Troubles w/ Armour???

[stella5349]

Hello and Happy 4th of July!  I am sure many of you on Armour have heard about the changes that were done with this med in the Spring of this year. It's not been good for many people lately and it seems the list of unhappy Armour users is growing.

I - for one - am not happy with the results I have had with the new Armour formula. I have been going back and forth from Armour to Nature-throid and I see a much better outcome for me,just sticking with Nature-throid permanently and dropping the Armour totally.

One thing to keep in mind. Many new patients that were just put on Armour may not be getting their hypothyroid symptoms under control. It's frustrating I can imagine, doing all that searching and find such positive information on Armour. .................Then trying it -  and it fails. ARGH!!!!   It's not fair!!

Many have been on Armour for years and did great,( like me) but now, find their symptoms have returned as well. Another debunk to our wellness.

Shame on you .....Forest Pharm!

Make yourself aware that there are other T3/T4 meds that do a fantastic job. Armour is not the only one out there, if you chose to take these type of meds. For those of us who found incredible doctors that would even consider letting us "try" Armour and finding great results. Now the challenge of getting them to switch us to another ( less popular) med Nature-throid will be tougher yet! ( Again, my doctor actually prefers Nature-throid over Armour) but she is definately NOT the norm of MD's.  STAY STRONG!!! - I have a feeling, with how patients fight to even "try" Armour, now wanting to "try" this................. - may leave a few doctors shaking their heads!

Westroid - and Nature-throid are made by RLC labs and have great potential. The grain formula is slightly higher than Armour is, measuring out a 65mgs per grain - vs - 60mg with Armour. Many , including me find that I need to take a tad more of Nature-throid ( even though it is higher in mg's) I moved up to 4.0 grains. That - DOES NOT mean you will need what I take - It tastes like c*** , but it's doing it's job far better than the new Armour was.

It's all about YOU and YOUR thryoid!!

Thyrolar is a synthetic for of a T3/T4 combo thyroid medication. Before I went on Armour - off Synthroid - I checked Thyrolar out and debated on taking it. It was by choice I went on natural desiccated first - to see if I responded well to T3/T4 meds. I did respond well and have just stayed with it. "Why fix something that isn't broke?"  right?

There is also a straight T3 meds available to add - in addition - to the a T4 med, like Synthroid. called Cytomel. I know many people that used Cytomel to tweak their response with Synthroid and feel wonderful.

Remember the Free T3 and Free T4 is what helps us! Make sure your labs are measuring the FREE's!

You have options!!! If your not happy and you still feel terrible - read and talk to your doctor about your alternatives.

Please - please - please, make sure you understand you need to GIVE time with any course of treatment, especially with thyroid medications. Taking it - is NOT a quick fix of any kind ( regardless what you were told) and you need to let your body adjust to any type of thyroid meds. Don't rush - ............it won't help you.

Have a great day and keep me posted on if you switch - or tweak - your meds. Hopefully we will all find a balance to live our best lives ever!

Take care.

Stella!

[Smilerdeb]

Great Informative Posting Stella !

[stella5349]

thanks

my aussie GF!!

[LazyMoose]

-Is the pharmacy price similar to Armour?  (Cash price of Armour is cheap).

Only having switched to  Armour  three months ago, I feel cheated!  Since I had hypo symptoms on just T4 for ten years, Its hard to remember what it feels like to be symptom free!

I am going to give Armour a little longer since it took me a while to work up to my needed dosage. My hair has been falling out like crazy, and still a little tired.  The first month (April) on Armour my hair was great !? I  hope this is just due to the change to Armour from Levothyroxin (levothyroxine) and not the new Armour formulation.


If I do make the switch to Nature-throid, I hope it will be easier than the Levo to Armour switch I just did!

[hope4thegoodstuff]

I am losing hair too...I'm on synthroid, but I don't feel like I have a lot of hair to lose....It's awful....

[stella5349]

Converting to Nature throid was not hard at all for me. The only thing - is it seems I need a tad more to feel like I did on the old Armour.

I am not sure about the pharmacy price on NT. I get it directly from my doctors office. I pay $35 bucks for it. When I was on Armour, I paid about the same through Walgreens.

