Guest guest Posted December 15, 2008 Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 Ann, I am not an expert but I would offer 2 bits of advice; 1. By taking Armour you are replacing hormones your thyroid should be making. Its not a drug as such, its giving your body what it needs. Plus the hormones in Armour are natural as opposed to synthetic. My feeling is that it should be OK. 2. Check the information leaflet that comes with your anti-depressants and see whether it mentions hypothyroidism or interactions with thyroid meds. Marie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Thanks for helpful advice I really appreciate it. Its good to know there are some good people out there who care and know more about all this than I do. I suppose I could google it, its probably somewhere on the internet about interactions, also the British National Formulary might have this info. don't know if its on-line though. Ann > > Ann, I am not an expert but I would offer 2 bits of advice; > > 1. By taking Armour you are replacing hormones your thyroid should be > making. Its not a drug as such, its giving your body what it needs. > Plus the hormones in Armour are natural as opposed to synthetic. My > feeling is that it should be OK. > > 2. Check the information leaflet that comes with your anti-depressants > and see whether it mentions hypothyroidism or interactions with > thyroid meds. > > Marie > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 I am sure it it ok to take armour with SSRI's, I know Dawn does and I will be soon, there is a site you can visit which tell you about drug interactions, just google 'drug interactions' and it will bring it up, all you do then is list the drugs you are taking and it will check if there are any potential interactions between them As we are not allowed to mention doctors names in full here (unless we are talking about a book they have written I have edited your message by just using their initials. Members please note you can, of course, contact Ann privately to discuss the relevant doctors and their names.Lilian (moderator)Hi everyoneCan anyone tell me whether it is o.k. to take natural armour thyroid(which I have ordered via the internet)with anti-depressants. I take262 mg of Venlafaxine an SSRI and 1 & a half mg of Risperdal to sleepat night. I am still waiting for an endocrinologist consultant toreturn from his holiday, now I have found out that it won't be untilnext Monday (I have already waited over a week) then its Christmas,then New Year and all the time I just want to feel o.k. The consultantis on the list that is on this web site, it is Dr. E at Harlowin Essex, has anyone been to him that can give me any advice orinformation, I would be grateful if you could. I look forward to any replies.Ann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Thanks , I did find this web site and there appear to be no interactions between the drugs I am on with armour thyroid, although it did mention not to take calcium at the same time and a few other things relating to food mostly. I also looked at alot of other web sites which were interesting regarding studies done by research doctors or whatever - they were medical sites anyway, and they seem to be saying that using a thyroid hormone increases the good effects of anti-depressants - thats good isn't it! luv Ann > I am sure it it ok to take armour with SSRI's, I know Dawn does and I will be soon, there is a site you can visit which tell you about drug interactions, just google 'drug interactions' and it will bring it up, all you do then is list the drugs you are taking and it will check if there are any potential interactions between them > [Edit Abbrev Mod] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Hi Ann Yes that certainly is good news, I take an SSRI too, mainly for anxiety and at the moment I am on thyroxine but will be starting armour when it arrives, lets hope it works for us both!As far as I am aware calcium and iron shouldnt be taken anywhere near thyroid hormones Thanks , I did find this web site and there appear to be nointeractions between the drugs I am on with armour thyroid, althoughit did mention not to take calcium at the same time and a few otherthings relating to food mostly. I also looked at alot of other websites which were interesting regarding studies done by researchdoctors or whatever - they were medical sites anyway, and they seem tobe saying that using a thyroid hormone increases the good effects ofanti-depressants - thats good isn't it! luv Ann> I am sure it it ok to take armour with SSRI's, I know Dawn does andI will be soon, there is a site you can visit which tell you aboutdrug interactions, just google 'drug interactions' and it will bringit up, all you do then is list the drugs you are taking and it willcheck if there are any potential interactions between them> [Edit Abbrev Mod] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Hi , I am fairly new to this web site,and am finding out quite alot. What has made you change from thyroxine to Armour, and was your doctor prescribing thyroxine for you, and is he now going to prescribe Armour? I'm just taking it all one day at a time, today I feel not to bad, but last Thursday I did alot of physical work, I really pushed myself to the limit to get alot of things done, but on Friday, Saturday and Sunday I felt absolutely awful, with no energy and ached all over and felt very down and miserable and grumpy because I felt so ill. I am waiting for a delivery of Armour which I ordered on the internet, but in the mean time I am going to see another doctor at the practice to see what he thinks of my blood test which was over the range, and I am still waiting for Dr.E a consultant endocrinologist on the list to come back from holiday - honestly they're always on holiday when you need them! But I will have to see how I go, if I get really bad again and the Armour arrives I might start taking it, although my mother and boyfriend are not sure I am doing the right thing because they think I should be supervised by a doctor, so I'll see how things pan out over the next few days and week ahead. It will be good seeing how we get on. Best wishes Ann > Hi Ann > Yes that certainly is good news, I take an SSRI too, mainly for anxiety and at the moment I am on thyroxine but will be starting armour when it arrives, lets hope it works