Armour Thyroid and Acid Reflux Issues

[GlobetrekArtist]

Diagnosed about 2 months ago with hypothyroid, I agreed to go on a "natural" medication reluctantly. My doctor started me on 15 mg. I have been taking it with no issues for 3 weeks. Then she wanted to double the dosage and for the last week I have been experiencing acid reflux tendencies (mostly feeling discomfort all day long with a lump in my throat). I cured myself of GERD years ago and refused to go on "the purple pill" so I changed my diet radically --- eat no junk foods, no carbonated, and stay on a alkaline diet with minimal processed foods. It worked!  Now that I increased my Armour dosage to 30 mg, I am feeling the same ailments.  If anyone reading this has had a similar experience with acid reflux and Armour, please share. Tomorrow I call the Doctor --- but I am going to attempt to cut the pill in half and take it twice a day. I've read in other posts that people find this is a better way to introduce into the body. If this doesn't stop the acid reflux feeling, I'm going back to 15 mg. It may not be enough to help my thyroid completely, but I can't continue living with this constant discomfort.  I've found through the years, that we must listen to our bodies, despite what doctors do and say.  Thank goodness my doctor listens...and works with me!  I welcome your comments. Thank you!

[nesrinb]

I had the exact same problem for years. I started Armour 12 years ago with 15 mg, then it was increased to 30; 45, 60 during years. up until 5 years ago, I ha no issues, but then 5 years ago my body started reacting to Armour and I have had severe Hurt burn, upper respiratory problems. At first I could not believe ll my horrible problems  are because of Armour. I was diagnosed with PYLORI 4 years ago and thought that it is pylori coming and going, destroying my life. I have done more than 20 breathing pylori tests,  switched hurt burn medications over the years but my hurt burn did not stop.  A year ago, I decided to completely stop Armour and all my problems vanished. I could not believe it. For last 6 months I have been trying NP thyroid which is working for me. They dosed me up to 60mg just yesterday and I do not know how my body will react to it. Armour thyroid destroyed quality of my life for 5 years. Please right back or email me at ***@**** . I like to know how you are managing your thyroid. Nesrin Butler

[gimel]

I wonder if your heartburn could be a reaction to the desiccated thyroid med.  Perhaps an even better approach for you would be to stop the desiccated type thyroid med and take both a T4 med and a T3 med, and adjust the dosages as needed to reiieve

Since I have tried to help with this, I must continue and ask how you were diagnosed as hypothyroid in the first place.   What symptoms did you have at that time?  What symptoms, other then heartburn do you have now?  The reason I ask is that taking such a relatively small dose of thyroid med does not typically raise your thyroid levels.  Instead it lowers the TSH level, which then results in less stimulation of the thyroid gland, and less output of natural thyroid hormone.  The net effect is essentially no change  until the dosage is increased enough to raise  Free T4 and Free T3 levels up to around mid-range.  

So if your medication dosage is being adjusted based on achieving some target TSH level, that typically doesn't work for many hypothyroid patients.  If you want to know more about this, have a look at a paper I co-authored.

https://thyroiduk.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Patients-Guide-Final-V5.pdf

[Lildebw]

I have had terrible reflux since starting on Armour. 90mg reflux, 120 better, but too strong. Wish a dose between 90 & 120 was available. Back on Levoxyl for now.

[gimel]

Do you have thyroid test results from before and after taking the thyroid med?  The reason I ask is that I have had sever acid reflux during a period when I was under medicated.  When my dosage of Armour was increased, in only 2-3 days it was gone completely.  

I ask about your serum thyroid hormone levels because those are a sum of natural thyroid hormone and any thyroid medication you are taking.  Many hypo patients starting on thyroid meds find that their total serum thyroid levels actually go down slightly, or just stay the same until they continue to increase dosage.   The reason is that as you start on meds, the TSH will be reduced, and natural thyroid hormone production will drop.  Often total serum levels will not rise significantly until med dosage in increased enough that the TSH is suppressed to the bottom of the range or below.

[Shannywill]

I was started on 30mg of armour. I had acid reflux from anxiety and synthroid.  I stop taking synthroid and scid went away. I started taking 30 armour.  Within 2 weeks I had the nastiest gerd. :-( my endo said people complain about it. Her patients anyways. Have you had any luck?

