hypothyroid and on Armour thyroid
 

Hi there! Sometimes it just takes time and adjustments to the meds to see improvements. Perhaps you need a higher dose? As for diet, I highly recommend Sugarbusters. It works better for me than anything else I have tried. I am hypothyroid too. It helps curb the sugar cravings, which by the way, I don't think are related to thyroid issues. You may have to fight like a tiger to get off sugar, but it is good if you do. For some, it is just about an addiction! I really struggle to lose anything, so be prepared to take it slow. Good luck!

The weight will most likely not come off just because you get the right dose. I do South Beach/WW Core. You need to avoid all the white foods (flour, sugar, salt, rice, etc.) and limit soy and raw vegetables in the cabbage family (cabbage, broccoli, etc.). They are okay when cooked. These prevent the thyroid from working properly and inhibit absorption of your medication.

Sugar cravings have nothing to do with your thyroid - we teach our body to crave sugar and you have to go through a withdrawl to get off it. You'll feel a whole lot better when you do.

Weight loss will be slow. You need to eat 5-6 mini meals to keep your thyroid working properly and also exercise a minimum of 30 minutes a day.

You should have blood work redone in 6 weeks to be sure the dosage is correct for you.

It took 2 years for me to get to the right dosage (200 mcg Levoxyl) and really feel good.

We're here to help you.

30 mg is nothing, no wonder you feel crappy. Great place to get some info is on Low Carb Friends Health board. There's a general thyroid thread started by a thyroid patient avocate.

I craved sugar more on Armour thyroid than on Synthyroid. I just never could get to feeling good on Armour. It took four years for me to switch to Synthyroid and I like it better.

I guess everyone is different. I switched from synthroid to Armour and have never felt better. I take 90 grains/day. In terms of diet, I do South Beach but generally have just stopped eating sugar, white bread, white rice, white flour; only eat whole grains, lots of veggies, lean proteins (fish, chicken, etc.), and a little fruit. I hope you find what works for you.

Hey jmo,

30 mgs is 1/2 grain and as pnkfloyd mentions...."it's nothing"....30 mgs is a very low dosage.

Most people find they need between 3 to 5 grains (180 mgs to 300 mgs) thru out the day to treat their hypo symptoms.

I take 5 grains daily. So does my son. My mom takes 3 grains.

I did not start losing ANY weight at all until I got up to 3 grains, and it took 5 grains daily to treat the rest of my hypo symptoms like hair loss, etc.

You might want to check out the info at
www.stopthethyroidmadness.com

as the info compiled there may be of great help to you.
Let me know if I can help with any of it.
Cathy

I just started taking Armour. I too was expecting great changes - easier to lose weight. All that happened is that my energy got better. Now if I want to exercise I can. Too bad I hate it. The diet mentioned here I have heard of. I switched to mostly raw to help combat Diabetes but still have a prob with the craving the white stuff. I am addicted. It may only be emotional but geez it is strong.

many doctors don't do the conversion properly when they adjust your meds from T4 only drugs to combo T3/T4. I had a good endocrinologist and when we fooled around with my meds last year - long story - and I had to go back on the Armour - it took her months to keep upping my dose to get me to where I needed to be.

After years of being on Synthroid and feeling lousy and being told my levels were okay - I found out about Armour, found a doctor to switch me and I was able to drop the weight I had gained that wouldn't budge. It was still a battle but at least it became manageable. I had also lost my sex drive on Synthroid and found it again on Armour. It can take a long time to find the right drug or combo of drugs and the right meds. Some people do better on T3/4 meds and some do better on T4 - some do better on a T4 and adding a T3 drug like Cytomel.

One important thing is to request copies of your blood tests and learn how to read them. Many doctors under treat hypothyroidism and many have ridiculous views about what a proper TSH level is. I have a problem the last year and I'm gaining weight and my appetite has been out of control. I'm inbetween endocrinologists right now and went to my regular gastro doctor for a checkup. My usual TSH is 2.0 - this recent reading was 3.8 almost double my usual level. I asked him to increase my dose of Armour and he told me no, there's no reason to because I'm within range. I can't tell you how shocked I was and disappointed in him.

