finding it is not working for me and I am even more tired than before. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
How do I switch from synthroid to armour? I currently take 75 mg of synthroid once a day but am?
Question posted by blueeyes3074 on 16 Aug 2010
Last updated on 10 September 2018
7 Answers
Kathy_59
4 Sep 2017
To find a Dr in your area that will prescribe natural thyroid, try going to Hypothyroid Mom website. They have a directory by location of drs willing to prescribe it
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Krenfro2000
30 Aug 2017
I have a similar question. I started Armour about 3 weeks ago at my own request. I've taken Levo for about 10 years since having my thyroid removed due to Graves' disease. I was having difficulty getting my numbers evened out - had to alternate 75 and 88mcg each day. In the past week I developed serious temp changes- hot to freezing and vice versa. I don't feel perky and my appetite has dropped. Oh and I spend a lot more time in the bathroom. Has anyone else experienced these symptoms?
tlyle822
3 Jan 2017
I highly recommend Tirosint! It's the only Thyroid drug like it's kind; it's a liquid gel, gluten free, dye free and no artificial fillers. It has no known side effects. There is no generic for this drug. I have been on Tirosint for almost 5 years now and have never felt better in my life since being diagnosed with a Thyroid disease. I have tried Synthroid and Armour before and could not tolerate them especially since they reformulated Armour. One thing you have to remember is that Tirosint is a liquid gel and not like any other thyroid drug on the market. It will reach the blood stream more quickly so you most likely will need a lower dose compared to the any other Thyroid drug on the market which has to go through the digestive tract first making them not as consistent. Tirosint is in micrograms; 50, 75, 88, 100, etc. This drug is a bit more expensive, but you can print out a coupon from their website to give to your Pharmacy and they will keep it on file for you to use each and every time!
Inactive
4 Jan 2017
It is quite expensive. I googled it, and Tirosint costs $128mo. I take Nature-Throid, which has non-allergenic fillers (as opposed to the fillers used in Armour Thyroid) and it has T4, as well as T3 and also T1 and T2. It is the best thyroid medication I have ever taken. Cash price is $21.84 for a 3 month supply. I highly recommend it.
Myra Mann
9 Feb 2017
Hi There ! I feel blessed to have fallen on this conversation ! I have been searching for a doctor to help me get out of synthetic synthroïd too , no luck , my endo went wild on me for asking her to prescribe the natural hormones " Armour" I've been running around like a cat trying to catch my tail . I live in Montreal Canada and there is NO ONE that wants to help with the Natural medication , I'm willing to go out from the Quebec area into the English Canada sector , just to find help with this ! Does anyone have advise for me ? Because I am ready to try to buy Armour myself and switch without a doctor , or have a holistic professional follow the switch ! Does any of this sounds sain ?
Rudygirl34
23 Feb 2017
I too, am glad to have found this conversation. Doc just changed me to Armour today (haven't picked it up yet), now I want to look at other remedies too. Thanks for this.
Delcarinc
18 March 2017
Hello , I am new to this forum . I am from Montreal, and I too am on Synthroid with good TSH levels but feel just as awful as when I was first diagnosed. Would like to try Armour or Natural Throid. Anyone know any doctor who can help ?
Thanks
MageeMiller
30 July 2017
Not true. I went to a Endocrinologist to get put back on Amour. I have no thyroid. He wanted me to try Tirosint first. I started having some cramps, both stomach and intestinal. Then I ended up cramping and hurting because I was swelling and my abdomen was getting distended. I ended up in the hospital for four days and because of the swelling I got a hernia. When I started thinking about what I was doing different, it was Tirosint. I see him on Tuesday. He either puts me on Amour or I find someone else.
Gailmangan
10 Sep 2018
How expensive is it?
Gailmangan
10 Sep 2018
I see someone put 128... i am on armour... was 125 down to 90 still to hi he says... now they dont have 75mg... gotta take 2 pills now ... 2 prescribtions ... more money $17 more... i dont get it ... why is this such a pain to go natural?
barbara312
6 May 2012
about 2 months ago i had a goiter the size of a small egg removed, i was able to keep 5% of my thyroid, right after surgery i was put on .125 of Synthroid, after 1 month it was dropped to .112, let me just say I feel horrible, i am tired all the time, gained 6 lbs, I am on weight watchers, I go to the gym 5 to 6 days a week, went for 30 min to 45 min of cardio (hard cardio) and i feel the same way i did before I had surgery LONG story short, i did LOTS of research and decided I wanted to try Armour, I called my doctor at first she said NO flat out NO, i asked her why she said she did not like it and feels it does not work as well as synthroid, I told her that it is my body i should have a choice in this not just NO, she ended up putting me on 75 mg, I just started 2 days ago, I really hope that this will help me out, I hate feeling this way, the big thing on the synthroid,
is it only really takes care of your t4 counts nothing to do with the t3!
