thyroid hormone Armour question

[Guest guest]

I have been measuring my temperature a couple times per day and it is

usually very low. Never above 98. So I am pretty sure I have a

thyroid problem. I am waiting on the results from my saliva cortisol

and thyroid blood spot test.

After I get the results back I am considering administering Armour

thyroid to my self.

I need to know a couple things:

Is it OK to immediately stop taking Armour, or is it something that

has to be slowly weened off of?

What's the best way to find the right dose? until symptoms are gone,

until temp raises, or blood test results?

I've read that once you start on a low dose you need to raise the dose

within a couple weeks or you will get used to it and have a bad

reaction when you try to raise the dose. What if you are on a dose

for a while and need to increase it higher, how can you avoid the side

effects?

I've read that if you have too low of cortisol levels or sluggish

adrenals, they Armour will cause negative effects. Is this a problem

if you have too high of cortisol levels rather than too low?

[Guest guest]

>

> I have been measuring my temperature a couple times per day and it is

> usually very low. Never above 98. So I am pretty sure I have a

> thyroid problem. I am waiting on the results from my saliva cortisol

> and thyroid blood spot test.

>

> After I get the results back I am considering administering Armour

> thyroid to my self.

> I need to know a couple things:

>

> Is it OK to immediately stop taking Armour, or is it something that

> has to be slowly weened off of?

>

I would wean off of it. I find that thyroid hormone affects my brain

function and slight dose changes have caused me to do unusual things -

like leave my groceries at the shop, and merge into moving traffic.

> What's the best way to find the right dose? until symptoms are gone,

> until temp raises, or blood test results?

>

You may want to get Teitelbaum's book " From Fatigued to Fantastic "

because he gives details about how he starts his patients, how

gradually he increases, and how he decides the right dose. (From my

memory) he says to find the dose that feels the best, decrease if

there are hyperthyroid symptoms, like a pulse above 90, or others.

I use free T3 and free T4 blood tests to decide if my dose is high

enough. I aim for the top 1/4 of the normal range (got that from one

of Andy's posts, I believe).

My own experience tells me that it takes time to get back to normal

temp and that if a person keeps increasing to normal temp they would

soon be on too high of a dose. There also may be other factors

contributing to the low temp.

> I've read that once you start on a low dose you need to raise the dose

> within a couple weeks or you will get used to it and have a bad

> reaction when you try to raise the dose.

I don't think so. The doctor who started me made increases every 6

weeks until he decided it was enough.

What if you are on a dose

> for a while and need to increase it higher, how can you avoid the side

> effects?

>

I'm not sure what side effects you mean.

> I've read that if you have too low of cortisol levels or sluggish

> adrenals, they Armour will cause negative effects. Is this a problem

> if you have too high of cortisol levels rather than too low?

>

I'm not sure. Presumably the high cortisol levels would only be for

part of the day and the other part of the day cortisol levels would be

low?

If you have all of the hypoadrenal symptoms that Teitelbaum mentions

in the book (above), you will have trouble starting on thyroid hormone

if you don't replace cortisol first.

J

[Guest guest]

>

> I have been measuring my temperature a couple times per day and it is

> usually very low. Never above 98. So I am pretty sure I have a

> thyroid problem. I am waiting on the results from my saliva cortisol

> and thyroid blood spot test.

>

> After I get the results back I am considering administering Armour

> thyroid to my self.

> I need to know a couple things:

>

> Is it OK to immediately stop taking Armour, or is it something that

> has to be slowly weened off of?

>

I would wean off of it. I find that thyroid hormone affects my brain

function and slight dose changes have caused me to do unusual things -

like leave my groceries at the shop, and merge into moving traffic.

> What's the best way to find the right dose? until symptoms are gone,

> until temp raises, or blood test results?

>

You may want to get Teitelbaum's book " From Fatigued to Fantastic "

because he gives details about how he starts his patients, how

gradually he increases, and how he decides the right dose. (From my

memory) he says to find the dose that feels the best, decrease if

there are hyperthyroid symptoms, like a pulse above 90, or others.

I use free T3 and free T4 blood tests to decide if my dose is high

enough. I aim for the top 1/4 of the normal range (got that from one

of Andy's posts, I believe).

My own experience tells me that it takes time to get back to normal

temp and that if a person keeps increasing to normal temp they would

soon be on too high of a dose. There also may be other factors

contributing to the low temp.

> I've read that once you start on a low dose you need to raise the dose

> within a couple weeks or you will get used to it and have a bad

> reaction when you try to raise the dose.

I don't think so. The doctor who started me made increases every 6

weeks until he decided it was enough.

What if you are on a dose

> for a while and need to increase it higher, how can you avoid the side

> effects?

>

I'm not sure what side effects you mean.

> I've read that if you have too low of cortisol levels or sluggish

> adrenals, they Armour will cause negative effects. Is this a problem

> if you have too high of cortisol levels rather than too low?

>

I'm not sure. Presumably the high cortisol levels would only be for

part of the day and the other part of the day cortisol levels would be

low?

If you have all of the hypoadrenal symptoms that Teitelbaum mentions

in the book (above), you will have trouble starting on thyroid hormone

if you don't replace cortisol first.

J

[Guest guest]

> I've read that once you start on a low dose you need to raise the dose

> within a couple weeks or you will get used to it and have a bad

> reaction when you try to raise the dose. What if you are on a dose

> for a while and need to increase it higher, how can you avoid the side

> effects?

The people at STTM and related lists suggest increasing the dose by

1/4 grain or less every week. They say staying on an insufficient dose

too long leads to more hypo symptoms. (Due to the body's feedback

mechanism of lowering TSH)

These links explain it in a lot more detail:

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/things-we-have-learned/

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/mistakes-patients-make/

>

> I've read that if you have too low of cortisol levels or sluggish

> adrenals, they Armour will cause negative effects. Is this a problem

> if you have too high of cortisol levels rather than too low?

>

If the excessive cortisol is due to adrenal fatigue, further stress

(e.g. Armour) without adrenal support can push you into the next stage

of adrenal fatigue.

Jay

[Guest guest]

Since I've been taking Armour Thyroid tablets (quite a few years, maybe 8 or 10,

can't remember), I've wondered why they are only in 30mg increments (30mg, 60,

90 etc.). I would think there should be more choice with something so sensitive

(5mg,10,15,20, etc.) Does anyone know why this is?

: Donna

[Guest guest]

I've seen 15mg Armour online..

>

> Since I've been taking Armour Thyroid tablets (quite a few years,

maybe 8 or 10, can't remember), I've wondered why they are only in

30mg increments (30mg, 60, 90 etc.). I would think there should be

more choice with something so sensitive (5mg,10,15,20, etc.) Does

anyone know why this is?

> : Donna