for us both! > As far as I am aware calcium and iron shouldnt be taken anywhere near thyroid hormones > [Edit Abbrev Mod] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Hi Ann - please read " How to Use Natural Thyroid extract " that is in the FILES section of this forum. If you haven't been there yet, go to http://health.forums./group/thyroid treatment and click on FILES. Luv - Sheila But I will have to see how I go, if I get really bad again and the Armour arrives I might start taking it, although my mother and boyfriend are not sure I am doing the right thing because they think I should be supervised by a doctor, so I'll see how things pan out over the next few days and week ahead. It will be good seeing how we get on. Best wishes Ann _._,___ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Hi I am waiting for my armour to arrive and will then be starting it at half a grain a day, I still intend to get blood tests done via my GP but until I know how I am going to do on the armour I will not be saying that I have changed from thyroxine to armour, I dont think they need to know just yet. When and if I have to come clean I will, if they then refuse to do blood tests which I doubt I will get them done privately. I think eventually you feel like me and some others on here that they has come a time when we have to help ourselves because quite frankly the NHS wont, no matter how hard you try with them they wont, its scarey but its your health and you have people like Sheila on here who has took armour for yrs and what she doenst know about it isnt worth knowing! Its a learing curve and I agree we shouldnt have to do this without our gp's support but I am afraid I have learnt we do. You certainly dont have to tell them you are taking armour until you feel better and then you can. Thats my plan anyway and if armour isnt for you then you can just change back and carry on as before Can anyone let me know what their experiences are of taking thenatural extract of dessicated thyroid extract so as I have a bit of anidea what I'm doing please, if there is anyone out there taking it -thanks. Also I thought that someone mentioned that if one takes thenatural extract then one has everything necessary i.e. T3, T4 etc., soas I am new to this web site why do people say they are trying tobalance their T3 and T4. If one is taking the Armour Thyroidunsupervised by a doc. how do you know what your T3 and T4 levels aredoing if your not getting regular blood checks. I'm still not 100%certain it is a good idea for me to take the Armour Thyroid withoutbeing supervised by a doc. and having regular blood tests - what doother people think? I am still waiting for an endocrinologistconsultant to come back from his holiday, but even so he is still along drive away from where I live, two other doctors on the list Irang this morning are unavailable at the moment, one because he too ison holiday and the other doesn't take private patients only NHS and isin another borough, so I don't think a doctor at my surgery will referme to another NHS doc. in another NHS trust which is not in myborough. Has anyone else had this experience? Apart from that I amnot feeling too bad the last couple of days, I trying to take things alittle bit slower, as I went 'hell for leather' last Thursday and gottotally exhausted and couldn't do anything for three days and felttotally ill.I look forward to hearing from anyone out there who can help.Thanksluv Ann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 My experience was fabulous - wonderful, miraculous. I know not everybody has the same experience and some take quite a while to find the dose that works for them, but for me, after four years of being on levothyroxine only 150mcgs which was too much so dropped to 125mcgs, with symptoms getting so very much worse, I started to feel a difference after only 9 days. I had been on half a grain for 7 days and just two days on 1 grain Armour. Things just got better from then and the first thing to come back was my brain. Five years later, I am very well. Unfortunately, when starting a new medication and you are having to do this all on your own, it is a worry and can be a little frightening, but so long as you read all about it (the good information that is, not the rubbish written by the British Thyroid Association) and so long as you understand the reasons why natural thyroid extract is more likely to work for you, then you should feel happier and more confident about starting to use it. T4 as I mentioned before, is a mainly inactive hormone which must convert to the active hormone T3. For some people, they do well on T4 only because everything works pretty good and it converts fine to T3. For others, they need to add a little T3 to their T4, titrating both until they get the level of thyroid hormones their body needs. For others, they need T3 only because taking synthetic T4 goes nowhere if it is not converting. Taking T4 alone for these people causes toxicity and the symptoms can make them feel bad. For most people, natural thyroid extract is the way to go. For those taking Armour unsupervised, it is how you feel that will tell you whether you are taking too little, too much or just the right amount. You really do not need blood tests when you are on treatment. This is the beauty of Armour. If you are taking too little, you will still have symptoms - we recommend you to raise your Armour by half a grain every 4 weeks until you start to get the symptoms of taking too much. These symptoms are palpitations, feeling spaced out, probably dizzy and sweaty and generally unwell. This can be a little frightening. However, this effect goes away after a couple of hours or so. It was caused because suddenly your body recognises you are now taking too much of the active hormone T3. You don't take any more Armour for the rest of the day, and the following day you take the dose you were on previously - and that is the dose your body requires. However, having said that, it is likely your doctor will want to monitor you if you have been diagnosed hypothyroid. If you are ever called in for thyroid function tests, you should remember that you must NOT take ANY thyroid hormone replacement for at least 24 hours (longer if possible) because the T3 peaks in your blood after a couple of hours, and the doctor would say you are taking too much thyroid hormone