's the problem.  I'd love to hear any advice or any comments from people who've experienced this general puffy / squishy feeling.  I'm not terribly overweight (159 lbs, 5'10") but I work out regularly and eat very well and still have a layer of "puff" that doesn't budge.  I'm also so constipated and bloated that it hurts to walk sometimes.  I actually think I feel worse since starting Armour and am wondering if I should go off it.  Thanks for any advice.

Labs in June -

Free T3 2.5
Free T4 1.03
TSH 1.0

Labs in March -

Free T3 2.6
Free T4 0.99
TSH 0.7
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1756321 tn?1547095325
I switched back to eutroxsig (synthetic T4) very quickly. I had serious issues breathing due to not enough thyroid hormone.
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Avatar universal
Thanks!  Did you take any enzymes to help or just switch meds?
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Avatar universal
I am not convinced yet that it is an absorption problem.  Serum thyroid levels are a sum of both endogenous (thyroid gland) and exogenous (thyroid med) sources.  When starting on meds, the TSH will go down and thus stimulate less production of hormone from the thyroid gland.  Thus, it is quite normal for a hypo patient starting on thyroid med to see that their levels do not rise significantly until the dose is high enough to basically suppress TSH and become the sole source of serum thyroid hormone.  

What were your TSH, Free T4, and Free T3 levels before starting on the med?  Please include reference ranges shown on the lab report.  

Even with the increased dosage, your Free T4 and Free T3 are too low in the ranges for most people.  Many members say that relief from hypo symptoms like those you mention required Free T4 around the middle of its range, and Free T3 in the upper third of its range, or as necessary to relieve symptoms.  Symptom relief should be all important, not just test results, and especially not just TSH results.  
Helpful - 0
1756321 tn?1547095325
I had absorption problem with Armour due to severely depleted and stomach acid. Stomach acid signals the pancreas to produce digestive enzymes to further break down food; proteolytic enzymes are secreted by the pancreas. I have no issues with absorbing my synthetic T4 (Eutroxsig) regardless of stomach acid/digestive enzyme levels.

Excerpts from the book: Thyroid Diseases: Clinical Fundamentals and Therapy by Fabrizio Monaco, Maria A. Satta, Brahm Shapiro, Luigi Troncone...

"There is some differences in the rate of absorption between animal and synthetic preparations. After a single oral dose of synthetic L-T4, the absorption is approximately 70 - 80%, 20 - 30% being recovered in the stool.  It is absorbed rapidly, mainly in the distal small bowel, reaching maximum plasma levels in 2 to 4 hours."

"Variability of absorption also occurs with desiccated thyroid, dependent on proteolytic enzymes of the gastrointestinal tract. Since desiccated thyroid and thyroglobulin preparations contains T4 and T3 incorporated into thyroglobulin, to release thyroid hormone the crude preparations must be hydrolyzed by gastrointestinal proteolytic enzymes, which indirectly influence the absorption of T4 and T3."
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649848 tn?1534633700
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