I've been diagnosed as being hypothyroid and given Armour Thyroid - anyone

[helderheid]

else here with that? What's your experience?

[kdmorris]

1. Armour has done wonders for me

VS synthetic brands (Levoxyl, Synthroid, etc). Because Armour contains both of the thyroid hormones (T4 and T3) it seems to more closely mimic what your own thyroid would produce. I find that the T3 is quite potent and so take my Amour 3 times a day to lessen some of the spikes I used to have.

Hopefully your doctor won't watch your TSH exclusively, because Armour tends to supress it and many doctors end up leaving you undertreated when only determining dosages with the TSH instead of looking at the Free T3 and Free T4.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

2. Go to this website and read up:

www.stopthethyroidmadness.com


Armour works well for me and it's cheap. Doctors don't like it, they like the expensive stuff.

[ThomCat]

8. One of the great things about two of my doctors

is that they know the older, cheaper drugs, and they know how generics compare in effectiveness to name brands, and they aren't afraid to pass up the expensive stuff.

You're definitely right. Many doctors are determined to proscribe only the expensive drugs. :(

I wish everyone here had really good doctors.

[Susang]

3. I had to go on Armour

Apparently my body doesn't metabolize T4 well, I was on Synthroid initially, but my T3 levels never increased. From my family's experience, Armour works better with women, my dad doesn't have any problem with his Synthroid.

[sam sarrha]

4. hypothyroid medication is the most prescribed medication, seems a fire retardant

that is legislated to be used in carpets, beds, furniture and clothes is the cause of it.. it kills more cats than anything else.. they get it off the carpet and lick it off their fur. tom Hartman has some articles on it

[MorningGlow]

5. I've been on it for years for hypo

It's fantastic (for all the reasons already listed here--T3 and T4 and such)--it's NATURAL instead of synthetic. And it has the added benefits of being inexpensive because the patent expired ages ago, PLUS (and this is just me being an ornery contrarian) it baffles the younger pharmacists because they've never heard of it. But they'll order it for you.

And as an ornery contrarian, I like using the medication that is NOT supported by a huge pharmaceutical company and all their highly paid reps who push it on doctors too busy to do their own research. What annoys me, though, is that those doctors who don't do their homework believe the Synthroid reps when they say that Armour is unstable and has a short shelf life (medication character assassination); ironically, it's actually Synthroid that is unstable and has a short shelf life.

But real-life examples speak louder than rhetoric: I have a family friend who's severely hypo and has been on Synthroid for decades. You would think she wasn't taking anything at all. She's still got raging symptoms, including being VERY overweight, with lidded bugeyes, listless, memory problems, hair growth in unfortunate places yet thinning hair on her head. On the other hand, when I started taking Armour, my symptoms were under control within months and I felt like I got my life back--I could function again and have ever since.

For reference, I'm 41 years old and have been taking it for about 6 or 7 years--my steady dose now is 60mg in the morning and 30mg in the evening. Good stuff.
:toast:

Feel free to PM me if you want to talk! I'm a big thyroid disease advocate--I think it's severely underdiagnosed because it's a "woman's disease" (read: hysterical female stuff).

[Mnemosyne]

7. Very underdiagnosed, agree. The problem is docs check the

'numbers' and not the symptoms. I run 97.3, my grandson 96.5, entire family very low temp. Yet because my 'number is at the very bottom of the range, but still within, will not prescribe Armour or anything. Mom takes Synthroid, worthless.

Brittle hair and nails, overweight, listless, depressed.

Doctors need to pay more attention to alleviate symptoms and pay less attention to their freakin numbers.

[MorningGlow]

10. I went undiagnosed for a year because of "the numbers"

My TSH was always "normal", going by the old, huge "acceptable" range of 0.5 to 5.0. I hovered around 2.3 and felt like crap. When I hit 2.5, I honestly thought I was going to die. But hey, my TSH was "normal", so the doctors said "go away and try to diet and exercise more, ya cow." (I swear, those doctors all thought that I was trying to get a quickie diet pill because I had gained weight--they never LISTENED to what I was saying. One of them even chased me around her office with a scrip for an antidepressant because I cried in her office because I felt so sick.)

Once I found a holistic m.d. who diagnosed me as subclinical hypo and treated my symptoms, it was like a whole new world. Turns out my body is happiest when my TSH is at 1.0.

Of course, it took so long to get treated that I nearly became diabetic. I still have insulin resistance because of the time it took to get my hypo under control.

[Eurobabe]

11. That could be my story

I gained 25 lbs in about year. Was sleeping 14 hours a day, cranky, etc. My TSH was 2.82 in 2001 (subclinical, but gyno said let's keep an eye on it) then re-tested in 2003, it was 3.5

Thankfully my doc agreed to a trial of thyroid meds, also because I tested positive for Hashimoto's thyroiditis (auto-immune).

I am best when my TSH is between 1.0 and 1.75. Anything over 2.5 and I start to feel lousy again.

I lost weight on natural thyroid, but gain weight on synthetics. :(

[kdmorris]

12. That could be my story, too!

Except that my TSH is suppressed, has been for years and any measurable amount makes me feel like {bleep}.

I've been prescribed anti-depressants, statins, high blood pressure meds, and just about everything else (refused to take them because I KNEW it was my thyroid). Only difference is that it took so long to find a doctor that would treat me that I ended up with Diabetes.

