Levo to Armour

[susanhamm]

My son has changed to Armour 3 weeks ago and is taking 1.5 grains twice a day.Before he was on 75 Levothyroxine and 39 T3 but his anxiety, panic attacks and intrusive thoughts are worse even though he is so much better in himself and the brain fog has gone and his fatigue is far less so he is not sure whether he is taking too much armour or not enough, he has a couple of more weeks before his bloods are done and his doctor is on holiday.His mental health is a nightmare at the moment as it was before when he first started taking Levo so is it just a matter of getting the balance right.Three years of not knowing what is going on and no help.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

susanhamm

Armour contains - per grain - 38 mcg of T4 and 9 mcg of T3 so your son's 1.5 grains is giving him 57mcg T4 and 13.5mcg T3 so that's quite a bit less than his 75mcg Levo and 39mcg T3. (How was he getting 39mcg T3?)

2 grains Armour is closer at 76mcg T4 and 18mcg T3. You'll never get the same balance T4/T3 in NDT as he was getting on Levo/T3.

Probably best to wait and see what his new blood results are like.

Remember that he needs to take his last dose of NDT 8-12 hours before the blood test, even if it means splitting the dose and adjusting timing the day before.

[susanhamm in reply to SeasideSusie]

The problem we have is his anxiety has gone through the roof and depression has also crept in to such an extent that we are going to mental health and begging for help which is not forthcoming.We are at a complete loss as to what to do as only his private Doctor knows anything about his Thyroid and we are waiting for appointments with London University hospital.All the appointments could be months away.Even his private Doctor who is taking hundreds of pounds giving advice and a prescription has gone on holiday just when we need him most and his blood tests are still three weeks away.I Know he has a lot of trouble converting which may be a factor in all this ..My son has improved dramatically in some ways but this mental side is horrific and we are desperate to find answers.Anyone changing from Levothyroxine and changing to Armour must realise how hard it is to get it and the costs for private blood tests prescription and Doctors fees are extortionate.I am now battling to get someone in the NHS to prescribe it but I fear a losing battle.

Thank you to you all for your help and we are trying everything including gluten free diet and then hope for a miracle.

[Jazzw]

SeasideSusie if I’m reading this right—he’s on 3 grains a day if he’s having 1.5 grains twice a day? So the equivalent of 114mcg Levo and 27mcg of liothyronine?

It’s one of those weird situations where he could be either over-replaced OR under-replaced - it depends on whether his body is converting that 114mcg (which is a significant raise on 75mcg) to T3 or not. If it is, then that could have pushed his T3 levels higher than before. If not, then 27mcg is lower than 30mcg and just a smidge below what he was on before.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Jazzw]

Yes, you're right Jazz, I only saw the 1. 5 grains, I missed the twice a day. Should have gone to Specsavers 👓

Thanks for correcting me 👍

Hopefully susanhamm has seen your reply.

[susanhamm in reply to Jazzw]

Thanks for you help.

[FancyPants54 in reply to Jazzw]

Surely it's quite a lot lower than the T3 he was on before, which the OP said is 39.

This switch has given him more T4, but quite a bit less T3, therefore relying on conversion.

[Jazzw in reply to FancyPants54]

I was pretty sure that 39 was a typo and it should have been 30. Would be quite tricky take a 9mcg dose given most T3 pills come in 10, 20 or 25mcg sizes

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Has he considered trying strictly gluten free diet?

When were vitamin levels last tested?

[susanhamm]

We are already changing him to this diet and his wits are always tested again privately.

Thanks for your help.