Why this site was created
Welcome to StopTheThyroidMadness.com. You might say I became a fledging thyroid patient advocate in 2002, when I started a site on Yahoo Groups. That site grew and grew, and so did my knowledge along with with everyone else’s. We have all been living guinea pigs and self-educated in the face of doctors who had little to NO insight about Armour, correct treatment, and side issues like Ferritin and Adrenals.
And having a website on the side was something always on my mind. But with the growing Yahoo group, and with my busy private life, it kept being swept under the carpet.
But last year, I started paying attention to a few doctor-to-patient websites. And I was APPALLED at the LOUSY advice a particular doctor was giving desperate patients who came to their site, seeking help. The more I read, the more frustrated and angry I got. Thus, I finally put “the pedal to the metal” in the Fall of 2005, and with the help of a website designer, put all my articles and information together, as well as brought on board a few other knowledgeable thyroid patients whom I knew could offer a lot.
The result: Stop the Thyroid Madness. This site is intended to educate and to give HOPE to the millions of thyroid patients who remain sick due to untreated hypothyroid, or under-treated hypothyroid.
Additionally, this site is dedicated to a young and desperate gal named Miserable Mom, who came to one of these doctor-to-patient sites, got advice which only left her sick, and she never came back again.
Important notes: All the information on this website is copyrighted. STTM is an information-only site based on what many patients worldwide have reported in their treatment and wisdom over the years. This is not to be taken as personal medical advice, nor to replace a relationship with your doctor. By reading this information-only website, you take full responsibility for what you choose to do with the information on STTM or its outcomes. See the Disclaimer and Terms of Use.
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Hi
I’ve battled this since 2002. Last year I met a doctor who actuallt believed me. He got me on levaxin. I gave him loads of articles and asked him to read the book, which he did. He called it an eye opener. Unfortunately for me he has moved on and I’ve had to start from the beginning again.
There are few patients here in Sweden that get NDT, very few.
My stamina was some what better. But due to an emotional trauma two weeks ago, I’m just as fatigued as I was before. I’ve asked for the synthetic T3, but they tell me no. I’m at a loss. I have all the symptoms but I’m considered healthy.
The doctors here in Sweden don’t want to educate themselves, or better their knowlegde. Unfortunately for us. I tried to order supplements from the US but they don’t export to Sweden. Thought it might help.
THS:0,45
T4: 19
That’s all the testing they’ve done.
Even though my situation is like it is, I’m thankful for this web site. Keep up the good work.
Hi i know how you feeI.To find a good doctor who lishen is very hard i live in Greece and the situation here is pretty much the same too (i can say worse) I was taking T4 levothyroxine almost 200mg and i was feeling like 100-Year-Old Man.I visited 7 Endos (yep 7!) and they all keep saying to me: YOUR TSH IS NORMAL! And i was like…… But Doc i have depression, pains in my body,fatigue,poor stamina,constipation,thinning hair,brain fog,easy weight gain,puffy face and many other symptoms.There’s something going wrong with me,maybe we need to test my antibodies? Endo:Nope we must focus only in TSH test and your TSH is NORMAL so your just fine i suggest you to visit a psychiatrist to take the right treatment because you need Antidepressants 🙁 I finally checked my antibodies and yep i had hashimoto the doctors have no idea what they’re doing.They also refuse to write me synthetic T3 too.I wanted T3 to combine it with my syntheticT4 but they not even lishen.I hope someday something change.Regarding Janie and this web site, what can i say? a Thanks isn’t enough you really woke me up while i had no clue what is happening to me, saved my life.
Hi Janie:
It’s our, the hypothyroid population’s luck, that you’ve not only survived being hypo, but you’ve persisted in understanding thyroid disease, and indomitably fought thru: Doc/Dogma!
Since the fall of 2007, I’ve been accumulating info re: CSN type (sleep pathologies described as various forms of insomnia) Disordered/Unrestorative sleep.
