Is it bad to stay on low dose for too long?

[Rachel2033]

I was treated for hypothyroidism in 7/2013, the doctor started me on 30mg of Armour then about 2 weeks later upped it to 60mg. In 12/2013 I had labs drawn and my doctor freaked asking if I had hyper symptoms I said no to each one. He put me on Levo and a T3 med which gave me bad heart palpitations so he told me to get off on all thyroid meds that I wasn't hypothyroid. I asked him about my low heart rate (50) he said that was fine that he had the same heart rate. I asked about my swollen tongue, he said he didn't know what that was about but he'd run tests to find out after the meds were out of my system. I had horrible heart palpitations when I stopped the meds that I went back on the 30mg of Armour and have been on it since then.
   My husband was laid off 12/31/2013, he got a job in CO (we were living in TX) so we had to relocate, 3/2014. I have an appt set for June 6th.
   I read on STTM that staying on a low dose will make you even more hypothyroid than when you weren't on meds, I don't feel that at all. I was getting heart palpitations more than once a day and now it's possibly once or twice a week.
If I go off of the Armour how long before it's totally out of my system and what effects will I experience when coming off?
Thank you in advance. :)

[Rachel2033]

Thank you Barb135 for responding.
Labs done in July were:
TSH- 1.1 (.05-4.7)
FT4- 1.18 (0.73-1.95)
FT3- 2.9 (2.3-4.2)

My first labs drawn after being on Armour  60mg for 6 weeks were:
TSH-0.07 (0.04-4.50)
FT4-1.1 (0.08-1.8)
Total T3-71 (76-181)

He had asked for FT3 but for some reason the lab tested total T3 instead. He looked at the TSH and said I was now hyperthyroid even though I didn't have any symptoms at all.

I'm hoping that at my next appt (in June) the doctor will agree to do both antibody tests. I have had this ugly rash on one finger for 3 yrs now. It comes and goes but it's obvious it's looks and feels very different from the rest of my hand. It breaks out with these tiny red blisters that eventually pop and my finger is visibly swollen and warmer to the touch. This leads to it being very dry and flaky. I've tried several lotions and vitamin E but nothing works. Only option is to let it run it's course and apply Chapstick to it to avoid cracking and bleeding. I heard this could be an autoimmune disorder. Last doctor looked at it and said "yeah, that's weird."
   My resting pulse is 64 and my temp is 65-66. My blood pressure has always been low typically 90/60 which I think is normal but my last doctor said that was low.
    Only reason for getting off Armour is because of what I read on STTM and also wonder if labs won't show clearly what my true status is because I'm on a low dose.

[Barb135]

It's not true that staying on low dose of Armour will make you more hypo... It simply may not relieve all your symptoms, if your dosage is too low.

I'm sure your low heart rate and swollen tongue were symptoms of hypothyroidism.  Some doctors believe that if ones TSH returns to normal the patient no longer needs medication and that's very wrong.

Do you know  what about your labs caused the doctor to freak out?  Could it have been low TSH?  Many people on medication with a T3 component, such as Amour or synthetic T3 have very low TSH... mine stays at 0.01 all the time and I've never been hyper.

You really need to get your blood work done again, so you can see where your levels are.

Why do you want to go off the Armour?  The T3 would be out of your system within a couple of days, since T3 is fast acting and short lived.  The T4 component would take a couple of weeks to get out of your system.