[ChitChatNine]

Stella, so you are on NT now and doing ok as you've tweeked it along?  This is just awful and  I feel for all our Armour thyroid patients who are affected by this!!!!

C~

[tracey123]

I have been on the natur-throid for about 2 months. I am doing really well on it. No more headaches and I have energy and am losing weight slowly but it is finally starting to come off. I think if the people on Armour switched to Natur-throid they would see good results if not better then the Armour. I know the Natur-throid was covered by my insurance and only cost me $14 for a month supply. Armour was not covered through my insurance and would cost me $30 a month so I am saving money also. I am glad to hear you are doing well on it also. I take 64.8 and a 1/2 of a 32.4 twice a day so it is like taking 164mg a day. Four grains seems really high but everyone is different. I just hope we keep having good results with it.

[Ecologic]

Hi Stella,

Your message worries me. I have been on Armour for over 2 years, did not see any help out of it. I recently started to slowly increase the dose (from 1.0, now I am at 1.5) and feel a little bit less depressed, not sure if it is related, but maybe?

I'd like to know how many people taking Armour (in %) have reported problems with the new formula??

[stella5349]

We could poll this here - but I am not sure on what we would get in responses. Let's keep the post Live and see how many come on.

The information I got on patients having trouble now are from many sources. Even Forest Pharm who make Armour is seeing "issues" but are not discussing them.

I talked w/ 2 doctors in my area and they also are saying "some" patients are not satisfied lately. Also my pharmacist mentioned it too.

I put the word out to keep this forum up to speed on this stuff. It still needs to be discussed with their doctors on switching - if their Armour is not doing what it should.

On a positive note---- some are saying it is working fine too. We don't want to put a fear out there that is bad now either.

[LazyMoose]

Going to give armour a little more time to add to my three months. Hope night palps will go away. My blood pressure is 124/73, pulse 70 (good!) so it must be the Armour causing palps, also did not happen on Levo last winter/ spring.

My first month of Armour even split WAY better (original formula?) than the last two refills.

**Does Nature - Throid split better?**

CVS (new in my area) has all sizes of Nature-Throid, cheaper than Armour too!

[stella5349]

No it doesn't split better... sorry . and the taste is not what I call good either...

If you are having palps on Armour two things come to mind for me.

1. Adrenal issues - fatigue or burn out

2. Magnesium depletion.

You should be tested for both. - through you could "try" taking a mag supplement on your own. That won't hurt you. Actually with time adding magn 400 mgs really helps.

I always caution myself about the palps when people mention they have them. It could be serious - or it may not be. One never knows.

You should have your heart checked out while on T3 meds w/ palps just to make sure nothing is wrong. It an easy exam for us and it eliminates atrial fib issues for many.

[Smilerdeb]

I think its a good idea to have the heart checked if getting palps ..whether they are on synthroid, cytomel or armour as so many here with thyroid issues (me included) were found to have mitral valve prolapse.
I also have tricuspid vlave prolapse and every year was seen by a Cardio as I have Tachycardia, Bradycardia  and a heart murmur from birth.
Each year I would get an ultrasound done on the heart and it was only 2 years ago that they picked up the 'prolapse problem'.
I dont know whether its just a coincidence but since joining this forum...I hear of more and more with valve prolapse problems.
Weird hey?
Sometimes I wonder if the Graves causes it.
Food for thought....
But get it checked anyway for your own piece of mind.

[LazyMoose]

I do take Magnesium, 500 mg a day.

Did a 24 hour (4 point) saliva adrenal test a while ago. I was just a little low in the afternoon. Doc (holistic) said it was not enough to require DHEA, just maybe some adrenal support, up to me. They had some supplement that was like $50 a month. So, I dont take anything for adrenals yet, as they did not push it.

I will tell my endo about the occasional palps and ask for some kind of heart test. I dont know much about the heart or any testing for that matter. I had a ekg once, I was fine.

