Switched to Armour questions

[Brucergoldberg]

Hello,

Was on .25 mcg and then .50 mcg.  Felt miserable...  Never felt good.  I decided to switch to armour and switched today.  I went to .15 mcg of armour.  Have the worst headache ever.  Has anyone else swtiched?  What was your experience like?  How long did it take before you felt any better?

Its a long hard road out of hell..

[laura1967]

I am doing absolutely fantastic on Tirosint. My allergies have even lessened.
I am on 125mcg Tirosint and 20 mcg daily of cytomel. I made the switch to tirosint approx 3 1/2 weeks ago, from synthroid.
Bruce- It takes at least a week of feeling like your heart is racing...when you start t4 meds, before your body adjusts. IF you need cytomel....ONLY do it in very small increments to start with. Even 1/2 of a 5mcg pill if you have to.
I agree you need to adjust to a t4 med only first, then see where your labs stand from there.
This is a hard road when trying to find the right medicine and dosage. Try to hang in there and be patient and remember that you are not alone.  :)

[magpieannie]

Are you on Levothyroxine or Synthroid? Maybe a different t4 med would be better? Maybe it's some type of reaction to that particular t4 med (alergic to something in it)?Have you discussed the new t4 med Tirosent with your doctor? No fillers or binders in it. Just another thought. Google it or there are a few threads about it on here and Laura and a few others are taking it so you might private message them and see how they are doing.

[Brucergoldberg]

Ok, but all I want to say is I get these weird attacks.  I feel fair to mild when I wake up.  Then I take my levo.  Approx 30 minutes later I get these weird attacks that last about 4 hours.  It happens every day to me.  I can't explain it.  It's like I go hardcore hyper for about 4 hours every day like I drank a pot of coffee.  I have to lie on the ground and wait for it to pass.  I feel great by bedtime..

[kl42]

Bruce there is an adjustment period as your body adapts to the new levels . might take a week or 2 or 3 till you adjust to that new level.  but you won't get there if you jump back and forth between different meds and doses. . body will adjust and then you'll check the labs and see what you need to tweak it  a little up or down.  but it takes time to adjust, and you will go through some bad days good days till it evens out, id stick to one thing  what the doctor said for at least a month and retest. see where your at. your not going to know until you hang in there for a month or so. i know it ***** big time. we all been there. Kevin

[LazyMoose]

Bruce, we all felt terrible at one point, welcome to the club so to speak. So far you are no different. Feeling terrible does not grant switching does and meds in the same week. Continually changing meds and doses in the same week is guaranteed to make you worse.

How many times do people hear need to repeatedly say this? Every time someone tells you not to change, your next post says you changed anyway and your complaining of symptoms again. This situation keeps repeating itself. Your health is not a game. Our advice is not either.

[Brucergoldberg]

I understand.... But I feel TERRIBLE.  I started my levo yesterday 37.5 mcg.  Felt great...  Today thought id bump it up to .50 mcg (as this is what the dr. told me to take).  very anxious, shakey, crappy feeling, yet im exhausted and need a nap.  Not to mention the terrible ear ringing.

[kl42]

got to stay on a same dose to balance out. can't keep switching . you;ll never balance out. 1 day switching dose won't help. takes time  stay on the same for a month see how you feel

[LazyMoose]

The difference between ERFA is it absorbs better into cells in some people because of the fillers used, or lets say because of the fillers that are NOT used.

New formulated Armour and Nature Throid changed their filler to micro crystalline cellulose. For some people this does not matter, for others it means they need more of this compared to before the change as their symptoms returned, and lastly it does not work for some people with this new filler and weird things happened to them which can also be seen on labs.

[mtgardner]

This is to answer why I am switching to Armour.  I still had hypo symptoms after many years on the synthetic and my new doctor checked and my free T3 was low so I am one of those not converting to free T3 and we are hoping too I am one of those who do better on the dessicated.  I have only been on it for one day at a dose of 60 mg divided into  two 30 mg. doses so I can't give you any real results as yet. I will need to go up in dosage according to the  chart on the armour site which shows the equivalencies for different meds converting to armour. I am hoping it works and that between symptoms and testing the free T3 and free T4 we can get good results.  That will take some time.  There is a note on the armour site about their having stepped up production to relieve shortages but to date not every strength of pill is available.   I am hearing some people say that when they need both T3 and T4 that the Canadian drug ERFA works better for them . Perhaps it is a different ratio of T3 and T4 but I don't actually know.
Others seem to like the synthetics or they work better for them and they combine the synthroid with cytomel.  My thinking is that each one had to give each medication some time as a trial and gradually change doses to try things after testing.  Just switching quickly can be confusing as the T4 can stay in your system from your last drug for some time.  

[LazyMoose]

Bruce, Armour or any natural dessicated thyroid med should be the last straw after synthetic meds are proven to not work for you once proper levels are achieved for a good amount of time. Like 3 - 6 months at proper levels. I dont believe you have ever reached that.

