medication help?

[peacegirl27]

Hi, I have Hashimoto's and switched from synthroid to Armour about 6-8 months ago. Everything was fine until my recent bloodwork came back with my TSH @4.610. The last bloodwork it was 0.421 and I was feeling so much better. I read many articles and some dr's believe w/Hashi that the TSH should not matter, it is how you feel. Well, along with the TSH of 4,610, my Throxine (T4) Free, Direct was low 0.86 (the range is 0.93-1.71, because of this my Dr wants to add .25 of synthroid to my daily dose of 60mg Armour thyroid. I hated that drug and my hair is starting to feel like normal again, I really do not want to take that drug again. I thought he could give me a higher dose of Armour, but he said no b/c my T3 is 196 and my Triiodothronine , Free Serum is 4.5 (range 2.0-4.4) I guess he is afraid that if he increases the Armour I will have way too much T-3??I don't know what to do, someone help. I do not want to take synthroid again. Also, I thought w/Hashi's that b/c of the antibodies all of these bloodwork results were not reliable??

[peacegirl27]

Thank you to all who commented and helped me. I feel more confident now with my Dr's decision. I had a compounding pharmacy fax him information and he gave them 2 scripts, one for the dessicated Armour and anothr for the compounded t4, which they told me would be time-released. It sounds good. Yes, I am very lucky to have him he is a wonderful osteopathic Dr. I drive two hours to see him, but it is worth the drive.

Thanks again everyone : )
Sincerely, Peacegirl 27

[Super_sally888]

Hi,

I take a combination of dessicated thyroid (like Armor) and t4 (thyroxine) - I take 100 mcg of Thyroxine and 155 mcg of dessicated thyroid.  It is not a problem to combine the 2 drugs.  

I believe that it was not the thyroxine itself that caused you a problem, it was the inadequate medication - obviously you do better on a drug that contains both T3 and T4.

I am with Goolara and agree that adding the small amount of T4 that your doctor wants is the way to go.

Best wishes

[magpieannie]

Did these drastic changes on Armour happen with the same dose? If so, this same thing happened to my daughter on Armour. She also has a conversion issue with t4 only meds. as she is 9 and born without a gland. Switched her to Armour last spring and she did great symptomatically and blood work wise. Her free t4 and free t3 were in range and both lined up slightly higher then mid normal range, which is perfect! Her TSH was surpressed to just under 1.Then we refilled late in the summer,same dose and pharmacy, just a new bottle. She became very hypo, very quickly. Sudden joint aches and fatigued. Took her for labs and her t4 had dropped to very low normal and her t3 was also substantially lower. I had heard rumors of reformulated Armour, and I'm convinced that this was what our refill was.The changes were to drastic to ignore, so I switched her to NatureThroid 9 weeks ago and she is doing much better now! Just thought this could be the issue you're having now. Try changing your dessicated brand first as your plan B or have it compounded. If that does not correct your levels then you could add the t4 as your plan c, since you really did not want to go back to it. that's my opinion for what it's worth! Have a great night and good luck with your decision!

[goolarra]

Your doctor is absolutely right.  Your FT3 is above range, and your FT4 is below range.  Adding more Armour would just make this situation worse.  Armour contains a lot of T3 compared to what our thyroids would produce if they were healthy.  Are you experiency any hyper symptoms?  

In my opinion (not a doctor, of course), I think you have to add some T4-only med to your Armour and probably reduce your Armour just a tad as well.  Right now, your FT3 and FT4 are seriously out of balance.  I think you might find that a T4 med in combination with Armour is a lot more tolerable than T4 alone.  You will still be getting your T3, but will have a higher level of T4 available for conversion when your body needs it.  

Antibodies associated with Hashi's do not affect TSH, FT3 and FT4 testing in any way.

Symptom relief should always be the priority.  TSH is very unreliable in determining thyroid status.  However, FT3 and FT4 are very reliable.  It's encouraging to hear that your doctor is treating based on FT3 and FT4.  That's the proper method of treatment, but patients have unbelievable difficulty finding doctors who are informed.  Congratulations on your find!
  

[TamraW]

TSH is not always reliable.  FT3 is more important.

How do you feel on your current dosage?

Hypo symptoms gone?

If you feel great, then why change a good thing?

If you don't feel great, I thought that you could go to a compounding pharmacy and get a T4 natural drug, so you don't need a synthetic like Synthroid.

Anyone on here been to a compounding pharmacy?

:) Tamra