Re: Started Armour, ?'s from newbie - HELP please

[Guest guest]

Hi Janie!

Yeh, it was me. I was wondering what others would say too. I'm on

one grain. The nurse didn't say to stop taking my synthroid, so I

took that too till read these boards that was too much. But it made

me feel better, so I added 1/2 a 75 synthroid pill. When I stopped

and only took 1 grain I couldn't lose weight, temp going down

again. Went back on 1/2 75 synthroid + 60 armour. I calculated

that would be around 112 synthroid. I was on 75 synthroid and it

didn't work. Taking my pulse, temp and weight to make sure I'm not

hyper. I can't get anymore armour, so adding synthroid till I can

get more armour. I'm trying to switch drs and the endro practice.

But it has to be " approved " by both drs and it's been 3 days, no

call. I'm sick of this endro practice. Everyone raves about one of

the drs that I'm trying to switch to, but their call backs are SO

slow I'm not sure I want to deal with them at all. Thinking of

going to another endro practice or a wilson's recommened dr. Though

that dr is a ENT dr and not a endro. Why would they recommend an

ear/nose/throat dr? Do they treat thryoid?

Thanks,

>

> Hi there . Didn't you post before about him saying that you

> will bounce bewteen hyper and hypo? Because I responded to a post

> from someone who said their doc said the same thing recently. And

> the answer: YOUR DOC IS FULL OF CRAP! No, you will not bounce

> between the two. How ridiculous for him to say that to you.

>

> How much Armour are you on? If you are on a low dose, it may be a

> sign that you already need to raise a bit. And you do show

> antibodies, which can react to initial doses of Armour.

>

> And....getting better can take a little time. Some folks react to

> the T3 in Armour, but the reaction will initially subside.

>

> Where do you live? Perhaps someone can steer you to a MUCH better

> doc. This one sucks.

>

> Janie

>

>

> > I started Armour a week ago. Was on 50 synthroid 7 wks, then 75

> > three wks. On 75 the few minor symptoms that went away came

back!

> > So asked for Armour. He said ok, but you will bounce

> (hyper/hypo).

> > I think he said that to scare me out of switching? Is it true

> that

> > you bounce? If so, how long? I hear some feel relief in hours,

> some

> > days. I felt better for 2 days, then 4 days of severe

drowsiness

> > and depressed and crying, then one day of energy, then back to

> > drowsiness today. What's going on? Endro only tested am

cortisol

> > and that was normal. He refused to check estrogen, test, etc.

> Said

> > they are out of wack so wouldn't test?!? It's been 3 months on

> meds

> > and I'm going crazy waiting for relief. Been to 5 drs and

looking

> > for 6th, I'm sick of fighting to get better.

> >

> > My tests:

> >

> > TSH - 7 wks on synthroid 50 = 3.04 before synthroid 6.9

> > T4 free 1.4 (.8-1.8)

> > T4 Total 9.7 (4.5-12.5)

> > T3 free 325 (230-420)

> > Thyroglobulin antibidies 7 H (<2)

> > Thyroid Peroxidase <2 (<2)

> >

> > On meds 12 wks, no relief,

> >

[Guest guest]

Hi Janie!

Forgot to ask about your statement:

And you do show

antibodies, which can react to initial doses of Armour.

How do they react?

Thanks,

[Guest guest]

Hi Tish!

Thanks for the info and the link. How do I get the dr to increase

the armour when he doesn't want to see me for 6 wks? It was 8 wks

before I complained. Any recommendations on how much synthroid to

take with armour? Since I have some synthroid but can't get more

armour. I'm taking 1/2 of a 75 synthroid with my 1 grain armour.

The one grain alone wasn't helping and temp was dropping.

I'm trying to get moved from current dr to one that is recommended

by locals in the same practice. Both drs have to " approve " of my

move and I haven't had a call back in 3 days yet still. It will

probably take a week like all their call backs take. How long does

your dr/nurse take to call you back? I don't like how they handle

their patients. I'm thinking of seeing a different endro practice

or a 's list dr. The 's list recommend a dr that is a

ear nose throat dr, do they treat thyroids?

