stomach pain

[imsolucky]

I've been taking Synthroid for the last 27 years and for the last 6 years 137mgs. I was recently switched to Armour as I have had constant fatigue and body aches for those 27 years. The equivalent of 137mg is 120mg of Armour and because my body has been used to the 137mg for so long I was put directly on 120mg of Armour there was no taking it slow as I have been reading. Is this normal practice when you have been on a thyroid med for so long and then switch? It's been nearly 3 weeks now and notice my body doesn't hurt as much but still have fatigue and have had stomach pain soon after I take it and then it gets better toward late afternoon could this be a side effect I can't seem to get much information regarding stomach pain. I take it in the morning on a empty stomach and eat 1-2 hours later.

[imsolucky]

     Yep she sure did she is a Naturopathic Dr. highly regarded and referred by my GP as he wanted to prescribe yet another low dose antidepressant to treat Fibromyalgia and by the way asked him and several other Dr.s over the years if my symptoms could be Thyroid related and all said no then 2 years ago was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia so resigned myself to thinking that must be it but honestly wasn't satisfied with it's Fibromyalgia and there isn't anything we can do for you but prescribe meds to help with the symptoms well that's just not good enough I don't want to live my life on pharmaceuticals if I can help it so I said I would rather go holistically rather than another pharmaceutical they never helped with anything in the past just made me feel drugged and still miserable with symptoms. She asked me when my last labs were and I said last December but in fact the Thyroid was tested in June and it was just the TSH and I think T-4 in any case I was surprised as well that she ordered no tests at all. I have to say though that she is the first to say my Fibromyalgia with all these awful symptoms I've been trying to live with could be Thyroid related and I have to say that it was a huge relief to me that finally somebody after all these years thought the same thing I have been wondering and was actually going to try and help me rather than drug me. I was concerned taking a new thyroid med with no testing being done but at the point I was at I just really had to trust she knew what she was doing I just wanted to feel better and it didn't seem to much of a stretch to try it for the 3 weeks until I saw her again but still concerning none the less. I guess I will see what happens tomorrow.

[Barb135]

Your doctor really put you on a T3 medication without requiring labs?  Wow - I'd run away really fast...

[imsolucky]

        Nice to meet you to Flowergal23. I haven't had labs done for over a year and this new Dr. put me on Armour straight away just based on symptoms. I will be seeing her tomorrow and I expect she will be ordering labs I would hope so anyway I would really like to know where things are at now and not go totally by symptoms. I will post lab results as soon as I get them. Thank you and Barb for your help I appreciate it. Good to know we aren't alone to navigate through this mess.

[Barb135]

According to the conversion chart, 120 mg of Armour is equal to 50 mcg cytomel or 200 mcg Synthroid/Levothyroxine.  Armour has much more T3 in it than humans produce, and some people don't need that much, while others find that they don't feel well at all on other meds.

Per flowergal's request, please post your labs, so we can see what your actual levels are.  Be sure to include reference ranges, as those vary lab to lab and have to be posted with results.

[flowergal23]

I don't know if my case was normal or not, either, but July 2013 my former doctor started me on 60 Armour because she said it was the equivalent of the 100 Synthroid I'd been on previously for 22 years.

Unfortunately, 60 Armour was much too low of a dose for me and my hypo symptoms worsened, so my medication was increased to 90 a month later, and then to 120 and just recently to 180 which is an increase that makes me nervous.  It's been one week on the 180, and I am feeling better, but since it takes 4-6 weeks to stabilize, I'm cautiously optimistic and keeping close tabs on my symptoms as I don't want to over-medicate and become hyper.

I follow the same dosing schedule as you do, eating an hour or two after meds.  I don't have much stomach pain, but I do suffer from acid reflux which is very painful, and much worse when I'm suffering from a lack of medication.  The chest pressure and pain is intense and often mimics a heart attack.

Armour is a T3/T4 med and I did notice a difference in my heart rate a few hours after taking it at first, especially when increasing dosage.  As I've had explained to me here in this forum, the T3 part of the med is fast acting and usually peaks a few hours after taking it, which is why many people split their dose, taking half right away in the morning and the other half around noon or thereabouts.   I've tried splitting my dose and it does seem to work quite well.

If you would post your lab test results with your lab's reference ranges listed, the people on this forum will give you the benefit of their experience.    

Armour is new territory for the both of us and I'm glad to meet you.