They lowered the TSH level for what is considered Hypothyroid about 2 yrs ago. Some doctors are still using the old levels and are undertreating women. For years, women would complain to their doctors of all symtoms of thyroid disease and because their TSH was 5.0 they were told they were within range and didn't need medication. Now they have lowered the range and all those women are not so crazy. Sigh. A person without Thyroid disesase usually has a TSH of between .5 and .8 Does it make sense that 5.0 would be normal???

I recommend getting books by Mary Shoman (sp) and visiting her site on About.com. She is the most knowledgeable expert out there on thyroid disease and her site on About.com has more information than you could ever want to know. They also have a forum there.

I've been on Armour (30mg) for just about two weeks. On the 8th day that I was on it, I woke up and suddenly realized that I didn't just feel good...I felt GREAT! If you had asked me before, I wouldn't have said that I was depressed, because I really didn't feel sad - but after the armour kicked in, I realized that I had been depressed. I feel so much better. I have energy. I'm listening to music again...the colors seem brighter somehow.

As an added bonus, my terrible terrible plantar fasciitis for which i have taken anywhere from 4-16 advils a day is suddenly 99.5% gone!!! I haven't taken an advil in almost two weeks - the first time in 11 years that I have gone that long!! It is really kind of shocking to me.

I go back in a few weeks for tests to see if the doc needs to adjust the dosage, but so far, so good!!

you guys are so lucky!! there are only 2 (yes 2) brands in Canada! After reading some posts in here I told my dr I wanted back on the other brand, he switched me when we moved here, 8 years and 40 pounds!! It took a while but I have been switched, lost 30 pounds and started a fight between my thyroid guy and his wife my GP! She says my TSH is too low and I'm over medicated. He says my TSH is in normal on the low side but my free T4's are right dab in the middle of normal. Seeing as I feel better and am loosing weight I'm sticking with him!

I take Synthroid... 100 micrograms in the morning at least 1/2 hour before I eat anything. It has helped. I haven't experimented yet with nutritional changes to help with hypothyroidism specifically... but the medicine has eased a lot of the symptoms and my blood tests have indicated that my thyroid is becoming more regular.

I have been on synthroid for years and it keeps having to be adjusted...but I want to try Armour....my dr is sooooo reluctant to let me. But I think the next time I go in I am going to beg him to at least let me try it for 6 or so months, then I will at least know if it helps more than the synthroid. I mean I am on .175/day synthroid plus 12.5 cytomel and it isnt helping much i have to still take a 20mg dose of ritalin so I dont fall asleep. I dont like the idea of taking ritalin to help me stay up during the day...grrrrr but i love my dr.

What you are eating can cause sugar cravings as well - artificial sweeteners even do this. You aren't taking a miracle pill so you will have to exercise and eat right to lose weight and get energy and it will also help with other symptoms. I take 250 mg Synthroid once a day, one hour before eating, and follow the Curves Higher Protein Plan (very much like South Beach). It definitely helps to cut back on simple carbs and eat protein with EVERY meal and snack. Good luck to all of you.

hey StillTryin - I think that is an excellent idea to see if you can talk your doc into letting you do a trial on Armour for 6 months. sometimes you can talk them into that way.

I would really like to encourage you to check out the info at www.stopthethyroidmadness.com there is a section on mental illness and thyroid (which includes ADHD). A lot of people with ADHD have found that with the proper thyroid treatment (which is the correct med for you as well as the correct dosage) they find that they no longer need the psych meds.

There is also a short thread with some good articles to read on the forums there called "ADHD Hyperactivity and Thyroid" at:

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com...pic.php?t=2851

My mother was on synthroid for years and the doc would adjust it every 6 months according to her TSH. She was a wreck! Now for the past several years she has a doc that was willing to switch her to Armour and treat her symptoms rather than a lab result. She is soooooo much better!

