Thyrolar or Armour

[samiam65]

Hi Again,

I have been reading here and seeing a lot about both Armour and Thyrolar as thyroid replacement.  Before going off my meds to be scanned again I was taking both Synthroid and Cytomel, will these in combination do the same thing as  Armour or Thyrolar? I am still learning ,and as a lot of you know the first year after Thyroid cancer, your brain doesn't seem to work properly all the time, so concentration is limited at times to say the least. Well any way I want to be informed a litttle more by tomorrow so any info is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Linda

[stella5349]

I have a great respect for AR and yes T3 and T4 Synthroid /Cytomel could give you the same results to a degree.

But I do think Armour is a bit different than these two meds. Armour has all the T's (more than just T3 and T4)  built into the med due to the ratio from the dessicated pig gland where as both the two above only carry a T4 which requires a conversion and a T3 synthetic.

Forcing the body to convert the T4 into T3 as Synthyroid does is not what the body actually was designed to do..

Now as for Armour and dessicated pig glands - it is proven that this med has a bit more natural T3 in there due to the gland itself.

Sometimes this ratio causes issues for some.

There are limited dosages available but in most cases the larger dosages are the ones effected.  It is very easy to get an RX of 15mg (which is a quater grain)

Armour patients benefit extremely well with taking there meds through the day so actually getting the smaller dosages is very helpful.

I am on 2 grains of Armour a day which is 120mgs. I am having trouble getting the 60/1grain tablets right now. SO at this time I am getting 15mgs and taking the equvalent throught out the day to get my full 120mgs

1/4 grain is compared to 15mgs. So I take (4) 15mg tablets first thing in the morning that gets me the full 60 mg first.

Then 10am I take (2) 15mg tablets equvalent to 30mg

Then I take the same I do at 10am at noon again

By noon I am at my dosage of 120mgs

Sometimes patients even like the smaller tablets of 15mg b/c if the take smaller dosages throughout the take the release of the T3 in a smaller dosage keeps then from the spike a larger dose of T3 sometimes does.

Armour gives you are flexibilty of tweeking your meds due to these smaller dosages available.

I believe when taking Synthyroid you must take your prescribed full dose one time in the morning and that is it. Which then the body relies on converting the med to release the amount to hormone needed.  

[AR-10]

It depends on the ratio of the Synthroid and the Cytomel, but in general, yes. Taking those two synthetics together would be like taking Armour.

The only downside I see to trying Armour is the limited dosages available. 30,60,90,120,150 unless I am mistaken. I don't know if you can break them in half to fine tune dosing, but 30mg jumps are a little extreme.