(Even) The medical “profession” (esp. since: 2007/08) is now acknowledging that Non-Restorative Sleep may be a significant pre-morbidity for MANY health pathologies: Endocrine, Cardiovascular, Mental, Behavioral, and so on.
I wonder: is hypothyroidism a pre/co/ or post-morbidity of Disordered/Unrestorative sleep (esp.: CNS type)?
Ironically 4x more medical resources are poured into OSA as opposed to CNS, Disordered Sleep. Hopefully CNS Disordered Sleep will get the same resource allocation as OSA.
I wonder if you or any other STTM contributors might be familiar with the new high profile role Non-Restorative Sleep plays in human pathology, esp. hypothyroidism?
Good luck to us all in our effort to survive.
Hello! I was diagnosed with hypothyroidisim about 5 weeks ago. Lab values have returned to “normal”, but still feel like you know what! Looking back, I started having symptoms fall 06, but lab values were “normal” then, so I was not diagnosed til my lab results were out of wack! So…this website is really helping me! My husband and I are both nurses and he is working on a master’s as a nurse practicioner! Thanks so much
Thank you for being an advocate for thyroid sufferers and victims of the traditional medicine. I went to my endo yesterday and more or less begged to be put on Armour. He told me he wouldn’t change my meds because my TSH was perfect. I have been feeling like hell for 4 years on Eltroxin and I just want to feel well again. He said that my fatigue is not from my thryoid as my TSH is perfect. Normally, I would be leaving his office in tears, however, I am awaiting an appointment with a doctor who does prescribe Armour and I am hoping that is the answer for me too. My endo did however, agree to give me a lab requisition for all the blood tests that you recommend on this website. I have requested a copy be faxed to me (so I can bring it to my new doctor!) Keep up the great work on this website! Jen
I am not making this up. Check the web links for yourself. Our government warned Kodak to sheild their warehoused photographic film canisters because the govenment did not want to be liable for damaged and fogged film from the radioactive fallout from Nevada testing. This took place at a time when I was being raised on a farm and drinking whole milk from our own cows that my mom pasteurized on the stove. We lived in one of the counties in Iowa that got some of the worst fallout in the nation. I was 1 to 2 years old then. The cows were eating grass that had nuclear fall out on it. I’ve checked the maps. I have taken the survey. I have good reason to suspect my hypothyroid problems are due to these events occuring at a most suseptible age as a toddler. The web links are:
http://harkin.senate.gov/specials/20020301-fallout.cfm
http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/fallout/default.htm
http://www.downwinders.org/indexend.htm
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600141354,00.html
Janie, I have a long story to tell too but basically I was diagnosed with Hypothyroid 9 years ago. My symptoms never improved and got worse. I suggested that the TSH normal range may not be accurate to my Thyroid function. I was told this was impossible by my endo and assured the tests were reliable. I doubled up on my Synthroid and felt better. However my TSH levels were way too low according to my Endo and he insisted I stop doubling up. Months later I was much worse. I again felt my TSH was not properly being measured. My Endo tested me one last time at TSH 8.8, increased my synthroid slightly. The next day I went to a new Gen Pract. He did a blood test, sent to the same lab and got TSH 34.35. Gen Pract increased my synthoid significantly. Now the Gen Pract says I am in normal range but I still feel lousy and getting worse. I feel my TSH may be like a 450 lb man being weighed on a 300 lb bathroom scale. The reading would be 150 lbs even though it is clear as day that cannot be. Is it possible a doctor’s perscription for a blood test could set limits on the TSH level range they are testing and thus I am “Tipping the scale”? That is the only thing that can make sense to me.
May 8, 2006!
Dear Janie! You are our Earth Angel indeed! Thank you for everything that you do for all of us! This site absolutely rocks and so do you Janie! *Congratulations on becoming an advocate for all of us who suffer under the hands of the doctors that have become our foes!*
I love the Blog commentaries, let the Truth be Told, let our knowledge combined be to our Power and not to the big pharmaceuticals, that have one agenda in mind, is to keep us sick and to make tons of money off of us who suffer daily!
