Thyroid desiccated and Depression: What Users Say

• Eli...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• November 6, 2019

Thyroid desiccated for Underactive Thyroid "Do not take this medicine! Started in July. He gave me samples first. Those were good. Did blood work again, doubled dosage and got script in August. My hair dried out and started falling out. Then insomnia, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, crying for no reason, menstrual cycle irregular, throat burning, stomach hurt, headaches, very greasy, complete brain fog, itchy with bumps, could barely talk, bad back shoulder and neck pain. Barely functioning day to day, I felt empty inside, like I was losing it. I couldn't talk right. I was waking up at 12 am wide awake, couldn't relax, completely amped and exhausted at the same time. I didn't understand what was happening. I stopped taking it. Every day my brain got clearer and felt more like me, my personality came back. I have always been healthy and didn't look at the side effects. I feel stupid for not, lesson learned. This isn't ok! I'm so glad I found this site and it all makes sense now. Please report this! I am!"

• Anonymous
• October 28, 2019

Thyroid desiccated for Underactive Thyroid "I have been taking NP Thyroid for about one year now since NatureThroid became unavailable in 0.5 grain. It's been okay but the last two months I have begun feeling horrible. I have no energy, feel very tired, digestive problems, bloated painful stomach, headaches, brain fog, leg cramps, anxiety/panic attacks, depressed, complete loss of libido, fat gain around the middle, and more. In early September, I noticed my NP Thyroid refill smelled horrible. I contacted my pharmacist and he told me batches vary - it's normal. So I continued to take it, feeling worse over time. I stopped taking it for 3 days as a trial this week and felt somewhat better. I since found a few websites and blogs that discuss the issues. I am not alone. Will contact Naturopath tomorrow to see what my options are. I too, like others, feel poisoned. It seems like my reaction is more than just hypothyroid symptoms. I did not feel this badly before starting thyroid hormones."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 22, 2015

Thyroid desiccated for Underactive Thyroid "Four years ago, I began taking birth control. After a year of trying to find the 'right' pill, I was experiencing extreme fatigue, mood swings, depression, constipation, skin/hair problems, weight gain, and an inability to lose weight. I stopped the pill and still continued to experience these symptoms. I spent the next few years trying to lose weight and trying to convince my doctor to treat my thyroid. She wouldn't because my TSH level was normal. Two months ago, I found a doctor who prescribes Armour based on symptoms. In one month of taking 25mg of Armour daily, I have regained my health and my life. Fight for your health and ask for Armour. If it doesn't work for you, it's worth searching for a medication that does to feel healthy again."

• Anonymous
• December 13, 2011

Thyroid desiccated for Hashimoto's disease "I found out I had an underactive thyroid about 2 years ago, and as a college student, I found it so hard to focus in class. My doctor placed me on Synthroid, and I took it for about 6 months. I had severe headaches, depression, weight gain with no weight loss in sight, and feeling tired and horrible. I went to my ob-gyn for a yearly check-up, and he checked my thyroid, and now I'm taking Armour. I love this medicine. All the headaches, loss of focus, and the weight gained again are gone! I take it at the same time every day, and this pill works for me!"

• Jas...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• April 11, 2020

Thyroid desiccated for Underactive Thyroid "I've been on Armour Thyroid for years and felt fairly good. My doctor switched me to NP Thyroid recently because Armour is no longer covered by insurance. NP Thyroid is awful. Not only did it cause some thyroid symptoms to return (trouble waking up in the mornings, extreme fatigue, depression, weight gain, and irritability to name a few), but it also caused new symptoms. My stomach hurt a lot with acid reflux symptoms, and I had constant mucus in my throat, which created a chronic cough, to the point where I had to clear my throat every 15 minutes. After being back on Armour for a couple of weeks now, all of the symptoms/side effects have disappeared, and I feel good again."

• Tkp...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• June 4, 2020

Thyroid desiccated for Underactive Thyroid "I was taking levothyroxine 100 mcg. Had maintained a weight of 142 lb. Changed to Armour Thyroid 60 mg. After 6 months, I have found I have gained 20 lbs. I work out often, like I've always done. Heading back to the doctor this month, hoping to find answers. Feeling depressed too, not sure if it's knowing my weight gain or if this is making me feel crazy too."

