Armour

[Guest guest]

I had heart palipations, tremors, hot flashes,

and dizzy spells before I was diagnosed with

Hashimotos. I continued to have them on the Synthroid, but

when my new doctor put me on Armour (an equivalent

dosage to what I was taking on Synthroid), it all went

away. I lived with heart palps for years but haven't

had *any* since starting on Armour five or six months

ago. The dizziness and tremors are gone too.

<br><br>Tammie<br><br><br><br><br>Yvette wrote:<br> & gt; & gt;I knew better and

found an Endo

that suggested Armour. She did warn me about certain

side effects (tremors, shaking, heart palpitations,

etc.) & lt; & lt;

[Guest guest]

How odd-I have those heart palpitations, and

tremors too-I was referred to a rhematologist (?) who put

diagnosed me with Benign Essential Hand Tremors and put me

on some medicine that really made me sick at my

stomach. If Synthroid had something to do with it, maybe

this new medicine will help with that hopefully-God, I

wanted to try the Armour!

[Guest guest]

That's great, Tammie -- glad you're feeling better with the Armour, too.

:-)<br><br>Yvette

[Guest guest]

How much Armour are you taking? I just started but don't think that

it's enough yet.

Janine

> > > Hello, Everyone! It's been awhile since I Posted. I've been

> > reading

> > > frequently though. A quick update: I switched to Armour

thyroid

> > (I

> > > love it), I went off of Birth Control Pills (still slightly

> > > uncomfortable), and have received 3 acupuncture treatments

since

> > May

> > > 1. Between May 1 and June 1, I lost 18 pounds without changing

> my

> > > diet or exercising. I don't forget things as much, and I have

> some

> > > control over my mood swings.

> > > What I'm curious about, is thryoid tests. I know how to

> interpret

> > > the results of the t4, t3, free t4, free t3, tsh, trh, etc.

But

> I

> > > Don't know the difference between some them. What is the free

t3

> > > measuring, versus the t3? What is the free t4 measuring,

versus

> > the

> > > t4?

> > > Also, we all here so much about t3 and t4, but what about t1

and

> > t2?

> > > You hardly hear about them at all, and yet they must be

important

> > to

> > > thyroid function?

> > > Anybody with any information, I would really appreciate it!

> > > Glad so many of you are doing so well--especially Janine!

> > > Congratulations!

> > >

> > > Shimiah

[Guest guest]

Hi naveesamahroof,

Level tests are all very well- what is he going to do about the

symptoms?

If the T4 doesn't help with the symptoms then can he give you a trial of

Armour 'to see if it helps'.

hi! i ended up seeing dr petit as soon as i mentioned the armour

thyroid he said that he felt i wouldn't benefit from it as my thyroid

level seems stable whilst on the thyroxine. i am a bit confused now as

to which medication will be better for me! HELP!

[Guest guest]

Thanks - I will pass the information on to my friend.

Lilian

Have just received my new supply of Armour.

You’re right it doesn’t smell as strong. I’ll start it tomorrow- Should notice within a week if it is any different.

Seems mad as I’m on a large dose, but I’m very sensitive to small changes.

[Guest guest]

Hi Lilian,

Doesn’t smell the

same, but does taste the same, just not so strong. I’ll keep you

informed- remind me if I don’t come back for a week!

Re:

Armour

Thanks - I will pass the information on to my

friend.

Lilian

Have just received my new supply of Armour.

You’re

right it doesn’t smell as strong. I’ll start it tomorrow-

Should notice within a week if it is any different.

Seems

mad as I’m on a large dose, but I’m very sensitive to small

changes.

[Guest guest]

My mind was boggling again Val. I just read you had 'dire rear' after taking an old tablet of Armour, and then you said there were grey bits in the bottom of the pot. I thought the pot you were talkong about was your toilet 'pot' and had visions of you with your magnifying glass studying the contents. You really DO make me laugh the way you say some things.