[Shannywill]

Hi

[gimel]

Sorry, had to make two posts, first was too long, I guess to be accepted by MH.



Further, have a look at this statement from the site of the manufacturer of Armour Thyroid, Forest Laboratories, Inc.

" Armour Thyroid is a natural, porcine-derived thyroid hormone replacement containing both T4and T3.

Note that the amount of thyroid hormone in the thyroid gland may vary from animal to animal. To ensure that Armour Thyroid tablets are the same from tablet to tablet and lot to lot, the amount of T4 and T3 is measured in both the raw material and in the actual tablets"

Sure you can still doubt the information, because your Endo told you something different.  But just keep in mind all the possible reasons for a biased opinion.  Also, realize that the leading thyroid professional organizations that publish guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism, the AACE and the ATA, are totally committed to TSH as the "Gold Standard" of thyroid testing, in spite of being unable to support that position with scientific data.  As well, they promote the use of the Reference Ranges as pass/fail, when we all know that doesn't work well either.  These are the reasons why there are so many inadequately tested and treated hypothyroid patients out there that are still suffering with hypo symptoms.  

A good thyroid doctor will treat a hypo patient clinically by testing and adjusting Free T3 and Free T4 as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels.  Symptom relief should be all important, not just test results, and especially not just TSH results.

[gimel]

I had no intention of implying that you had some ulterior motive for promoting T4 meds.  I'm not surprised that the source of the info was an Endo.  My point was that we frequently hear similar things from doctors, yet they do not offer any supporting scientific data.  I would suggest that what they say is only their biased opinions, or at best based on anecdotal info from patients, who in reality may be having unrelated problems. However, when such info is posted on this Forum, we have to respond or else people reading these threads might conclude the wrong thing.  If you will have a look at this link, you'll see some of the underlying reasons for such misinformation coming from doctors.

http://thyroid.about.com/b/2009/01/27/the-desiccated-thyroid-controversy-why-endocrinologists-dont-like-armour-thyroid.htm

[FleeceOnEarth]

My information is in no way being used to promote T4 meds and to discredit NDTs.  My information is based on my experience having hypothyroidism since I was 14.  In my opinion, biased information is coming from both proponents of synthetic vs natural thyroid meds, and I am not stating any fact on which is better.  I am giving advice based on my personal experience, since I am not a medical professional.  If you are a medical professional and have first hand knowledge of these drugs and have read the peer-reviewed literature indicating no variations in potency of this drug, which would prove this endocrinologist wrong, then I would be interested in reading them.

[gimel]

That kind of info about Armour is nothing more than an attempt to promote T4 meds by discrediting NDT types of thyroid med.  There is no published scientific evidence of significant variation, and Armour is a very commonly prescribed drug as well.

GlobetrekArtist, please post your thyroid related test results and reference ranges shown on your lab report.  Also, have you been diagnosed for cause of your hypothyroidism?  The most common cause of diagnosed hypothyroidism is Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.  The tests for that are TPO ab and TG ab.  

[FleeceOnEarth]

I would be careful if you are newly taking Armour Thyroid.  I was told by an endocrinologist that the potency varies from batch to batch and its not a reliable source of thyroid replacement.  People that have been on it for years swear by it, and if it works for them, then keep doing what's working for you.  But if you are newly diagnosed, I would start with a more commonly prescribed drug, especially if you initially had reservations about it.  You can determine if the thyroid medication had anything to do with the acid reflux once your thyroid meds change.  

[gimel]

Please post your thyroid related test results and reference ranges.  Also, when you were diagnosed as hypothyroid, was the cause determined?   Since the most common cause for diagnosed hypothyroidism is Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, the diagnostic tests would have been TPO ab and TG ab.  Also, do you have  other symptoms besides the acid reflux?

I ask all this because to me it does not follow that you should have experienced the acid reflux from a small increase in Armour.  Although acid reflux can have other causes, it is a known symptom of hypothyroidism.  I have had acid reflux very badly when I got back into being hypo, during the time when Armour Thyroid became unavailable.  As soon as available again, I went back on Armour and in just a couple of days, the acid reflux was gone.