Re:thyroid replacement dosages survey

November 18, 2008

I take 75 mcg Synthroid. AFAIK I have no symptoms; never did.

The manufacturer of Armour only has recommendations up to 3 grains.

It would indeed be interesting to know why some people seem to not feel

well on less than 4 to 6 grains. Other than some kind of binding

problem I'm at a loss.

..

>

> Posted by: " amygreen53 " amygreen53@...

>

<mailto:amygreen53@...?Subject=%20Re%3Athyroid%20replacement%20dosages%20s\

urvey>

> amygreen53 <amygreen53>

>

> Mon Nov 17, 2008 9:20 am (PST)

>

> I'm curious about how much thyroid med dosages people on this forum

> are on. On other forums, there is the belief that everyone MUST be on

> at least 3 grains of Armour to be ok. So, whatever type of thyroid

> hormone you use, Synthroid, Armour, whatever -- how much do you

> personally take to feel good? Thanks! Amy

November 18, 2008

Well, I am at 3.75 grains and holding; that seems to be my sweet spot. I don't

think there is any set amount, it is what your body needs. I was up to 7 grains

before I figured out that it wasn't working due to RT3 because of the severe and

ongoing stress coupled with undiagnosed and then diagnosed but undertreated

hypoT/hashi's and then crashed because adrenals couldn't handle the stress. I

was on T3 for a few months, cleared the RT3. Then had a severe allergic reaction

to an animal, two asthma attacks, bronchitis, and pneumonia later, after going

off ALL thyroid meds because just breathing was all I could concentrate on, my

doctor had me start treating the adrenals again because he said that after all

the stress of the illness they were in bad shape again. Then we added the Armour

back in and I gradually raised it from early June, very slowly, until I am at

3.75 grains. I may try to raise and may not. I am feeling pretty dang good

considering all the

current stress of DH out of work for months, which is why doc still has me on

physio dose of HC. All in all, I can function at my job, but could still be a

bit better; some lingering fogginess still happens and while I AM sleeping

better, it could be even better, so I am not quite where I want to be yet, but I

am very close. Found a better way than drugs of treating my asthma and having

the best Fall I have ever had in years and years.

F.

http://catherineshypohelljourney.blogspot.com/

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com

www.naturalthyroidchoices.com

http://www.breastcancerchoices.org/

www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org

November 19, 2008

Hello! I take between 1 and 2 grains once daily. Right now I am on 1.5 grains

and am running hyperthyroid?! 3 grains is a dosage that seems quite high to

many of us.

le

in Kansas

________________________________

November 19, 2008

,

What are your free T4, free T3 and TSH levels on 3.75 grains of Armour?

What were your RT3 levels and the range?

What type of T3 did you take (straight Cytomel or time-release) and

what dosage?

Thanks,

Rick

>

> Well, I am at 3.75 grains and holding; that seems to be my sweet

spot. I don't think there is any set amount, it is what your body

needs. I was up to 7 grains before I figured out that it wasn't

working due to RT3 because of the severe and ongoing stress coupled

with undiagnosed and then diagnosed but undertreated hypoT/hashi's and

then crashed because adrenals couldn't handle the stress. I was on T3

for a few months, cleared the RT3. Then had a severe allergic reaction

to an animal, two asthma attacks, bronchitis, and pneumonia later,

after going off ALL thyroid meds because just breathing was all I

could concentrate on, my doctor had me start treating the adrenals

again because he said that after all the stress of the illness they

were in bad shape again. Then we added the Armour back in and I

gradually raised it from early June, very slowly, until I am at 3.75

grains. I may try to raise and may not. I am feeling pretty dang good

considering all the

> current stress of DH out of work for months, which is why doc still

has me on physio dose of HC. All in all, I can function at my job, but

could still be a bit better; some lingering fogginess still happens

and while I AM sleeping better, it could be even better, so I am not

quite where I want to be yet, but I am very close. Found a better way

than drugs of treating my asthma and having the best Fall I have ever

had in years and years.

>

> F.

> http://catherineshypohelljourney.blogspot.com/

> http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com

> www.naturalthyroidchoices.com

> http://www.breastcancerchoices.org/

> www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org

>

November 19, 2008

When I have gotten thyroid meds to work, I was taking the following

dosages:

1990 - 250mcg of T4 in summer, 300mcg in winter.

