Armour Thyroid

[Alyson40]

I am about to start Armour Thyroid next week. I am slightly hypo at 5.5. I had a partial lobectomy 3 weeks ago and my TSH jumped from .9 to 5.5. Any one taking Armour and seeing good results with minimal side effects? Not sure if my right lobe will be able to produce enough TSH. Right now, I am in hypothyroid hell!

[pagelee]

Try washing hair with Apple cider vinegar  daily let it sit in hair for few minutes followed by conditioner.
I also message into my hair a dab of organic virgin coconut oil as leave in conditioner during the day.  You will get rid of the dry scalp and brittle hair. Goodluck!

[Alyson40]

Good to know! Can't wait to get started on the Armour.

[Kristina538]

My hair has just stopped falling out after an increase in meds.   When I'm going too hypo (my TSH was 5.2 and low(ish) FT3 Ft4), my scalp starts hurting, hair goes dry and within a week hair starts falling out.   Try a medicated shampoo which helps with any discomfort and dryness - it helped me heaps.

[Alyson40]

Thats encouraging to hear! Im not on anything yet and have noticed more hair starting to come out in the shower. This whole thing has really been stressful. I am so thankful I found this forum! I am learning things that my doctor never took the time to tell me about.

[gimel]

No I have not had any such effect from the Armour.  It is really hard to determine if hair loss is a significant side effect from Synthroid, or if patients sometimes lose their hair due to remaining  hypothyroid from inadequate levels of Free T3 and Free T4, due to inadequate medication.  From many members we hear that when their meds are adequate, their hair loss problem goes away.

[Alyson40]

Have you noticed any hair loss from the Armour? My hair is extremely dry now and just started to "fall out," while I was washing my hair, today. I read that Synthroid can do that too. Another reason I am against taking it.

[Alyson40]

Thanks for the post! My surgeon prescribed 50mg of generic Synthroid and basically wrote me off! He told me to schedule a follow-up appointment in 6 months to test levels again. When I asked about Free T3 Free T4, he completely disregarded those levels and simply said it is the TSH that is important. I will be seeing a new doctor on Tuesday who will prescribe the Armour for me. I feel so let down by my surgeon. Needless to say, wont be going back to him in 6 months.

[gimel]

As barb mentioned, TSH is a pituitary hormone.  It is affected by so  many variables that it is totally inadequate as the sole diagnostic for thyroid issues.  TSH causes no symptoms.  At best TSH is an indicator, to be considered along with more important indicators such as symptoms, and also levels of the biologically active thyroid hormones, Free T3 and Free T4.  Note that the Free T3 and T4 are not the same tests as Total T3 and T4.

If you haven't been tested for Free T3 and Free T4, then your testing is inadequate.   You should make sure those are tested each time you go for new tests.  Free T3 is the most important because it largely regulates metabolism and many other body functions.  Scientific studies have shown that it correlates best with hypo symptoms, while Free T4 and TSH did not correlate.  

A good thyroid doctor will test and adjust Free T3 and Free T4 levels as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels.  Symptom relief should be all important to you, not just test results, and especially not TSH now that you are on thyroid medication.  Many of our members, myself included, report that symptom relief for them required that Free T3 was adjusted into the upper part of its range and Free T4 adjusted to around the middle of its range.

I was on T4 meds for over 25 years until finding out that my lingering hypo symptoms were due to inadequate conversion of the T4 to T3.  My doctor agreed to switch my meds to Armour.  Since I have no thyroid gland function, after some tweaking of dosage I am taking 3 grains daily.  My FT3 is 4.0 (range of 2.3 - 4.2) and FT4 is 1.15 (range of .6 - 1.50), and I feel best ever.  Different patients can take different meds successfully.I have been successful with Armour Thyroid, and have not had any side effects.  

What med and dosage does your doctor plan for you?

[Barb135]

TSH is not produced by the thyroid.  It's a pituitary hormone that tells the thyroid to produce more hormones.  Armour is a desiccated thyroid replacement medication.

We have several members taking Armour, most with good results.  I'm sure one of them will chime in soon.