Anyway, back to normality, I have no idea what the little grey bits would be - anybody else any suggestions. Armour isn't even grey. Were they light grey, dark grey, or what?

Lv - Sheila

I took an old 1/4 grain pill from a pot BBE 08/07 the other day & had bad diahorrea afterwards. The diahorrea is not unusual for me as my insides can be that way, but I thought had the armour caused it because I noticed various grey bits in the bottom of the pot although the pills looked fine. I will have to be more careful in future but I like to have a 1/4 grain bottle in so many places: car, handbag, golf bag etc & it is easy to get one OOD.Any suggestions as to what the grey bits are? I have looked with a magnifying glass but see nothing else, & they do not appear to be damp as they have not stuck to the pot, or the pillsVal

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[Guest guest]

Armour seems to be coming with a little packet of stuff - similar to the little packets you find when you buy a new handbags. Those are to absorb moisture and smell I think. I wonder if you had one of these little bags that split and the contents came out in the pot. As they are not for consumption, they might have caused the tummy upset.

Lilian

[Guest guest]

Dark grey, almost charcoal looking.

Val

I have no idea what the little grey bits would be - anybody else any suggestions. Armour isn't even grey. Were they light grey, dark grey, or what?Lv - Sheila

[Guest guest]

I would be tempted to send the charcoal grey bits back to them and ask forest Pharmaceuticals what they could be Val.

Luv - Sheila

Re: armour

Dark grey, almost charcoal looking.

Val

I have no idea what the little grey bits would be - anybody else any suggestions. Armour isn't even grey. Were they light grey, dark grey, or what?Lv - Sheila

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[Guest guest]

Dear Sheila

I'm guessing that the tablets got damp and formed a dark coloured

skin which subsequently dried out and flaked off....a drying agent

such as a pack of silica gel might improve that.

It's worth knowing, it's important to keep all tablets in their

original well-sealed containers for that reason, and to retain the

silica gel in the container.

Those tablets formulated to break up easily, will be subject to break-

down in damp conditions ( the water is easily absorbed from the air ).

best wishes

Bob

>

> I would be tempted to send the charcoal grey bits back to them and

ask forest Pharmaceuticals what they could be Val.

>

> Luv - Sheila

>

> Re: armour

>

>

>

> Dark grey, almost charcoal looking.

> Val

>

> I have no idea what the little grey bits would be - anybody else

any suggestions. Armour isn't even grey. Were they light grey, dark

grey, or what?

>

> Lv - Sheila

>

>

>

>

> --------------------------------------------------------------------

----------

>

>

> No virus found in this incoming message.

> Checked by AVG.

> Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.21.8/1338 - Release Date:

21/03/2008 17:52

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Val,

If the Armour was in the original container I've no idea, unless it

had come from remains of the foil seal.

My newer supplies of Armour ( exp 03/09) seem whiter than my old supply .

Subject: armour

Any suggestions as to what the grey bits are? I have looked with a

magnifying glass but see nothing else, & they do not appear to be damp

as they have not stuck to the pot, or the pills

Val

------------------------------------

Messages are not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always

consult with a suitably qualified practitioner before changing

medication.

[Guest guest]

I think you have nailed it. I just took out the foil type lid which was pushed in the lid & in places it is not quite round & the writing on it has worn away - I think this is what is in the bottom of the container (better not call it a pot or Sheila will get confused!).

Val

If the Armour was in the original container I've no idea, unless ithad come from remains of the foil seal.My newer supplies of Armour ( exp 03/09) seem whiter than my old supply .

[Guest guest]

Cheeky Munkie ! Don't tek much to get this lass confused Val *grin*.

Luv - Sheila

I think you have nailed it. I just took out the foil type lid which was pushed in the lid & in places it is not quite round & the writing on it has worn away - I think this is what is in the bottom of the container (better not call it a pot or Sheila will get confused!).

Val

If the Armour was in the original container I've no idea, unless ithad come from remains of the foil seal.My newer supplies of Armour ( exp 03/09) seem whiter than my old supply .

