Location: A beautiful and peaceful place in the woods
Posts: 8,905
S/C/G: Stuck/Working on it/Good 2 Go
Height: Fun Size
Happy New Year to all. Thanks for starting a new thread Trixiepup. Know what you mean about the end of "holiday nice" - went to the grocery store New Year's Eve and it was killer mentality all over again tho I was shocked at how nice people were in the stores during Christmas shopping season. Unusually polite...
It's been almost a month now since I switched from Synthroid to Armour and what a world of difference! I am sleeping soundly again (endocrinologist had me scheduled for a sleep study for sleep apnea but I'm going to cancel it since I'm feeling rested now). Am not as tired, my dry cracked hands have cleared up nicely, I'm not all achey and I'm feeling quite good. I'm still cold but it's winter and I guess you have to expect that. Can't thank you guys enough for your postings and help - without you I'd still be dragging along and suffering.
Will go for a blood test in 2 weeks - hope they don't downgrade my dosage - seems like you get to feeling good and they tell you that you're overmedicated.
I did have one question for anyone who might be on Armour Thyroid... I read an article on about.com that said when you've getting the T3 to ask your doctor about taking it twice a day since the T3 has a much shorter half life than the T4 meds. Anyone doing this? I'm on a wierd dose - 75 mg which they don't make a pill in that dose. I take a regular size pill (60mg) and a teeny weeny spec of a 15 mg pill that I am always worried about losing before it gets to my mouth - I've never seen anything so small.
I asked my doctor about the dosing, and splitting the doses, and she said it was more important to be consistent and take it on an empty stomach. I think my mom takes 90mg once a day. I do 60mg once a day also.
I think if you are feeling good, I wouldn't worry too much about the dosages.
Location: A beautiful and peaceful place in the woods
Posts: 8,905
S/C/G: Stuck/Working on it/Good 2 Go
Height: Fun Size
Thank you Trixiepup for asking. I'm a night person so I wake up in a fog and rush for the coffee cup. Been trying very hard to wean myself to wait an hour before I have anything besides the pill and water. So mostly I look like this in the morning but I know it's really really important to let the medicine absorb into the system first.
My mom's on Levoxil (?) - I told her how impressed I was with the Armour so she's going to ask her doctor about it this week at her appointment.
Haven't noticed any difference with weight loss but then again I haven't been on best behavior in December. Have started being a good girl again this week.
I had a good holiday and am now back on track for losing. I want to lose 104 lbs (2lbs a week) and then try to get pregnant in 2004. I have been reading and reading books on the "Power of the thyroid" and they almost all say in order to keep a pregnancy you have to be at a level of .5 - <2.0 and I guess I really need to keep an eye on that. They also suggested to keep an eye on your basal body temp and I have found that I hover around the low 97's - I think that means that I am still hypo and should see about getting in an appointment to have it checked.
Does anyone else keep track of their BBT's? Does your temp stay around 98 when you are feeling your best?
My temp is at 97-97.5 when I am feeling my best - some people just don't normally have 98.6. I never have in my adult life. I think it is a good idea to track it because I'm sure you can tell when you need your meds adjusted when it changes. By tracking, you find what is normal for you.
I'm on Levoxyl and right now I'm feeling the best I have in years - sleep well at night, have lot's of energy during the day - and the weight is coming off (when I follow my plan and don't overindulge). It's taken me 3 years to get here so I hope it lasts for awhile.
I've been on Synthroid for a year and feeling great. I hear various stories about other meds, but, since this seems to be working so far, I'll stick with it. I am on .075 after starting out with .025 and haven't had any problems (other than forgetting to take it a few times). Of course, until I was diagnoised, never knew why I was gaining weight, feeling cold, depressed, and suffering with migraines constantly. I'm very grateful to my brother for insisting I go to the doctor after losing my balance 3 times in a half hour!
I want to say thanks to everyone for sharing their info...I did not know I was supposed to wait to eat for at least an hour and not have anything with calcium for at least 4 hours. Guess now I'll have to start drinking black coffee in the morning and pay more attention to those food labels. It seems everything has calcium added..what do you do????
I asked my doctor today if I could switch from Synthroid to a differnet thyroid med because I believe Synthroid is preventing weight loss. He refused because he said it's too difficult to get correct measurements in bloodwork with other meds. I'm not sure what he means but he seemed quite definite about it.
He did put me on Xenical. I'm not crazy about the idea, mainly because I try to follow a low carb woe and any time I increase my carbs I get horrible sugar cravings. But, I'm not losing weight and at 275 lb I really need to.