• Jan...
• September 17, 2019

Thyroid desiccated for Hashimoto's disease "I took this medicine, Armour Thyroid, prior to 2015 with excellent results. Six weeks ago, I went back on it because NP Thyroid had been reformulated. I had a bad reaction to Armour, both the 45 mg and 90 mg tablets. I could no longer get up in the morning, took naps at 2, had a severe rash on my fingers and scalp, felt anxious, depressed, and was not sleeping. I am in adrenal fatigue and can’t think straight. I don’t know if these reformulations are a way to push people towards synthetic medications, or if some new fillers have been added, or if the pig thyroid is being processed differently. My main concern is that my symptoms became much more pronounced within days of taking it, to the point where I could not function at 20% of my prior activity level. Also, the medicine seemed to be very uneven in consistency, I had several pills that almost made me feel like I was speeding, while 95% of the other ones put me in bed. TSH, which had been in the normal range for 11 years, plummeted to the edge of 0."

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

Thyroid desiccated 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."

• ato...
• March 30, 2017

Thyroid desiccated for Hashimoto's disease "Been diagnosed with Hashimoto's for over a decade, and started out taking 90 mcg of levothyroxine. As my disease progressed I had to take more and more, and was up to 150 mcg when I started feeling bad: sick and depressed, had trouble sleeping. Blood tests showed that my T3s were low, and I had been flogging my T4s to produce more T3s. This may be one of the symptoms of Hashimoto's: an inability to convert T4 into T3. Not a doctor, don't know, but switching to Armour a month ago has made a huge difference in my health. I am not getting those cramps in my hands and feet at the end of the day, and my energy has gone way up. It's still too early to know for sure...one month isn't much...but so far so good!"

• Sel...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• December 20, 2019

Thyroid desiccated for Hashimoto's disease "This medication has done wonders for me, good and bad. My energy level went up, and I lost a ton of weight. I’m actually underweight now. But over the past month, my mental health has suffered greatly. I’m so depressed and anxiety-ridden. I blow up over everything and just feel utterly hopeless. It’s scary how much I don’t care about anything anymore. Is there anyone else that feels this way? I honestly don’t know if it’s my regular life stress or this medication."

• gui...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• September 8, 2022

Thyroid desiccated for Hashimoto's disease "Today is Sept 8 of 2022, I have had them all from expensive Tirosint SOL to pathetic Synthroid generics. They all have terrible side effects that I can't handle. Lately, I've been a guinea pig to Armour Thyroid for the past year and guess what? I've been pushed to see a psychiatrist because of the anxiety, depression, insomnia, and panic attacks it's caused me. I was fine on NP Thyroid for 2 years before the big distributors and politicians decided to stick their greedy hands in what did not involve THEIR own health. Ever since the 2020 downfall, I have been forced to anti-depressants and counseling... as if 'WE' THE PATIENTS have no absolute idea what our bodies feel like after living in it for years or changing medications. And surviving COVID wasn't difficult enough. For now, I am stuck with anxiety, chest pains on and off, depression, and somewhat hair loss. If anyone knows a better remedy... please pass it on. Best of luck to everyone out there still fighting the uphill war."

• PM ...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 1, 2019

Thyroid desiccated for Hashimoto's disease "If I could list -1 as a rating, I would. Proceed with caution with this medication. I did not know what was happening to me until I spoke with two mutual friends over the holiday weekend. The confusion, depression, exhaustion, unable to sleep, and rapid heartbeat are the short list. I started NP Thyroid in May of 2019 and reached out to my doctor to switch me back to my RX in October. I've been on my old script for less than a month, but my symptoms are still present. Gained 15 lbs quickly, and joint pains are overwhelming. My life has been affected! Be careful... please!"

• Que...
• January 25, 2016

Thyroid desiccated for Hashimoto's disease "Four years of misery thinking I had food allergies when I was allergic to the FILLERS in the Armour Thyroid medication. The side effects included: 2 different rashes on my scalp and behind my ears, excessive sugar cravings, depression, suicidal thoughts, after eating my stomach hurt all the time, couldn't eat anything without getting diarrhea. I went to several doctors and not one suspected the Armour Thyroid medication. I figured it out! When I stopped taking it the side effects went away immediately! The rashes a little longer but started clearing up right away. Now, I'm trying the thyroid hormone ONLY without fillers. The interesting thing is my insurance won't pay for it because it comes from a compounding pharmacy not BIG PHARMA."