Hey Susan - it's good to see ya. I want you to know that I gave up caff free diet coke over 3 weeks ago and it has made a huge difference in my appetite. Just as you said, the artifical sweetner in it was apparently causing me to crave sugar. I can definitely tell the difference!

oh, for the record, the reason I gave it up is bec I'm thinking I was addicted to the stuff. I was drinking too much of it every day and not getting in my water. I'm feeling better now ;-)

I hope everyone is feeling well :-)

hugs,
Cathy

I've been taking Armour for 5 months and although I am no longer tired feeling I have gained 10 pounds and crave sugar! I just don't know about all the hype with this drug. I took Synthroid and I could never get my levels to stay good. Lyvoxl made me crazy!

Hey aine43 - do you mean good hype or bad hype about Armour?

I was wondering what dosage of Armour you are taking?

I did not lose 1 lb until I was up to 3 grains of Armour, and that was at least a year after starting Armour. The weight was the last hypo symptom to even begin to budge for me, but of course, everybody is different.

I was also wondering - is your doc treating your symptoms or doing blood work and going by the lab results? if he does blood work could you tell me which thyroid tests he is running?

thanks,
Cathy

Cathy,
you seem to have quite a bit of knowledge about the Armour. How would I know what the conversion should be from synthroid? I take .175 of synthroid daily now and I just know it isnt working they way it should. I just do not see the relief I should be seeing with it since you would think that if you are being with drugs you should feel better

Hey StillTryin

here is the conversion chart at the armour website

http://www.armourthyroid.com/faq.html#q5

Please let me know if I can help with anything at all.

take care,
Cathy

I find it annoying how we have to rely on the Dr. to "allow" us to try a new med that could potentially improve our daily lives. I switched Dr.s after getting a lab value of over 5.3 and getting a letter in the mail stating it was normal, they still were going by old lab standards. Seriously how is over a 2 even normal! I am taking 75mcg a day currently of levoxyl. My last labs did show an increase in TSH its around 4 now up from a 2.2. I havent tried the Amour brand myself, I dont plan to as I am a vegetarian.
I hate trying to get the Dr. to listen....its like all they see is a fat lazy person. That it cannot be possibly true we are not eating a lot and exercising. They assume we are lying!! I wish they would just listen more!

Jasmine, I agree. Even as I am fairly close to my "goal" weight, I sometimes think the DR thinks I am crazy when I tell him I just cant seem to lose. I find it aggrivating also. I made an appointment today to go see him on Friday and I am going to beg him to let me try it for 6 months just to see if it works.
I really do not think it can hurt.

The medication will not cause you to lose weight without following a good diet and exercising every day.

It is not easy to get the correct dose for any thyroid medication. If the doctor makes a change, based on your lab or how you are feeling, you should go back in 6 weeks to have the blood work repeated and keep doing this until its right.

OK I went to my appointment today and he is letting me try the Armour. I am happy about that because I really hope it alleviates some of the tiredness and other problems I have due to being hypo.

Susan, Yes I do know that the meds will not "cause" you to lose the weight, but being on the correct meds at the right dose will help you in the long run. I have found tooooo many times that if my dose is incorrect that I can not lose any weight no matter how *good* my diet is.

I do go back in 7 weeks to have blood drawn .
I am now on 120mg of armour/day. I guess I am wondering now if I should split the pills and take them 2 times a day or just once in the morning...any ideas? I asked my Dr and he admitted he just wasnt sure what to recommend.

hey StillTryin - I am thrilled that your doc is letting you try Armour.

You are starting on 2 grains (120 mgs). Most people start at 1 grain (60 mgs) and work up, but you may be fine since you were already on synthetic thyroid.

