thyroid

[boater3033]

i was on levothyroxin 75mcg and my tsh was 2.00 now i switch to armour 3 months ago 60mg and now i have a tsh of 4.51.  the doc says thats fine.  but i still feel tired and and sore muscles all the time.  should i go back to levothyroxin?

[Barb135]

Ranges are set by each lab, depending on the method of testing, units used, etc.  It's not just from country to country, but from lab to lab, even within a country.  

What matters is where your results fall within that range.   Most ranges are very way too broad, with the bottom 1/2 being "suspect", which is why we use a rule of thumb, that it's best to be around mid range for FT4 and in the upper 1/3 of the range for FT3.  

[reycar]

Just wondering why normal RANGES differ in countries ;like when i used to have my tests here in Japan,then  i had one in the Phil. for a second opinion.Should i take it that no matter what range they set as long as they come up with ACCURATE RESULT?

[laura1967]

Hi there! You are being left wayyyyy undertreated on Armour. NOrmally someone on Armour, their optimum levels will look as follows: TSH will look slightly hyper, Free T4 should me at least mid normal range, and Free T3 should look mid normal to high normal range (some even go a little above the high normal range)
Anything below these and you are not optimal.
I am sorry to say that your doctor is leaving you hypo and feeling sick.  My goodness even the new range of TSH .30-3.0 shows you hypo!
Go find a thyroid specialist so you can get to feeling better! Please do not settle for being left sick......I did that and regret it. It took my body twice as long to heal.

[ChitChatNine]

WELCOME to our Community!

C~

[boater3033]

hi,
yes they did test my t4 was 0.6and my t3 was 118 and she said because those were in the normal range it was o.k. for my tsh to be 4.51   she told me the range for t4to be normal is 0.5 to 1.50 and t3 is normal between 63 to 155.  when i was on levothyroxin my tsh was 2.52

[Smilerdeb]

Stella would be the one to speak to about this...she has a lot of knowledge with Armour.
PM her.

[Super_sally888]

Hi,

there is no problem to use armour and you may indeed feel better on it when you are on a correct dose.  You haven't got the correct dose yet, so without do that first and being stable on that you cna't tell if armor works better for you than thyroxine.

Did they test your FT3 and FT4?  If not they should.   Your TSH should be lower.  Try getting it down to between 1 and 2.  And your FT3 and FT4 should up in the upper 50% of normal range.

[boater3033]

i guess i switch because its suppose to be better for you because its "natural"  but all the endros i talk to do not use anything but synthroid so i am getting it from my ob/gyn but i dont know if i should just switch back to the synthetic. i just think when you take somthing you should feel better not the same.

[boater3033]

hi,  ive seen both and now i asked my ob/gyn to switch me to armour to see if i would feel any better.  so i dont know if i should asked to be switched back or what.  i hate this.  my tsh was so good in the number when i was on levothyroxin but i still felt tired all the time.  what kind do you take?  thanks i never wrote on these before

[taracarter42]

Are you seeing and endocrinologist or a family physician?  The endocrinologist would want your levels at 3.0 or lower (normally).  A lot of research indicates that a lot of people don't function well at anything about that and are missed because they fall in the 3.01-4.99 range.

I would talk to your doctor about the medication switch.  I would demand to have the level of 4.51 addressed...you know your body better than your doctor and if you feel that you aren't functioning as well challenge him/her.

I was at 3.97 and felt AWFUL, and finally after 3 different doctors my OB/GYN put me on meds for thyroid.  I feel so much better now!

[Tamleeb]

Just curious, why did you switch from the Levo to Armour?  

[thelma201]

maybe raise the dose of armour?