Started Armour

[Compostella1]

Hi All,

I Hv recent diagnosis of hypo and hashimotos and was commenced on Eltroxin- this medication rly did not suit me and I felt worse in it. It caused crippling anxiety and rushes throughout my body/buzzing etc. I felt like I was going crazy.

I managed to get a private prescription for Armour which I am now on about 12 days.. I feel much more balanced with this- even tho I still have strong hypo symptoms. I will have my bloods done in 2 weeks to see how it’s coming along was TSH 53 2 weeks ago . Is it correct in armour you wld have bloods done more frequently than levo?

I am starting to recognise symptoms and getting a little better at management of these. The last few days I def feel I have increased inflammation- my hand and feet are swollen and increased tingling/carpel tunnel.

Thanks for all the info on here which has been very informative. I Hv booked in for an assessment with Dr Momi - he is in Ireland and he takes a functional medicine approach. He places a lot of focus on diet (bans gluten, alcohol, eggs and dairy!), supplements and advocates for T3 meds.. check out his website as he does international consults. I haven’t seen him yet but his Facebook and website look good.

Does anyone know/experience more symptoms on yeh evening/overnight and know the reason for this. I def see a pattern here.

Again thks for this resource - there is so much to learn and consider with this diagnosis but good to be able to bounce off people in here!

A

[radd]

Compostella1,

Sometimes when thyroid med replacements are introduced the metabolism suddenly speeds up too much for the rest of the body which has become slow due to low thyroid hormone. This can cause the "crippling anxiety and rushes throughout my body/buzzing etc" you describe and are probably due to compromised adrenal glands.

It is also important to have adequate iron levels for thyroid meds to work properly or can cause palpitations/anxiety/jitters. You might find splitting your NDT dose into twice a day reduces the rapidity of T3 onset and prolongs the duration of its action in a more gentle manner.

Take NDT away from foods, iron and calcium. Tests should done 6 weeks after each dose change. Dr Momi sounds nice. Post any test results (including the ranges) for members to comment.

[pennyannie]

Hello Compostella :

I switched to NDT from synthetic T4 x 125mcg daily around 3 years ago.

I spent time building up my ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D to optimal levels before I switched and I took a blood test before I started for T3 and T4 so I had bench mark numbers to work from, and monitored my blood pressure and temperature twice daily.

I stopped T4 one day and the following day took 1/4 grain NDT :

Week 2 - I increased the NDT to 1/2 grain :

Week 3 - I increased by another 1/4 grain and so forth and so on:

If you get to 2 grains you need to hold this dose for 6-8 weeks and then take a blood test.

Your TSH will be low suppressed - this is ok :

Your T4 maybe much lower in the range than your bench mark number and this too is ok :

Your T3 should have moved from your bench mark numbers and if it hasn't - maybe NDT isn't the best option for you :

I only managed to get to 1 + 3/4 grains when I noticed uncomfortable, different symptoms, edgy, anxious, and a bit " hyper " for me, so I dropped down to my previous dose and have been on 1 + 1/2 grains for going on for 3 years.

My temperature went from 35.4 to 36.6 and my blood pressure remained stable ;

My new results on NDT were the exact opposite of what they were on T4 - in that my T3 went from 25% to 100% through the range and my T4 went from 100% down to 25% through the range.

I take all my NDT at once at around 3 in the morning :

Some people dose twice daily - it's all trial and error :

As you have Hashimoto's this does throw an extra spanner in the works as you do need to be aware that you may have stomach issues and food intolerances to identify first and see many people speaking of the work of Dr Izabella Wentz who has this auto immune disease.

You may also have had experience of Hashimoto's " swings " when your immune system response is to attack your thyroid sending it a bit haywire and experiencing " hyper " swings when your thyroid is attacked.

As with any swing, it swings back, with your thyroid further damaged and disabled and your own thyroid hormone production erratic and long term you probably need to be increasing your medication as your thyroid gland dies.

I'm with Graves post RAI thyroid ablation in 2005 and manage lingering Graves, thyroid eye disease and hypothyroidism and self medicating and monitoring my own health and progress.