Weight gain/swelling on Armour

[pennymay]

Has anyone had bad effects on Armour?  I started a month ago(first time on thyroid meds) and initially felt great but then insomnia, heart palpitations started. I skipped my period.  At first I lost weight and now I'm gaining weight even though I've weighed the same for most of my 48 years.  I feel like I'm swelling and am very uncomfortable, like I'm going to pop out of my skin.  Would love to hear from anyone who's experienced this or has any ideas??
penny

[ChrisK2784]

Thank you so much for your comments, I agree with you. Because I'm taking dessicated pig thyroid compounded, I'm not sure how to separately adjust the T3 and T4. So for now I'm going to add an additional 1/8 grain at noon, so I will take 1/4 grain at 7am and 1/4 at noon.
My doctor has always agreed with me and offered to make whatever changes I need, as long as I do all the research myself.
Have you heard of any doctors in the Cleveland area that use, as you mentioned, symptom relief? Or anywhere near Cleveland, I am willing to drive almost anywhere at this point.
By the way my microsomal antibody is 289.1. I believe that just confirms the Hashimotos?
Thanks so much!

[pennymay]

I'm not sure if this post already went through but I don't see it on this thread; my test results after 5 weeks on 1/4 armour were
1.4 TSH(improvement over 2.4
T3 and T4 barely budged.

In the meantime I experienced severe insomnia and heart palpitations while on Armour so  I went off the meds. I have kept the 5 pound weight gain and feel squishy and bloated all over ( a symptom I did not have prior to taking Armour) My doctor suggested taking half of the 1/4 dose and as soon as I did the insomnia came back.  So I've stopped again.  I think there is something else going but not sure what.  I'm very frustrated.  I feel like the Armour ruined my metabolism in some way??

[gimel]

Ineffective thyroid doctors generally fall within two categories.  The first category includes those with the "Immaculate TSH Belief"  and believe that TSH is all they need to diagnose and treat a thyroid patient.  The second category includes those that practice  "reference range endocrinology" and believe that test results that fall anywhere within the range is adquate and you need nothing further.  Fortunately there are some good thyroid doctors around that understand that the best way to treat a thyroid patient is to test and adjust FT3 and FT4 levels as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels.  Symptom relief should be all important, not test results.

I won't go into the detail of why the reference ranges are far too broad, but suffice to say that many members, myself included, report that symptom relief for them required that FT3 was adjusted into the upper part of the range and FT4 adjusted to at least midpoint of its range.  You can get some insight into clinical treatment by reading this link.  It is a letter written by a good thyroid doctor for patients that he is consulting with from a distance.  The letter is sent to the PCP of the patient to help guide treatment.  Perhaps a copy of this letter might lead to a good discussion with your doctor and let you find out if he is going to be willing to treat you clinically or not.  

http://hormonerestoration.com/files/ThyroidPMD.pdf

By the way I had some severe bloating and acid reflux during a period when I became hypo.  When I got back on Armour, it all got better within just 2-3 days, when I got my levels increased.

[ChrisK2784]

You have been highly recommended to me by others on this website and I hope you can help me. I have been on armour for a couple of months and am now on a compounded dissectated pig thyroid medicine.
I take 1/4 grain at 7 am and 1/8 at noon.

My recent test results are :
Free T3 2.5 (1.8-4.6)
T4 1.0 (.7-1.8)
TSH 2.07 (.4-5.5)
I am writing to you because I am still experiencing severe bloating and like everyone else my doctor is satisfied with my numbers and I am miserable.
Could my T3 and T4 be off?
I would appreciate any advice or thoughts, thanks so much.

[gimel]

People all react differently to medications, but I'd be surprised if those symptoms were strictly due to the med being Armour.  If you will please post your thyroid test results and reference ranges shown on the lab report, then members can help evaluate.  Also, what dosage of Armour are you taking?   Have you been tested for the thyroid antibodies TPO ab and TG ab to determine if Hashi's was the basic cause of being hypothyroid?  If not, what was the basis for the doctor deciding you needed thyroid medication?