Increasing dosage of Armour Thyroid?

[wanting4#1]

Hi! I was diagnosed with subclinical hypothyroidism a few months ago. I started on 30 mg of Armour Thyroid and was bumped up to 45 mg within the first two months (after TSH testing indicated that my levels weren't dropping - they started out about 2.7).  Since then, they have fluctuated down to .3 and back up to, most recently, 1.67. I am now on 60 mg of Armour and this month, feel extremely angry which my acupuncturist said COULD be a sign of my thyroid out of range again. (Note - I have been struggling with fertility issues for the last 4 years and I am trying to get my TSH to .9 or 1.0)

I am wondering if anyone has had to continually increase their dosage? Does the body develop a 'tolerance' to the drug?

Any help will be GREATLY appreciated!!

[wanting4#1]

Thanks for all the advice!  I realized that my PCP is a family doc and not internal med, so I scheduled an appt with a new internal med and will hopefully get a complete blood profile -- thanks for the tests to ask for! I'll print this and take it with me! Hopefully, she'll do it for me! :)

One more question - is there a time of day that is better for getting accurate readings on these things? Will fasting affect the results?

[stella5349]

My point - I agree with Laura here - get the labs done. Then if you find that your PCP cannot seem to help then find a person who will look at all your concerns and problems and be able to guide you better. I do think it is a good start to find out if you carry autoimmune antibodies first - then you will at least know that could be causing the ups and downs you are having with symptoms.

Just because your thyroid is still out of whack - or may be - doesn't mean it is the soul cause of everything you are experiencing - especially in the fertility department.

We are so complex.

[stella5349]

opps......

thanks for catching that.

[Liz118]

Hi Stella
Sorry to butt in, just wondering why only ask for a TPO ab and not the Thyroglobulin antibody also?
Thanks!

[stella5349]

You really don't need a specialist to do labs for you - It can be unnecessary and costly for lab work and finding a new doc for just that.

Just as your PCP to run specific thyroid labs to test for thyroid levels and anitbodies. They work for you - you should have some say in what labs you want done.

TPOab
TSH
Free T3 and a
Free T4

That's it- if you are really comfortable - ask for some Vit B - Iron and Magnesium testing too.

[laura1967]

Time to find a new PCP then or find a good internal medicine dr who treats a lot of thyroid patients.
Hang in there.  :)

[wanting4#1]

I don't think so! I tried to make an appointment to see an endocrinologist to be able to get a full bloodwork profile done, but none will see me without a referral.  I can't get a referral because the PCP doesn't think that there's anything wrong. I want someone who specializes, who would know what they are looking for...not a family doctor who doesn't know squat about specific disorders!

I'm just so frustrated because I know something is wrong and I am not sure that I believe that it's "all fibromyalgia" anymore!

[laura1967]

It does take some time to find the correct dosage. Also it depends upon if you have Hashimoto's autoimmune. If that is the case then you are going to continually need increases over time as the antibodies attack and kill off your thyroid. Were you tested for Hashi's?