replacement and tell you to cut down your dose, or he might even tell you that you are going hyperthyroid. You have to learn things like this, because NHS doctors do not understand how Armour works or what effect it has on your body and that reading blood test results for those on Armour and those on synthetic levothyroxine are two entirely different things. If you are not happy trying Armour thyroid without medical supervision, they you should not take it. Nobody should start taking any medication they know nothing about and you must read everything you can about it. There is enough information in our Files and on our website. Everybody was prescribed ONLY thyroid extract before synthetic levothyroxine was manufactured and it has been used safely and effectively for over 100 years. I doubt you will find a doctor these days who knows how to treat with Armour properly, unfortunately, but you might find one who is willing to be educated and who will do his/her research. You are entitled to see a specialist of your choice within the NHS anywhere in the UK - you do not have to stick with only the ones in your borough. This is through the NHS Choose and Book system which came into being in April this year. You can find details of this in our FILES. Tell your GP about this specialist and that you would like a referral to him. Luv - Sheila I am still waiting for an endocrinologist consultant to come back from his holiday, but even so he is still a long drive away from where I live, two other doctors on the list I rang this morning are unavailable at the moment, one because he too is on holiday and the other doesn't take private patients only NHS and is in another borough, so I don't think a doctor at my surgery will refer me to another NHS doc. in another NHS trust which is not in my borough. I look forward to hearing from anyone out there who can help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Hi , can't you get him to read any of the many excellent books on the subject? It would be better if he was giving you moral support! Miriam > My other half worries about me because I self treat, he says what are you taking now!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Better still, sit him down in front of our website www.tpa-uk.org.uk tell him to click on Hypothyroidism and read through everything especially the information about natural thyroid extract and how it has been used for over 100 years and how it was the ONLY medication for every single hypothyroid patient before the manufacture of the synthetic thyroxine - and how it was considered both safe and effective. People did not have the problems in those days using natural extract like they do now. Luv - Sheila Hi , can't you get him to read any of the many excellent books on the subject? It would be better if he was giving you moral support! Miriam --- In thyroid treatment , sarah s ,_._,___ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Hi We don't know for sure that Forest will stop making Armour Thyroid, but it does look as if this is a possibility. The information I put out in my newsletter was gleaned from all the sources involved. We will have to wait until the beginning of next year to see if this 'rumour' is correct, but meanwhile, International Pharmacy does sell Nature-Throid and Westhroid and these have the same thyroid powder as Armour and the MHRA says doctors can prescribe these in the same way as they prescribe Armour now. Many people have changed to one or the other of these and find there is little difference from Armour. Luv - Sheila Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 LOL yes i could, I have explained to him about armour and I think he understands, i guess its fear of the unknown, I had to laugh the other day cos I ordered myself some spatone, which is a gentle iron supplement and is actually very safe and suitable for anyone over the age of 2, he looked at me gone out and said now what else are you taking? I hope you know what you are doing?! And that was just over a supplement! No hope! Better still, sit him down in front of our website www.tpa-uk.org. uk tell him to click on Hypothyroidism and read through everything especially the information about natural thyroid extract and how it has been used for over 100 years and how it was the ONLY medication for every single hypothyroid patient before the manufacture of the synthetic thyroxine - and how it was considered both safe and effective. People did not have the problems in those days using natural extract like they do now. Luv - Sheila Hi , can't you get him to read any of the many excellent books onthe subject? It would be better if he was giving you moral support!Miriam--- In thyroidpatientadvoc acygroups (DOT) com, sarah s ,_._,___ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 19, 2008 Report Share Posted December 19, 2008 Another way is to get all the information you can that is CORRECT and gives the TRUE FACTS about Armour because the BTA still have refused to remove their incorrect information from their website and update it with the right information that has been backed with references to the research, studies etc (the BTA have only 1 reference to back their Statement on Armour Thyroid) - they need to look at the research and studies and stop writing whatever pops into their heads - though it is my belief they are in the hands of Big Pharma. Copy the TPA response to this Statement and also give your doctor a copy of the letter from MHRA telling doctors they can prescribe Armour if their patients don't do well on thyroxine alone. There is lots of evidence, and you need to ask your doctor to spare some time to read the facts - because s/he is there to help you regain your health, and if natural thyroid extract is the way to do this, s/he should be aware of the true facts before he makes up his/her mind whether to prescribe it or not. Luv - Sheila Hi ANN Yes I know about not taking the thyroid hormones before a blood test, thanks anyway. Sorry I havent replied till now only just seen the message! I think the only way to get armour prescribed is by actually proving to the doc that it works better than thyroxine and that means taking it first and finding that out, still that might not work either! We can but hope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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