• Emy...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• July 26, 2021

Thyroid desiccated for Underactive Thyroid "Armour is sadly not working well for me! Someone needs to investigate. My labs this month (July 2021) have officially tanked. On a fairly decent dose (210 mgs) plus I still have my own thyroid. Yet my free T4 is very low at 0.90, my reverse T3 has skyrocketed to 17.5, which has never happened before, at least not since all this time I’ve been on NDTs (2014 onward). Free T3 on the lower part of the range/still not optimal at 3.0, and I am very symptomatic; hands dry, bleeding, and cracking open, 50 lb weight gain in the last year, hair falling like crazy, so hard to get up in the mornings and function, mood swings/depression/anxiety, hard to go to sleep at a decent time, which doesn’t make sense considering I’m exhausted/dozing off all day (unless this med has thrown me into some serious adrenal fatigue). That time of the month (and the leading up to it) has become a painful, emotional nightmare. Need Nature-Throid, WP, and NP thyroid to be back and consistent the way they were before :-("

• Vic...
• May 29, 2015

For Underactive Thyroid "When I was not on any thyroid medication and when I was on Synthroid, I felt lethargic, mentally slow, uninterested in life, apathetic, at times depressed. I had no energy for doing anything, nor did I have a desire to do anything - especially interacting with people (this felt overwhelming). I also had unwanted weight gain. When I finally switched to NDT, within a few days of raising my dosage to the current level (4 grains), I noticed a huge difference in my personality. I started to enjoy listening to the radio in the car again and singing like mad (I hadn't even noticed that I had stopped doing that before), and I started to care more about friendships, going places, being part of activities. I stopped feeling depressed and I lost weight!"

• BNA...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• October 7, 2022

Thyroid desiccated for Underactive Thyroid "Echoing the many recent negative reviews on Armour. Since mid-2021, the medicine hasn't been the same. I have had depression, anxiety, panic, and after feeling better on an older compounded med, decided to try again since I felt my own system had settled down. Big mistake. By the end of the week trial, I was non-functional. In addition, I'd had an elevation of anti-thyroglobulin antibodies which I've never had before in my 26-year history as a thyroid patient. I have reported my issues to the FDA and talked to them at length, but told them many patients need NDT, but we need it to be safe, reliable, and effective. Encourage everyone having problems or an interest to do the same."

• KA7...
• October 29, 2015

Thyroid desiccated for Thyroid Cancer "Started on Levo/Synthroid after surgery a year ago. Had lots of leg pains and just didn't feel good. Then tried Armour - better but still didn't feel right and still had leg pains. Now I am on Nature's Thyroid - feel much better and no leg pains. I have increased to 2 grains, started at 1 and 1/4. Feel more like my old self. I was starting to get really depressed thinking this was my life now, always feeling subpar. I even regretted surgery and remnant ablation. I hope this continues, but for anyone who has absolutely no thyroid, I recommend you take something that more mirrors your body's natural thyroid. Your thyroid does so much more for your body than you realize. A synthetic T4-only product is not going to cut it in the long run for us."

• CMS...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• June 14, 2019

Thyroid desiccated for Hypothyroidism, After Thyroid Removal "I, too, have experienced various hypo symptoms since the back order of 2017: dry hair, hair breakage, and hair loss, weight gain, muscular aches and pains, and depression. The company says that nothing has changed, but I disagree. I tried posting on RLC Labs' site, and they blocked me from posting. That says it all! I found out, from someone who has done a lot of research, that the FDA has made RLC change the formula to call it a 'drug,' and I also found out that one of the ingredients is propylene glycol, a derivative of anti-freeze. I am not quite sure about that, though. I do know that whatever they did since the recall has caused problems for many, many people. I am now going to try a compounding pharmacy that will make up a pill with the same ratio of T3 T4 with only one filler, microcrystalline cellulose. Hopefully, this will finally help me feel better!"

• Cbo...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• April 16, 2018

Thyroid desiccated for Underactive Thyroid "I was prescribed Armour Thyroid for four years. The first year was great! Felt better than ever before (currently 42 years of age), but at about the two-year mark I noticed a difference. My energy plummeted, almost seemed depressed. So I started taking antidepressants. That did not help. So to answer all my problems, my doctor kept increasing my Armour Thyroid dose. I went from 60 mg to 160 mg in a four-year period. I could not sleep, I felt depressed, and had absolutely no energy. I went to a cardiologist and endocrinologist to help see what the problem could be. They both advised me it was the hormones: testosterone, progesterone, estrogen, and Armour Thyroid medication."

• Lym...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 20, 2020

Thyroid desiccated for Underactive Thyroid "Started taking NP Thyroid about 3 weeks ago. I was taking WP Thyroid due to recall, no longer available. I have chronic Lyme and co-infections. I've been feeling a lot better lately. About 2 weeks ago, I started feeling very anxious, heart palpitations, extreme fatigue, severely depressed, brain fog, muscle pain/aches, and the list is endless. I really thought it was one of my co-infections coming back. Paid $580 to get tested for it, and I was negative. Couldn't figure out what was causing all of this until I Googled NP Thyroid, it smells like cat pee. I will no longer be taking it. I don't know what to change it to, I see my doc on Monday, I hope to get it sorted. Please don't touch this stuff."