[peacebuzzard]

13. What did the holistic doc prescribe for you?

I know the Armour is from animal glands, and wondered if the holistic m.d. would prescribe that?

I also have lately had a high TSH 4.95 and had synthroid (synthetic) prescribed but I am waiting to talk to my integrative physician on another health issue and will discuss this one.

I have read that L-tyrosine is an excellent supplement. I have started taking kelp for nutritional support. Anyone here do supplements?

[MorningGlow]

14. My holistic doc prescribed Armour

I had done the research and she left the choice of thyroid meds up to me; when I said I wanted Armour she smiled and happily wrote me the scrip--she wholeheartedly agreed with me that it's the best. I've been on it for years now. Synthroid sucks rocks--it's the worst of the lot by far. Definitely try to get a different thyroid med--you'll feel sooo much different.

I'm on a multi and CLA to help with weight loss.

[bluethruandthru]

6. Lucky you!

I was diagnosed about 3 years ago and given Levothyroxine (synthetic) thyroid hormone. My symptoms got worse and my doctor kept upping my dose. Even though I still felt horrible, dr. said tests were "normal" so I was fine! He told me to exercise more, get more sleep, eat less, take cholesterol meds, wear thick socks! I started researching and found out about Armour. Asked my doc if he would try it for me and he laughed at me. I finally found a doctor who would prescribe it and I've just started taking it. Her approach is a holistic one and I'm thrilled to have someone who listens to me!

[Eurobabe]

9. Never felt more alive than when I was on NatureThroid (like Armour)

Unfortunately, the high T3 levels gave me panic condition, so I had to go off. I convert T3 in synthetics, so I didn't need the excess. I am now on Euthyrox by Merck (in Europe) and doing great. Don't have the rush and the amazing feeling from the NT, but at least no panic anymore. I guess I have to live with it. I am 20 lbs. heavier that I would like to be, but at least my symptoms are under control. I actually lost weight and had energy with the NT. :( Stinks that I can't take it anymore, someday I might give it another run.

My mom might go on Armour if her P-Doc lets her.

I have done so much research into hypothyroidism my friends call me Dr. 48percenter. If have a question, just ask.

Oh, and yeah, Synthroid SUCKS! That stuff bloated me up like a goddamn tick.

Best of luck with your thyroid treatment. :hi:

[Manifestor_of_Light]

15. I had to switch doctors, and now I think I'm having the same fight all over again.

I have Hashimoto's disease. I got it when I was about eleven.
The doc put me on Armour thyroid, 2 grains a day. I was still exhausted all the way thru high school and college. In high school I had to come home at 4:15 and crash for three hours every evening. My mom had to wake me up and feed me dinner. I would study for about an hour and then go back to bed. Teenagers aren't supposed to be like that.

Another doc took me OFF thyroid completely, and in my brian fog was too dense to insist that I keep taking it. I was off it for about five years. I got to where I could only get out of bed with willpower.

I found another doctor (a pathologist, osteopath and nutritionist) who knew his stuff. He said I had the worst case of myxedema (swollen face) he had ever seen. He also said I was about a month or two away from falling into a coma.

He said "We'll titrate your dose to see what you need". We started at 1 grain per day, for a couple of weeks, then went to two, three, and so on, up to eight.

Now most doctors would freak out over eight grains a day. I felt a lot better, and at no time did I have any heart palpitations, nervousness or any hyper symptoms.

Then we took the dosage back down gradually and the doctor said "What is the minimum dose at which you feel good?". It was five grains.

He prescribed five grains a day for years and it was the first time I felt good and had energy since I was eleven.

The pathologist retired some years ago and he may be deceased by now.

My internist went ahead and prescribed what I told him. Now the man has closed his office that's closest to me. I went to the internist he referred his patients at that office to. I saw the new guy yesterday and he just about hit the ceiling when I told him I was on five grains. He said "We have to do blood tests". I said "I know." I told him I had Hashimoto's disease and he wrote that down like he really didn't know what that was!!!

Apparently he will go by TSH and not my symptoms, and won't believe me. I've gone round and round with doctors over taking Armour, and taking ENOUGH. They think that nobody needs more than two grains per day, no matter that my temp is subnormal and my feet get cold at night.

I'm going to have to get an article where Amer. Assoc of Endocrinologists has lowered the acceptable range of TSH and give it to him (link at www.stopthethyroidmadness.com).

I'll have to ask him if he takes the patient's symptoms and history into account, or not. I'll have to ask him, if he thinks my dosage is harmful, why I would deliberately take a dosage that was harmful to me?

:banghead: :banghead:

[elleng]

16. So sorry to hear of your merry-go-round!

My daughter was diagnosed with 'Hahimoto's' some years ago, after pediatrician sent us to endocrinologist at dc children's hospital; she took thyroid replacement for some time; problem was, doc was very difficult to get appointment with due to doc's popularity. But she told me about hashimoto, and I read about it; pretty simple.

I've been taking thyroid supplement for several years, internist has explained 'peculiarity' of coming up with best dosage due to a counter-intuitive feature; MORE of one 'number' means something different than one would think. Sorry for lack of clarity, but there are docs around who do understand. I'm taking 62 micrograms levothyroxine/day.

edit, now that I've read everyone's stories above, I think I'll check with doc for me and daughter! Good luck to you.