Hi, I was just diagnosed with hypothroidism. I was told I am borderline. They wanted to give me synthroid but after doing my own research I realized anything synthetic stinks and its not good for you.

Just as well I am very sensitive, caffeine in coffee or medications mess me up that way.

So I did some research and came across Armour . Its supposed to be all natural. I am wondering if I made a better choice for myself or if there is anything else out there that is better. I realize doctors like to make their money and its not about you. So I am pretty much trying to be my own doctor.

Please advise.

Thank you, rita

Rita-

Armour is only a T3 suppliment. Most of the time when you are on medication-you get a T4 suppliment. Extra T4 converts to T3.

I wouldn't discount synthroid. Many people are on it and are just fine. Armour is usually used as an extra when the synthroid is not enough to boost T3.

You might want to go here:

http://thyroid.about.com/mbody.htm

This site has a lot of information on the thyroid and alternatives to medication.

Being your own doctor can be very dangerous. There are many doctors who genuinely care about their patients. If you feel like your is in it for the money, I would get another doctor. Try going to a local women's clinic (I am assuming you are female?).

Paleoanth

I was told armour is t3 and t4. Anything synthetic is bad for you from what I understand.
I would like to play it safe. Alot of people I see in chat rooms prefer armour because there are alot of people too that didn't get better but worse and felt worse.

Considering that I am so sensitive I dont believe synthetic is good because I am the type I will feel every side effect. I never put drugs in my body and whenever I go to the doctor and they prescibe anything to me I get the side effects .

Can you understand my concerns ? I would like to know what you are taking.

Thanks for your opinion.

Of course I understand! Medications can be tricky thing, especially if you are sensitive to them. You might want to spend some time on that web site-there is a lot of information there on different meds and alternatives. There is also a message board on weight loss and thyroid. Lots of information there as well.

I am on Levoxyl which is a synthroid. I don't suffer from a lot of side effects from meds, though-so that might not be a good option for you. I would have a harder time taking something like Armour-I am a vegetarian and from what I understand Armour is made from pigs. I do know that a lot of American doctors don't like to prescribe Armour-I am not sure why. I just remember seeing a lot of people on the message board over at the thyroid site complaining their docs don't want to go with Armour. If you can arm yourself with as much information as possible about the benefits of taking a more natural thyroid replacement and point out your history of problems with synthetic meds, you might be able to convince him/her.

Keep me posted on what you find out and what you decide to do. I don't think you can get Armour without a prescription (can you?) so you will probably have to get a doc on your side.

i DONT KNOW IF ANYONE IS GIVEN STATS LIKE MINE , BUT YOU BE THE JUDGE AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK.


MY TEST RESULTS CAME BACK AS FOLLOWS ;

TSH - 2.084 NORMAL RANGE IS : 0.0350 - 5.500

T3 - 35 normal range 24 - 39

T4 - 7.1 normal range 4.5 - 12.0


HIGH TRYGLCERIDES : 151 normal range 0 - 149


NOW MY DOCTOR SAID I AM BORDERLINE AND I AM HYPOTHROIDISM.

DOES THAT LOOK LIKE I AM A CANDIDATE FOR HYPOTHROIDISM.

ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE WITH THESE STATS OR HAS ALOT OF EXPERIENCE IN THIS SUBJECT. NEED HELP.
PLEASE ADVISE

Oh my goodness, Margarita, I am so envious that your doctor will consider treating you with medications even though your number is not terribly high at 2.01....

Mine was 2.95, I have been having obvious hypothyroid symptoms including losing the outer half of my eyebrows, unsually low body temps, and very thin brittle fingernails...not to mention feeling lousy and tired all the time....

But my doctor told me 2.95 was completely normal and healthy and that my symptoms must be all in my head (hmm...including my eyebrows?)....(I have Army health care - some Army docs can be real jerks)....

In fact he told me to go see a psychiatrist when I kept insisting that I felt low on energy and got sick all the time and needed so much more sleep than a normal person usually needs.

I wish with all my heart that I could find a doctor who would let me try medications for a sluggish thyroid, with a TSH of 2.95...let alone lower than that....

Love, Leora

Hi Margarita,

I've use Snythroid, Unithroid, Levoxyl, Armour,Cytomel w/ Snythroid, Armour w/Levoxyl,and now Westthyroid. Westthyroid is another natural brand with both T4 & T3 from pigs.