• Ame...
• December 4, 2018

Thyroid desiccated for Hypothyroidism, After Thyroid Removal "Like most with the WP/Naturethroid shortage, was switched to this drug back in 2017. On it 4 months; 120 mg/2 grains in the am, and 30 mg/a half grain in the afternoon. Managed to get back on Naturethroid right when it became available again in early 2018, not the greatest as they reformulated it and my levels were low, but at least no side effects. When my prescription for it ran out recently, I had no insurance to see my doctor again yet, and so had no choice but to take something I already had on hand. This time, after 6 hours of taking the first dose of NP, I experienced the most profound sadness/deep depression, complete with crying spells. It lasted for hours; I was in bed crying my eyes out for no apparent reason. Not like me! And that’s not all. Headache, dizziness, anxiety, heart pounding, feeling like I was going to pass out, diarrhea, vision problems, confusion/disorientation/brain fog, no appetite, “wired but tired” feeling, shortness of breath...what a list, good grief!"

• Ame...
• December 4, 2018

Thyroid desiccated for Hypothyroidism, After Thyroid Removal "Like most with the WP/Naturethroid shortage, was switched to this drug back in 2017. On it 4 months; 120 mg/2 grains in the am, and 30 mg/a half grain in the afternoon. Managed to get back on Naturethroid right when it became available again in early 2018, not the greatest as they reformulated it and my levels were low, but at least no side effects. When my prescription for it ran out recently, I had no insurance to see my doctor again yet, and so had no choice but to take something I already had on hand. This time, after 6 hours of taking the first dose of NP, I experienced the most profound sadness/deep depression, complete with crying spells. It lasted for hours; I was in bed crying my eyes out for no apparent reason. Not like me! And that’s not all. Headache, dizziness, anxiety, heart pounding, feeling like I was going to pass out, diarrhea, vision problems, confusion/disorientation/brain fog, no appetite, “wired but tired” feeling, shortness of breath...what a list, good grief!"

• Peg...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• January 15, 2020

Thyroid desiccated for Underactive Thyroid "I cannot take Synthroid, so years ago, my doctor switched me to Armour, and it worked great! Then, for a year, they stopped making it. I started on what is called just Thyroid in Canada, made by Erfa. It worked beautifully. Then, after about 3 years, it went south on me. Tried Armour again, and it was not good for me anymore. I have been on NP for 3 years, and this fall, I was depressed, anxious, I’d get angry. I couldn’t figure out what happened. Never thought of it being NP until 2 weeks ago. I found out they no longer manufacture the pill in Georgia, but it is now manufactured in Europe, but no one knows where. I stopped the pill for 3 days and felt so calm and actually really good. Then, I started on a half dosage for 4 days and felt good. Today, I took a full dosage, and I feel a little weird, but not like before. My doctor wants me to see an Endo ASAP, which I will after giving this a few more days. If they change any filler, then that’s what we get the symptoms from."

• HLM...
• February 9, 2017

Thyroid desiccated for Thyroid Cancer "I had my thyroid removed due to cancer 9 years ago. The doctor initially put me on Synthroid in various dosages, which didn't work, then levothyroxine, which also did not work. It took about a year before we all agreed my body was not absorbing it for some reason. A miserable year. I wasn't sure I would ever get to be 'me' again. I was always exhausted, sad, lost my temper to a degree it was scary, and everything took a lot of effort. Depression had certainly set in, and I had not experienced that before. Finally, a neighbor told me about Armour, so I asked for it. Don't believe the Synthroid smear campaign. This stuff works and is cheap! I alternate two strengths daily, and a 30-day supply from Costco is about $35."

• HLM...
• February 9, 2017

Thyroid desiccated for Thyroid Cancer "I had my thyroid removed due to cancer 9 years ago. The doctor initially put me on Synthroid in various dosages, which didn't work, then levothyroxine, which also did not work. It took about a year before we all agreed my body was not absorbing it for some reason. A miserable year. I wasn't sure I would ever get to be 'me' again. I was always exhausted, sad, lost my temper to a degree it was scary, and everything took a lot of effort. Depression had certainly set in, and I had not experienced that before. Finally, a neighbor told me about Armour, so I asked for it. Don't believe the Synthroid smear campaign. This stuff works and is cheap! I alternate two strengths daily, and a 30-day supply from Costco is about $35."