Personally, I would take the 2 grains (120 mgs) in the morning upon waking and try not to eat for an hour. ya know, just take it on an empty stomach. as long as you are not feeling really tired in the afternoon, I would just take the 2 grains in the morning. If you find you are dragging in the afternoon then I would try splitting it up and take 1 grain (60 mgs) in the morning and 1 grain (60 mgs) in the afternoon. Most people find they need between 3 to 5 grains in order to treat their symptoms.

My son and I both take 5 grains (300 mgs) and we take 3 grains in the moring and 2 grains in the afternoon an hour after lunch (aiming for an empty stomach). My mom and sister in law both take 3 grains and they take all 3 grains in the morning. You'll just have to see what works best for you.

I do want to caution you that when you go back for a blood work, make sure that you haven't taken your Armour before the blood draw. The direct T3 in Armour spikes in your blood stream causing your lab results to look higher then they actually are and a lot of people are under dosed bec of taking their Armour before their blood is drawn. If you are having blood drawn first thing in the morning, then I would make sure that you hadn't take your Armour since the day before. After they draw your blood, then simply take your Armour for the day. If you are not doing a blood draw until late in the afternoon, I would still wait to take the Armour until after they take your blood. Especially, if you doc is going by lab results rather than symptoms.

I can show you an example of the difference in the lab results when my mom forgot and took her Armour a few hours before her blood work. The difference is quit noticeable.

Also their are articles at stopthethyroidmadness that explain that your TSH will most likely be suppressed on Armour Thyroid. I don't know how familiar your doc is with Armour, but you might want to print some of those out to show him, so he doesn't freak if your TSH comes back at 0.001 or something liket hat. All of my families and friends TSH result comes back around that number, and it's perfectly normal to do that.

let me know if I can help with any of this and keep us posted.
take care,
Cathy

Cathy, my dr is not that familiar with it, I think that is why he was VERy reluctant to prescribe it. Plus from him saying that it isnt always accurate dosage being that it is natural and not synthetic. I will take the web address to Stopthetyroidmadness.com since he has a computer in each room and uses it at each of my visits. I took my first dose today so I am anxious to see how I feel in a couple days or a week. I know my biggest symptom besides weight is being constantly overtired and constipated. So I am really hoping that some of that goes away rather quickly.

Oh and I dont know if this is a factor in thyroid disorder, but my blood pressure today was 90/60

stilltryin, you are welcome to give your doc the website, but he might do better just having the specific articles printed out and handed to him. there are some pretty "anti doctor" comments there that may catch his attention and keep him from actually seeing the great info. then again, he might not take it like that.

there is also info there about Armour's stability. there is a lot of proganda out there about Armour that is not true. Armour has been around longer than the synthetic thyroid meds and has to meet the same FDA approval that synthetic drugs do.

what does your blood pressure normally run?

how long ago did you figure out that you have a thyroid problem?

Oh also, I wanted to caution you not to expect miracles in a few days. Feeling better even with proper thyroid treatment just takes some time usually, and it may take some time to figure out your correct dosage.

Yeah I done expect a miracle....but I can hope ;)
My blood pressure is usually fairly low but not that low...maybe 110/80 (ish)

I was diagnosed about 5 years ago. I started at 50mg of synthroid and progressed to 175mg. Plus about 6 mo ago he added the cytomel at 12.5mg/day. That helped for a couple weeks and then I was back to the usual feeling like crap all the time. So he added ritalin to help keep me awake. I take 20mg of that/day and usually here is my day.

6am I wake up and I am tired....
8am I get to work and I am ok....
10 I am starting to get REALLY tired
by 2pm I feel like I havnt slept in days!
by 6pm when I get home I have NO/ZERO energy left and have just hope that I can sneek to bed within a reasonable amount of time (usually between 9-10pm)
I eat a pretty balanced diet plus I eat every 2-4 hours as my hunger warrants.

