Armour and sleeping

[Batty1]

Ok, this might be a strange question but I've been having trouble sleeping recently as my PSA pains have been annoying me during sleep UNTIL I take my first AT pill and within 30 minutes I'm sound asleep for hours.

Any connection between thyroid meds and sleep? I go tomorrow for my blood test and doubt very much my levels are off but won't know anything for a few days. I'm having FT3,FT4,T3,TSH (of course) and Iron and Vit D tested.

I'm on 2 grains AT, I take 1 early AM and the other late morning and I have no Thyroid.

Thanks in advance

[greygoose]

Why not try taking one early morning, and one before bed, if they help you sleep.

[Batty1 in reply to greygoose]

Hi Grey goose, I've been on Armour Thyroid 2 grain for a year now and have always taken them at these times and never had issues with excessive sleep until a couple of months ago.

Could my levels be off ?

[greygoose in reply to Batty1]

They certainly could, yes. It's not a static disease and things can get worse, meaning you need an increase in dose.

[Batty1 in reply to greygoose]

Lol...probably do need increase but I'm sure that my TSH is super low along with everything else but the Endo will still say "need to reduce meds".

[greygoose in reply to Batty1]

Endos know nothing about thyroid. For a start, they have no idea that the TSH is irrelevant when taking NDT. Doesn't matter if it's low. I really don't know why people bother going to see them.

[Batty1 in reply to greygoose]

Sadly, I have no choice I had thyroid cancer and no other Doctor will touch my thyroid stuff believe me I tried to get my Functional Medicine doctor to deal with it...nope she won't do it.

[greygoose in reply to Batty1]

If you had cancer then your TSH needs to be suppressed.

[Batty1 in reply to greygoose]

Yes your correct I'm suppose to be suppressed but they are focused on my Bone health.

[greygoose in reply to Batty1]

But a suppressed TSH has nothing to do with bone health.

[Batty1 in reply to greygoose]

Lol....never said the Endo was smart.

[greygoose in reply to Batty1]

lol Obviously not!

[hipolion]

So do I, after I take my pills I feel sleepy and tired. I think that's because T3 in ndt. I take thai-ndt, 2 grain in the morning and 1gr. when i get in bed. But I think I'll reverse them.

[Batty1 in reply to hipolion]

It is strange I only started having this sleepiness after I take the AT.

[hipolion in reply to Batty1]

I noticed that as the dose increases the stronger I feel sleepy. I can't take it all at once. Perhaps a rapid reaction is formed which causes t4 to be reduced due to too much t3 to suden. I don't know, or you may have liver sensitivity.

[Batty1 in reply to hipolion]

I split my two grains about 6 hours apart and my sleepiness only start recently. Do labs tomorrow I guess I will find out soon enough.

[hipolion in reply to Batty1]

I wonder if our adrenals cannot handle it?

[SilverAvocado]

Insomnia is a hypothyroid symptom. I had this very badly when I was at my most ill. I found that although I was tired all the time I never felt that sleepy feeling. When in bed at night my muscles wouldn't relax, so it would feel like the bed was hard as a rock. It turns out we need energy (which means having some T3 available because the body needs it to make energy) to fall asleep.

I've also found that taking a tablet of T3 or NDT (Armour is a brand of NDT) can quickly fix this insomnia and allow me to fall asleep. Once I realised this, I started to take one of my daily doses last thing at night just as I got into bed.

I'm a bit confused whether you're saying that you're sleeping too much after the tablet or the problem is not being able to sleep?

Whichever it is you might find that rearranging the times of your dosage gives you the results you want. I've rearranged my own dose timings many times to keep energy levels consistent across the day and improve sleep.

[SilverAvocado in reply to SilverAvocado]

Hi Batty1, I looked back through your old posts to see if you had any thyroid results. Do you realise you asked exactly the same question two months ago, and had very similar advice, some from the same people?

You posted these results, and I think you're still taking 2 grains of NDT?

January 2019:

TSH: 0.186 (0.27-4.20)

FT3: 2.86 (2.0-4.4)

FT4:0.97 (0.93- 1.7)

These results show you are undermedicated, and have lots of room for an increase. The most important number of these is the freeT3. T3 is the active hormone needed by every cell and organ in the body, so this number most closely reflects symptoms.

Most people will feel best with this in the top third of the range, and yours is well below halfway.

I would suggest an increase of a quarter grain ASAP, then retest in 6 weeks and you may want to increase again. You can increase all the way to the top of the range and even higher if symptoms justify it.

[Batty1 in reply to SilverAvocado]

Holy smokes your right I did post this question 2 months ago. I did a sleep study recently and I have mild apnea but very bad restless legs.

[SilverAvocado in reply to Batty1]

Hehe, I wondered if you had forgotten all about it!

Sleep apnea is a hypothyroid symptom, and restless legs are discussed quite often on the forum so it seems like they probably are, too.

If you can get your freeT3 up you will hopefully get improvement in the whole set of things.

Magnesium spray can be good for restless legs, too.

[Batty1 in reply to SilverAvocado]

Lol... I just did a boat load of blood test today and I will post the results here and I'm also seeing a new Endo on the 13th and I'm not holding my breath that the new guy will increase my meds.

[SilverAvocado in reply to Batty1]

It's a bit of a waste of time having an Endo if they don't get you better

You might be lucky and be able to persuade them based on symptoms. Both freeT3 and freeT4 are scraping along the bottom.