1992 - 2 grains of Armour and drinking no alcohol (coincidence?)

1993 - 90mcg (no typo!) of time-release T3 split into two doses.

I am a distance runner and will run up to 80 miles per week when I

feel healthy. Exercise increases the turnover of thyroid hormone so

that might partially explain the high doses of T4 and T3.

Rick

>

> I take 75 mcg Synthroid. AFAIK I have no symptoms; never did.

>

> The manufacturer of Armour only has recommendations up to 3 grains.

>

> It would indeed be interesting to know why some people seem to not feel

> well on less than 4 to 6 grains. Other than some kind of binding

> problem I'm at a loss.

>

> .

>

> >

> > Posted by: " amygreen53 " amygreen53@...

> >

<mailto:amygreen53@...?Subject=%20Re%3Athyroid%20replacement%20dosages%20survey>

> > amygreen53 <amygreen53>

> >

> > Mon Nov 17, 2008 9:20 am (PST)

> >

> > I'm curious about how much thyroid med dosages people on this forum

> > are on. On other forums, there is the belief that everyone MUST be on

> > at least 3 grains of Armour to be ok. So, whatever type of thyroid

> > hormone you use, Synthroid, Armour, whatever -- how much do you

> > personally take to feel good? Thanks! Amy

>

November 19, 2008

I have normal thyroid blood work for total t4, t3, ft3, rt3, tsh, and

some other tests. However, I have fatigue, low basal temps, and low

daily temps. Based on blood work, I wouldn't be treated by most

conventional physicians, especially with a tsh of 1.572 after a course

of lugol's iodine (2.1 before iodine) and with a history of a heart

attack (which most likely is highly related to having sub-clinical

hypothyroidism).

One would think that since I have high blood pressure (treated), that

adding thyroid t3 and or t4 at this point would be risky to some extent

but I went ahead and decided to ramp up t3 (rt3 is high normal) and am

currently on 50 mcg/day in divided doses of t3. So far, the results

have been lower pulse rate, lower blood pressure, and some more energy.

I do wear a heart rate monitor most of the day to keep careful tabs on

cardiac changes. I'm expecting that the " magic " dose will be somewhere

between 100 and 125 mcg of T3. Translated to Armour would make that

about 4-5 grains I think.

Now, I expect that my TSH will go down even farther, perhaps even get

suppressed, but my intent is to increase T3 UNTIL my average daily temps

are 98.6 and basal rates are about 98.0 OR I get signs of being hyper.

When I get to the optimum dose as far as I can tell, I'll stay there for

at least 3 months before slowly, slowly, transition to Armour. A T4/T3

combination drug might be OK, but I have two criteria for drug

selection. One, is it generic and discounted in the USA (like Walmart's

$4 monthly) price OR is the drug available from multiple international

sources that have been in business for a while. For thyroid, a

combination product T4/T3 is preferred, by me at least.

A side note on TSH being suppressed, I give myself testosterone

injections weekly and before starting testosterone many years ago, LH

was normal. Testosterone supplementation suppresses LH so if dosing

testosterone by LH lab values were used, most men would never get enough

testosterone replacement. While I don't know were all the receptors are

that LH is supposed to stimulate, I suspect that lydig cells are not the

only site, so I've added a LH mimic (HCG) to replace the LH so that

these other receptors will get some kind of stimulation. This might be

an issue with TSH as well. Is the thyroid the ONLY site for TSH

receptors? Perhaps a combination of T3/T4 AND exogenous TSH

supplementation would be more optimum than what goes for treatment today.

Steve

wrote:

> I take 75 mcg Synthroid. AFAIK I have no symptoms; never did.

>

> The manufacturer of Armour only has recommendations up to 3 grains.

>

> It would indeed be interesting to know why some people seem to not feel

> well on less than 4 to 6 grains. Other than some kind of binding

> problem I'm at a loss.

>

> .

>

>> Posted by: " amygreen53 " amygreen53@...

