Armour versus Levo

[Shi76DK]

Hi,

I have recently gone through a stressful period and my FT3 has dropped from 5.6 to 3.5. (TSH is 0.06 and Free Thyroxine is 11.8). I have hashis as Thyroglobulin antibodies are 258 and TPO 303.

I am on the AIP diet, all testing is done before 9am, fasting, no vitamin b or biotin containing supplements in the 7 days prior to the test.

The issue I now have is that I have been prescribed more Armour by a private dr which is just so expensive. I am thinking of switching to Levo but am concerned that I won't be getting any T3.

Any thoughts would be great.

Thank you

[GlowCoach Administrator]

I don't think doctors consider costs when recommending us hormones. Have you considered a T4/T3 combo? Would be a whole lot cheaper and cover the T3 aspect too.

Have you recently had key vitamins checked - ferritin, folate, B12 & D3? What were the results?

[Shi76DK in reply to GlowCoach]

No they don't. Especially when I've now been told by the same private doctor that ERFA Thyroid is cheaper and is similar to Armour.

Yes, I had these results:

Ferratin 40mg/L

Folate 40.4 nmol/L

B12 102 pmol/L

Vitamin D 111 nmol/lL

The pvt doctor has now suggested 2 grains ERFA and 50mcg levo. Unfortunately still expensive which is why I was wondering if going onto Levo on it's own is a good thing or not.

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

[GlowCoach Administrator in reply to Shi76DK]

It would be an upheaval switching to a synthetic combo but depends how much you can afford to an extent. Thybon-Henning T3 is 50-60p a 20mcg tablet and Levo just pennies.

[Litatamon in reply to Shi76DK]

Erfa has a 125 single pill that is rarely mentioned even when talking to pharmacists for pricing.

It might be a cheaper option.

-------

Also, for US customers Mark Cuban's new venture carries generic Cytomel (25) for insanely low prices. I pay $53 for a 30 day supply in Canada.

There the equivalent is $8.60 ?? for 30 days and$19.20 for 90 days.

costplusdrugs.com/

.

[pennyannie]

Hello Shi76DK and welcome to the forum :

I'm not sure you can compare these two different treatment options since they are totally different.

Did you start off on T4 - monotherapy and find it didn't help you much ?

You could try T4 + some T3 - Liothyronine - but I don't think it's as easy as simply extrapolating the Armour T3 and T4 content and switching to a similar synthetic dose.

No thyroid hormone replacement works well until core strength vitamins and minerals - ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D are up and maintained at optimal levels.

[Shi76DK in reply to pennyannie]

Hi and thank you.

I did start off with Levo and seemed okay with it. I went private because I wanted my antibodies checked and wanted someone who would look at my results and treat holistically. The pvt doctor then prescribed Armour which I've been on since.

These were my last results so I presume my iron could be improved.

Ferratin 40mg/L

Folate 40.4 nmol/L

B12 102 pmol/L

Vitamin D 111 nmol/lL

Thanks for replying.

[pennyannie in reply to Shi76DK]

Can you please add the ranges please :

We can all read everything you are writing so you don't need to write everything out twice -

to daw our attention back so to see new information - you can do that by typing an @ and then the person's name without any spaces and it should turn blue and that means that person has been ' pinged ' to look back at your message.

I read no thyroid hormone works well until ferritin is up and over 70 - I now aim for 100 - active B12 75++ ( serum b12 500 ++ ) folate at around 20 and vitamin D at around 100:

[pennyannie]

Efra and Armour are the 2 brands of NDT that the NHS dispense.

I believe of the two Efra is meant to be " with less fillers " and the T3 and T4 content are both different by a small percentage -

Armour is 9mcg T3 + 38 mcg T4 - whereas Efra is 8 mcg T3 + 35 mcg T4 :

Once your vitamins and minerals are up and optimal I think it might be cheaper to try the T4 again and maybe add in some T3 - Liothyronine is the cost of this option is becoming prohibitive.

Many forum members self medicate as they can't afford to go private - myself included.

I believe your antibody levels suggest Hashimoto's Auto Immune disease and you will experience erratic swings of thyroid hormone production ;

You might like to read around on Dr Izabella Wentz website - thyroidpharmacist.com