Can't imagine why there would be any difference between the two meds; however, if you felt good on Armour, why switch? There is an old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
What were your thyroid related lab results and reference ranges when taking Armour? Do you have any since the switch? Was the dosage the same for both meds?
Have you been tested for ferritin?
Hi I am recently switching from Armour to nature thyroid, and the dose has not been correct and I am having a very hard time with it. The doctor insists if we adjust the dose i will feel better. I feel hot flash, nausea, and in general very under active (which I know will be corrected once the med are fixed).
But what about the nausea, and not flash feeling, these are all new symptoms, do others feel this as well.
Should i stick it through or go back to Armour? I felt great with Armour.
Appreciate any feedback?
Thaks
Janilla
Hi I am recently switching from Armour to nature thyroid, and the dose has not been correct and I am having a very hard time with it. The doctor insists if we adjust the dose i will feel better. I feel hot flash, nausea, and in general very under active (which I know will be corrected once the med are fixed).
But what about the nausea, and not flash feeling, these are all new symptoms, do others feel this as well.
Should i stick it through or go back to Armour? I felt great with Armour.
Appreciate any feedback?
Thaks
Janilla
Thank you for all of your help,im going grocery shopping this weekend and will stock up.I hope my thyroid level gets straightened out soon!!!
If your thyroid hormone levels go up, your metabolisim will also - so you will eat more. This all takes time though, not a couple of days.
Dont know what to tell you, stock up on healthy snacks for the munchies.
For the past couple days I have had very very bad eating binges...and this is all new..is this a side effect of the cytomel? or maybe because of the decrease of synthroid? Its been bad....constantly eating!!!!!
No, you don't want that, and I hear the Erfa is strong compaired to Nature-Throid due to the larger amount of dexstrose. I am only giving my daughter 1/2 grain so far and I'm dividing that into two doses with her Nature-Throid. So far sogood but it's only been two days. I will probably give her the whole 1/2 grain pill all at once tomorrow and see how she reacts, I'll do this for a few days and then add in a little more. At this rate it will probably take me several weeks to get her switched over, but that's okay if she never misses a beat! I'm trying to trick her body into never noticing! Hope it works! Glad you're doing better and better! Keep in touch.
Been on ERFA for 2 months now, slowly getting better. Have to judge it per week, not per day, as some days go backwards a little sometimes. Just had a lab, if its like the last , I'm, still a little hypo - playing it safe for now. I'm one that can only increase at a slow rate or its hyper time - dont want that!
Cytomel, like any replacement hormone should not be taken with food. .Its important to be consistent with it - time apart from food ect.
My experience with cytomel is its more stronger feeling than the T3 in a dessicated thyroid product, taken once a day is a lot at once. Twice a day is usually sufficient as most are on a small dose, but 25 is a high dose. The pill itself is small so splitting in four is difficult. Cytomel is not a sub lingual product either.
I would try to seperate it from food by aprox. 1 hour if you can. I try this with my daughter's desiccated med., however, sometimes the longest we can make it is 30 minutes. We just try to seperate it from food and milk as best we can. I only know of desiccated meds being dissolved under the tongue. I would think that Cytomel would be a med that you would just swallow with a large glass of water. also, we take all suppliments at night, far away from any thyroid meds.
is it ok to take with food? my instructions only say to take 1 pill once daily but doesnt give any specifics.I take my synthroid an hour before i eat but didnt know if i could take the cytomel with my breakfast or if it would interrupt with the absorption? is this one that should be swallowed or dissolved under my tongue?I appreciate all of your help,this is the first time that my doctor has ever prescribed this med and she is unfamiliar with the dosing and such..
That's good news! Most people divide/split the t3 dose throughout the day into 2 or 3 doses, instead of taking it all at once. T3 is fast acting/strong and by doing this, you get more sustained energy and feel more "level". I wouldn't take the last dose too late in day (not after 3:00 or 4:00) as it might interfere with sleep. I give my daughter her desiccated med. divided into 3 doses at 4 hour intervals- 1pill (grain) 60 mg at 7:00 am - 1 pill at 11:00 - And 1/2 pill at 3:00. This has worked out nicely for her and evenly spaces out the t3 in it throughout the day. Good luck and keep us posted on how you are doing with the addition of t3 Cytomel to your t4 Synthroid.
My doctor prescribed cytomel 25mcg and lowered my synthroid to 125mcg...the cytomel is the generic brand,not sure if this will make a difference.How do you take the cytomel?morning,afternoon,evening and do you take it with food?
Hi LM!---How are you doing on the Erfa now? I hope great! Got my daughter's in the mail today and will be switching over to it slowly next week from original Nature-Throid before we run out and while I have her home for the summer. I'm a little nervous but hopeful it will be a smooth transition as she has been feeling great! Just wanted to check in with you before we make the change. (I'm going to substitute it in a little at a time over a few weeks until I get her completely changed over)---Anne
Sunshine- follow Lazymooses plan/advice. If I had it to do over again, I would of tried adding in the T3 Cytomel to the Synthroid first before jumping ship completly. Now it would be hard to go back to synthetics. Its hard to keep consistent in the world of desiccated even though it has worked much better then t4 alone for my thyroidless daughter. The formulas keep getting changed by the companies and there have been shortages/hard to locate and now we can't even find good desiccated in America as the FDA and big drug companies obviously want everyone on synthetics and keep forcing changes to our desiccated medication formulas and messing it up in my opinion, in an attempt to get everyone moved over to synthetic t4 meds. Very frustrating and scary if "Endocrinology pushed" Synthroid does not work well for you! Trust us, you don't want to cross over onto this bridge unless you've exhausted all other choices and everything else has been ruled out as an option!
I could go on forever about this, instead I'll keep it simple.
Its all about what works for people as individuals. Pay no attention to people that say this brand or that type is best for everyone.
Step 1) You need to make sure you are getting the right amount of T4 med your body needs. Please post your labs including Free T3 , Free T4 and TSH. Free T3 is a must have!!!!!! The 'normal' range is very wide, at the bottom of any range , most do not feel well, but its still in range.
2) Add cytomel T3 to your T4 med. Its easy to get, and works for most.
3) Natural Dessicated (pig thyroid) is the last step to try. Armour and Nature Throid brands were reformulated, they still work for some people and dont work for othere anymore. ERFA brand from Canada is like the origional Armour.
If you follow these steps, within time you will find someway to feel better. It takes a L o n g time when changing meds. I did all the above over a course of 1 1/2 years, now on ERFA.