Just switched to Armour--have questions

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I am so glad I found this site! I was diagnosed with Hypo/Hashi's

at age 14 and have been on Synthroid since then. I am now 28. I have

always had ALL the major symptoms of Hypo, especially fatigue. I have

been at every TSH level and most doctors say " you're fine. " I went to

a new doctor this week who really listened and she switched me to

Armour. I was taking 0.88 of Synthroid plus an extra half of a pill

on Sunday. She gave me 60mg. of Armour to start. I have split the

pill and am taking half in the morning and half in the evening.

I am excited about the switch, but nervous b/c right now I feel

WORSE! I feel even more tired and feel like my brain fog is even

worse. Is there an ajusting time when things are worse when switching

to Armour from synthetic? I know I may need a higher dose, but I am

just surprised to feel so badly. I thought I read that the first week

can be rough b/c you have both drugs in your system, but I am not

sure. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Guest guest]

For some of us the switch can be rough... The doc did pretty good with

the switch over as far as the amount... at 60mg, 1 grain, you're taking

slightly more hormone than your were, but it's a bit different.

Before you were taking only the T4 hormone, you'll learn more about the

different hormones as you get more into it, so don't get to flustered if

you don't know all this stuff yet.... you will.... Now you are taking all

the thyroid hormones... so it may be a bit of a shock to your system at

first... we all react to it differently.

I suspect that your adrenals might be a bit pooped out and if that is the

case the Armour might have given them a bigger push and that might

account for some of the fatigue.

How have your labs been looking? Can you post them, with the ranges, so

that we can see what the doc has been checking and how things look??

Consider the time that you take the Armour... and when you are feeling

'bad'. Is it right after taking it... an hour... two... three hours?

More?

How far apart are your doses, what times are you taking them?

Are you taking them on an empty tummy or with a meal? Or sublingually?

Are you taking them (the Armour doses) with vitamins or anything?

Are you taking them with water, or something else?

Sometimes the silliest things can make a difference... so that's why

we'll all be asking questions...

This could also be a coincidental Hashi swing... considering that you

said that your TSH is all over the place... TSH, with Hashi's, is best

suppressed... near zero....

Topper ()

On Sun, 04 Feb 2007 22:17:40 -0000 " sunshellsea3 "

ncampbell04@...> writes:

> Hi,

> I am so glad I found this site! I was diagnosed with Hypo/Hashi's

> at age 14 and have been on Synthroid since then. I am now 28. I

> have

> always had ALL the major symptoms of Hypo, especially fatigue. I

> have

> been at every TSH level and most doctors say " you're fine. " I went

> to

> a new doctor this week who really listened and she switched me to

> Armour. I was taking 0.88 of Synthroid plus an extra half of a pill

> on Sunday. She gave me 60mg. of Armour to start. I have split the

> pill and am taking half in the morning and half in the evening.

> I am excited about the switch, but nervous b/c right now I feel

> WORSE! I feel even more tired and feel like my brain fog is even

> worse. Is there an ajusting time when things are worse when

> switching

> to Armour from synthetic? I know I may need a higher dose, but I am

> just surprised to feel so badly. I thought I read that the first

> week

> can be rough b/c you have both drugs in your system, but I am not

> sure. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the reply Topper! My TSH was 1.0 in November. I have

been trying to stay at 1.0 or below. But even at those numbers on

Synthroid, I still have symptoms. The only time I felt a little

better was when I was pregnant and right after pregnancy. My TSH

was below 0 after the pregnancy and the dr. said it was suppressed

due to the pregnancy. Well I suppose I was hyper for awhile, but as

soon as my TSH started back on the chart, I felt worse! It is

difficult to find a dr. to treat symptoms, not numbers. I

understand that you don't want to be hyper, but I just want some

relief! I believe my recent T4 was 1.14 (0.8-1.8) and my Free T3

was 260 (230-420).

I have only been on the Armour for 2 days. When I first take

half the dose (30mg), I feel a little strange within 10 minutes. I

actually think I get a little boost of energy and I get this kind of

strange feeling in my eyes. But I feel kind of dizzy and " out of

it. " But the boost quickly turns into fatigue and then I have MAJOR

brain fog. It is a really strange feeling. It's like the medicine

wears off so quickly. I take the 2nd dose (30mg) in the evening and

the same thing happens. I only feel like 2 minutes of relief. I

tried taking it without food, but got so shaky that I know have been

taking it with food. The strangest thing is that my head feels like

a 1,000lb bowling ball. I have always had brain fog, but this feels

different.

I agree that it probably takes time. It has just been a long

road and I am so hoping that Armour is my answer. The dr. is going

to run some other tests to check my gut flora and then I know we

will need to address my adrenals. Oh, I also feel a little nauseous

on the Armour. Thanks for your help!

>

> For some of us the switch can be rough... The doc did pretty good

with

> the switch over as far as the amount... at 60mg, 1 grain, you're

taking

> slightly more hormone than your were, but it's a bit different.

>

> Before you were taking only the T4 hormone, you'll learn more

about the

> different hormones as you get more into it, so don't get to

flustered if

> you don't know all this stuff yet.... you will.... Now you are

taking all

> the thyroid hormones... so it may be a bit of a shock to your

system at

> first... we all react to it differently.

>

> I suspect that your adrenals might be a bit pooped out and if that

is the

> case the Armour might have given them a bigger push and that might

> account for some of the fatigue.

>

> How have your labs been looking? Can you post them, with the

ranges, so

> that we can see what the doc has been checking and how things

look??

>

> Consider the time that you take the Armour... and when you are

feeling

> 'bad'. Is it right after taking it... an hour... two... three

hours?

> More?

> How far apart are your doses, what times are you taking them?

> Are you taking them on an empty tummy or with a meal? Or

sublingually?

> Are you taking them (the Armour doses) with vitamins or anything?

> Are you taking them with water, or something else?

>

> Sometimes the silliest things can make a difference... so that's

why

> we'll all be asking questions...

>

> This could also be a coincidental Hashi swing... considering that

you

> said that your TSH is all over the place... TSH, with Hashi's, is

best

> suppressed... near zero....

>

> Topper ()

>

> On Sun, 04 Feb 2007 22:17:40 -0000 " sunshellsea3 "

> writes:

> > Hi,

> > I am so glad I found this site! I was diagnosed with

Hypo/Hashi's

> > at age 14 and have been on Synthroid since then. I am now 28.

I

> > have

> > always had ALL the major symptoms of Hypo, especially fatigue.

I

> > have

> > been at every TSH level and most doctors say " you're fine. " I

went

> > to

> > a new doctor this week who really listened and she switched me

to

> > Armour. I was taking 0.88 of Synthroid plus an extra half of a

pill

> > on Sunday. She gave me 60mg. of Armour to start. I have split

the

> > pill and am taking half in the morning and half in the evening.

> > I am excited about the switch, but nervous b/c right now I

feel

> > WORSE! I feel even more tired and feel like my brain fog is

even

> > worse. Is there an ajusting time when things are worse when

> > switching

> > to Armour from synthetic? I know I may need a higher dose, but

I am

> > just surprised to feel so badly. I thought I read that the

first

> > week

> > can be rough b/c you have both drugs in your system, but I am

not

> > sure. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

>