Taking an Iodine supplement while on Armour med for Hoshimoto's

[gen30]

I am 29 and was diagnosed with Hoshimoto's last year. I was told it was headed towards Graves. I did not hardly know who I was or where I was going, I had lost 20 lbs in a little over a month,(without trying) all I could do was go to work and come home and go to bed because I had no energy. This coming from someone that walked 4-5 miles 5-6 days a week without any problem. I had stopped walking by the time I lost the weight because I didn't have the energy to anymore.  My family dr. sent me to an Endocrinologist and she said nothing was wrong, my counts were all normal- go home. I went back to my family dr. because I knew something wasn't right. My family dr. checked my peroxidase levels and they were 298 then. He said normal was 0-36.  He put me on 15mg of Armour once a day. It helped tremendously. Recently in February I started having all the problems again and I went in for bloodwork, now they were 401. He upped my med to 30mg.    I never could tell any difference, in fact I was feeling even worse instead of better.  I went back last month for bloodwork since he upped it and they are now 979, with my T4 going dn and TSH going up.  He upped it again to 45mg 1x a day. My other counts are in the "normal" range but he said normal for one person isn't normal for another person.  All my symptoms are under active thyriod, I've even gained 25 lbs and that's trying every diet, I don't loose anything.  I've researched alot and I've found that my iodine levels are probably low and that's why I'm having problems.  I did the iodine test on my arm and it was gone in 4 hrs, meaning I'm lacking iodine. It's supposed to take 24hrs on someone who's healthy.  It says taking an iodine suplement can totally help and even get people off of thyriod meds alll together.  It recomends taking 150mcg (which is in a multi vitamin) and I've been doing that for years.  It says if there's no difference take 150 mcg of an iodine supplement from kelp daily. Can that hurt taking with  it armour or does it really work? I'm desperate to try anything, I can't keep gaining weight  and I need my energy back again. Please let me know.

[Whitbywitchuk]

Awesome, so glad you got it sorted and you are feeling better :).
It is always great to hear someone has their health back.
lotsa luv
Dawnx

[gen30]

I've not been on in a long time.  Since original post in September, I've seen a new Endocrinologist and she has taken me off Armour and put me on Synthroid.  All my counts are back to normal and I feel great and "normal" once again.  She said she doesnt believe in generics because they have so many different manufacturer's that you never get the same dose twice. I totally believe it.
Thanks for your posts.

[Whitbywitchuk]

Giving only small amounts of Armour will 'feed' the hashis attack, as your feedback loop starts to work it will compensate and you need to raise it till you reach equalibrium and a quite low TSH to reduce the antibodies. Selenium 200mg per day also lowers antibodies as well.
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com
Great site, good info from patient experience, testimonials, what people learned etc.
Good luck.
Lotsa luv
Whittersx

[sonny155]

Google   the iodine project   If you are serious about this and need more info. This is  another link http://www.mbschachter.com/iodine.htm. You should not take iodine unless you are under doctors supervision.

[stella5349]

I agree - I am not in total agreement adding kelp to your Armour. As 898 says selenium may be better.

Exactly what are the TSH levels and the Free T3 Free T4 testing results each time you had lab work?

[898]

Some researches suggesting to AVOID additional iodine supplimentation for Hashimoto's patients.
The urine test for iodine can really teel if person is iodine deficient.
Some studies show that selenium helps reduce the antibody level for SOME patients [100 mkg daily dose]