>>

<mailto:amygreen53@...?Subject=%20Re%3Athyroid%20replacement%20dosages%20s\

urvey>

>> amygreen53 <amygreen53>

>>

>> Mon Nov 17, 2008 9:20 am (PST)

>>

>> I'm curious about how much thyroid med dosages people on this forum

>> are on. On other forums, there is the belief that everyone MUST be on

>> at least 3 grains of Armour to be ok. So, whatever type of thyroid

>> hormone you use, Synthroid, Armour, whatever -- how much do you

>> personally take to feel good? Thanks! Amy

--

Steve - dudescholar4@...

Take World's Smallest Political Quiz at

http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html

" If a thousand old beliefs were ruined on our march

to truth we must still march on. " --Stopford

November 19, 2008

many people that have normal or high thyroid ranges but still have hypo symptoms

can have an adrenal problem. Have you checked into adrenals?

Venizia

From: richardtcbatty <rbatty@...>

Subject: Re:thyroid replacement dosages survey

hypothyroidism

Date: Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 9:56 AM

When I have gotten thyroid meds to work, I was taking the following

dosages:

1990 - 250mcg of T4 in summer, 300mcg in winter.

1992 - 2 grains of Armour and drinking no alcohol (coincidence? )

1993 - 90mcg (no typo!) of time-release T3 split into two doses.

I am a distance runner and will run up to 80 miles per week when I

feel healthy. Exercise increases the turnover of thyroid hormone so

that might partially explain the high doses of T4 and T3.

Rick

>

> I take 75 mcg Synthroid. AFAIK I have no symptoms; never did.

>

> The manufacturer of Armour only has recommendations up to 3 grains.

>

> It would indeed be interesting to know why some people seem to not feel

> well on less than 4 to 6 grains. Other than some kind of binding

> problem I'm at a loss.

>

> .

>

> >

> > Posted by: " amygreen53 " amygreen53@. ..

> >

<mailto:amygreen53@ ...?Subject= %20Re%3Athyroid% 20replacement% 20dosages%

20survey>

> > amygreen53 <http://profiles. / amygreen53>

> >

> > Mon Nov 17, 2008 9:20 am (PST)

> >

> > I'm curious about how much thyroid med dosages people on this forum

> > are on. On other forums, there is the belief that everyone MUST be on

> > at least 3 grains of Armour to be ok. So, whatever type of thyroid

> > hormone you use, Synthroid, Armour, whatever -- how much do you

> > personally take to feel good? Thanks! Amy

>

November 20, 2008

Venezia,

I did do a saliva adrenal test several years ago. DHEA was low and

cortisol low-normal. I tried Cortef in conjunction with Armour but it

did nothing for me. I have also had an ACTH test which came out

normal. My symptoms seem much more hypothyroid than hypoadrenal,

including the guidelines on the StoptheThyroidMadness web site (e.g.

constant low temp rather than varying low temp).

Rick

>

> >

>

> > I take 75 mcg Synthroid. AFAIK I have no symptoms; never did.

>

> >

>

> > The manufacturer of Armour only has recommendations up to 3 grains.

>

> >

>

> > It would indeed be interesting to know why some people seem to not

feel

>

> > well on less than 4 to 6 grains. Other than some kind of binding

>

> > problem I'm at a loss.

>

> >

>

> >

>

> > .

>

> > .

>

> >

>

> > >

>

> > > Posted by: " amygreen53 " amygreen53@ ..

>

> > >

>

> <mailto:amygreen53@ ...?Subject= %20Re%3Athyroid% 20replacement%

20dosages% 20survey>

>

> > > amygreen53 <http://profiles. / amygreen53>

>

> > >

>

> > >

>

> > > Mon Nov 17, 2008 9:20 am (PST)

>

> > >

>

> > > I'm curious about how much thyroid med dosages people on this forum

>

> > > are on. On other forums, there is the belief that everyone MUST

be on

>

> > > at least 3 grains of Armour to be ok. So, whatever type of thyroid

>

> > > hormone you use, Synthroid, Armour, whatever -- how much do you

>

> > > personally take to feel good? Thanks! Amy

>

> >

>

November 20, 2008

Hi Steve,

Thanks for sharing your experience. I had good success in 1993

ramping up to 90mcg of time-release T3 daily, split into two doses. I

had absolutely no HYPERthyroid symptoms at this dosage and felt great,

so my situation seems to mirror yours.