I thank God for a caring and totally cool Doctor that I have that grants me all the support I need, including dessicated thyroid!
This site is right on the mark here, and I am absolutely stoked and amazed! I commend the creator of this website, Janie, your mission in life is to change, inhance, educate and relieve all of us, who have been absolutey lied to by you know who!
I will forward this site to everyone I know that is suffering from thyroid conditions, and also the link between adrenal fatigue and low ferritin levels, in which I too suffer from and self medicate, have noticed an absolute diff in my physical well being!
In the End we all will benefit!
Sincerely, Elaine
That is true about iodine missing in his diet. But Armour does give patient iodine, since thyroid hormones are composed mainly of iodine. But, several of us are experimenting with iodine and will report the results eventually. So far, there are no huge results as far as the thyroid improving.
There is a missing nutrient in the American diet. Iodine. It’s the only thing that feeds the thyroid gland. 8 out of 10 Americans have low thyroid function. All forms of cancer begin here. Feed your thyroid glands. Armour doesn’t. Synthroid doesn’t And all their “cousins” don’t. They are a misguided attempt by MD’s to give hormone replacement rather than feed the thyroid in order for it to make its own hormones. I’ve yet to have a client with a dysfunctional thyroid…but 8 out 10 have a thyroid that’s starving!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Joe, come on into the FORUMS where we can answer questions, such as the 2 grains you started on, which was too high to “start” on actually, and how to raise. 🙂 We have good information to share with you.
Janie,
Thanks so much for your site. I have always felt my thyroid wasn’t square. I became panhypopituitary as a result of botched sinus surgery in a military hospital. I was sent to a shrink who told me I was low thyroid, not necessarily nuts. I have been fighting with endos since. At the time I was only on 100 mcg. I was recently on 180 Synthroid and doing so so, still unable to work, which I so loathe. Once it was raised to 200 and my heart started racing and I was told to wait 6 months! My DO primary care immediately lowered it to 180. My 5th endo wanted to do the TSH thing and lower me to 150 mcg. I told her I would get worse, in 2 weeks I did get worse, told her, and the office told us, ‘well you have a followup in 3 months’. So, I have to suffer for 3 months? I changed endos. The new one did add 5mg of T-3. It helped but not much. They agreed to start me on Armour, at 2 grains. Well, I have felt some better, especially mentally, but have a long way to go and am confused as to what time frame we should be raising and by what amount? I now weigh 220, up from 190. They want to see me back about 6 weeks after starting the thyroid. Should they raise me 1/4 or 1/2 then? Sorry, I don’t know what my free T-3 is. I have about 3/4 of the symptoms you list. Going from 180 down to 150 synthroid made my mental health take a nose dive as well as my energy. My aches and pains went up, too. I have never had a good nights sleep since the sinus surgery damaged my pituitary gland in 1997. Life has not held much joy. All your stuff makes good logic.
r/Joe Brundage
Love this site!! What relief to hear from other patients dealing with the same issues. I had my entire thyroid removed along with my parathyroid, about 8 years ago. It has been a challenge is say it nicely since then. I currently take 1 & 1/2 grains of Armour and my doctor will not allow me to go any higher. I hear, work out more….( I work out more than most people!) or, You must get your diet under control ( Ha! ) my biggest weight gain came when I consumed under 800 calories a day! and the famous, it’s all in your head, your not too fat and you have to learn to live with it and lets not forget the , your not getting any younger line! AHHHHH!!! Talk about being frustrated and exhausted. This site helped me realize that I am NOT alone and it’s not ‘in my head’. Geez!!! To all the patients out there who no longer have a thyroid gland and are stuggling, keep fighting it’s YOUR body and never lose hope! It’s sooooooo refreshing to see others that are out there just like me wondering from time to time, hmmm…is it all in my head??? Keep smiling and have the best day possible.
