Have been on Armour. Dr added Synthroid this week after these results. I have never been on both Armour and Synthoid. Has anyone felt better on both?
Posts: 196 | From Pa | Registered: Mar 2004
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Sammi
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 110
posted
Wow, you must feel pretty bad with these results.
Your doctor probably added Synthroid because your Free T4 is below normal. Synthroid is a T4 only med whereas Armour is T3 and T4.
How long have you been on Armour?
Posts: 4682 | Registered: Oct 2000
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posted
Synthroid cam mess you up...Naturethyroid out of Canada is what my dr uses. amour was reformulated in 2009 and many are not doing well on it.
Posts: 871 | From orange county, ca. | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
also have you had your RT# done...you are not converting T# to T$ so your RT# could be high..blocking the thyroid receptors..Go to Stopthethyroidmadness.com site and read up on that there...there is also a ratio table for your tests.
Posts: 871 | From orange county, ca. | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
Sammi, I have been feeling achy and tired, but thought it was the lyme/babesia. I have been on Armour for several years. My reg. MD said I have hashimoto from the Antibody test that was done over a year ago. My LLMD wrote for this test through Labcorp. and has been treating with the Armour - now adding Synthroid. I did not see a RT3 done. I can ask about that when I go next week. Wondering if I should go to an endocrinologist, or if LLMD should handle this. It seems that TBD's play havoc with thyroid and I do not fully understand that yet.
Posts: 196 | From Pa | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
your dr. began you on sybthroid because your tsh is too high. when your tsh is off the others usually follow. you must be very tired with a tsh of 17..the synthroid will bring that back to normal..keep in mind though that if you ever take rifampin this will interfere with the synthroid and you will have to increase your dose to make up for that.
Posts: 38 | From USA | Registered: Jun 2012
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posted
Yes, I am very tired much of the time. It seems like it takes a couple of hours to wake up, then I do something and just want to lay down. Hopefully this will get better. Thanks for the heads up on rifampin. I need to check to see if anything else I am taking is interfering. I started Lunesta so that is one to check. Even tough I'm tired during the day, I can't sleep well without help, but his has been since the Lyme, etc. kicked in. Thanks.
Posts: 196 | From Pa | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
i dont think you should be taking lunesta at least until your tsh is back to normal...its a terrible idea. the tsh is one of the few blood tests which even a drop out of range means you need meds and 17 is way too high for any dr. to be prescribing sleeping meds to you..the tsh of 17 makes you way too tired..(also cold) and im not your dr. but no dr. has any business telling you to take sleeping pills until your tsh is back in normal range..i cannot stress how irresponsible that is. please keep taking the synthroid..or mabey if its not been too long you can switch to levothyroxine(the generic of synthroid) some people have insomnia from the brand name and not the levothyroxine, however its not good to switch after beginning one..unless its only been a week or so. im not sure what your dose is or how long you have been on it but if you tell me those 2 answers then i think i can say it is safe to take an xtra 12 or 25 mcg for 2 or 3 days just to get it in your system. i dont think anything else is interfering...rifampin is the biggest problem for interaction with synthroid. and it will get better..unfortunatly it takes 6 weeks to fully accumulate in the body, which is why it may be ok to take an xtra 12-25 mcg for a few days...it will make you feel better..but either way it will kick in its just not an easy fix...as i stated it takes 6 weeks. make sure your dr. upkeeps the bloodwork at least every 3 months.some only do every 6 months and thats way too long to go unchecked as once you get to normal it will still change from time to time..a great dr. will give yo a standing order to do your tsh as often as 1x a month..you'll be ok but please get off the sleeping pills until your tsh is regulated and hopefully then you won't need them. mahalo! oh very important which i'm assuming your dr. told you but in case he didn't..take the synthroid in the morning on an empty stomach with a full glass of water..wait 1/2 hour to 45 mins before eating...iron, calcium and abx products should be taken 4 hours before or after as they will inhibit the absorbtion of each other. (if your dr. didn't tell you that find someone better as this is common knowledge for a dr.)
Posts: 38 | From USA | Registered: Jun 2012
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posted
TSH is high, and yet T4 is low, but T3 is high, indicating that either T4 is not being produced in response to TSH stimulation, or the bulk of it is becoming reverse T3 and some of it is becoming T3. Something is screwy. You want most of the T4 to be converted to T3, not RT3. RT3 goes up in chronic high stress, and is associated with disordered sleep.
Posts: 60 | From Maine | Registered: Jan 2012
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posted
If you go on Stopthe thyroid madness.com site it will explain RT3.. You must clear out that excess with cytomel for about 8 weeks then start with thyroid meds...but you must always check and correct adrenals first by a saliva test.
Posts: 871 | From orange county, ca. | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
Never inflict suffering upon yourself by waiting to start synthroid with a tsh out of range.
Posts: 38 | From USA | Registered: Jun 2012
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posted
I have been on 25mcg levothyroxin for a week now (in addition to the Amour). Am trying to read more about it. A little confusing so it will take me time to truly understand. LLMD visit is this Tuesday, so hopefully will see where to go from there. Thank you for your info. Is this as confusing to others as it is to me?
Posts: 196 | From Pa | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
basically your body is not producing enough of the thyroid stimulation hormone (tsh). levothyroxine helps you out and synthetically adds what your body isn't producing enough of. when you take the levothyroxine it takes 6 weeks to get the amount that your body has of the hormone with your 25 mcg. If it isn't enough (but 25 mcg is perfect for a tsh of 17), but were it not enough then your tsh in 6 weeks will show where you are. Even if it is normal in 6 weeks which i think it will be, it will change every now and then, going up or down and thats why bloodwork every couple of months is necessary to be sure you are still in the normal range. You'll get used to it..its no big deal after a while. hope you are feeling better. (after i had my thyroid and lymph nodes removed the surgeon forgot to tell me how to take it and i ended up with a tsh over 63 so i know how yucky you feel.) on the flip side on occasion you will find that your tsh is low which means you need to reduce your dose..and the symptoms are completly opposite. don't worry about not understanding yet..you'll be an old pro in no time!
Posts: 38 | From USA | Registered: Jun 2012
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posted
maybe the t4 med will help, maybe not (I do tolerate a combo of Thyroid and t4) If not, it seems logical to just up the dose of Thyroid. (I think that maybe this would have been the first thing to try)
Posts: 366 | From Europe | Registered: Nov 2008
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