Armour Thyroid and Brain Fog: What Users Say

• Che...
• July 9, 2013

For Underactive Thyroid "When I was diagnosed with thyroid problems around nine years ago. My TSH was a 6.7. I was placed on Synthroid. I developed terrible headaches right from the start. The doctor decided to switch over to Levoxyl brand. Let me tell you, it has been a whirlwind of problems from tiredness, to aches and pains coming out of nowhere. I gained 50 lbs in the last nine years. Constantly dieting, going to the gym, nothing worked. Swelling and cloudy thinking. The doctor said my TSH was normal. Okay, just started on Armour Thyroid 60mg. Unbelievable. My aches and pains are gone. Lost five pounds in these last two weeks. Swelling is gone and I am alert! Do your homework and take charge. I finally did! 'Armour changed my life'."

• mis...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• November 21, 2019

For Hashimoto's disease "I have had Hashimoto's since 1998. Synthroid never worked for me, so the doctor switched me to Nature-Throid, which worked miracles after only 2 months. When there was a shortage of Nature-Throid, I switched to Armour. I have been on Armour for 5 years. At first, I felt great on Armour, but within the last 1 1/2 years, something has changed. All my symptoms returned in September 2018. I have gained 25 lbs, experienced hair and eyebrow loss, brain fog, and extreme fatigue, etc. I would bet money that Armour has changed the formula again but won't admit it. The pills do not smell or taste the same. Fess up, Armour!! Going to the doctor in 2 weeks to try a different NDT. Stay strong!"

• Anonymous
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• April 9, 2021

For Hypothyroidism, After Thyroid Removal "I am struggling with the new formulation of Armour Thyroid. It was always the best medication for me. Now experiencing sleeplessness, foggy brain, and vision changes. If Allergan does not figure this out, I will have to go to a different med. Synthroid was terrible for me. Cannot take it and function."

• Anonymous
• January 31, 2016

For Underactive Thyroid "Had taken Armour Thyroid for 20 years but starting 2 years ago I experienced brain fog, aches and pains which was thought to be fibromyalgia, no energy, severe headaches, insomnia and hard to get out of bed and always tired. I have taken many tests, scans and seen many doctors during that time and couldn't find an answer to my complaints. I felt like I was losing my mind and in desperation began searching the internet and came across information about Armour. I understand Forest Labs bought Armour in 2014 and Actavis bought them in 2015 - lo and behold! I saw complaints which were identical to mine and quit taking them on September 22, 2015. I felt better within 2 days and am angry that I lost 2 years of my life."

• Vdu...
• October 9, 2010

For Hashimoto's disease "After years of levothyroxine, I never felt any improvement. After a little research, I requested a trial of natural thyroid. I felt improvement quickly. When I was assigned a new doctor, she refused to continue the natural thyroid and put me back on the synthetic. Needless to say, I went back to feeling blah. A new doctor was willing to work with me and natural thyroid, and the mind fog is gone! I feel 'normal' once again!"

• Gra...
• May 27, 2021

For Underactive Thyroid "I had benign thyroid nodules, 2 docs thought I had thyroid cancer, so I had a partial thyroidectomy. No doc did a biopsy, shame. Endo shamed me for asking for Armour. I suffered badly on Synthroid and all other synthetic meds. Finally, I convinced my PCP to try me on Armour 120, it was a miracle for me. I got well. I continued on Armour 120 mgs for 28+ years, same dose, no problems. Over the last approximately 2 years, the strength of Armour 120 mgs changed, the cost skyrocketed, and it is not covered by insurance. I gained weight, had hair loss, and puffiness on my old perfect dose of Armour 120. Gyn doc prescribed Armour 180. I am much better, brain fog gone. Hair loss gone. When thyroid dose is correct, you will feel well again! The endo doc told me Armour Thyroid was made from sick pigs and not good for humans. If that were true, why do heart specialists use pig parts for heart surgery and other surgeries?"

• Chr...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 20, 2019

For Underactive Thyroid "Definitely wasn't for me. I noticed a drastic change in my moods. Generally a very bubbly person, I became irritable during treatment. I had constant racing thoughts, jitters, and an overall depressed feeling. It impaired my thinking too, I felt distraught. I'm feeling much better since discontinuation of Armour."