Hi Lili. Please forgive me for making your post shorter–the replies to his post are getting so long! LOL. Maybe in the future we can add more about goitrogens! Thanks for the suggestion. Keep an eye on the GIVE ME A BREAK list. I am continually adding to it, because docs are continually earning the GIVE ME A BREAK award! Sad. :o(
Hi Janey, I’ve just discovered your site, and I love it ! I’ve learnt so much in just one morning.
However, if I had one little criticism to make, it would be that you don’t insist hard enough, or talk long enough about goitrogens. Learning about goitrogens has made such a difference to my life….and if there is one thing that should be insisted on, it is that soy is poison…it is gradually sliding into everything…I also have to avoid strawberries and walnuts. But I can eat almonds, peaches and cabbage — which are also goitrogens. It should therefore be pointed out that everyone is different, and what is very bad for one person, is harmless for another.
I must say I had a good laugh at your ‘give me a break’ rubric — although it’s not really funny when you think that these idiots hold our lives in their hands. When I asked my doctor, mentioned above, to add FT3 to my blood test, he assured me that it didn’t exist — there was no such test !
More seriously, the GP I had before this one, didn’t want my TSH to go below 14.5 — although the norm was 0.5 to 5.00 — because, he said, he didn’t want me to ‘tip over’ into hyper…He also told me that Armour was dangerous, and banned in France (it isn’t, but you can’t buy it), and I was lucky to have such wonderful synthetic hormones to take. And I was far too hypo, and miserable, and brain-fogged to argue with him. Such is life.
Best wishes, Lili
Mel, you are getting ready to begin a WONDERFUL journey. Armour works! Just be VERY informed, because the doctors ARE NOT. Read Mistakes Patients Make, and Things We Have Learned, plus Natural Thyroid 101, and Synthroid doesn’t work. And insist on what is right!! Good luck!! :o)
I have never written any comments before about subjects on the web, often just view them and leave. However, I am beside myself with the Thyroid Madness!!! I was diagnosed with a Goiter (spelling?) and had my thyroid shrunk down to nothing and was given synthroid. Three years later – I feel like crap. Have complained to any and every doctor that would listen and all they could come up with was Prozac.
I was handed the book Hormones, Health and Happiness, and was shocked to find “my story.” I am not crazy – the medical profession is. I have all the symptoms of Hypothyroidism. Major fatigue, difficulty losing weight, cold hands and feet, sensitive to cold, difficulty thinking, hard to concentrate, depressed, hair loss, dry skin, trouble sleeping, low sex drive, and the list goes on and on. Yet every medical professional I have seen – does not know what to do for me after the “protocal” blood tests and sends me on my way – offering Prozac and insisting I lose more weight to feel better. At 5 “4, I weigh 157 lbs., overweight yes -but hardly obese.
I have an appointment with a nurse practioner who specializes in hormone replacement and treatment. My first step is to replace my synthetic Synthroid with Armour thyroid. This has been a very frustrating journey, and I encourage others out there – to listen to that “inner voice” telling you that something is not right. I will let you know my results in a few months……
Hi Janie,
Thanks for setting up this website – I have benefited from it greatly. I am in Northern, NSW (Australia), we have 2 Dr’s in this town, both of whom think that there is nothing wrong with me – “That it is all in my head” – I was diagnosed with CFS over 17 years ago and it wasn’t until I started resaerching sites similar to yours that I learnt the truth, that my problem lies with my thyroid. Also it is great to see that Valerie is going to be in charge of the adrenal section she has been a great help to me with wonderful advise.