SO lets see how i feel and if this will give me the pep and help me lose weight again, FIRST do not mistake me I did not ask for this to help lose weight I asked for this because i feel it is the right choice for me, I have a 90 day supply, will keep all posted, has anyone else new to armour?
shelard
17 Aug 2010
I've had to switch around a few times in 11 years. After awhile some just don't work, but I think their all very similar. I'm taking .1mg of Levothyroxine now, but I'm tired too. I might have to travel 300 miles to see a real endocronolgist; there are none up here in the redwoods! hope you get it right. good Luck. sharonh
blueeyes3074
18 Aug 2010
Thanks Sharonh... I have heard that as well. I am only seeing my gp... he seems good so far so I will wait and see. Thanks I hope you can get yours sorted out too... it's awful to feel so tired :(
vinsquet
19 Aug 2010
Sharonh, if you don't mind me saying, if you cant get to the endo, get or your Primary Care doctor to test not only TSH but also T3's and T4's. I have found that when T3's are low it triggers the tiredness alot.
shelard
19 Aug 2010
Thanks vinquet, I am going to ask for that new lab work today. Maybe I can hook-up with the endo MD via computer. The one my psychiatrist wants me to see is at SF state or some university in SF. I work at the hospital here so I'm hoping we can actually use the on-line thing. First I'll get the new labs. anything else I should ask for? I wish I could understand my labs as well as you seem to. I'm going to study your figures a little more thanks for all your info. I have Graves disease & they radiated my thyroid out back in 1999
vinsquet
16 Aug 2010
1 grain (60 mg) of Armour thyroid contains 9 mcg of T3 and 38 mcg of T4. Notice how we are already talking in terms of micrograms (mcg), just like with Synthroid. We are almost ready to compare apples with apples. OK, remember how T3 is approximately four times as potent as T4? Good! Multiply the 9 mcg of T3 times 4 and add that to the 38 mcg of T4:
36 mcg (9 mcg of T3 times 4)
+ 38 mcg of T4
---
74 mcg
1 grain (60 mg) of Armour equals approximately 74 mcg of T4 (Synthroid)
I recently just switched over also, but not to Armour but Nature-Throid, which is a parallel hormone. I also was on 75 mcg Synthroid from 2002, but it has stopped working for me after I quit smoking last November. I am not optimized as yet on Nature-Throid, but I'm will get there. My med needs tweaking as I just new blood results. I started a 1.5 grain and my last blood test revealed I was below my ranges in both T4 and T3, so I am taking another grain for a total of 2.5 grains. I just started this dosage last Wednesday. BTW, when I was on Synthroid, I was not fully well and didn't know they were other meds on the market.
blueeyes3074
17 Aug 2010
Thank you vinsquet :) That was very helpful. I am actually switching to Thyroid which is the Canadian version of Armour. I had all of the bad side effects while being on synthroid that I got my doctor to switch me. He did tell me to start with 30 mg for the first week and than up it to 60 mg the second week after letting my body adjust. Do you take all of your grains at once or broken up? Thank again
vinsquet
18 Aug 2010
Hi there, I want to give you a little background/story of my condition.
I am a new member and the first time posting but I have been reading these posts and appreciate all your good advices and experiences.
In Sept 2001, I was diagnosed Hyper and 2 month laters did a very low dose of RAI and become HYPO. During that time I was still a smoker and was maintaining on .075MG Synthroid. Did put on lots of weight and started exercising 2 year ago and was able to lose 1/2 the weight. Recently quit smoking in Nov, 2009 and have not looked back since:) Now my thyroid is out of wack. I am now very lethargic (mostly in the early afternoon 2 pm), and basically not motivated to do anything. I did my blood work in April and doctor said everything looked good, but I was feeling horrible. The Syntroid was not helping me anymore although I was not 100% better. I asked to be changed over to Nature-Throid and am now on 1 1/2 grain/daily. I'm still feeling lethargic in the afternoon.
