Armour thyroid withdrawal symptoms
Common Questions and Answers about Armour thyroid withdrawal symptoms
armour-thyroid
I was put on cytomel for low thyroid function in April. Since then, @5mcg 5x?day, my T3 rose and my T4 fell, so I was reduced to 5mcg qid. Still had sky high T3 and low T4.
2 weeks ago my hairdresser informed me of much hairloss at my temples and around hairline, but more thyroid type loss pattern than estrogen. So my Dr. is pulling me off cytomel, I had already been reduced to 5cg qid, AM temp 97.2-97.7, dependding on how late I sleep, the later the higher.
Two months ago today, I began having symptoms such as a racing heart, palpitations, a "heavy beating" heart and extreme fatigue. Since then, other symptoms have come up, such as weight loss, shortness of breath and chest pain (more soreness than pain). A stress test showed that my heart was in the clear, a chest x-ray showed my lungs looked fine, and a liver ultrasound (long story) was also clean.
Recently I myself had my dosage increased also, as my thyroid is still not under control now, and has not been for about 4 years. I have been doing quite a bit of research on the thyroid and am wanting to try Armour. The main reasons are my thyroid is not under control, I still have all the symptoms of it being hypo,(constipation, feeling weak, all over muscle aches, dry skin, weight gain...and yes, I go about every 3 months with flu like symptoms for about 48 hours!
Hello,
Just a quick question - I have posted recently talking about symptoms of too much thyroid medication - I am on Armour thyroid. In members experience, are the symptoms of too much thyroid heart palpitations and lightheadedness or dizziness? I was thinking that the palpitations were from too much medication and lighheadedness from not enough. What I read on the board tends to both symptoms being from too much. I have both symptoms.
Thanks.
Synthyroid is a pure T4 medication. Armour is a natural Thyroid product and it contains BOTH T3 AND T4 components. Cytomel is a pure T3 med.
Your body only uses Free T3. The T4 in your body is converted to T3 before it is used.
If truly Hyper cutting the T3 components would make sense.
But again you need a Dr and the proper lab tests to help do this.
So you need to talk to the doctor about getting tested for Free T3, and make sure they do that every time you go in for tests. Also ask for an increase of the Armour to 60 mg daily. A good thyroid doctor will treat a hypothyroid patient clinically by testing and adjusting Free T4 and Free T3 as needed to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels. Symptom relief should be all important, not just test results.
After taking Armour thyroid for over 20 years for a thyroid nodule, I was changed to Synthroid because my TSH was too low. Now I have extreme fatigue, intolerance to cold, pain in my ear, a full feeling in my throat on the side of the thyroid nodule, a feeling of not getting a full breath, weight gain of over 30 pounds in the 2 years I've been on the synthroid. I used to do one hour of exercise at the gym 3 times a week and now can hardly do 30 minutes.
Or, you may have to find a good thyroid doctor that is willing to treat your symptoms by testing and adjusting your free T3 and free T4 levels with meds, as required to alleviate those symptoms.
Here is a good link about this whole subject area. A copy for your doctor can't hurt.
http://www.hormonerestoration.com/Thyroid.
I was put on Armour thyroid 2 months ago. I am very sensitive to meds so I was started on 15mgs for the first 10 days and then 15 mgs 2x a day after that. I was noticing that all of a sudden I have been more anxious than normal and couldnt understand why. I had a Drs. appt. with my regular Dr. and mentioned it to her and she said it could be the side affects of the armour. This is about how long it takes to get into the system and now I have this added anxiety. Could she be right?
I started with Armour Thyroid 15, then increased dose to 30 and started to have slight swelling of my fingers. When dose was increased to 60, swelling become worst, started to have some weird muscle pain, joint pain, appetite increased. I asked my doctor to switch to Levothyroxine and ALL my symptoms disappeared after 3 doses. Armour Thyroid is not natural for humans, but it's natural for pigs. I am glad I switched to Levothyroxine. I should do it earlier.
Had a total thyroidectomy and RAI in 2001, then RAI in 2007. I've been taking Armour thyroid for about 10 years now, my most recent labs show my TSH as hyperthyroid with the T4 and T3 normal range and he lowered my dose but I feel awful! I have extreme fatigue, crying at the drop of a hat, dry skin, hair failling out, memory fog. No idea what is going on? I've been on a lower dose for 4 weeks now, I felt better before he lowered my dose. Any ideas?
Well I've been on Armour Thyroid 1 grain split morning and early afternoon. Was on syntroid 125 mcg. My symptoms has seem to have gotten worse. Extreme nerve pain throughout my body with nerviness and shakes. Lack of appetite, bad headaches, tightness in the throat with a cough. This is the worst I've felt in along time and not sure what's causing the problem. Wasn't feeling good on the Synthroid either but these symptoms weren't as bad since I've switched to the Armour.
I have been taking Armour thyroid with satisfactory results. Unfortunately, I can't find a pharmacy that has it in stock. My M.D. has suggested that I begin taking Synthroid and I am scared that my symptoms may return. I am taking 90mg of Armour and my prescription is for 150mcg of Synthroid. If I have no choice and must change, how do you suggest I make the change.
After learning about the importance of Free T3 here on the Forum, I got mine tested and confirmed as low in the range. Got my doctor to switch my meds from Synthroid to Armour Thyroid. After some tweaking, I am now taking 3 grains of Armour. My Free T3 is now 3.9 (range of 2.3 - 4.2) and Free T4 is .84 (range of .60 - 1.50), and I feel best ever. For info my TSH has been around .05 or lower for about 30 years now.
Therefore I´m getting all the more convinced that I would rather use Armour Thyroid instead. But I have a question about Armour due to the fact that I have Hashimotos. I have caught information from many sources (books and internetsources) that the natural porcine hormone extracts in Armour "feeds" the TPO-antibodies and thus encreae the antibody titer. Is this true or is it only a myth? If Armour encreases the antibody titer I wouldn´t dare to ask my doctor to prescribe Armour.
Have you ever heard of the Armour Thyroid causing your pituitary glad to fair? My PA refuses to prescribe Armour and seems to think it is what's causing my TSH level to be extremely low(.03). But I think it's because I was taking 300 mcg of sythroid before my old PA put me back on 180mcg. I've been back on Armour for 2 months now and I feel 200% better than I ever did on the synthetic.
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