The addition of Cytomel to Snythroid was great for a few days and helped resolve things that were not being helped by Snythroid alone. It had immediate effects since you don't have to wait for T3 to be effective. However I was very sensitive to the sythetic T3, it upset my stomach and after a few days I was waking up in the middle of the night reguritating!

The Armour alone was great but my old Doc wouldn't let me get enough of a dose to bring my TSH down below 4.75. On my own I started adding in a bit of Levoxyl that helped a great deal until they (King Pharmacys) changed the mix and the process of Levoxyl causing the same problems that I experience with the Cytomel.

Changed Doc's and he put me on Westthyoid. Developed a problem that I now know is unrelated but it scared me so I had him reduce my Westthyroid and supplement with Levoxyl.

This time I had learned a trick from one of Mary Shomon's newsletter and the Levoxyl didn't bother me as much. I put it in a gel capsule.

After I figured out that the problem that I was experiencing wasn't thyroid or medication related I've gone back to Westthyroid alone.

So I guess what I'm telling you is that my preference is Natural thryoid.

Just thought I'd drop this into the conversation...the new range for TSH is .4 to 2.0 THe old range was .4-5.5. So margarita...you are BARELY out of range under the new guidelines and in the middle for the old ones. I've taken Synthroid (baaad for me), Synthroid w/ Cytomel (even worse), and I"m finally stable on Levoxyl. SYnthroid and Levoxyl are both T4 but are made by different manufacturers. Yes they are synthetic but it really just depends on how your body processes the pill. SYthroid did terrible things to me (edema, weight GAIN, sluggishness) but as soon as I started on Levoxyl, all those went away and I felt imediately better within days.

Also..leora, there are thyroid supplements out there...the name escapes me now...but you can buy those at vitamin stores or on line (I think GNC even has one??) but you could try one and see if that helps. That and keep looking for a doctor to help you. It may be something else IN ADDITION to a mild thyroid problem. For me it was allergies. Once the allergies had been addressed, I started losing weight (thank to LCing) my levels all got better and my TSH went from 5 to 2.5.

Good luck ya'll

Depending upon the exact testing method used by a lab, TSH ranges can differ considerably. There is not one definitive range that can be applied to test results in general.

When you get your test results, ask for the range-of-normal. Otherwise, one might easily use the WRONG range and come to the incorrect conclusion.

Just FYI.

Armour does not make a lot of money making their thyroid. They are a meat packing industry and use pig/cow thyroid. It does contain BOTH T3 and T4. The ratio is 80/20 or vice versa, not sure. Several years ago they were going to stop producing it and there was such an outcry, they reconsidered. You can go to the Armour site for more information.

There is quite a lot of money to be made in the synthetic drug market. The drug reps hate Armour and actually convince Drs. that it isn't any good.

In the past 15 years I have tried them all, synthetics that is, with not much luck. So I went to an endocronologist (sp) and he immediately put me on Armour.

BTW, some people cannot convert T4 to T3, so Synthroid won't work as well.

Good luck, hope it doesn't take you as long as it took me to figure it out.

just came across your post and noticed another person mentioned armour is just t3..I have to let you know that it is not.. It is both t3 and t4..My daughter was just put on it and I educated myself for hours on that med.. its very good and natural. go to www.armourthyroid.com, and read for yourself.

I didnt read the whole thread, and I agree with thyroid.about.com . My dh is hypothyroid and was on sythroid and he didnt like it, we found a holistic doctor that did not take our insurance but we know ,from that website, that she will prescribe armour. Which as far as I remember has t-3 and t-4 ,especially since it is a pigs thyroid,you think it would. My dh feels much better , he has been on it for a few yrs now. We went to several drs that didnt want to prescribe armour , they all kinds of excuses, but I know their number one reason is the kickback they get from the drub company. Go to about .com and do some research and check the top docs that prescribe t-3 and t-4, youll be happy you did.

Synthroid is only t-3 or 4 cant remember which, I know it just got approved by the fda ,last year , I think. Before that it was grandfathered in.
I just went to the armour thryroid website and they have a doctor locator , how cool. My dh's new doctor gives him armour ,only because he was on it prior to seeing him. Otherwise he wouldnt either.