Armour vs Levothyroxin

[Dino the Bird]

I have Hashimoto's resulting in hypothryoidism.  I was prescribed Armour and then Levothyroxine. I felt a little better on the Armour, so I switched back on my own.  My Antithyroglobulin Ab is 150. I am making antibodies against the pig thyroid. I also have MS and was told that synthetic medication would aggrevate the disease.  I am getting a little confused because I am still having hypo- symptoms such as abdominal weight gain and dry skin and hair. Should I switch back to the levothyroxine even though I see no change in my symptoms? I assume doing so will bring down the Antithyroglobulin Ab count.  I was prescribed 50 mg of levothyroxine and I was taking 30 mcg of Armour.
Thanks -  bmhwr

[LazyMoose]

To answer part of your origional question about changing meds: Did any symptoms get better with the Armour?

You didn't say how long you were on meds, they can take a long time for some symptoms to go away. And if you did this recently, Armour for the last few months does not work as well as it did for some people. If you cant find more, there is always compounding till more is available.

But if Armour did nothing for you, why take a med that is out of stock so often? I personally would love to go back to T4 only, if it was not for the muscle and joint pain I get with it.

Take care.

[Dino the Bird]

Thanks, does this mean that the Thyroid Peroxidase numbers and the Antithyroid Ab numbers are resulting from the same thing, the Hashimoto's?  Dino the Bird

[LazyMoose]

How do do know the rising AB's are due to the Armour,and not just Hoshis itself? My AB's even went up in the past on synthroid, as I have Hoshis also.

Hoshis is the reason for anti bodies. Regular hypo thyroid does not inclued anti bodies against the thyroid. I'm no pro on the anti-bodies stuff, but I think as long as you have Hoshimotos the AB's will remain and even go up with time regardless of dessicated or synthetic treatment. I posted a similar question not long ago. I also switched to dessicated (Armour) and felt better. I did notice a change after re-formulation though.

[CarolG52]

The Armour DOES NOT cause the Antibodies, for wehatever reason our body - on its own is attacking our thyroid.  I too have Hashi my AntiAB is 3179 and I have been on all the synthetic drugs- Levo - Synthroid/Cytomel, etc...  I did not find any relief until I started taking Armour.  This is not to say it will work for everyone! but I wanted to make sure you understood that takingArmour did not create your antibodies- your body did.
Hope this helped...
We're in this all together........:)