Those of us on Armour and working on dosages and increases

[laura1967]

I thought it would be nice to have a thread of all of us on Armour that have recently started or have been on for a while. We can talk about our increases and symptoms.....how we are doing. Easy way to keep in contact with each other and support each other as we sssslllllooooowwwwwlllly and patiently find our optimum dosage! I think from what I have read and what Stella has said, that patience is the key with Armour. It is not an overnight fix at finding proper dosages. Many of these conversion charts are incorrect and our doctors are not educated at how to prescribe and treat with it. So, we have to educated ourselves and gently educated our doctors on how to medicate us. LOL Sometimes easier said than done when they are use to the synthroid dosages and treatment.
And once again......SSSTTTTEEEELLLLAAAA.......we need you and thank you for you advice and help!!!!   :)

[peteyjames123316]

your tsh sounds wrong. a high reading is 5.0 plus. anyways , i read Dr, Arems book thryoid solutions and he says combining Synthroid with Armour gets the best results but it takes weeks to effect. ive been on this combo for 2 weeks and i am still exhausted. i get more blood work in a month. as far as vitamins , get a good brand. check the b-12 on the lable if its cyanocobalamin dont get it. this is an inferior b-12 that the majority of manufactures use like one a day and centrum...... Davinci, and Bryan j Richards vitamins are 2 that dont use the inferior b-12 that actually contains cyanide.Thorne is a vitamin company that has a good Basic B supplement that you can take with your regular multi/vitamin/mineral. Amazon should have these items. also avoid soy and raw broccolli,califllower.and have cholesterol, blood pressure, trigs,  checked, because a hypo thryoid does raise these systems. . smoking can damage the thryoid so quitting is the best thing you could have done. the Armour shouldnt be giving you any bad symptoms. make sure its armour from forrrest labs not a otc internet brand. and ask doc to add synthroid( again dont settle for generic) demand synthroid. combine these  and get the best vitamins. good luck!

[peteyjames123316]

yes it most defintely effects your sleep. tired all day, i mean like your tranquilized when you crash. i crash exactly the same time everyday. i work a 3-11 pm shift and crash at 6:30pm. ive only been at work 3.5 hrs! i have to get outside and get fresh air, run around a bit, to not fall asleep. then when i get home i cant sleep. yes insomnia. i recently started on 60 mgs of armour and .25 mcgs of synthroid. i read dr. arem`s book thryoid solution and he got the best results using this combo. the synthetic synthroid with the Armour. i had a tsh of 5.3 and will get more blood work in a month and will post my results. and be careful of cholesterol, blood pressure, trigs, because a hypo thryoid raises all of these.

[gimel]

Just because your T3 and T4 test results were within the so-called "normal" range does not mean that is adequate for YOU.  The ranges are far too broad to be functional ranges for most hypo patients.  I won't get into all the details of why the ranges are too broad, but suffice to say that many members, myself included, say that symptom relief required Free T3 to be in the upper third of its range and Free T4 to be around the middle of its range.  Free T3 is the most important because it largely regulates metabolism and many other body functions.  Scientific studies have shown that Free F3 correlated best with hypo symptoms, while Free T4 and TSH did not correlate at all.

So, if you will please post those "normal" test results members will be glad to comment on the adequacy of tests and treatment.  

[NJDEE]

Can someone help me. I quit smoking Jan 2012 and had a stressful family situation over the past few months. Went to primary for routine & came back with a TSH of 49.36 this is while on 30mg of Armour. Sent to endo dr who bumped me up to 45. I just feel weird. Toooo many symptoms to describe but functioning. I'm due back with primary mid dec and endo end jan. he didn't seem too concerned did reflex test, felt neck said ok. Had MRI on pituitary months ago was ok. Should I be asking for any addl labs? Like adrenals, etc.? I don't want to freak out but I'm concerned. My t3&4 were normal. I heard quitting smoking & stress can raise you tsh. I take a multivitamin and seem to have a reaction to dairy. My b-12 is always low. I'm 39 years young, don't drink or smoke and eat good. 60 pound weight gain since Jan I assumed was from quitting smoking & premenopause that I assumed I was. Can anyone give me suggestions on what to check, take? The information on hypothyroid is overwhelming! My docs are pretty good about meeting my requests as I'm a pretty assertive patient! Thank u all!!!!

[NJDEE]

Can someone help me. I quit smoking Jan 2012 and had a stressful family situation over the past few months. Went to primary for routine & came back with a TSH of 49.36 this is while on 30mg of Armour. Sent to endo dr who bumped me up to 45. I just feel weird. Toooo many symptoms to describe but functioning. I'm due back with primary mid dec and endo end jan. he didn't seem too concerned did reflex test, felt neck said ok. Had MRI on pituitary months ago was ok. Should I be asking for any addl labs? Like adrenals, etc.? I don't want to freak out but I'm concerned. My t3&4 were normal. I heard quitting smoking & stress can raise you tsh. I take a multivitamin and seem to have a reaction to dairy. My b-12 is always low. I'm 39 years young, don't drink or smoke and eat good. 60 pound weight gain since Jan I assumed was from quitting smoking & premenopause that I assumed I was. Can anyone give me suggestions on what to check, take? The information on hypothyroid is overwhelming! My docs are pretty good about meeting my requests as I'm a pretty assertive patient! Thank u all!!!!

[juliedaniels]

Armor has both T3 and T4. Synthroid has only T4 hormone. Armor more natural. Synthroid is man made entirely.