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[Guest guest]

Hi Val,

Nice to be of service! I had

noticed that morning that the writing had transferred from the foil seal to the

lid- and looked grey which is why I thought that might be it.

Subject:

Re: armour

I think you have nailed it. I

just took out the foil type lid which was pushed in the lid & in places it

is not quite round & the writing on it has worn away - I think this is what

is in the bottom of the container (better not call it a pot or Sheila will get

confused!).

Val

Messages

are not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult with a

suitably qualified practitioner before changing medication.

[Guest guest]

I can't see personally that increasing your dosage of Armour by another half grain would do you any harm. Many doctors do recommend increasing at a faster rate than I recommend, but then, they are medically qualified and I am not. I go by personal experience and what I have learned only. Hope it works for you Marie and that you keep getting better.

luv - Sheila

Hi everyone Marie here now into day 20 of armour had no side effects what so ever but today i did have a bit of a job waking up and my eyes do feel tired and dry i have been on 1gram for 13 days do i need to up my dose yet or shall i hold on till i have been on that dose for 28 days still taking 3 nutri adrenal and selenium off to town shortly for some zinc as well i am walking in it is a good 2miles i always do that so its no added strain hope to hear from you with your sound advice Marie

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[Guest guest]

Hi Marie,

Good to hear you are doing OK. Remember that the T4 component of

Armour will still keep increasing for 25 days or so after a dose increase,

so you aren't at max yet. I grain isn't a large dose. What do the

guidelines- 'how to take Armour' say? I'd stick to the schedule.

Subject: Armour

Hi everyone Marie here now into day 20 of armour had no side effects

what so ever but today i did have a bit of a job waking up and my eyes

do feel tired and dry i have been on 1gram for 13 days do i need to up

my dose yet or shall i hold on till i have been on that dose for 28

days still taking 3 nutri adrenal and selenium off to town shortly for

some zinc as well i am walking in it is a good 2miles i always do that

so its no added strain hope to hear from you with your sound advice

Marie

------------------------------------

Messages are not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always

consult with a suitably qualified practitioner before changing

medication.

[Guest guest]

You can buy from www.InHousePharmacy.com, but don't buy too much or you will have to pay vAT. I thought www.internationalpharmacy was doing half a grain, 1 grain and one and a half grains? They are reformulating the tablet and all the grains should be available at the end of May - early June.

luv - Sheila

I put in an order for 3 tubs of armour on the 2 April. I am a bit worried as nothing has arrived yet. Its only been 13 days so far. But it cost me about 80 quid and I didnt get it insured dohh. I think it may be worth paying that little extra for the peace of mind. I notice that International pharmacy are only doing very low dose now. O.5 grain is highest dose,Does anyone know a relible source with higher grains??a

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[Guest guest]

Hi a I have been ordering from International Pharmacy as well but

since they have run out of the higher grains I have just ordered from:

http://www.inhousepharmacy.co.uk/

Not used them before but other people have mentioned them.

Regards,

[Guest guest]

I take Siberian Ginseng (forgot to add that to my list I posted about the supplements I take yesterday) but not liquorice now, though I did. You can add both of these to your supplements for your adrenals and you can buy Siberian Ginseng tablets from your local health food store together with the liquorice. You can buy the black rock liquorice which you can dissolve in hot water and drink or chop into bit size pieces and suck or you can buy the liquorice sticks (like wood) that you can chew. Good for your bowels too.

Hope you have recovered from the nasty shock the other day, and has everything cleaned up OK Marie.

luv - Sheila

armour

Hi Sheila thanks for the reply i am on 3 nae i take 2 with breakfast and 1 at lunch time also take selenium and zinc. I was running round like a two year old when i first started taking it .I like the idea about the liqourice (i love it )how do i buy it in the health shop?in a bar or tablet form? and is siberian ginseng in tablet form.which would yourecomend or should i take both Marie .

