anybody take armour thyroid for hypothyroidism

[AJ12345]

Does anyone have any experience with Armour thyroid? I take Synthroid right now but seem to still have many hypo symptoms, including hair loss (blood tests all come back normal)

I'm reading more and more of people who are taking Armour with better results. Anyone have personal experience??

 

[Debbie7452]

I USED to take Armour thyroid and it worked well. However, they changed the formula a while back and since then it quit working for me. I was beyond miserable, so I went back to levothyroxine(generic synthroid-T4 replacement) and also take liothyronine(generic cytomel-a T3 replacement). I have been much better since I switched.

From what I understand, most people can turn T4 into T3 but some people's systems don't work quite right and need to supplement both T3 & T4. Armour has both, but for me it wasn't being utilized since it was reformulated. You might have a different experience, so its worth trying or maybe ask your doctor for a T3 supplement to go with your synthroid. I see an Endocrinologist and they do very in depth blood tests...not just the standard one.

 

[rie'smom]

My husband and I both take Armour. It has been a godsend! Synthroid and the other synthetic thyroid meds did nothing. I'll never forget 2 days after I started taking Armour, I felt fabulous. Instead of feeling 100, I felt my age or better which was 40. That was 12 years ago. The excess weight dropped off in a flash but better than that I didn't feel "out of gas" at 3 in the afternoon. I recommend it highly.

 

[rie'smom]

I USED to take Armour thyroid and it worked well. However, they changed the formula a while back and since then it quit working for me. I was beyond miserable, so I went back to levothyroxine(generic synthroid-T4 replacement) and also take liothyronine(generic cytomel-a T3 replacement). I have been much better since I switched.

From what I understand, most people can turn T4 into T3 but some people's systems don't work quite right and need to supplement both T3 & T4. Armour has both, but for me it wasn't being utilized since it was reformulated. You might have a different experience, so its worth trying or maybe ask your doctor for a T3 supplement to go with your synthroid. I see an Endocrinologist and they do very in depth blood tests...not just the standard one.

They've reformulated it again. It's working as well as it ever did.
Cytomel + Synthroid didn't work well for me at all. I gained weight and felt draggy and miserable. Everyone is different. I'm glad you found what works for you!

OP, are you on meds now? If you aren't happy, it won't hurt to try something new.

 

[AJ12345]

thanks for all your replies. yes. i'm on synthroid now and i have been miserable lately. gained a ton of weight in the last two years and the last 6 months or so have been losing a ton of hair.

i'm definately going to try the armour. it's just so hard to find a doctor who will prescribe. they all tell me my TSH levels are normal. I know i don't feel normal. it's so frustrating!!!

 

[jiminyC_fan]

I take Levoxyl and it seems to work great for me.

 

[Rafiki31]

I took Synthroid for years and still felt like crap, once they added Cytomel I improved dramatically. Try it!!!!! The first day I took it I didnt feel well, so plan ahead. After day 1 it was great.

 

[Christine]

Some people need a boost of T3. T3 is the short acting thyroid hormone that your thyroid gland makes. In people with no thyroid, your body knows how to convert some of the T4 to T3. There is a small subset of the population that does not convert and this readily shows up on a full thyroid panel blood test because, while your TSH might be normal, your T3 will be very low and it should be normal too. So you might want to ask your doctor to give you a full thyroid panel (measuring T4 and T3 not just TSH) so you can see if you are a non-converter.

Having said that and assuming you DO convert, T3 has the effect of short term energizing. It can almost be compared to an amphetamine or "pep pills". It is a very short-acting thyroid hormone that goes in and out of your system quickly so you can feel pretty reved up within an hour of taking one. In 4 hours or so, it is on it's way out.

Because Armour thyroid is made from pig thyroid glands, the medication will contain both T4 and T3 in a "natural form" that comes form an animal and then is synthesized in a lab. Many doctors, these days, are very uncomfortable with that process as well as being uncomfortable with the amounts of hormones that is reliably in each pill.

You may have more luck find a doctor who with give you synthetic T3 (Cytomel) to see if that helps you.

 

[rie'smom]

thanks for all your replies. yes. i'm on synthroid now and i have been miserable lately. gained a ton of weight in the last two years and the last 6 months or so have been losing a ton of hair.

i'm definately going to try the armour. it's just so hard to find a doctor who will prescribe. they all tell me my TSH levels are normal. I know i don't feel normal. it's so frustrating!!!

You probably need a different doctor. Here's a list of doctors in New Jersey, be sure to scroll all the way down the page. There is also a thyroid workshop with Mary Shomon who is a top advocate for thyroid patients this weekend in NYC. I don't know if you could attend but she's fantastic. The info is at the top of the page of the links:
http://thyroid.about.com/gi/o.htm?z...p://www.thyroid-info.com/topdrs/newjersey.htm


ETA when scrolling, look for doctors who do not rely heavily on blood work. It's important but you need to find a doctor who looks at and gives equal weight to physical and emotional symptoms as well.

 

[cheshireqt]

I take Levoxyl as well. Pharmacist or insurance substitued a synthetic/generic that did not work at all, might as well have been a sugar pill. Went back on Levoxyl and all is well with my world again.