Armour thyroid 90 mg -HELP, VERY TIRED!

[Rafaella]

Dear Doctor/Forum,

I was dx'd with Hashimoto's on my 40s B-day, and placed on Synthroid. Did not do well on it, and decided to switch to armour. I am currently on 90 mg on Armour a day, and my TSH is going up and down all the time. I cruising around TSH 4.0 all the time, and cannot go beoyng 2.0.. My doctor has increased the dose only once, went from 60 mg to 90 mg. My hands are cold and needles in fingertips all the time, I cannot use my fingertips for fine movements.. Terrible.
I am TIRED all the time, if I could , I would sleep ALL DAY LONG...

Any thoughts? Do I need other supplements or do I need to up my Armour level?

Please, help me - I am desperate.
Thank you.

[kitty9309]

I also thought the TSH of 1.6 was the most current lab. Personally, I would want an increase, but I would want my doctor to concur.

I agree that a free t3 and free t4 is needed as well with the Armour.

We can't tell someone what dose to take. We can suggest and have the person run that by the doctor.

One should never self-medicate.

[AR-10]

Those are her labs of 8/05.

The triiodotothyronine, free is a Free T3. Without the lab ranges it is a little hard to guess, but I would agree the Free T3 was probably low on that test.

Her TSH is now 1.6

It's not clear that she needs an increase. Is there a doctor in the house? Did someone just start perscribing a higher dose of drugs? Who issued a perscription pad?

Who's taking responsibility when someone becomes overmedicated?

[stella5349]

and your last testing did not even include a free T3 test which is extremely beneficial taking Armour - and I believe any thyroid med for that reason./

[laura1967]

Yup you need an increase. Your T3 level is still quite low, tsh is too high, and T4 is very low. I think I would ask for a reverse T3 test to see if you are pooling. You definately need an increase though. Your TSH needs to be about a .50 to get optimum with the hashi's. This is why you are still so sick. You need to up by a 1/4 grain weekly until you feel good without the hyper symptoms. Blood work with Armour should be done every 4 weeks.

[Rafaella]

HI, everyone,

My labs AS OF   08/05

Thyroid Peroxidase Ab 580.0

Thyroglobylin Antibody  32.5

T4, Free 0.98

TSH 4.13

Thiiodotothyronine, Free   2.9 - I think, this is T3, Free


On 09/13 my TSH is 1.6. And this are all labs I have so far.

I am on 90 mg of armour at this time.

Thanks, again everyone for your input!!!

[AR-10]

Cytomel is synthetic T3.

Levothyroxine, Synthroid, Levoxyl, etc. are all similar forms of synthetic T4. Levothyroxine is the generic, and most doctors do not like to perscribe a generic thyroid medication, for good reasons.

Armour is a natural form of hormones in a combination of T4 and T3.

Anyone with thyroid problems should not ingest large ammounts of iodine unless the doctor perscribes it. The iodine will affect your hormone levels temporarily, and that is what you do not want. You want your hormones to be as stable as possible, not shooting up whenever you have a kelp snack.

It may make you feel better for a little while, but in the long run it is not good.

A magnesium supplement may be helpful, but you should be tested before taking supplements. If you start taking magnesium and you do not need it, you can make yourself sick.

None of this addresses the original post, but it may be helfull anyway.