• wha...
• February 26, 2016

For Underactive Thyroid "I've been taking Armour for several years now. Somewhere along the line, all of my symptoms such as constipation, weight gain and trouble losing weight, hair loss, trouble falling asleep despite being extremely tired, low energy, headaches, brain fog, etc., came back with a vengeance. My endo sees nothing wrong with my labs and tells me it must be something I'm eating. I went along with this theory until one day I went online to find out why my prescription cost went up so much. Much to my surprise, I stumbled across many others like me complaining of symptoms coming back despite lab work being in range. Everyone noticed the changes came about when Forest sold! I'm switching doctors and hope to find another medication!"

• Why...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• April 19, 2016

For Underactive Thyroid "Why can't they go back to the old method of making Armour Thyroid? I've tried the synthetic meds before. I don't feel like myself and had many issues with side effects. Even a mix of two different ones trying to get my t3 right. TSH levels always good or played games of too high or too low until the T3 was studied. Yes, I've had more issues with sleeping, insomnia, irritability, focus, weight loss, hair loss, and for the first time in my life, I had a migraine over a year ago and now need to take daily meds for them. Does anyone know of another company, even out of the US, where we could buy the old formula from? Use of pig glands certainly can't be expensive. Just another company filling their pockets while giving a lesser product, we suffer."

• don...
• October 14, 2013

For Underactive Thyroid "Diagnosed with hypothyroidism over ten years ago with body aches, insomnia, brain fog, weight gain, etc. On Armour all my symptoms went away except for weight gain despite heavy exercise and dieting. I keep up my regimen but I'm desperate to lose the weight. I don't understand why the Armour has helped everything but the weight gain."

• Jus...
• September 21, 2020

For Hashimoto's disease "Been on Armour Thyroid for 2 plus years. I have never felt this miserable in all my life. Except NP thyroid. Synthroid and levothyroxine helped with numbers. Didn't fight the brain fog, lethargy, and annoying side effects. I have been living in a nightmare for over 2 years being on this medicine. I've been suicidal, continued, if not worse, brain fog, hair, skin, and nails. My whole body is not functioning anymore. Functional medicine people push this like drug pushers. Tried compounded thyroid as well. What a joke. These drugs seem to be a joke. Haven't been able to work full time in 8 years. Dr. took me off estrogen, and this is what happened to me. Hypothyroid, functional medicine doctors didn't pay enough attention to the numbers, I kept telling them over and over again. Now I have Hashimoto's and feel like rubbish. Functional medicine is a joke. But Armour and NP are the biggest joke. Have no clue where I will be going next on this nightmare journey. Good for you all that feel better on this medication."

• cso...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 11, 2012

For Hypothyroidism, After Thyroid Removal "I had Graves' disease 20 years ago, and my thyroid was burned out with irradiated iodide. I was put on Synthroid daily and gained almost 80 pounds over the years. I had all the bad headaches, fatigue, water retention, brain fog, etc. Finally, I started working for a functional medicine doctor who specializes in bioidentical hormone treatment. I signed up, and we switched me over to Armour. I have only been taking it for about a week, and I am already starting to feel better. I will report back in another week to say how I am feeling."

• myj...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• January 7, 2017

For Underactive Thyroid "Naturopath put me on AT in August 2014. My TSH was 4.0, but she said I would feel better if we could get it under 2.0. I gained 32 pounds before Christmas. I thought it was stress because I had gone back to work full-time in August after our youngest started college. I went into menopause and had a period every other month for 4 months, and my cycle stopped in February 2015. I also attributed the weight gain to this. I also got insomnia, night sweats, and severe brain fog, which I also attributed to the menopause. (age 46) I began having acid reflux/heartburn, trying PPIs and eating TUMS. My AT prescription ran out over Christmas 2016, so I took 1 every other day to get by and instantly lost 5 lbs. My heartburn and PM sweats stopped. My period came back! I'm still losing weight, and the fog is gone."