So, I guess I'll be learning a whole new woe...again. I sure hope it works.
Location: A beautiful and peaceful place in the woods
Posts: 8,905
S/C/G: Stuck/Working on it/Good 2 Go
Height: Fun Size
Welcome Linda and Geminisue,
This thread doesn't get a lot of activity but it does have some great information on it.
Sue I hate to tell you but you should wait an hour before having that coffee in the morning. Caffeine reduces the effectiveness of the thyroid meds by up to 50%. I know, I'm one of those people who stumbles out of bed right to the coffee pot. I'm trying to wean myself to wait - I'm up to about 20 minutes now As for the calcium I'd have to ask the others - is it just the calcium supplement TABLET that you should wait on at least 4 hours or all calcium like milk in cereal, yogurt, etc? I thought it was the calcium pill, never gave much thought to my morning cereal. ACK, no coffee, no cereal - better not drive near me in the morning.
Linda, I've switched from Synthroid to Armour in December. While it has done wonders for helping me sleep better and my skin is not as horribly dry and cracked, it has done nothing to speed up my weight loss. That is the same maddeningly hard struggle it has always been. I have just accepted the fact that my metabolism is slow (slow as in zip, nada, almost not even there) and it's worse from taking hormones and thyroid pills. I have to eat small portions every few hours, drink lots and lots of water, watch the fat, sugar AND salt and exercise alot in order to lose slowly.
If you've read some of the earlier postings from the other women here, you'll see that many of them had to fight with their doctors. I'm not so sure I'd buy his story of not getting correct bloodwork measurements. I think they favor one med over the others. I know with Levoxil and Synthroid since they are manufactured, they SAY the dosage is supposed to be pretty consistent, but I saw some write ups on Synthroid that disputed that and said they ran tests and found the dosage varied from batch to batch.
I was so pleased with the Armour that I told my mom about it. She talked to her doctor yesterday. He said Armour gives your heart a "boost" and is not favored for 70+ year old women like her or anyone with heart issues. That's the first I had heard of that. He was sort of resistent at first but agreed to test her T3 levels and said they could discuss alternatives further which was good to hear. At least he was listening to her. I'm a week over due for my 6 week bloodwork, must get there this week - I'm curious to see how the levels might have changed compared to when I was on the Synthroid.
My dr. said not to eat for 20 minutes after taking pill (pill being taken on empty stomach), and not to eat any high fiber stuff for about an hour or two.
Any thyroid meds can give you heart palpitations if the dosage is too high. I personally feel that armour is safer than synthyroid because it's been used longer w/o major issues. Plus, my body likes it. My mom had been on Synthyroid for about a year, w/o any real effect, but things got better for her after Armour. Not everyone is the same, so try and see what works for you. What is important is having a dr who will listen to you.
My sister is currently doing a bootcamp workout and she is really enjoying that (she has a majorly slow metabolism too). Maybe some mega cardio/weight lifting type thing could help out a bit? My friend loves Curves for women, while I really enjoy Pilates (though i only ran the video once...i really enjoy it though :-) Maybe a different exercise routine will help? At least it'll be more interesting in the short term.
What I now do is take the pill before jumping in the shower. That way, by the time I get dressed and to the office, make the coffee, get the models opened, etc... a couple of hours will have passed. I figured by then, I was pretty safe, that is until I read about the calcium stuff. Like you, happy2bme, I thought it was just the supplements you had to avoid for 4 hours. I'm also drinking more herb teas. I have been cutting back on the coffee and with the hectic days at the office, I pour out more cold coffee than I drink. I got rid of my huge thermal mug and use a regular ceramic coffee mug..much smaller and now, if I get 2 cups between everything, that's alot! Maybe I should just stick with fruit for breakfast and not make myself crazy
or try that special k with berries cereal. it is really good, even dry. when in milk, the berries soak up liquid and taste practically fresh. the fruit is freeze dried instead of jerkey dried, so it is really yummy.
of course, i eat the cereal for a snack, and munch on marshmellows on the way to work, so i really shouldn't be advising on food choices
January Thyroid Thread
but I know it's really really important to let the medicine absorb into the system first. 
I know, I'm one of those people who stumbles out of bed right to the coffee pot. I'm trying to wean myself to wait - I'm up to about 20 minutes now 
As for the calcium I'd have to ask the others - is it just the calcium supplement TABLET that you should wait on at least 4 hours or all calcium like milk in cereal, yogurt, etc? I thought it was the calcium pill, never gave much thought to my morning cereal. ACK, no coffee, no cereal - better not drive near me in the morning. 
