Synthroid And Armour Dose Facts

Synthroid And Armour Dose Posts

Questions and Answers

My doc prescribed 30mgs of armour thyroid. what is ratio of this dose to synthroid? was on 112 mgs of synthroid and now he prescribed 30 mgs of armour X2 daily. I havent started it yet, I took synthroid monday and was letting it clear from my body but am starting in the am. Please advise. anyone that knows about the differences between synthroid and armour measurements.thanks

bacchi_laureate replied: "Here is a dosing equivalence chart from the manufacturer of Armour. Looks like you're getting 60 mg of Armour per day, which equates to 100 mcg of levothyroxine (Synthroid) per day. Just make sure your thyroid levels are checked in another month or so on this new medication. "

mickiem replied: "It's not equivalent. I take both Armour and Levoxyl. Armour is a natural thyroid so the amounts of T3 and T4 aren't standard. The synthetics only have T4. I love taking both, I feel so much better. But since Armour isn't standardized I have to be the doc to let me continue it. checkout website thyroidabout.com and read everything by Mary J. Shomon. Good Luck"

Has anyone switched from Synthroid to Armour, or some other form of thryoid replacement that has both T3 & T4? I feel miserable. I've taken Synthroid since 2004, after undergoing radiation. My dose has uncreased from 88 mcg to 125 mcg over time, yet my symptoms still exist. ~severe joint pain ~ hair loss ~ constant hunger, I eat dinner at 10 pm and wake up in the middle of the night, so hungry that I can't sleep. I feel no hunger pains when I stopped taking Synthroid ~ Can't lose weight ~ Ringing in ears, constantly althought it's not too noticeable during the day ~ Strangely enough, my eyesight has improved greatly ~Tiredness, I could sleep 12 or 14 hours a day, every day ~ Depression/mood swings ~ I'm constantly cold - I'm sitting at work right now with a hooded sweater and my hands still feel like ice ~ semi-frequent UTI's ~ High cholesterol, both good and bad ~ Increased (slight) BP ~Frequent migraines, sometimes daily ~ Increasing sugar levels Has anyone seen an improvement in their symptoms when switching? I see my doc tomorrow & wanted some more info.

Mopery Sharper replied: "I started on Synthroid in 2001, and switched to Armour about two years later, and never regretted it. The difference is that Synthroid is synthetic and only suppliments the T4 hormone, whereas Armour is derived from natural sources (usually pig thyroid, and includes the T3 hormone. Using Synthroid, I had many of the same symptoms you do, and my tests showed in the normal range. My doctor switched me to Armour, and I saw an almost immediate improvement. Blood work results should only be used a guide. Remind your doctor that you are more than a set of lab values."

DNA replied: "Yes, I have switched from T4 to Armour. First I was put on Levoxyl and it did nothing for my symptoms. After 9 months I added 5 mcg's of Cytomel. Cytomel helped with the muscle and joint aches and the hairloss, but I still had some symptoms. After 2 years, I switched to Armour. It was the best move I made. 95% of my symptoms are gone. I still struggled with trying to lose the thyroid weight, so I had my doctor test for insulin resistance. Once treated for that and having the thyroid levels right, I was able to lose 20 pounds. You say you are having increaed sugar levels, so the thyroid weight probably caused you to have insulin resistance. Insulin resistance makes it hard to lose weight also. It is diagnosed by a fasting insulin and fasting glucose. Thyroid links below"

Was on Synthroid for 6 years, finally got my doc to change it to armour.? was on 112mg of synthroid. He prescribed 30mgs of armour twice daily. Does that sound like a sufficient dose to start, and how do I actually increase it or whatever?thanks

DNA replied: "It sounds sufficient to start, but you will most likely need to move up quickly. I have included a link below about switching from Synthroid to Armour and a few other links as well I switched rom Levoxyl with Cytomel to Armour and the doctor started me out too low and I developed hypo symptoms quickly. As soon as you notice any hypo symptoms returning like fatigue call your doctor right away about increasing. Armour is a great medication if the doctor knows to adjust by free t4 and free t3, not by TSH>"

Does Armour Thyroid cause more side effects than Synthroid or synthetic thyroid drugs? I ask because ....? I am having a hard time with heart palpitations and rapid heartbeat on even a low dose of Synthroid .025mg but my TSH is still high and I have Hashimoto's Disease My doctor said she would prescribe Armour Thyroid but doesn't recommend it because she says it can cause more rapid heartbeat and palpitations than Synthroid... I have read otherwise and that Armour has less side effects... which one rings more true? If Armour is worse with rapid heartbeat I'm going to have to stick with Synthroid.