Best wishes
Judy
TO EVERYONE: before I start getting way too many responses, LOL–if you need help and patient-to-patient knowledge interaction, please visit our new FORUMS! There are patients there READY and WAITING to help you figure things out! :o)
Hi Trish. Those equivalency charts are really poor. If I had gone by them, I’d only be on 1 1/4 grains!! Do you mean you were on .137 mcg?? Because it doesn’t come in mg. So not knowing exactly what you were on, I used to be on .125 mcg. of Levoxyl and my current optimal dose of Armour is 3 1/2 grains (3 3/4 in the winter). Check the THINGS WE HAVE LEARNED article to understand how to start on Armour, and the raises. MISTAKES PATIENTS MAKE is also good as a followup. Good Luck. Like with your dear mom, ARMOUR WORKS.
I finally got a Dr. (women) who will prescribe Armour in NH. My endo laughed at me when I showed him my adrenal tests from my CCN. (Certified Clinical Nutritionist) He said it is witchcraft! Ha! I wanted to laugh back at him. I asked him to prescribe Armour and he said he would only prescribe Levoxyl. My mom has been on Armour for 15+ years with no problems and she is 75. So now it’s my turn to try it. I have had years of fatigue (CFS thank you!) due to incompetent Dr’s that have prescribed antidepressents for “a fatigued, run down mom with 2 kids” when I was telling them something was wrong! Now that I lost 70% of my hair this summer, I have to take my heath into my own hands. Quick question: From 37.5 mg of Levoxyl – would you say 1 gram (60 mg) of Armour would be APPROX equivalent? I know it is “apples and oranges” as my Dr. says, but I don’t want to end up with more hypothyroid symptoms! It’s not a road I ever want to go down again! Thanks for your great website and support!
Thank you Steve! We’ve come a long way, and want to do EVERYTHING possible to prevent the suffering that MILLIONS of us have had on T4-only meds, and dosing by the TSH. My suffering was profound–worse than many, and that suffering propelled me to do ANYTHING I could to prevent others from going through the same hell. Glad you stopped by! Armour REALLY works!
Janie,
Thanks for the monumental work of your website. I’ve been looking into this whole natural thyroid issue for sometime. Within a short time of surfing your site I noticed some of the same websites I had researched. Bravo!
Steve
Oops. Let me say, in all respect, that a Colorado thyroid group has as many disappointed patients of Rees-Jones as happy. If it was ME, I’d be sure to insist to R-J that I do NOT want to dose by the TSH, that I want to raise my Armour according to the elimination of symptoms, and get my free T3 towards the top of the range, if not slightly over. Good luck!!
For the lady in Glenwood Springs, CO:
Dr. Rees-Jones- endocrinologist 1550 S. Potomac St. Aurora, CO 80012 303-396-9445
They are just starting me on Armour. I have actually been seeing one of his Nurse Practitioners, Amy Stanwood. She impesses me as having more knowledge that the previous five MD endocrinologists I let go. r/Joe
I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of twenty. I didn’t want to believe it and was only too happy to follow the consultant’s words, ‘I’m sorry to tell you, that in my opinion, you have multiple sclerosis. So.’go away, try to forget about it’..
I was only too happy to follow those instructions. I didn’t want to hear his final words, And come back when it’s worse.
To cut a long story short, things did get a lot worse. I’m now assessed as needing 24-hr care. I collapsed out of the blue with a high temperature, went yellow, lost a lot of weight, and deteriorated rapidly. I was in a wheelchair within two years.
At the age of twenty in 1985, I was diagnosed with MS, although I have always questioned this diagnosis. A few years ago, by chance, I met a doctor who studied thyroid medicine beyond the normal medical training. Due to receiving thyroid supplementation treatment, my health improved dramatically. I now have five times as much energy, am mentally much sharper, far less prone to infections, as well as many other improvements. I consider taking Armour thyroid to have saved my life.
In 2000, I started sharing the research I had found so far on http://www.thyroidhistory.net (soon to be http://www.thyroidresearch.com)
best wishes,
Edna Kyrie
As a thyroid patient, I was once told I had CFS. I later learned that CFS is simply UNDERTREATED or UNTREATED HYPO. It seemed to show itself as a “new disease” right after the ridiculous TSH came into existence!
