Is armour right for me

[Serino01]

Hello

Lab blood taken 02-12-18

FREE t4 1.12 RANGE .82- 1.77

Free t 3 4.8 RANGE 2.0- 4.4

Tsh. 94 range .45 - 4.50

Tyroxine binding 19 range 13-39

Vitamin d3 68 range 30-100

Tpo 12 range 0- 34

Reverse t3 18.4 RANGE 9.2 -24.1

Ferritin 234 range 30-400

This lab was taken when I was on 90mg of armour thyroid.

My question is I have not been feeling well on 90 mgs of armour. Symptoms being muscle stiffness and pain, anxiety ,brain fog etc so my doc put me on 60 mgs instead and still not feeling well. Here's the kicker I came off of armour thyroid for about a week before I went to visit the doctor when she lowered the dosage. That week I felt alot better. here where im confused. do I need thyroid medication or is it the armour making me feel worse or do i need more armour thyroid the 90 mgs. I am so confused. How can i feel better when im not on it.

[greygoose]

It's a well-known phenomena that when you stop taking your thyroid hormone replacement, be it levo, T3, NDT, you feel better than when you were taking it. I know it's confusing, I've done it myself, but I can assure you that the feelings of well-being and good health do not last. Sooner or later, the hypo symptoms will come creeping back in. And you will need to go back on your hormone. No-one knows why this happens, but I can assure you that it does. We read about it all the time on here, and people start thinking that's they've been misdiagnosed, and they don't really need it, etc. But misdiagnosis of hypothyroidism is very, very rare, because doctors hate diagnosing us!

I think it was rather short-sighted of your doctor - not to say ignorant - to reduce your dose like that. Your FT3 was only slightly over-range. However, I think the symptoms you had were more likely to be from nutritional deficiencies, that from the hypo. Have you had your vit D, vit B12, folate and ferritin tested? If any of these are low, your body just isn't going to be able to cope with NDT.

[Serino01 in reply to greygoose]

Hi Greygoose. thank you gor the reply. Actually i posted some labwork on the same post vitamin d is in normal range b 12 is above normal range. Ferritin in the middle range and folate i did not have blood work for. You are so right. After a week i dont take my medication my hypo symptoms come back. So are you saying i should back on armor and do 60mgs in the am and 30 mgs in the afternoon. Do u possibly think that maybe the reformulated version of amour is not doing me well and maybe go on levo and cytomel. I forgot to mention tghat i also have a scalloped tongue which i tthink is from being hypothyroid

[Serino01 in reply to Serino01]

Or maybe im suffering from fibromyalgia or something else. Just so confused.

[greygoose in reply to Serino01]

I think your vit D could probably be a bit higher. But zinc is good for muscle pains, and hypos usually have low zinc and high copper. Probably your magnesium is low, too, but there's no point in testing that, because it will always be in range because of the way the body handles magnesium. But that doesn't mean you're not deficient. Try taking some - but at least four hours away from thyroid hormone.

I'm not saying you should go back to a split dose of Armour, no. I think splitting 90 mg NDT is a bit pointless, because there's so little T3 in it. I think you should take it all at once, on an empty stomach, at least one hour away from food and two hours away from other medication and supplements.

How long have you been on Armour? Have you really given it a fair chance? I don't think you need any more, because your FT3 is high. But, it does take time to really take hold. Hormones are never a quick fix. Did you ever try the old Armour? Did that suit you better?

[Serino01]

I used to be on the old armor years ago and it was doing me good. then i swithced to wp and nature thyroid and i havent had good luck. My main symptoms are leg muscle pain and slight weakness along with stiffness. Im just confused that i feel 80% better without thyroid for like a week. Then it comes back. So so confused

[Serino01 in reply to Serino01]

I forgot to mention this has been going on for like a year and a half. In that time i tried wp nature thyroid armor and cytomel alone all same results. I dont feel good on them. Can my adreanls be off or something else besides the supplemnts you mentioned. Or am i just blamong the the thyroid when it can be sometyjing else. I had a brain mri and the doctor said it was clear. Just a few non specific lesions that are usually seen in migrane patients