RE: insomnia and armour?--please start from the beginning...

[Guest guest]

Hi Ruth!

Most people on Armour split their dose because the amount of T3

available in the pills has a very short life. Meaning, you may

be getting a " burst " of T3 in the morning that peters

off by the afternoon. You may very well try splitting the

dose with a pill-cutter and taking half in the afternoon.

T4, which is also contained in Armour, has a seven-day

life, so you don't have to worry about continuous dosing as much if

you are taking just a T4 medication (like Synthroid or Levoxyl).

As you know, T4 is translated to T3 by the body, but in some

cases the body isn't doing it at all or isn't doing it well.

My doctor has this to say about T3: it affects mood, energy

levels, and brain function.

If you are falling asleep while you are driving to work, your

overall dosage may be too low. Can you post your most recent

thyroid tests?

I know in my case, one of the reasons my body is so off is that

my dose is too low, and it is too soon to be upping the dose.

Best wishes--

Courtenay.

So, if I am falling asleep while driving to work, I

should maybe try to move my dose to the afternoon or just before

bed?

This is very confusing... but thanks for trying to

explain!

-Ruth

[Guest guest]

Hi Ruth!

Most people on Armour split their dose because the amount of T3

available in the pills has a very short life. Meaning, you may

be getting a " burst " of T3 in the morning that peters

off by the afternoon. You may very well try splitting the

dose with a pill-cutter and taking half in the afternoon.

T4, which is also contained in Armour, has a seven-day

life, so you don't have to worry about continuous dosing as much if

you are taking just a T4 medication (like Synthroid or Levoxyl).

As you know, T4 is translated to T3 by the body, but in some

cases the body isn't doing it at all or isn't doing it well.

My doctor has this to say about T3: it affects mood, energy

levels, and brain function.

If you are falling asleep while you are driving to work, your

overall dosage may be too low. Can you post your most recent

thyroid tests?

I know in my case, one of the reasons my body is so off is that

my dose is too low, and it is too soon to be upping the dose.

Best wishes--

Courtenay.

So, if I am falling asleep while driving to work, I

should maybe try to move my dose to the afternoon or just before

bed?

This is very confusing... but thanks for trying to

explain!

-Ruth

[Guest guest]

Hi, Ruth:

Jan posted some pictures of various thyroid pills including Armour and generic Armour, on the Texas Thyroid website under photos. Have you ever tried splitting your dose? How much Armour do you take?

-----Original Message-----From: Ruth Klein Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2004 3:59 PMTo: Texas_Thyroid_Groups Subject: RE: insomnia and armour?--please start from the beginning...

OK... I don't know how you all figured all of that out, but I am normally cold, but every morning after being ready for work and driving to work, I would be very hot for about 10 minutes. I just figured it was hormones. This heat happens about 1-2 hours after I take the Armour. I will pay attention to that. PLUS I will try taking at night (tonight to start) to see if that has any effect. I know from numbers that I had before and posted that my TSH was in good shape, my F3 was kind of high and T4 could have been uped...

I also realized from reading here, that my Armour has been genericized... my perscrip bottle says "Thyroid." Is this synthetic? I will call the pharmacy when I get home to find out why? I KNOW that my doc wrote Armour.

[Guest guest]

Ruth, are you taking one pill in the morning? You don't know how much you're taking? 90 mgs is 1 and 1/2 grains, 2 grains is 120 mgs, 3 grains is 180 mgs. There is 60 mgs in one grain.

RE: insomnia and armour?--please start from the beginning...

Never tried splitting, never thought about the symptoms being related to how much I take. I think it is 90mg? Don't know if that is 2 or 3 gr.

-Ruth

[Guest guest]

Ruth, are you taking one pill in the morning? You don't know how much you're taking? 90 mgs is 1 and 1/2 grains, 2 grains is 120 mgs, 3 grains is 180 mgs. There is 60 mgs in one grain.

RE: insomnia and armour?--please start from the beginning...

