Two questions regarding NDT meds: 1. has anyone... - Thyroid UK

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Two questions regarding NDT meds

JennaShi profile image
24 Replies

1. has anyone felt any better since being on Armour thyroid? I was told this one has more fillers and so I looked it up and found this article. stopthethyroidmadness.com/a...

Not sure if its the medicine but since being way overdosed according to my endo, she gave a prescription for 75mcg and I went down to 60mcg and still dont dont feel right (tired, fatigue, dry skin, itchy hives) still get irratible and upset some but not as bad. Anyone else having similar issues with Armour?

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JennaShi profile image
JennaShi
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greygoose profile image
greygoose

What's the second question? :)

An endo's idea of over-medication is often the patient's idea of under-medication! They go by the TSH, but the TSH isn't much use once you're on thyroid hormone replacement of any kind. And, with NDT - Armour, etc - your TSH will more than likely be suppressed, and your endo won't like that!

Do you always get copies of your blood test results?

JennaShi profile image
JennaShi in reply to greygoose

Haha it was going to be two questions. My second was going to be has anyone felt better on NP?

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply to JennaShi

Sorry, what's NP?

GPs and endos don't like prescribing anything but levo because that's what they learnt about in med school. They learnt that what you need to do is to prescribe levo, increasing until the TSH is somewhere back in the range, and your job is done. They only look at the TSH, they never look at the patient. They don't care how the patient feels. They don't know what hypo feels like and they don't care. They do not understand how the thyroid works, nor how to treat people when it goes wrong. The do not understand antibodies and they know nothing about T3 - because they didn't do them in med school.

Medicine is a mixture of art and science, and the majority of doctors are neither artists nor scientists, they are technicians with no feeling for the job.

Rant over. Sorry. :)

JennaShi profile image
JennaShi in reply to greygoose

I couldnt agree more. I wish all this would change but doesnt seem like it will in the near future. Also NP is another form of NDT supposedly without as many fillers

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply to JennaShi

Oh yes, of course! Silly me. :)

helvella profile image
helvellaAdministratorThyroid UK in reply to greygoose

NP Thyroid, I think.

npthyroid.com/

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply to helvella

Yes, I should have known that. Not thinking quickly enough, tonight. :)

jgelliss profile image
jgelliss in reply to greygoose

greygoose NP is another brand of NDT by Acela like Nature-Throid and Armour . It's with script Only . Many thyroid patients switched to NP by Acela when Nature-Throid was having distribution problems and are doing very well with it .

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply to jgelliss

Well, I didn't do well on any make of NDT, so I'm not very well up on them, these days. :)

jgelliss profile image
jgelliss in reply to greygoose

NP became well known Only when Nature-Throid was Not available . Not many new or heard about before . My hunch is that I wouldn't be surprised if new NDT product will be coming to surface since there are many that are doing well with them . And it's become more popular with patients asking their Open Minded Dr's for it with different combinations added . Either more T4 or more T3 . Everyone wants part of the pie . Personally I don't mind . Competition is good for us .

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply to jgelliss

It certainly is!

JennaShi profile image
JennaShi in reply to greygoose

Hey atleast you tried them and know that they dont work for you.

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply to JennaShi

Yes, there is that. I just wish I hadn't wasted so much time on them. But, my doctor at the time swore by Armour, and insisted it was the only way to go. And, I didn't know enough at the time to contradict him.

JennaShi profile image
JennaShi in reply to greygoose

That makes sense! And they look for reasons to say its not a good option. I did, the last one I believe you commented on and there wasnt enough info. Is ot better to request full thyroid panel work up or which specfic ones would you order?

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply to JennaShi

Yes, just checked on that. Three results : rT3, TT3 and TSH. None of which give us any useful information!

What you need are :

TSH

FT4

FT3

TPO and Tg antibodies (if not already checked and found high)

vit D

vit B12

folate

ferritin

That will give us information to work on. :)

JennaShi profile image
JennaShi in reply to greygoose

Infortunately I dont have any of those recently, havent seen the primary for a while and have been seeing a gastroenterologist due to stomach issues and my most previous thyroid work up is in my previous post i think. It isnt much information 😑.

I have hashimotos and Graves according to my endocrinologist (still have high antibodies for both).

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply to JennaShi

It certainly is possible to have both. The question is : which one is dominant?

danym profile image
danym in reply to JennaShi

did you find an NDT that worked?

JennaShi profile image
JennaShi in reply to danym

Hi! I have only been able to try Armour so far (hopeful for future) but I believe its a step up from synthyroid and Levothyroxine, atleast for me. Are you looking for something different? The combination of t4 and t3 helps as I personally have a hard time converting to t3.

danym profile image
danym in reply to JennaShi

what dose are you on. I'm trying armour now, but I get very dry from the NDTs, I just increased to 90 mg, but I can feel so dry when I take it, skin, my palms, my hair, I think armour gives me some insomnia :( as I'm having a hard time sleeping at night

JennaShi profile image
JennaShi in reply to danym

I am on 90 mg as well. Are you figuring put your dosing and ordering it or is a doctor prescribing it for you?

When did you start and have you had labs recently? If not it would be a good idea to mention this to your doctor and or check your labs. Often dryness is a sign of hypo but can be other things as well. I say this, not to state the obvious, but to point out that it may or may not be the right dose for you or perhaps, like you said, your body may not be responding to it well. Since its not totally man made, the dosing is not fully same and vary from pill to pill. How are your vitamins and minerals?

I too have insomnia as well as dryness (additionally horribly itchy scalp) but this all started way before taking armour.

danym profile image
danym in reply to JennaShi

I'm on first week of armour, I was on np thyroid and wp thyroid prior, prescribed by my dr. It might be too much, today is my 5th day and I started to be very jittery and heart palps. I had labs done 2 weeks ago while on wp thyroid and my numbers were low so me decided to increase and switchd to armour. Can armour be stronger than the others?

JennaShi profile image
JennaShi in reply to danym

From your symptoms, it sounds like it might be too much and might be worth getting labs again. I’m obviously not a doctor though so it would be good to consult them. As far as strength, I am unsure about that. I haven’t tried them but hope to one day. My endo PA told me that she adjusts dosages per patient’s weight. It soubds like you have a good doctor who is willing to try different things so that is wonderful!

Aurealis profile image
Aurealis

I think Armour is tricky to adjust and get stable, but once optimal, it’s brilliant. If the ratio of T3 to T4 in Armour isn’t optimal for you, then you may need to supplement with T3 (or even T4). I take T3 also. It took a while to arrive at this solution (5 years until completely stable)

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