People that choose go with dessicated are :

1)People that are on the "natural bandwagon" - bad reason, its not so natural anyway
2)People that dont convert well from T4 to T3, as seen on lab tests
3)People that just feel better with more T3 - makes muscle pain feel better and digestive is better.
4)Some just feel better all around on dessicated. The theory- apparently some peoples cell receptors do not accept synthetic so well, are resistant to it. Just because you have free thyroid hormone floating in you blood does not mean the cells are sucking it up and using it.  This is generally proven after years on synthetics and adjusting the ranges till no more can be done, while hypo symptoms remain. Just the opposit can be true too, on dessicated. Our bodies can be picky some times.

If you give T4 med time to work you will be ahead of the game. The benefits of synthetic are supply, simplicity, docs that understand it. Keep in mind, I give you this advice even though I need dessicated thyroid myself. I need it, but am not thrilled to depend on it at all. If synthetic works for you all the better. Its all about time, and patients. No pain, no gain.

[Brucergoldberg]

why are you switching?

[mtgardner]

I am also in the act of switching to Armour from a synthetic altho I have Hashimoto's. I know it will take some time to get used to it and also to titrate the doseage.  I am starting on a low dose divided in two for BID dosing and will wait 2-3 weeks to even think of raising the dose.  I think that gives me the best chance of tolerating the change.

I was sent this link of Armour reviews by users by a friend.  Maybe you can sift through the comments and find others with your dx and history that have used it and see what they say.

http://www.drugs.com/comments/thyroid-desiccated/armour-thyroid.html

[magpieannie]

I 'd get back on the Synthroid for now since that has been the constant for you, until you decide for sure which direction to take. I agree with LazyMoose that all the switching around is not good. When was your last lab taken with the TSH of 7.93and exactly what dose and med were you on then? Also, how much Cytomel were you on and did you divide the dose and was your Synthroid lowered some when you began it? Also, please remind us of what your specific thyroid issue is and when were you diagnosed? These are all things that can help us see things a little more clearly with your situation. 7.93 definitly shows that you are under medicated and suffering from hypothyroid symptoms. Can you go online and get the Freet3 and Freet4 result and post it here with the range and date it was taken and med you were on with dose and post it here for us to all look at so we can brain storm together. Go ahead and call my daughters doctor since we are just up the highway from you and let them know your situation and maybe they will have compassion and work you in even if they say they are not taking new patients-it's worth a shot. Dallas Ft.Worth Area is a big place-surely we can find someone to help you somewhere?

[Brucergoldberg]

I freaked out this morning after reading all the bad posts about armor and just took t4 today.  I know I'm going back and forth but I'm having way too much stuff thrown at me at once.

The only hormones vie had tested are t3,t4,tsh, and testosterone..

When I tried the tiny bit of t3 for 2 days ut about crippled me.  That stuff is very very strong.  By itself I think I'm incapable of taking it.  I might be able to take it If it was mixed in with something.  I'm being told now to only take era or whatever.  So I'm confused.

My ears are ringing
Beat down
Tired
Dizzy
Hard to think.

My last test showed. Tsh 7.93
T3 was low as well

I can show you all my test results if you drop me a line, they are all on line.

Please help me... My doctors don't seem too concerned.

Bruce

[stella5349]

Hi Bruce - yes - the headache for around a week or two is common when starting NDT.. I am not sure on the synthetic form of Cytomel and if that is also an issue but on porcine thyroid it can linger for sure until you are balanced.

Your on a low dose of Armour and if you do see good results from this medication you will probably need a bit of an increase in a month or so.. which in return could spike the headache again until things balance our of you.

[LazyMoose]

Bruce, didn't you just try cytomel with your synthroid? Or did you decide to not try it?

Just starting any med with T3 in it will speed you up, possibly make you sweaty, no sleep and possible headache for at least a weak. You have to sick with it and stop changing things so rapidly or you will never feel better. That goes for dosing as well. Changing meds can be tough but you need to tough it out.

Since you seem 'thyroid challenged', lets back up for a minute. What other hormones have you had tested besides thyroid?

[magpieannie]

Nature-Throid has also been reformulated as well. We did not try it. However we did unknowingly take the reformulated Armour for a few weeks- wasn't good for my thyroidless daughter. She did great on the Armour before reformulation though. I switched her to it very slowly from Synthroid increasing a little every 10 days or so depending on symptoms and labs. as t4 stays in system awhile (long 1/2 life-reduces by 1/2 each week). It is not easy switching over-but for us it was worth it! However, if you are going to do this you should go with a desiccated med that has not been reformulated. My daughter and others here are using Canadian Erfa desiccated thyroid now. It is good like old Armour before reformulation. You really should consider going  this direction so that your transition will hopefully be more succesful. It takes 10 to 14 days to get it in and is legal to do so if your doctor will write the script. Private message me if the Armour doesn't work for you over time and I'll be glad to let you know who we are using and contact info. Lots of middle men out there- you want to use a reputable pharmacy so you can be confident that you are getting what you've ordered.

[Brucergoldberg]

So I'm taking non approved medication?  I thought it just came out?  So now what do I do?

[laura1967]

Armour was reformulated without approval, and many many patients got sick while on it.  Personally speaking, I would not have changed to Armour. There are too many other meds out there. Naturethroid is the better choice if you want to go with a more natural approach. If you want to go with synthetic, there are many many choices out there now including Cytomel which is a T3 med that you can add to your T4 med.
Going from .50 mcg of t4 med down to .15 mcg of armour is a big drop down. Yes headaches are common with med change to armour for some people.