• Mpc...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 29, 2020

For Underactive Thyroid "I had a total thyroidectomy 13 years ago. I was put on Synthroid, or generic versions. I only noticed some paranoia/anxiousness with those over the years. About a year ago, I started feeling like I was taking the meds for nothing, as I was tired, foggy, etc. I went to see a new doctor who prescribed Armour Thyroid and suggested '2 grains,' which is two pills. I took one to start, and it made me totally anxious. I started taking half and made myself stick with it for a week. I had been having headaches to begin with. I decided to up to one pill and have done that for about 5 days. I am totally foggy, my body aches, I’m extremely anxious. I’m not taking this anymore. I feel disconnected, like I’m not even myself. I hope to go back to my previous doctor and start back on Synthroid. I’m happy Armour helps so many people, but unfortunately, I am not one of them. ;("

• Nic...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 6, 2021

For Hashimoto's disease "Progressively got sicker on Armour Thyroid. Abdominal pain and bloating, back pain, brain fog, headache in the morning, dizzy, blurry vision, extreme fatigue, pale skin, weight gain (10 lbs - thin my entire life - never had weight issues), high cholesterol. I've never felt so ill. I finally put 2 and 2 together, stopped taking the meds, and within two days, I started feeling better. I lost 5 lbs in one week and feel like my old self again. Today was the first day in 5 months that my stomach didn't hurt."

• She...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• November 18, 2019

For Hypothyroidism, After Thyroid Removal "I have been taking Armour since Feb 2014. No significant weight changes (47 yo) in past years. Suddenly had foggy brain in December 2018. Retested, and my Endo changed my dose up by 7.5 mg, which helped. I have been recently experiencing the same effect in the last 2 months. My Endo says my levels are normal, I certainly don’t feel normal, though. I will be going in soon for reevaluation. Not sure Armour is normal levels...."

• sus...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 21, 2018

For Underactive Thyroid "I started on Armour 2 months ago. I was on levothyroxine for 3 months. I feel like my fogginess is gone (I call it being airheaded:). I'm still in the beginning phase, but has anyone lost any weight on these pills??? I watch my diet and exercise (hired 2 different trainers), but have been stuck on my weight. I feel heavy and tired. Supposedly, I'm 25-30 pounds overweight. I know if I lose weight, it will help with my energy. I'm supposed to do blood work next week. If my numbers are normal, I think I may try to do a full hormone blood panel test and pay out of pocket."

• Alb...
• September 9, 2015

For Hashimoto's disease "This medication has had the adverse effect for me. After being diagnosed with Hashimoto's, my doctor expected that this medication would help me with brain fog, energy, and tiredness. I experienced the opposite. Within a few days of taking the 60 mg dosage, I felt worse. I began sleeping extremely heavily, had a huge amount of trouble waking in the morning, and could barely keep my eyes open past 8:30 pm each night. I gained five pounds in two months even though I had improved my eating habits and exercise. I began getting these dull headaches on the top of my head. I became extremely irritable with everything, which is not my normal disposition. My doctor told me to stop taking it immediately and is prescribing Nature-throid. We'll see how that goes."

• Iga...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• April 22, 2016

For Hashimoto's disease "Synthroid did not help: zero improvement in quality of life and bad side effects. Have been through all possible medications, none helped, same story as Synthroid. Am now on Armour, 3 grains. Doesn't help at all and gives me side effects: weight gain, hair loss, difficulty sleeping, hyperpigmentation, no patella reflex, brain fog, extreme fatigue, etc. In fact, I feel better, and most of the signs/symptoms are lessened if I take *nothing*, even though my TSH is 90 and my T4 and T3 are undetectable (i.e., no T3 nor T4 in my body). I overwhelmingly prefer taking nothing as that gives me the best quality of life (albeit a pretty poor quality of life). I take medication, Armour, (and suffer) only because my doctors insist that I take medication."

• pin...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• November 28, 2021

For Hypothyroidism, After Thyroid Removal "I had my right thyroid removed 4 years ago. They started me out on levothyroxine 50 mg. My side effects were itchy eyes, brain fog, and tired every day around 4:00. The doctor changed my medication to Armour 30 mg and 15 mg. I loved it for 3 years. The start of my 4 years was good until July 2021. Side effects were bad weight gain, brain fog so bad I was having trouble with having a conversation. I was tired too. I just did not put two and two together and realized it was my thyroid medication. Saw the doctor in October, told her my side effects, told her I stopped taking the 15 mg Armour, and the side effects lessened. My blood work came back with my TSH off the charts. She now has me on Armour 30 mg and levothyroxine 50 mg. My side effects now are losing my hair, tired, cold, weight gain. I have only been on this for a month and a half. I am hoping it will lessen over time."