Thanks,

>

> Your doctor is full of horse pucky. You can have some minor hyper

> symptoms with Armour for a little while. Armour has 24% T3 vs

> Synthroid's zilch and so can make you jittery especially if you

have

> adrenal fatigue. I definitely think your dose is too low. You

> describe symptoms of hypothyroidism.

>

> Your labs look good on the surface, but you need to consider that

> the ranges are skewed toward hypothyroidism and the more

enlightened

> doctors know that most people feel better in the upper 1/3 of the

> range on T3. The ranges are skewed due to them being determined by

> who has the test. Most of the people who have thyroid tests are

> either a little hypo or sick and hypo from that, Also, people vary

> hugely in what is normal for them and normal could easily be

outside

> the range.

>

> One thing that happens on low dose thyroid therapy is that the

> pituitary gets overly suppressed. The thyroid makes 4-1/2 to 5

> grains of Armour equivelent of thyroid a day. When you take for

> example, 1 grain, your pituitary is supposed to sense this and

drop

> production of TSH to tell the thyroid to make only about 3-1/2 to

4

> grains or whatever your body needs to be healthy. But, in rality,

> this does not happen with many, many people. The pituitary becomes

> overly suppressed and does not tell the thyroid to make enough

> hormone to get levels up to where you need them. The result is

that

> you can become more hypothyroid than before treatment. Meanwhile,

> stupid doctors fixate on the TSH levels to the exclusion of the

> other tests and tell the patient that they are just fine and to go

> see a shrink.

>

> The solution for this is to get the thyroid dose up high enough to

> overcome the problem. This is usually 3 to 5 grains or maybe more

> for some people. This article covers this issue a bit:

> http://thyroid.about.com/library/derry/bl11.htm

>

> For 84 years prior to the TSH test thyroid doses were adjusted up

> untill the patient felt well. Today, thyroid doses are 1/3 of what

> they were prior to about 1975. Typically doses can be raised every

> two weeks to a month. If you have adrenal fatigue, then raises

need

> to be in smaller increments and you will need to wait longer

between

> raises. Your doctor has a lot more room on those scales where your

> could go up and still not be able to sue him. He could go down to

> 0.5 on the TSH scale and up to the upper end on the T4 and T3

scale.

> All people do not fit exactly in the middle. You need to decide if

> he is not going to allow you to raise your dose up to where you

feel

> well and are healthy. If not, then maybe it is time to start

looking

> around for another doctor. The longer you stay hypo the worse your

> situation will become.

>

> Tish

[Guest guest]

Hi ! I wouldn't be surprised if they are sending you to an ear,

nose, and throat doc because they don't know what else to do! They

are ignorant. With any doc, though, you might call ahead and seek

that info. I can understand why you would want to add Synthroid to

your Armour if you can't get more than one grain. Go for it. Can you

afford to self-treat--i.e. order Armour yourself? There are links to

places to order in the LINKS section on this site.

Janie

> Yeh, it was me. I was wondering what others would say too. I'm

on

> one grain. The nurse didn't say to stop taking my synthroid, so I

> took that too till read these boards that was too much. But it

made

> me feel better, so I added 1/2 a 75 synthroid pill. When I

stopped

> and only took 1 grain I couldn't lose weight, temp going down

> again. Went back on 1/2 75 synthroid + 60 armour. I calculated

> that would be around 112 synthroid. I was on 75 synthroid and it

> didn't work. Taking my pulse, temp and weight to make sure I'm

not

> hyper. I can't get anymore armour, so adding synthroid till I can

> get more armour. I'm trying to switch drs and the endro

practice.

> But it has to be " approved " by both drs and it's been 3 days, no

> call. I'm sick of this endro practice. Everyone raves about one

of

> the drs that I'm trying to switch to, but their call backs are SO

> slow I'm not sure I want to deal with them at all. Thinking of

> going to another endro practice or a wilson's recommened dr.

Though

> that dr is a ENT dr and not a endro. Why would they recommend an

> ear/nose/throat dr? Do they treat thryoid?

>

> Thanks,

>

>

[Guest guest]

They can be like disobedient kids who react strongly against rules

that are good for them. LOL. They can go haywire. Up and down, up

and down. But...once you finally get to an optimal dose of Armour,

they will calm down.

Janie

> Forgot to ask about your statement:

>

> And you do show

> antibodies, which can react to initial doses of Armour.

>