I started out with 1 grain NT for 2 weeks and that didn't change much,so I added another 1/2 grain all in the AM for another 2 weeks. I then did blood test and these were my results:
Here are my recent blood results as of end of July.
TSH – 0.26 ( 0.4 – 4.50)
T4 Total = 5.5 (4.8 – 10.4)
Free T4 = 0.7 (0.8 -1.8)
T3 Total = 116 (76 – 181)
Free T3 = 274 (230 – 420)
T3 Uptake = 32 (22 – 35)
RT3 (Reserve T3) = 14 (11 – 32)
Thyroblobulin Antibodies = Less than 20 (<20)
Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies = Less than 10 (<35)
Thyroglobulin = 0.2 (2 – 35)
In April’s blood work my Vitamin D level was low 20 (range 20 – 100), since then I have been supplementing with VD3. Now the current results is 40, which I do need more improvement and will continue and up my dosage. My Vitamin B’s numbers were excellent, so problem there. Iron was also good, no problem there either.
I think my Free T 3 and Free T4 and a bit low and I think I would be able to increase by 1/2 to 1 more NT grain.
As you can see my FT4 is low .7 (Range .8 - 1.8) and FT3 is in the lower part of the range 274 (Range 230 - 420) I am now on 2 1/2 NT and still not optimized. I did split by doing 1 1/2 in the morning and 1 grain in the mid afternoon and still felt lethargic. Then someone told me to try taking all at night before bedtime and I did that last night and still felt tire midafteroon. So I'll be taking all 2 1/2 grain tomorrow AM to see how it goes. Overall I do feel a little better than on the Synthoid. In fact when I start the NT, the shoulder pain subsided a little, but the pain had returned after 4 weeks. I just can't seem to shift this "darn" excess weight since I quit smoking and crashed. I am evening exercising longer to no avails. OH i really hate this condition but I have to live with it. I will be seeing an Endo on August 31, which is only 1 1/2 week away, so will hang on with 2 1/2 grain until then and see what he says. I know this is a long post, but thanks for listening. I'll be praying that you will do good on your meds too. Your doctor gave you good advice to do small increases at a time.
blueeyes3074
18 Aug 2010
Thank you so much for all your info and help. Congrats on quiting smoking :) I quit in April of 2009 and my weight slowly increased so I put it to quitting smoking... but have now been a non smoker for almost a year & a half... have been exercising and watching what I was eating... but was still gaining weight... plus a whole bunch of other symptoms of hypo. So I was tested and am just boderline but my doctor feels I need this so am trying to learn what I can as I am finding it overwhelming :( but I am already feeling a better difference in being on thyroid as opposed to synthroid... which is what my gut was telling me all along. What you are taking for vitamin D is that prescription or just a supplement? I have no idea what my vitamin D is at Guess I should have that checked too... thanks again for all of your advice and help... I really appreciate it :)
vinsquet
19 Aug 2010
Happy to be of help. In April, when my Vit D was low 20 (Range 20-100) I took OTC from Vitamin Shoppe - Vitamin D3, 2000 IU and when I test (the Vit D3 is the most soluable of all. I would take 2 gel tablet plus I would get some more from the daily potent multi-vitamin. When I tested end of July the range jumps to 40, so I still have a ways to go. In essence, I think I'm taking about 5000 - 7000 IU daily. Thanks.
rewolf71
3 Aug 2016
so... I'm not the best at math. but i take 0.125mg of the synth. what is the equivalent in the Armor? with the decimal i get very confused. I get that .125mg equals 125 micrograms but how does it relate to this?
Clineberger
2 May 2018
I had the thyroid abated with radiation, I was having muscle pain/ fatigue and tingling from neck down through my arms, dr. Acted like she had no clue what I was talking about. I read online thyroid problems come with calcium deficiencies. I started taking calcium and magnesium at night. Sleep better and no more tingles!!
I am going to make switch to natural thyroid, the weight gain is ridiculous. I went on keto diet and lost 15 pounds so far in 6 weeks. I supplement my vit D too. Hope the weight will come off easier soon.
shelard
16 Aug 2010
If your doctor can't answer this get a new dr. sharonh
blueeyes3074
17 Aug 2010
Well my doctor did answer it... but I find asking people who have done this have more info and tips to help.
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armour thyroid, synthroid, hypothyroidism
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