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[Guest guest]

Hi all

when I posted on the forum about being on a quarter I was taking 1/4 in the morning and 1/4 in the afternoon - but because of being away (hotel rooms without knives!!) I mean each 1/4 was more like a third - so 2 thirds. I am not sure how much I should be taking now - can you help me please - yesterday I took 2 grains shared between morning and afternoon, but realised this was too much so have just taken 1 grain today.

I dont think 1 grain is enough based on what I was taking of T4 (125 mcg levoT) but I know it doesnt equate directly. do you think I should go back to 1/2 a grain twice a day or 3/4 grain twice a day? I felt as though my aches and pains were coming back and my 'brain' wasnt working properly. Im not sure what to do as Im so scared of not taking enough and feeling that I cant cope at work.

Ive never had any hypo sorts of symptoms - when I was increasing my levothyroxine or now Im on Armour. Although my legs have felt stiffer (achilles tendon stiffness) the other aches/pains in my muscles do seem to be better. I think Im on too low a dose - I feel a bit more energetic but my brain doesnt feel as good as it was doing on the T4 - I think I need to increase a bit but am scared of doing it too fast! I am pretty sure that I am converting the T4 - well according to my blood tests anyway!

I think I might be losing some weight too which would be fantastic!

Any thoughts or advice from anyone would be really appreciated!

thanks,

Gill

[Guest guest]

Hi Gill

I tried Armour but felt my head was a lot clearer too on T4 so I have

reverted back. I took the equavalent amount of both according to this

group i.e. 3 1/2 grains instead of 200mcg and although it stopped the

cramp I get in my toes I was getting tired dips during the day and

had less energy,itched like mad plus waking with a dull head in the

morning which I dont get on 200mcg T4. The crunch came when I woke up

one morning with my watch embedded in my wrist, I was beginning to

retain fluid and I realised I was only weeing twice a day,something I

have never had in all the years I have been taking thyroid meds. I

actually prefer the consistancy of T4 taken at night I feel safer as

it keeps my heart beat on the level.

Chris

>

> Hi all

>

> when I posted on the forum about being on a quarter I was taking

1/4 in the morning and 1/4 in the afternoon - but because of being

away (hotel rooms without knives!!) I mean each 1/4 was more like a

third - so 2 thirds. I am not sure how much I should be taking now -

can you help me please - yesterday I took 2 grains shared between

morning and afternoon, but realised this was too much so have just

taken 1 grain today.

>

> I dont think 1 grain is enough based on what I was taking of T4

(125 mcg levoT) but I know it doesnt equate directly. do you think I

should go back to 1/2 a grain twice a day or 3/4 grain twice a day?

I felt as though my aches and pains were coming back and my 'brain'

wasnt working properly. Im not sure what to do as Im so scared of

not taking enough and feeling that I cant cope at work.

>

> Ive never had any hypo sorts of symptoms - when I was increasing my

levothyroxine or now Im on Armour. Although my legs have felt

stiffer (achilles tendon stiffness) the other aches/pains in my

muscles do seem to be better. I think Im on too low a dose - I feel

a bit more energetic but my brain doesnt feel as good as it was doing

on the T4 - I think I need to increase a bit but am scared of doing

it too fast! I am pretty sure that I am converting the T4 - well

according to my blood tests anyway!

>

> I think I might be losing some weight too which would be fantastic!

>

> Any thoughts or advice from anyone would be really appreciated!

>

> thanks,

> Gill

>

[Guest guest]

HI Gill

First, completely forget about what dose of L-thyroxine you were taking before you started Armour. You cannot compare these. Armour has the 'active' hormones T3, T2 and T1 - plus Armour, these are the goodies. You should really purchase a little pill cutter you can pop into your handbag when you are away staying in hotels. I usually cut Armour up into appropriate sizes at home and put them into a bottle so I can take the dose I need without worrying about that.