Never tried splitting, never thought about the symptoms being related to how much I take. I think it is 90mg? Don't know if that is 2 or 3 gr.

-Ruth

[Guest guest]

Yeah... I was tested a month ago, but it was the outdated test. I see my doc in 2 weeks again. She is concentrating on the adrenals and other hormones. she thinks the thyroid is OK.. I will talk with her some more. Guess whatever she is giving me is working, because I feel better enough to care!

-----Original Message-----From: Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2004 8:11 PMTo: Texas_Thyroid_Groups Subject: Re: insomnia and armour?--please start from the beginning...

You are way past getting tested again. Even after I'm where I think that I should be, I'm still going to be tested every 6 months or so, never any further apart than that.

RE: insomnia and armour?--please start from the beginning...

The pill I have is Qualitest 90mg It has a "V" and the numbers 6057. I just called the pharmacy, and they put a note in my records to be sure to give me Armour. AND I had written some wrong values... it is 1.5 gr.

I do not have the test with the numbers. That was a year ago or more -- I had posted them to this group, but not long after that I dropped off for a while and I can't find the post, so I may have deleted it? Who knows... fuzzy brain.

[Guest guest]

Generic pharmacy container. White or whitish... they look similar to one of the pictures. We will see... I took my thyroid at 6:30 when I got home. I did have a "hot" episode... and hopefully I'll sleep tonight and not be awake, but that would be a miracle. My sleep is not insomnia, but just constant waking up. I've always taken mine all at once.

Tomorrow I will try 1/2 in the morning and then 1/2 ?? at lunch??

-----Original Message-----From: Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2004 6:31 PMTo: Texas_Thyroid_Groups Subject: Re: insomnia and armour?--please start from the beginning...

Ruth, can you give a vivid description of those pills and the bottle they came in? I hope you're not also talking about taking ALL your thyroid at bedtime? You need it primarily for your active part of your day also. In my case, I would never take it all at once, no matter what time of day I was taking it, because I react to high amts of T3 all at one time. The heat and a "full" feeling in the chest is the description, but that's me.

RE: insomnia and armour?--please start from the beginning...

OK... I don't know how you all figured all of that out, but I am normally cold, but every morning after being ready for work and driving to work, I would be very hot for about 10 minutes. I just figured it was hormones. This heat happens about 1-2 hours after I take the Armour. I will pay attention to that. PLUS I will try taking at night (tonight to start) to see if that has any effect. I know from numbers that I had before and posted that my TSH was in good shape, my F3 was kind of high and T4 could have been uped...

I also realized from reading here, that my Armour has been genericized... my perscrip bottle says "Thyroid." Is this synthetic? I will call the pharmacy when I get home to find out why? I KNOW that my doc wrote Armour.

-Ruth

[Guest guest]

I am taking 1.5 grains. And all in the morning except today... (or the very few days that I forget)

-----Original Message-----From: Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2004 8:08 PMTo: Texas_Thyroid_Groups Subject: Re: insomnia and armour?--please start from the beginning...

Ruth, are you taking one pill in the morning? You don't know how much you're taking? 90 mgs is 1 and 1/2 grains, 2 grains is 120 mgs, 3 grains is 180 mgs. There is 60 mgs in one grain.

RE: insomnia and armour?--please start from the beginning...

Never tried splitting, never thought about the symptoms being related to how much I take. I think it is 90mg? Don't know if that is 2 or 3 gr.

-Ruth

[Guest guest]

If I were you, I would call them ASAP. Almost all of the

posters on the thyroid.about.com forum who have posted about generic

Armour have nothing good to say about its long-term effects.

Armour has an " A " on the pill and a little mortar and pestle

(thanks Jan!).

Best wishes--

Courtenay.

I also realized from reading here, that my Armour has

been genericized... my perscrip bottle says " Thyroid. " Is

this synthetic? I will call the pharmacy when I get home to find out

why? I KNOW that my doc wrote Armour.

-Ruth