Re: Armour Thyroid Dosing and Methodology

[Guest guest]

I could never split the dose. I find that cortef keeps me going throughout

the day, after I have taken 240mg Armour. Other hormones help a lot too.

Gracia

I just found this article by Dr. Mercola, and it really surprised me as to the

way he

suggests dosing and why.

Roni

Armour Thyroid

How To Monitor Your Treatment With Natural Hormone Therapy Should You Use

Synthetic Hormones?

The traditional approach is to use synthetic hormones like Synthroid/

Levoxyl/Levothroid (levothyroxine). These products only contain T4 hormone, they

have no T3.

When a patient attempts to ask their physician for the natural hormone they

are usually ridiculed and made to feel stupid that they would request an

inferior hormone product.

The common argument the physicians give is that the synthetic provides steady

hormone levels. What the doctors tend to overlook is that the vast majority of

people can not convert the T4 to the active form of thyroid which is T3. This is

easy to cofirm by measuring the free hormone levels, but virtually none of the

doctors use these tests.

Armour Thyroid--The Natural Alternative

When one has low T3 levels, which are typical with synthetic hormone use, the

brain does not work properly. It is important to use a preparation with T3

because T3 does 90% of the work of the thyroid in the body. So one should use a

combination of T4 and T3 which compensates for the inability to convert T4 to

T3. Armour thyroid is desiccated thyroid and has both T3 and T4.

A 1999 study published in one of the most prestigious medical journals in the

world, the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that the natural hormone

product, such as Armour, was far better at controlling the brain problems

commonly found in hypothyroidism. Nearly all natural medicine doctors tend to

use Armour thyroid which is a mixture of mono and di-iodothryonine and T3 and

T4, the entire range of thyroid hormones.

Armour Thyroid Dosing-- TWICE a day.

The most common starting dose for patients with hypothyroidism is Armour

thyroid, 90 mg which is cut in half with a razor blade and half is taken after

breakfast and the other half after dinner. Taking it after meals also helps to

reduce volatility of the blood-level of T3. If the patient has any problem

breaking or cutting the pill, they should purchase a pill-cutter at the

pharmacy. The TSH, Free T3 and Free T4 are then repeated in one month and the

dose is adjusted.

Taking the Armour thyroid twice a day overcomes traditional medicine's major

objection and resistance to using natural thyroid preparations - its variability

in its blood-levels. Most doctors using Armour thyroid are not aware that Armour

thyroid should be used twice daily and NOT once a day. The major reason is that

the T3 component has such a short half life and needs to be taken twice daily to

achieve consistent blood levels.

Dose Adjustments With Lab Monitoring

Once on hormone replacement, the dose should be increased until the TSH falls

below 0.4. Then one needs to optimize the 2 thyroid hormones by using the Free

T4 and Free T3 levels.

The Free T3 and Free T4 are used to monitor the treatment. They should be

above the median (middle) but below the upper end of the laboratory normal

reference range. The goal for healthy young adults would be to have numbers

close to the upper part of the range, and for cardiac and/or elderly patients,

the numbers should be in the middle of its range.

The Free T3 and Free T4 levels should be checked every month and the hormone

therapy readjusted until the FT3 and FT4 levels are in the therapeutic range

described. Once a theraputic range is acheived the levels should be checked at

least once a year. A small number of large, overweight, thyroid-resistant women

may need 6-8 grains of Armour thyroid or the equivalent of thyroxine per day

(counting 0.1mg of T4 as 1 grain of Armour Thyroid).

For those people who are already on once daily Armour thyroid should split

their doses immediately and take half after breakfast and half after dinner.

Since the only change will be in the FT3 level, which has a short half-life, the

serum FT4 and FT3 levels (and TSH, if indicated) can be measured 48-72 hrs after

the splitting of the doses if the patient had been on the hormone for 4-6 weeks

before the splitting of the doses. This is because the Free T4 hormone is the

one that takes a number of weeks to build up to its steady-state serum-level.