DNA replied: "Like all medications, it depends on the individual. What your doctor may be thinking about is the T3 in Armour. T3 is the active hormone. With Armour, most people split the dosage in half, taking half in the morning and half in the afternoon. I will post related links below. I know people who added Cytomel to the Synthoid and the Cytomel was too strong for them. They switched to Armour and felt better than ever."

lumbee713 replied: "one thing about armour is most take it in divided doses thruout the day to keep the t3 more level ...(this is what i do) also, have you ck'd you magnesium, potassium and all to make sure they are not low....this is when i get the worst palps...i currently take armour and i do not have the problems i had with synthroid...."

Has anyone had a postiive experience with the Armour type thyroid medicine? I am currently on a high dose of synthroid.

Kate from Drugs.com replied: "I haven't used this drug personally, but a few people have posted comments on the website below. To read the comments please go the the source link. Hope this helps."

Am I on too low of a dose of Armour thyroid? One grain for almost 4 years now?? Obviously, any advise I get I am consulting with my physician,but after talking with other thyroid cases I noticed that I am on 1 grain when a "normal" dose is about 3-5 grains. I do have addisions disease as well. I take hydrocortisone and florinef for this. I have had this for about 15 years and was diagnosed with a goiter after my daughter was born. So, about 9 years I have had a thyroid condition. I had the goiter removed with radioactive iodine and started on synthroid! THAT WAS HORRIBLE! I hated that stuff but never knew there was another option! Now I feel as if I am being under treated. I'm tired,always worrying,and have headaches often. I also eat healthy and workout with no results. I'm much better than I was on the synthroid but I feel like I need more to boost my metabolism and my energy and just get back to being me. Anyone going through the same thing or did and now it's better?If so,how did you improve?

no_frills replied: "I am more familiar with synthroid but on the armour web site they have a conversion table. 1 grain = 100 mcg of synthroid. I take 200 mcg of synthroid, and if I remember correctly needing more than 300 mcg is rare. I think most people need 200 mcg or less. So I am suspect of 3-5 grains being the normal dose, 3 grains in the largest pill they make. Just like 300 mcg is the largest pill of synthroid. Your dose may be too low, but if my dose was too low the doctor would change it by 12 to 25 mcg at a time and see the results. That would be 1/8 or 1/4 of a grain of armour thyroid. I had my thyroid removed, and never feel quite right. I would say I am 90%. Having too much medication will effect your sleep, I know because my endocrinologist likes to keep me slightly hyperthyroid. He was surprised it had such an effect on me, everyone is different . I see my endocrinologist every 2 months, slight differences for me, make a big difference."

DNA replied: "1 grain is a small dose. I'm on 3 grains. If you are symptom free at 1 grain, then that's your dose. If not, chances are you aren't being dosed properly. On Armour, you do not take the morning dose before testing. You test first thing in the morning and then take the Armour. Also, your dosage of Armour should be adjusted by the free t4 and free t3, not by TSH. I will provide links below"

Changing doses of Armour thyroid due to weight issues. Read and advise Please.? I am 30 years old and I had my thyroid radioactivly removed. I take 1 grain of armour every morning. I feel MUCH better than I did on synthroid (that stuff was HORRIBLE)I have had this condition for about 9 years. I work out 3-5 days a week (cardio and weights) and eat very healthy. I am not fat at all. 5'6" 135,but I feel like my body is not responding to my efforts to lean out and just drop a couple pounds. I just stay at the same weight no matter what I do. So, I called my doctor and we talked. We negociated. He said I could take 1 1/2 tablets every other day. I told him I was feeling tired and like I was at a stopping point with my weight goals. Any advise on this at all? Thanks! I also have addisons disease as well. I have had that condition for about 15 years. I take hydrocortisone and florinef as well. Just thought I would add those details as well.

no_frills replied: "I don't take armour thyroid but I take generic t4. I would suggest you look for signs of being hyperthyroid once you alternate doses each day. I would think a 50% increase in dose every other day is too much. I think you would be better off getting a 2nd prescription for 1/4 grain, and take that every other day at first and be a little bit more patient with your weight loss. I now take 200 mcg, but at 225 and 212, I had symptoms of being hyperthyroid. I would get heart palpitations in my sleep, and was more short tempered. A small difference in medication can make a big difference in how you feel."

michelle f replied: "You are on way too low a dose. I take armour thyroid and I am currently ay 3 3/4 grains and working up. How I got my up is you start out at a low dose like you did and increase by 1/2 grain every two weeks when symptoms return. Then when you get to 3 grains you want to hold it for 6 weeks for the Free T4 to stabilize in the blood. Then raise by a 1/4 grain every 6 weeks untill all symptoms are gone and you have an afternoon temp of 98.6. I also recommend doing a temp graph this will really tell you what is going on with your metabolism. You can get the temp graph at the link below. Hope this helps, also if your doctor is not willing to work with you on this I would try and find a DO (doctor of osteopath)"

DNA replied: "How is your doctor adjusting your dosage of Armour? If it's by TSH, you are most likely on too low a dose. Armour works best when one is dosed by the free t3 and the free t4. Also, are you taking the Armour dose before you are testing? On the Armour website it states to test, then take the Armour. Links below. With the T3 in Armour, you really should be taking the same dose each day. Perhaps you could divide the Armour up so that your dose is consistent."

