MD is not listening to me

[Jennserb]

I was recently on Armour 180 mg prescribed by my osteopathic doctor. I wasn't feeling 100% great so I asked to be recommended to an endocrynologist who is a MD unfortunately.  My endo switched me to 100 mg levothyroxine. I am experiencing hives, small red bumps, redness, heat feeling & a puffy face. My face is in pain. I have also recognized fogginess, anxiety, depression & I have zero energy unlike when I was on Armour. My endo said he will keep me on levothyroxine no matter what, even if I don't feel well. I also asked if there was a special diet I should be on & he said NO. He apso said the reason my eyebrows & hair thinned was from Armour. What is this about?

[Barb135]

I totally agree that your endo is full of balony.   I don't take Armour, but I know that's not what caused your issues.

The fact that your doctor is not willing to try anything but levothyroxine (levo is dosed in mcg, rather than mg), no matter how you feel, is a dead give away that he will keep you ill. Run, don't walk back to your pcp and get back on the Armour.

As dgmootry mentioned, most of us who take a med with a T3 component find that splitting the dose into multiples over the course of the day works best.  T3 is fast acting, so it gets into your blood quickly, peaks after a few hours, then is gone.  Once it's gone, you have nothing to go on, since FT3 is the actual hormone used by individual cells.  If you split your dose into multiples, you keep the T3 level in your system more consistent throughout the day.

Actually, you should avoid soy, no matter what type of thyroid hormone you are on and don't take vitamins/minerals, particularly, calcium, magnesium, etc within 3-4 hours of thyroid med.

All of this said, do you have current thyroid labs that you could post for us, so we can see where your levels actually are.  That would help us better assess your needs and comment further.  Be sure to include reference ranges with any labs, since range vary lab to lab and have to come from your own report.  If you don't have copies of your labs, you should get them.  If you're in the U.S, your doctor is required to provide them upon request.  Always get a copy for your records and write on it, what med/dosage you were on at the draw and what, if any, symptoms you had then.

Do you know if you have Hashimoto's?  

[dgmootry]

Hey Jennserb, your doctor is full of Balony, I'm on Armour, I tried Levothyroxin and Levoxyl and it was horrible, I'd find a new doctor right away, just the fact that he doesn't care how you feel is horrible. My hair actually really started to grow when i got on Armour, its seems thicker too. While on Armour, did you split your dose up? when i started splitting my dose I felt alot better. I'd give Armour another try, I'm pretty happy with it. When taking Armour you don't want to eat Soy and you don't want to take your vitamin less then 4 hours before or after, especially iron and calcium. Good luck, you might need it if you stay on Levothyroxin, then again maybe it just needs time to level out. debbie