Finally saw Endo. he was very thorough and doing lots of bloodwork, etc. he sounded open to putting me on Armour, but he felt right now it might be too strong since my numbers are not that bad. he ended up putting me on a starting dose of 25 generic loevothroxine and is willing to up it to 50 in a few weeks if I don't have any relief from symptoms. He is also open to switching me down the line to another med if I want to.
Is this an okay place to start? Should I insist on Armour or Synthroid if I am at the early stage of Hashimoto.. TSH 4.33 all other very much normal. I am so tired of not feeling well I want to pop the generic and get started tomorrow morning! But should I wait and request something else which I probably won't be able to get next week. please advise.
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Thyroid2468
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Armour is not 'too strong' for you - what a rediculous idea! It's only as strong as the dose you take. Taking three grains straight off probably would be 'too strong', but one would never do that. One starts on 1/4 grain for two weeks and then increases by 1/4 grain every too weeks until reaching one grain, then hold for six weeks and retest.
But, doctors do like to start you on levo, and that does have certain advantages - for one thing, you can see how well you convert T4 to T3 - IF they do the right tests!
However, 25 mcg is too low a dose. This is something doctors just cannot get their heads around. It doesn't matter if you are what they call 'sub-clinical' (and they don't even really know what that means) because taking levo - thyroid hormone replacement - does not 'top up' the hormones your thyroid is making, it stops your thyroid making hormone and replaces them. So, if your starter dose is too low, you're going to feel worse, not better.
And, a TSH of 4.33 may be in what they call 'the normal range', but it is in no way normal. A normal (euthyroid) TSH is around 1, never over 2 and you are technically hypo when it reaches 3. So, there is no doubt that you are hypo. And, as you have Hashi's, it's going to get worse, not better.
So, I wouldn't waste my energy insisting on starting on Armour, but I would insist on 50 mcg straight away. 25 mcg is too small a dose.
You actually said many of the things my gut was telling me! I am going to write him and tell him I will take 50 instead. And I actually have a second endo appointment next Friday ( I grabbed this one yesterday because I feel so shitty, so I squeezed into a cancellation). But he did lots of bloods, and I will be able to bring to new person and pick their brain. One thing that worried me is that he didn’t seem 100% that my body tremors are thyroid. But I hope the medicine will possibly address it.
No point in doing lots of bloods if you can't interpret them. And, most doctors can't!
Of course he wasn't 100% sure. He couldn't be. The problem with hypo symptoms is that they're non-specific. All of them could be caused by multiple other things. And, I don't suppose he knows much about symptoms, anyway.
Not curious at all how long the 'meds' take to work. They are not 'meds' in the normal sense of the word. They are not aspirins. They are hormones, and nothing works quickly with hormones.
Levo is T4 which is basically a storage hormone that doesn't do much until it is converted into T3. And that takes time. Then, they circulate round in the blood until they latch onto a cell receptor. That takes more time. The most essential thing to have when treating hypo is patience. Without that, you'll never get anywhere.
He didn’t seem totally opposed to prescribing it. But his answer made me confused and not confident about it. I have a second opinion next week, so perhaps will get better gage on different docs opinions and be more forward about my needs.
Most likely you won’t get Armor from any Endo you see this a lot here…. I actually had my Endo say “Eww” you know its made from a pig … “rolling my eyes”.
I hope you don't still go to someone who rolls his eyes! Actually this guy was a bit pliable. He listened a lot and was very open to various blood tests that I don't even think were on his mind (cortisol, Dhea, heavy metals, plus the reg B12, D etc.). However, the person I go to next week is much younger, I would love to see their response. I want someone telling me "lets do these bloods" not me telling him...However at least he was open!
Yeah his comment was pretty pathetic and it really came down to he didn’t want to prescribe it just like he won’t test FT3…. Thyroid disease in my experience isn’t seen by medical as an important health issue … take your pill and go away attitude that they all seem to have.
Oh dear no free T3 testing how can he know anything? He simply does not understand his supposed area of expertise and is not keeping up with current research - lazy and ill informed - not likely to inspire confidence is it?
My endo did. They thought I had Graves’ disease initially but he realised it I was atropic autoimmune thyroiditis, some sort of goiterless Graves/hashis hybrid and pretty horrible especially in the later stages. I had dreadful problems even getting a diagnosis so was very I’ll by te time I got treatment. I never hit in with Levothyroxine it dud save mi life but never made me properly better but NDT did.
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Am I going overactive due to Armour?
Underdosed to overdosed now confused
So fed up and so confused 😢 Have I been misdiagnosed? 
NP Thyroid