So glad I found you
 

hey choices! it's nice to meet you!

high cholesterol is one of the many things that go along with a low thyroid problem. a lot of people find that with proper thyroid treatment that their cholesterol gets better (along with healthy eating of course), but a high cholesterol problem can definitely be a symptom of a low thyroid or an undertreated thyroid problem.

are you saying you are taking 25 mcgs of synthetic thyroid meds, and will be upping to 50 mcgs soon? 25 mcgs is the lowest dose, and 50 mcgs is still real low. 50 mcgs is about equal to 1/2 grain of Armour.

do you happen to know what thyroid tests your doc is running? and do you happen to know your results?

I would be more than glad to talk with you about any of this any time.
take care,
Cathy

Hi Cathy,and thank you for the welcome
 

Cathy, I do have a email/printout of the lipid panel..is that what you meant? and which of those? thanks again choices

hey choices! your lipid panel is usually your cholesterol testing. could you take a look at what you have - are there any tests listed like any of these:

TSH
T3 Uptake
T3
Free T3
T4
Total T4
Free T4

anything like that on there?

Hi there, I stumbled upon your old post after Googling "Armour" and "PLantar Fasciitis." I was encouraged to see your response, as I, too, have suffered from PF for 5 terrible, long, years. I've only been treated with Synthroid and just recently contemplating a switch to Armour. I was wondering how you are doing now with your PF? I so want this awful pain out of my life and I'm reaching the point of desperation. I'd love to hear from you if you would be so kind. Thanks.

Everyone's different so what works for one might not for another - 30 mg is nothing and you need to increase your dosage to see if it helps with your symptoms lessening.

Hi-I'm from the Fibro thread but I have been on Armour thyroid medicine for many years-take 90 micrograms 5 days a week-original doc put me on Armour because it was natural. My dosage hasn't changed in years. Hypothyroidism symptoms sure interfere with your life. Mima

FYI-medication on manufacturer's back order
 

I am going to my endocrinologist today because Armour Thyroid in on nationwide manufacturer's backorder. Apparently, she's going to put me on another medication. I've had no problems on Armour.
Amy :)

OreoKitty, I would suggest Naturethroid or Westhroid but if it were me I would never let them put me on a T4 only product like Synthroid or Levoxyl. If someone is doing good on Armour which contains both T4 and T3, they are not gonna have the same results on a T4 only product.

Here is some current info on Armour:

http://thyroid.about.com/b/2008/06/1...ur-thyroid.htm

I am not having any problems getting our Armour prescriptions filled at Walmart, except that I may have to wait a week (if they are out) for them to get it from the wholesaler or the manufacturer, but they ARE able to get it.

take care,
Cathy

A note of thanks
 

Cathy I just wanted to thank you for all of the information you have shared in this thread. I have learned so much.

I am a nurse and have been a thyroid patient since age 12. I just recently found a nurse practitioner who would prescribe Armour for me. She however also knew little about the dosing and only had me taking 1 gr when I had been on the equivalent of 300 mcgs of Synthroid.

I called her this morning and we added 2 more gr. I hope I will see some improvement in how I feel.

My next step will be to choose a diet and begin to fight off the weight. I am 5'5" and weight approx 225 lbs :(

Regards,
Debbie

Hey Debbie - you are more than welcome! I'm just trying to share with others what we have had to learn the very had way. It always thrills me to know that some of this info helps other people! thank you for letting me know!

Debbie - you are currently taking 1 grain? and gonna increase to 3 grains? right? you might be planning on doing it this way anyway - but just wanted to mention that you might want to increase by 1/2 grain every 2 weeks until you get up to the 3 grains. If it were me - I would not just go straight from 1 grain to 3 grains without working up to it.

I really hope you feel much better on the higher dosage! I'm so glad you found someone that will prescribe the Armour. They are definitely out there but sometimes it takes some work on our part to find them.

Please keep me posted. I'd love to hear how you are doing.
hugs,
Cathy

Thanks again Cathy.

I will check back with my prescriber on the dosage. I think she felt that going to the 3 gr and working from there would be ok since she had mistakenly prescribed too low of a dose when moving me from the Synthroid to Armour.