MISTAKES FOLKS MAKE WHEN ON ARMOUR/Natural Thyroid

[Guest guest]

The following are the most common mistakes people make who have

switched to Armour/Naturethroid/Thyroid-S, etc:

1) TAKING TOO LOW A DOSE. This happens OFTEN here among folks. For

example, I once thought that 2 grains was my optimal dose because I

had SO much better energy and other improvements! I was wrong. I

inched my way up, 1/4 grain at a time, holding each raise a few

weeks, to 3 1/4 grains......and voila. Even MORE benefits and no

hyper.

2) THINKING THEY ARE ON TOO MUCH BECAUSE OF HYPER-SYMPTOMS. Often,

the cause of hyper symptoms is more the result of an underlying

adrenal problem, or even a low Ferritin--the latter which is common

in many hypo folks. Get those checked before assuming you were on

too much. Additionally, if you raise too quick, or in too large a

dose raise, your body can overreact, making you think you were on

too much. The solution is to go back where you were, and go up in

smaller increments, such as 1/4 grain.

3) FAILING TO MULTI-DOSE. We have heard of a few folks who take

their natural thyroid all at once in the morning and say they do

fine. But.....most folks will notice much better results by multi-

dosing. I, for example, take 2 grains in the morning, one grain in

the early afternoon, and 1/4 grain at bedtime. Multi-dosing better

imitates what your own thyroid would be doing.

4) FAILING TO TAKE ARMOUR SUBLINGUALLY. Don't get me wrong; You CAN

have success with swallowing Armour (and other brands taste horrible

if you don't!! LOL). But, you can note even better success if you do

your Armour sublingually, i.e. placing the tablet between your inner

check and gum.......and forgetting about it.

5) SWALLOWING NATURAL THYROID WITH ESTROGEN, CALCIUM or IRON.

Estrogen, calcium and iron BIND some of the thyroid hormones and

makes them unusable. So....it's wise to avoid swallowing iron,

calcium and estrogen at the same time you swallow your natural

thyroid. (Again, another reason to do sublingual for Armour, and for

the other natural thyroid if you can STAND their taste!! bleck.)

6) STAYING ON A STARTING DOSE TOO LONG. When first starting on

Armour or any natural thyroid product, it can be wise to start on a

dose at-or-lower-than one grain. BUT......it's UNWISE to stay on

that low dose much longer than 2-3 weeks. Why? Because your hypo can

return with a VENGEANCE. My first doc kept my on my 3/4 grain

starting dose for 9 weeks, and I certainly noticed it with achiness

and the feel-bads. BAD move!!

7) THINKING ARMOUR IS NOT WORKING WHEN SOMETHING ARISES. Armour

contains direct T3, and the T3 can aggravate certain conditions

intially. When this happens, just hold the dose and give the

reaction time to go away. We had one gal here awhile ago who

got " itchy " , and she was so determined to blame Armour that she got

off, left the group, got back on Synthroid, and is STILL itchy.

8) ADDING T4 or T3 to ARMOUR TOO SOON! Most folks do perfectly fine

on Armour alone, especially when they have taken the time to find

their optimal dose, which is often at or over 3 grains. But some

folks feel the need to add either T4 or T3 to their natural thyroid

dose to achieve a certain result, which is fine!! BUT.........often

it's added WAY too soon (when on 2 - 2 1/2 grains and LESS), and you

MISS OUT on the benefits of the T4, T3, T2, T1 and Calcitonin.

Instead, if they had simply upped their Armour more, they might have

gotten the results they desired. If, after you get up to 5-6 grains,

and you still have a free T3 too low, or it's high but you have poor

results, then it's time to consider adding T3 to your natural

thyroid.

9) GOING UP WITH DOSAGES WAY TOO FAST. I'll never forget him. He was

on Shoman's thyroid site. He got on Armour. One grain, then 2

grains, then 3 grains, then 4 grains, then 5 grains, then 6 grains.

But the problem was, he did this within 4-5 weeks!!! OUCH!! He was

majorly overdosed with symptoms to match. He had to stop for a few

weeks...then resume again at the one grain and do it the right way.

Namely, after you are on your starting dose, it's usually OK to go

up 1/2 grain or so at a time every 2-3 weeks. BUT....when you get up

to 2-3 grains, it's time to hold each dose at least 4-5 weeks to

allow the buildup of the T4, and to see it's conversion to T3

results!

10) PAYING TOO STRICT ATTENTION TO LABS. Labs are interesting, and

labs are good adjuncts to the full spectrum of dosing.

BUT......SYMPTOMS are FAR MORE IMPORTANT. If you have a very

suppressed TSH, and/or a high free T3, yet, you still have symptoms,

don't get stuck on black marks on a piece of paper.