Armour dosage

[topaz1]

I decided not to take any armour for a few days to see whether my pounding heart and shaking hands got any better after my GP said to reduce the dose. I think heart and hands are a bit steadier - but was it a symptom of over or under - dosing? and shall I go back to the 3 3/4 grains I was taking after reducing from 4 grains

[HEA72]

Hi, I suffered the same over the weekend and it was an unintentional over-dose, because I switched brands. I've discovered by this accident that my new brand is a lot stronger than the old brand. On day 7 of taking my new brand (Friday) in the afternoon I suddenly felt really adrenalised, high anxiety, had a thumping heart over 90bpm and my temperature shot up and my blood pressure increased - it was overwhelming!

I stopped my NDT, the symptoms calmed down by the next day (Saturday) and then returned to 'my' normal readings yesterday - thankfully; which I'm hoping indicated the T3 element of the NDT has run down in my body.

But I'm now feeling very toxic/liverish (like I've been poisoned!) as my body is still dealing with processing the excess hormones. I've chosen to not resume my NDT now to let the T4 element of the NDT run down somewhat (it has an 8 day half life, so can take a little while to redcue down) until all these over-dose symptoms have gone. The toxic feeling is slightly less today, which I'm encouraged about but yesterday was really horrible. Then I plan on going back on a lower dose and being very careful about how much I increase (if this is needed) to try and establish the correct dose going forward.

My advise for you would now taking your temperature and pulse and your blood pressure too if you have a home monitor machine. Using these three readings you can guage how your metabolism is. Obviously if the readings are high for you, then you're moving towards 'hyper', indicating too much hormone. If the readings are low, then you know you're 'hypo'.

Take these readings 3x daily, on waking, mid afternoon and at bedtime. I found doing this very helpful.

But of course if you're unsure and still feel really unwell, seek professional advise and speak to a doctor. x

[topaz1 in reply to HEA72]

Hi HEA72, thanks so much for your reply. I'm reading Dr Peatfield's book at the moment and have been meaning to start taking temp/pulse but just not got round to it. Now I will make the effort as I can see that this will tell me exactly where I am with the Armour. I feel pretty lousy most of the time as I have 2 detox meds from Naturopath which sort of 'cloud' the thyroid issue!

[shaws Administrator]

Hi topaz1

I am assuming your symptoms appeared after the GP reduced your dose of Armour?

If you felt fine on your dose of Armour before your GP reduced your dose (I assume because of your TSH result alone) I would go back to that dose.

If our medication is adjusted willy/nilly according to the TSH alone, it can cause more problems for us.

Read the questions/answers on the following link. Some links within t may not work as it is now archived due to Dr Lowe's death.

web.archive.org/web/2010103...

Also our blood tests if taking NDT and/or T3 our blood reslults wont correspond with ones taken if we are on levo only. Most of us feel well if our TSH is low or suppressed but doctors are mistaken if they think this will affect our hearts.

Always go by how you feel when on thyroid hormones whether you adjust/reduce.

[Schenks in reply to shaws]

Where's the link, Shaws?

[shaws Administrator in reply to Schenks]

Thanks Schenks:

web.archive.org/web/2010103...

[Schenks in reply to shaws]

[topaz1 in reply to shaws]

Hi Shaws, thanks for answering my question and for the very interesting link. I have just ordered a blood pressure/pulse monitor and am going to take temp readings as well to see how I get on with dosing. Much better to do it myself than rely on the not very well informed GP.

[shaws Administrator in reply to topaz1]

Modern doctors don't appear to know the basics of hypo, some of which are low temp/pulse and other symptoms.

Your monitor will come in handy. I bought one and have used it often now, particularly when I had palpitations.

[topaz1 in reply to shaws]

Thanks shaws. even over the last 3 days I have seen big differences in temp and pulse and have reduced to 3 1/2 grains today and the old heart doesnt seem to be banging away quite so badly. Waiting for the BP monitor to arrive.

[shaws Administrator in reply to topaz1]

Sometimes it's difficult to suss out if we are taking too much or two little. What a game