Is it safe to take armour yet?

[aaamommy27]

My doc wants to switch me from Synthroid/Cytomel to armour. Is it any better yet? I know it was reformulated last year, but is it back? I still have hypo symtpoms including insomnia.

Thanks

[aaamommy27]

Saw a new doc the other day and discovered my progesterone is super low. Wants me to try supplement first before switching to desiccated. Put me 100mg of progesterone everyday. Seems like a lot though. I will try and see if it helps with the insomnia.

[aaamommy27]

So I called a compounding pharmacy and they said that they do not have big supply of armour, but they can compound it themselves using pig thyroid. Said it mimics armour pretty well. What do you guys think? They use no allergens in there fillers too.

[aaamommy27]

I am gluten sensitive too and have stopped eating gluten for a few months now.

[aaamommy27]

I am actually allergic to corn!!! I did not know it was in Cytomel.
My tests done on 5-20-10 were:

Tsh   .999    (.45-4.5)
Free T3  3.3  (2.0-4.4)
Free T4  1.39 (.82-1.77)

I had them done a few weeks ago and there is not much different. I need to get from doc.
I am on 137 Synthroid and 5 of Cytomel twice a day. I take first Cytomel at 10 and second at 3. I was recently tested on the adrenals by salivia and they are:

7 am 7.9  (8-15)
11am 4.3  (3-7)
2pm  3.3  (2-4)
8pm  2.0   (<1.5)

What does this mean for my adrenals? I tried cortef and it made me so exhausted that I stopped taking it. I also craved salt really bad on cortef. I am also extremely low in progesterone. I have a supplement for that and will start days 21-28 of my cycle.

Please help, I do not know what to do. I cannot sleep, have awful anxiety and I feel like I am losing it. My head spins so bad the doc gave me adderall too. I actually took it fo r2 days and had the worst anxiety I stopped. I am 40 pounds overweight and need help!!

Thanks for any input!

[LazyMoose]

First step - What do your thyroid labs look like ( do you know what they mean?)?

Post here if you would like some educated opinions. Just because your doc says your in range is not so, we all have a preferred range that our body likes.

Cytomel - how many times do you take this per day, how late is the last dose?

There is only one Armour - the reformulated one, it still works for some people.

ERFA is the Canadian dessicated thyroid.

[TamraW]

Just be advised that the insomnia can mean you are on too much thyroid hormone or that your adrenals are having issues. Many of us will have adrenal malfunction. Please ask for the 24 hour saliva test to determine your cortisol levels throughout the day. A blood cortisol test is ineffective, as it measures just one time of day. You may actually have too much cortisol at night. That is my problem right now.
:) Tamra

[TamraW]

From my understanding, Armour is back on the shelves. Many people do well on this brand of dessicated hormone. The change they made was in the filler. The filler agent they use (I believe it is derived from tree bark) is actually binding to some of the hormone and flushing it out of the patient's system, so someone who took one grain of Armour in the past is now being forced to take a higher dosage in order to compensate. Some Armour patients are also crushing their pills to a fine powder, as that helps with absorbency.

I will be asking my endo to switch me to Armour, simply because I've discovered a lactose and corn allergy and my Synthroid has lactose and my Cytomel has corn.

:) Tamra

[aaamommy27]

I agree with you, I really wish I could have tried armour years ago. I have been plagued by Synthroid only docs though. I think I am going to try the Canada stuff. I really want to try something besides Synthroid/Cytomel. I am not really responding to well to Cytomel. I have horrible insomnia so far.

[donjoe341]

I just started taking armour about 3 months ago. My doc found inflammation of my thyroid but my blood work was high normal. She wanted to try and lower it a bit to see if that would help. Taking the armour helped my thyroid to become a lot lesser tender and it didn't have as much aching pain. After about 8 weeks on the 1/2 grain she increased it to another 1/4 grain (45 mg total). I became wired, sore and unable to get a good night sleep. I went back to the original dose and my neck sorness is back and my voice is cracking and rough. I think I am in-between hypo and normal sometimes or hypo and hyper sometimes. It is really hard to regulate. I can't help you with how the armour works because I can't tell it does anything. With regards to having a compound pharmacy make you thyroid medicine, they can do that. I have asked a compound pharmacist near me and he said he would get as close as he could to armour. He also said it only would cost me about $7 for a months supply. You would still need a prescription from you doctor. If you go this route you need to ask the pharmacist how the prescription needs to be written. I heard the original armour was great stuff. Wish I could have tried it to compare. I will never go on synthetic.
Good luck all.

[aaamommy27]

Are Compounding Pharmacies in the US able to help? I am really desperate to try the "right" armour, not the new formulated one. How do you switch from Synthroid?
I am on 137 Synthroid and 10 of Cytomel with awful side effects. They keep telling me I could take more Cytomel, but I am having really bad insomnia and anxiety. The more T3 I have taken has actually helped lower me on the T4. I really think armour could help me, but I want to get the right one.
Thanks!!

[magpieannie]

The Armour is still the same as the reformulated from last year. It has not changed back. Also Nature-Throid desiccated brand has also now recently been changed in a similar way. We will be going with Canadian desiccated (Erfa Brand). It is very similar to original Armour (before reformulation). Might be a better option for you if your doc. will write the script? You fax it in and pay by credit card and you should have meds in mail in 14 days.

[sunshine106]

I am trying to switch right now from synthroid to armour and the pharmacy that I go through doesnt have it,they are in the process of trying to locate it...I hope to switch soon as I am having no luck on synthroid..

[aaamommy27]

I tried to switch last year with no luck. I am still having many hypo symptoms even though I am "in range". I also cannot sleep at night and just found out my cortisol is actually going up at night. I am looking into that too. I am so tired of feeling exhausted, but wired, achey and moody all the time. I am also so sick of being told I need a mood stabilizer and all they do is make everything worse. I wish I could figure this out, does it ever get better. Going on 8 years hypo....

[baytosmom]

I don't know if I will be much help to you as I just had a TT on Tuesday and just started my Synthroid/Cytomel regimen today.. I asked my endo specifically for Armour and she said that there were 2 reasons that she would not prescribe Armour right out of the gate and they are:
1. That because it is a natural supplement,the level of hormones that are actually in it range in about the 88% area whereas Sythroid is 100% because it is man made.
2.Supposedly, Armour is very hard to get ahold of now. She wasn't sure if there was a shortage or what but she said that many of her patients were unable to get it and had to come back to get new prescriptions..
Again, being new to all of this I am still not sure about the different meds but i wanted to share what she told me.
Good luck!