Naturethroid appears to be an excellent dessicated thyroid product……but I am concerned about the fact that you “moved up fast”. I learned myself–and have seen this with other patients—that you have to allow your body to adjust to the T3 slowly–a little at a time. Raising fast only puts strain on your body which hasn’t been used to the potent T3!!
And….your high free T3 may have nothing to do with being a good converter. It may have to do with having low cortisol from sluggish adrenals, which results in T3 and T4 building high in the blood because there’s not enough cortisol to distribute them to the cells! You sound like a strong candidate to have your adrenals tested, and as mentioned on the site, we have found the 24 hour adrenal saliva test to be the best! Go to the ADRENALS article and you’ll find links to sites where you can have yours tested, and without a prescription. It’s VERY common for thyroid patients to have sluggish adrenals, which causes problems when you try dessicated thyroid.
And by the way, a Ferritin of 46 is not horrible, but it’s surely NOT optimal. We’ve learned that it’s wise to get our Ferritin to at least 70-90. With a Ferritin of 46, you could easily have your storage iron severely depleted due to a long period or such. I know, because it happened to me, and it’s NOT fun when your Ferritin drops lower….
I am SO confused too. I started with my Drs. “dream” #’s but felt like I had CFS. My TSH was 1.18, frees were in low normal. I ordered Nature Throid online, and started with 1/2 gn….moved up to fast, to 2/1/2 gns….got hot sweaty, 99.4 temp. So backed down. I seemed to get hyper fast…like I’m stuck between 1/2 and 1gn…….so I was put on Levoxyl, just to see what I converted to T3. On 100mcgs. I got to 0.023on my TSH. My Ft4 was over the top, my FT3 was 400. I felt hyperthyroid again, 99.4 temp. joint pains headaches ect….I seem to convert my T4 to T3 VERY well, BUT without the T4, I am dead in the water. BUT must be the extra T3 that gets me. Has anyone dealt with this conversion issue? Or maybe I just need 1/4 gn.BID and all would work??? I am getting weird pains in my hands, like I haven’t had for 20 years, I know my ferritin is 46, but my hemglbin is high normal. I am new to all this thyroid stuff, THANK YOU for your help, Laura
Thanks Janie for remembering Miserable Mom. I remember her too. That was at the MedNoHelp thyroid site that has thrown me off twice for mentioning Armour when posters was not getting relief of symptoms on their T4 med and/or were being held hostage to a TSH lab value despite their obvious hypo symptoms.
Thank God you have the compassion to start a site where some people can learn that when their doc says “it can’t possibly be your thyroid, your TSH is normal” or “Synthroid is the best thyroid medicine” – that the statements are totally false….and that there is hope for resolution of their misery.
Thanks a ton! It does all make a lot of sense. The proof is in the pudding I suppose as I definately felt a TON better while on armour. I did also notice that a lot of people report needing between 2 and 3 grains for symptom relief. I do also have a phone consult with Dr. Rind in a week or so. Possibly he will be able to get me on the correct adrenal support so I can get my armour dosage back up where it needs to be. Thanks again for your valuable insight!
No, you have it wrong. Armour does NOT fatigue your adrenals, any more than the hormones of a healthy thyroid fatigue the adrenals!! Untreated or UNDERtreated hypothyroid fatigues the adrenals, because the adrenals are having to “make up” for the inadequacy of the thyroid. And chronic stress does the same to the adrenals. (And by the way, simply because your TSH was 2.8 doesn’t mean you were “borderline” hypo! The TSH is often VERY slow to reveal what is going on–another reason we as patients have found it to be a LOUSY test to rely on solely!) In all probability, the dose of Armour you were on eventually “revealed” the sluggish adrenals, not caused it, per se. I have noticed that it’s VERY rare that someone is adequately treated on 1 1/2 mgs. by the way. Either you were one of those rare ones, or you were undertreated, even with the great improvements you had on it, and didn’t know it!