After you increased your original dose, after 7 days, did you increase by another quarter of a grain, or by half a grain. You should really be on 1 grain (60 mgs) now and you should stay on that for at least 3 to 4 weeks. You should realise that the T4 in Armour acts in the same way as the synthetic T4 - thyroxine is thyroxine, whatever form you get it in. This has a long half life of 6 or more weeks so takes that time to get fully into your body, so you should not feel tempted to increase your Armour because you are feel you are not getting the full effect. That can be dangerous, and you will get too much T3 or too much of the other hormones. This is when people start to get palpitations and feelings of being 'spaced out'. You have to learn to be patient. How long has it been since your last increase.

Having said all that, as you are feeling like this, and if you have been on your last increase for more than a couple of weeks, some doctors would say you could try adding another half grain and if you do get any adverse reaction with the increase, you can stop it immediately and the next day go back to the dose you were on before.As I am not medically qualified, I tend to be very cautious.

On another point, when it comes to splitting your daily dose, it really doesn't matter whether you split the tablet absolutely evenly or not, as you are putting out different amounts of thyroid hormone naturally throughout the day.

Ive never had any hypo sorts of symptoms - when I was increasing my levothyroxine or now Im on Armour. Although my legs have felt stiffer (achilles tendon stiffness) the other aches/pains in my muscles do seem to be better. I think Im on too low a dose - I feel a bit more energetic but my brain doesnt feel as good as it was doing on the T4 - I think I need to increase a bit but am scared of doing it too fast! I am pretty sure that I am converting the T4 - well according to my blood tests anyway!

I think I might be losing some weight too which would be fantastic!

..

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[Guest guest]

Dear

I am fascinated. If you were doing so well on 200 mcgs L-thyroxine, why did you feel the need to try Armour, and did you do this on your own or under the supervision of a doctor?

Because Armour contains all the active hormones, you should NOT have started on such a high dose and you should not try to find the 'equivalent' to 200 mcgs of the inactive hormone T4. This gives out a wrong and dangerous message to other members who are thinking of changing from synthetic thyroxine to natural thyroid extract.

This goes against everything we are trying to teach our members about natural thyroid extract. Nobody on this forum (nor, I hope, any other forum) would recommend anybody to start taking Armour at 3 1/2 grains so when you say "according to this group" this is wrong and I would appreciate you providing evidence of this. No matter how high a dose of synthetic thyroxine any member was taking, I would NEVER recommend starting Armour on a dose higher than half a grain and staying on that for 7 days to make sure they could tolerate all the other active hormones and if they have no adverse effects, then to increase by another half grain and to stay on that dose for 3 to 4 weeks, and slowly increase by another half grain in the same way until they reach their sweet spot when their body has the required amount of thyroid hormone replacement. This is all set out in our document "How to Use Armour Thyroid" that you will find in our FILES and website. You will also see this recommendation repeated time and time again in my responses to members queries. I am NOT medically qualified and I stay on the side of caution in all such things.

The fact that you had such a bad reaction proves my point exactly, and I hope all the other members will take note of your reaction. I cannot understand why you were suddenly retaining fluid when starting Armour. Armour contains T3 - T3 makes you wee. Your experience is an example to show our members how NOT to self medicate without first reading all the information that we have gone to the trouble of providing.

I would recommend you check through the 'Associated Conditions' under 'Hypothyroidism' on our website www.tpa-uk.org.uk to see if the reason you are unable to tolerate natural thyroid extract is because you are suffering from one of them. Such conditions need to be rectified before continuing with thyroid hormone replacement, whether synthetic or natural.

Sheila

Hi GillI tried Armour but felt my head was a lot clearer too on T4 so I have reverted back. I took the equavalent amount of both according to this group i.e. 3 1/2 grains instead of 200mcg and although it stopped the cramp I get in my toes I was getting tired dips during the day and had less energy,itched like mad plus waking with a dull head in the morning which I dont get on 200mcg T4. The crunch came when I woke up one morning with my watch embedded in my wrist, I was beginning to retain fluid and I realised I was only weeing twice a day,something I have never had in all the years I have been taking thyroid meds. I actually prefer the consistancy of T4 taken at night I feel safer as it keeps my heart beat on the level.Chris---

..

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