Symptoms of Excessive Thyroid Hormone

There are frequently only temporary during the adaptation stage. The symptoms

may include: palpitations

nervousness

feeling hot and sweaty

rapid weight-loss

fine tremor

clammy skin

What To Do If You Can Not Tolerate Armour Thyroid or Want To Continue

Synthetic Hormones

My experience is that well over 90% of people do much better on Armour

thyroid. However, there are a small number of people who do not tolerate it.

This is most frequently done with Armour thyroid. However, Cytomel, which is T3

only, can be used in combination with one of the T4 only synthetic preparations

mentioned above. It is important to recognize that T3 should always be

prescribed twice daily due to its shorter half life. This is typically after

breakfast AND supper for compliance reasons.

If you are currently taking Synthroid (thyroxine), your Free T4 level is

usually at or above the high end of its normal range and your Free T3 level is

usually below. In this situation, one may then add 5-12.5 mcg Cytomel (pure-T3)

after breakfast and supper daily, rather than Armour Thyroid or Thyrolar

(synthetic T4/T3 combo).

Once or twice daily dosing one can then optimize both the T4 and T3 levels,

with whatever thyroid preparation is required. This is not possible in most

hypothyroid patients with T4 only preparations.

People Who Should Not Take Cytomel

The only exception to pursue optimization of the T3 level without using Armour

thyroid is in severe acute cardio-pulmonary conditions, such as congestive heart

failure, when the metabolic slowing effect of a low FT3 level can actually be

life-saving. However, the vast majority of hypothyroid patients do not have this

problem.

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

©Copyright 1997-2001 by ph M. Mercola, DO. .

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

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[Guest guest]

I find it interesting that he says to take it AFTER meals and to take it

essentially 12 hours apart; after breakfast and after dinner.

Armour Thyroid Dosing and Methodology

>For those people who are already on once daily Armour thyroid should split

their doses immediately and take half after breakfast and half after dinner.

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taking it after meals also helps to reduce the volatility of the blood level

of the T3.<

.

[Guest guest]

I think he's advocating this because it would minimize the sudden load on

the heart from the T3. I've been taking it one hour before eating, but after

a new Afib attack this morning, I think I am going to try it this way too.

I don't say evryone needs this, but it seems some of us do.

Roni

Nancie Barnett <deifspirit@...> wrote:

I find it interesting that he says to take it AFTER meals and to take

it essentially 12 hours apart; after breakfast and after dinner.

Armour Thyroid Dosing and Methodology

>For those people who are already on once daily Armour thyroid should split

their doses immediately and take half after breakfast and half after dinner.

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taking it after meals also helps to reduce the volatility of the blood level of

the T3.<

..

[Guest guest]

I found this very interesting, also. Thanks Roni. I also thought it

should be split and taken at 6 hr. intervals. I understood that T3

peaks at 6 hr. I wonder about that.

Venizia

In hypothyroidism , " Nancie Barnett " <deifspirit@...>

wrote:

>

> I find it interesting that he says to take it AFTER meals and to

take it essentially 12 hours apart; after breakfast and after dinner.

> Armour Thyroid Dosing and Methodology

>

>

> >For those people who are already on once daily Armour thyroid

should split their doses immediately and take half after breakfast and

half after dinner. Recent Activity

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> easier than ever.

>

> Healthy Eating

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>

> A place for parents

>

> to share their ideas.

>

> taking it after meals also helps to reduce the volatility of the

blood level of the T3.<

>

>

>

>

>

>

> .

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

have you looked on http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com at adrenal probs?

b/c you have them!

Gracia

I think he's advocating this because it would minimize the sudden load on

the heart from the T3. I've been taking it one hour before eating, but after

a new Afib attack this morning, I think I am going to try it this way too.

I don't say evryone needs this, but it seems some of us do.

Roni

Nancie Barnett <deifspirit@...> wrote:

I find it interesting that he says to take it AFTER meals and to take it

essentially 12 hours apart; after breakfast and after dinner.

Armour Thyroid Dosing and Methodology

>For those people who are already on once daily Armour thyroid should split

their doses immediately and take half after breakfast and half after dinner.

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A place for parents

to share their ideas.

taking it after meals also helps to reduce the volatility of the blood level

of the T3.<

.