[annie234]

I can't believe it took me 8 months for my endo to give me Armour and now this! I started on June 12th and have felt alot better than when I was taking Synthroid. But these past 2 days I'm starting to ache and am getting a little brain fog. Is the formula not strong enough or is it the fillers? I don't have stomach problems so why am I starting to feel hypo? Maybe I need an increase? I was on 75mcg of Synthroid and endo started me on 60mcg of Armour. What do you girls think is the problem? Thanks

[stella5349]

annie

Tough break but you mock hundreds of others with the new formula. It's usually been reported lately that the time frame you discribe is about right on the new Armour. You feel pretty good for a couple of weeks then all start to return.

If it took you .... what 8 mths ?? to convince your endo to put you on Armour, I can't imagine him being very open to switching again to Nature-throid. Actually the stupidity of some of them think it's not even a med.

It is. FDA and RX only.

My suggestion: Get on the RLC lab website for Westroid - Nature-throid. Call them if you need to and get some information to take to your doctor. Also check on some Armour sites and find the information that show the fomula change and the people complaining about it.

If you have too, take all that in to the doctor and insist on trying the Nature-throid. The grain value is the same - don't let them tell you it's not.

The change in filler is what's effecting the Armour. The med is not less potent but for some reason, the T3 is binding in patients and not releasing Free T3.  They added cornstarch in it - which a corn base is not good for thyroid patients -

DUH - Forest!! I wish you would get your  head out of your ***.  But of course - $$$$$$$$ are controlling the production ................not the patients!

Here's the site for RLC

http://www.rlclabs.com/

[annie234]

Thank you for your reply. Now I have to beg him to try Nature-thyroid. I wonder if he ever prescribe it? I don't have an appt until September!!! I will check out rlc website. Thanks again!

[aspis]

I am 41 and had been diagnosed with Hashimoto's at age 9. Have been taking Synthroid since then but was feeling quite hypo the last year. My new MD only tested TSH and T4 but my t3 was low. I was getting major headaches, fatigue, and dizziness along with drops in blood pressure. I have been on Armour for about  month now with great results. The first week I felt a bit revved up, but now feel good. I don't have the afternoon energy crash and headaches or the dizziness AND I can concentrate. I feel better on the Armour. I appreciate all the input and will be on the lookout for any side effects down the line.

[ken3430]

Hello there!

I too had very bad results from the New Armour formula.
Stella you are taking the Naturethroid sublingually?
I am during the day since i have to take iron supps, at night Im swallowing
the pills.

Been on NT for 12 days and waiting, Im feeling better, not as achy but still
fatigued and cranky, not loseing weight, even on a great diet and exercise.

[Ecologic]

Hello,

I was able to get 30 mgs pills from my pharmacist but... there is a giant shortage of Armour right now and I don't know if I'll be able to refill my prescriptions in 2 weeks. My pharmacist has only 120 and bigger dose pills, but nothing else smaller!!! He says there are problems with the pigs and the swine flu, so I suppose the production has been reduced?

Is that the same way for Nature-throid, a shortage as well?

I am in the process of increasing my Armour, and would be OK to switch to Nature-throid if Armour is not available anymore though I can't really say I have problems with the new formula: I don't know if I do.

[stella5349]

The pigs thing is not true.

Ken,

Yes - I take my Nature-throid sublingually. I have an ill gut from being knocked so low hypothyroid in my past - that taken as much sublingually as I can is better for me.

You may find - as many do - that even though NT has more mgs in 1 grain ( 65mgs) - vs 60mgs in Armour - do need a tweaked increase of NT to feel optimal.

I went up quite a bit from my old Armour dosage -

I don't want to beat a dead horse more on the swine flu theory. I will make some calls today - JUST to see if the information has changed that I was given a while back from last news scare of desiccated meds being infected.

If I find out anything new - I will post it - otherwise - I am sticking to the past information that these thoughts are false.

[Ecologic]

Question: where do you buy Nathroid? K.mart has never about it...

[tracey123]

Some of the pharmacy's can order it. Mine stocks it. It is an independently owned pharmacy in my area. Check around. I am sure CVS and Walgreens might also carry it.

[stella5349]

You can also call RLC labs and get all the information on how to get a script and supply for it.

Look up RLC lab - online.