Like your heart attacks, I wonder if my atrial fibrillation issues

came from being hypothyroid. I have not been able to get a good

answer from my endocrinologist regarding how he thinks I could run

into a-fib problems again (post-ablation) when I have absolutely no

hyperthyroid symptoms, only hypo ones. (My morning temp is in the

96.5-97.2F range. Interestingly it will drop from 97F even into the

94F range when measured right after a run - one would think body temp

would increase with exercise.) He refuses to increase my Armour

beyond 120mg because it dropped my TSH to 0.3.

BTW, I had a bone scan at ae 49 that showed I had the bones of a 30-yr

old despite years of high dosage T4 and suppressed TSH. But I kept

running daily all the time even if I didn't feel very good.

Good luck,

Rick

> > I take 75 mcg Synthroid. AFAIK I have no symptoms; never did.

> >

> > The manufacturer of Armour only has recommendations up to 3 grains.

> >

> > It would indeed be interesting to know why some people seem to not

feel

> > well on less than 4 to 6 grains. Other than some kind of binding

> > problem I'm at a loss.

> >

> > .

> >

> >> Posted by: " amygreen53 " amygreen53@...

> >>

<mailto:amygreen53@...?Subject=%20Re%3Athyroid%20replacement%20dosages%20survey>

> >> amygreen53 <amygreen53>

> >>

> >> Mon Nov 17, 2008 9:20 am (PST)

> >>

> >> I'm curious about how much thyroid med dosages people on this forum

> >> are on. On other forums, there is the belief that everyone MUST be on

> >> at least 3 grains of Armour to be ok. So, whatever type of thyroid

> >> hormone you use, Synthroid, Armour, whatever -- how much do you

> >> personally take to feel good? Thanks! Amy

>

> --

>

> Steve - dudescholar4@...

>

> Take World's Smallest Political Quiz at

> http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html

>

> " If a thousand old beliefs were ruined on our march

> to truth we must still march on. " --Stopford

>

November 20, 2008

Rick,

The real trick for any of us is to find a doctor that will treat us

according to symptoms rather than just labs. These doctors are out

there but are very difficult to find. I have a naturopath that I am

keeping in the loop because she will for the most part dose according

to my symptoms and prescribes Armour. But since I have been diagnosed

with a pituitary tumor I will be seeing and endo and neurological

surgeon. But I am not letting that naturopath go until I know for

certain this endo will prescribe Armour and will dose with labs AND

symptoms in mind.

Venizia

>

> Venezia,

>

> I did do a saliva adrenal test several years ago. DHEA was low and

> cortisol low-normal. I tried Cortef in conjunction with Armour but it

> did nothing for me. I have also had an ACTH test which came out

> normal. My symptoms seem much more hypothyroid than hypoadrenal,

> including the guidelines on the StoptheThyroidMadness web site (e.g.

> constant low temp rather than varying low temp).

>

> Rick

>

November 20, 2008

I have never met (online, in person) a hypo person who didn't need adrenal

support. Once a person gets enough iodine and Armour they usually need to

support adrenals. Cortef shoudl be used 4X a day. BTW my ACTH test was

" normal " and I was a wreck.

Gracia

Venezia,

I did do a saliva adrenal test several years ago. DHEA was low and

cortisol low-normal. I tried Cortef in conjunction with Armour but it

did nothing for me. I have also had an ACTH test which came out

normal. My symptoms seem much more hypothyroid than hypoadrenal,

including the guidelines on the StoptheThyroidMadness web site (e.g.

constant low temp rather than varying low temp).

Rick

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10:01 AM

November 20, 2008

I'm at 2 grains of Armour, but need to go up some. Somewhere

in the last 6 months or so I've gone from over producing cortisol

to under producing, and now I've joined the ranks of the adrenally

supported.

-Mike

>

> I have never met (online, in person) a hypo person who didn't need adrenal

support.

Once a person gets enough iodine and Armour they usually need to support

adrenals. Cortef

shoudl be used 4X a day. BTW my ACTH test was " normal " and I was a wreck.

> Gracia

>

November 20, 2008

I hope the day will come when docs will understand that tumors require iodine,

not surgery.