There is some evidence that your adrenals can recover enough to allow you to once again raise your Armour, and perhaps you are in that area. But there’s also the possibility that you are going to need adrenal support. And be prepared that some folks are needing 20 mg, and occasionally more, before they can successfully tolerate the thyroid hormones from the raise. Remember, it’s cortisol that is needed to distribute the thyroid hormones from the blood to the cells. Some patients state that once they have been on adrenal support for at least 2 weeks, they can then begin raising their Armour.
And concerning the comment by doctors who think the T4 to T3 ratio is too high–there are enough folks out there who managed to stay on Armour their entire lives who will strongly dispute that!! LOL. We found a lady who was 90 years old and had been on Armour most of her adult life successfully and feeling great! And just because the 80/20 ratio is higher than the 93/7 ratio of the human thyroid, it doesn’t mean that you take SO much Armour that you are getting TOO MUCH T3. Most of us take enough to rid ourselves of symptoms, which happens to get our free towards the top of the range with NO symptoms of hyper whatsoever. Remember: lab ranges are HUMAN made. They are NOT the end-all to end-alls.
p.s. Soon there will be a Bulletin Board here with themed groups where you can ask questions like this of other thyroid patients. :o)
Hi there. First of all let me say that finding your website was a breath of fresh air! I’ll be brief but want your opinion on my situation if you would be kind enough to evaluate… I am really, really confused.
I found a great doctor in January of 2004 who started me on armour thyroid for “subclinical” or borderline hypothyroid. My tsh at that time was 2.8 I immediately started feeling better–hair coming back thicker, good energy, great positive outlook, etc. I was on 90 mg. of armour during this time and tolerating it well until about June of 2005 when I started noticing some wierd side effects, incredible fatigue, a lot of low blood sugar problems, etc. I ran some blood work and full saliva testing to find out that my adrenals were pretty low. I have had to cut back and taper off the thyroid since June of last year in order to be able to tolerate it. I am now down to a dose of 15mg (1/4 grain) that I split and take twice daily. My adrenal fatigue is slightly better at this dose but as you can guess, my hypothyroid symptoms are back. I have the option of taking some compunded bio-identical, slow release cortisol in 2.5 mg. or 5.0 mg. daily and then I am hoping to be able to get my armour dosage back up to where it needs to be. Looking back, it seems like the medicine that helped me so much in the begining (armour) actually fatigued my adrenals and now I am barely able to tolerate it. My questions: is it common for armour to fatigue the adrenals and how long should I be on the cortisol supplementation before I try to increase my armour dosage again? There are a lot of doctors out there who think that the t4 / t3 ratio in armour is too high and that the high t3 will eventually do more harm than good.. Any words of wisdom?
Thank you so much!
There is a Colorado Thyroid Group on Yahoo Groups, http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/coloradothyroidgroup/ and they have found a few doctors in Colorado that prescribe Armour, so you wouldn’t have to travel so far! And as a thyroid patient, I don’t agree that 2 grains is too much simply because it lowers your TSH to .01!! The true test is the complete removal of symptoms—just as was done before the TSH was ever invented!! My TSH is lower than yours! And taking your temp does give you a clue. Good luck! Janie p.s. In the near future, there will be a Bulletin Board up to invite questions just like this, with thyroid patients moderating the groups!
Help. I live in Glenwood Springs, CO. and the only Dr. to give me Armour is in Cheyenne, WY. I must deal with Dr.s here and lately 2 of them are saying my TSH is 0.01 and I’m taking 120 mg. of Armour which is too much. This 0.01 level has come up twice in 6 months. I’m starting to doubt. Should I just start taking my temp every morning. You are right about the madness. I have a benign nodule on my right thyroid. 15 years ago a Dr. said I can’t feel anything in your neck so stop taking the meds. WRONG!!!