CosmicSoul replied: "You should carefully monitor your heart rate that it does not reach too high (like 80 bpm and up) and if it does not you can take more Armour even daily. You should also check your labwork and ensure that you are in the healthy range, as you can go as low as .01 on the TSH and still should be on the hypo side. Check your other values too. As far as leaning down, you might want to try different exercise methods to achieve that goal. Be happy that you are happy with your weight - most hypothyroid can not say that. You are lucky! Looks like for your weight and height you could take more Armour say 100 or 120 mg per day and always split in half. Lately it has been recommended that you take one of your dose at night, whcih I have been doing. It really helps with the overnight mechanisms and metabolism as we lose a few LBs every night (so I stay back the same as I started the previous morning). You do not have to worry about taking more Armour as long as you monitor your blood pressure, yoru heart rate and your blood work. Good luck to you!"

stealthwind replied: "In 1990 my thyroid was destroyed by RadioActive Iodine (RAI) as well. I was also put on synthroid, and also agree that it was horrible. In my case I gained around 140 pounds, became bald, developed osteoporosis, looked like an old woman, and was crippled. In 2003 I got on Armour Thyroid and I do feel that it saved my life. Unlike you, I was able to "dose by symptoms", which is why I am now symptom free. I dosed my Armour by symptoms because that is what has been proven to be successful according to my experiences, experiences of those before me, and many old time old school doctors who were in practice before 1975. I know that the human body needs ALL the thyroid hormones to function and survive. Without a thyroid gland and taking synthetic t4 (synthroid), I was not getting all the thyroid hormones, and very likely the synthroid (as most synthetics do) shut off many of my thyroid receptors. It does that...synthetic hormones can actually shut off their respective hormone receptors - receptors "receive" and help get the hormones into our cells where they need to be. Sometimes these receptors can not recognize synthetic hormones as anything biologically useful. For a thyroidless person this can be quite a negative situation. The idea is that since a healthy human body has specific thyroid hormones which are there naturally, that is what thyroidless people need to replace. Ideally, we need our thyroid glands back, but unless someone can successfully transplant one back in, we need to supplement thyroid hormones. Miracle of miracles, there's been something on the market for the last 100 years or so that does just that. It's called "dessicated thyroid" and it is actual porcine thyroid glands, dried, powdered, and mixed in specific ways and tested in order to maintain exact potency of "ALL" the thyroid hormones (T1, T2, T3, T4, etc) , plus calcitonin. Negotiating with your doctor? That's sounds interesting. You have to negotiate to get all the thyroid hromones your body needs to function and survive? I hope you are at least splitting your dose between early morning and early afternoon, and letting it melt under your tongue, AND taking the very same amount every single day. And I truely hope you change doctors so that you 'will' be able to dose your Armour by symptoms, and not end up like I did before I started taking desiccated thyroid, which "was" on my death bed..."

Prices of medications for hypothyroidism ... Can you help? I'm just looking for ball-park figures for the lowest doses of whatever is available ... My searches aren't yielding much. All I found was this: "...as of February 2007, 30 tablets of Armour, 60mg, 30 tablets is $7.99 at Drugstore.com, compared to 30 tablets of an equivalent dose of Synthroid, 100mcg,which would cost $14.70..." Is that pretty much representative of all of them? I know other meds per month range from $4 and $12 for generics to $100 or more for name brand and I'm not sure how the meds I listed relate. Any info will help ... thanks!!!

bacchi_laureate replied: "First of all Armour, or dessicated pig thyroid is not really recommended anymore. The thyroid replacement of choice is levothyroxine (Synthroid) as a brand name. For levothyroxine 100 mcg, the generic form, my source says $12.43 for 30 pills. And ya around $14.70 (30 pills) for brand name Synthroid. (See Wal-mart below, though.) In general, thyroid medications are on the cheaper end of the spectrum for brand name and generics. Usually the > $100 per month drugs are much newer, are heavily regulated, or are in extremely high demand. A short word about generics vs. brand names. Almost all doctors see no difference between generics and brands. SOME doctors prefer hormones (like thyroid) to be brand name - over concern of hormones being broken down by mass-production using generic manufacturers. That said, as long as your doctor is checking thyroid levels regularly, generic is fine in my opinion. And you can take advantage of Wal-mart's $4 per 30 pill prescription - levothyroxine 100 mcg is on that list. Edit: While the efficacy of dessicated pig thyroid vs. synethetic thyroid is not the argument for this person's question, the point remains, synthetic hormone has been used and validated as safe and effective for about 20 years, and the "big drug companies" aren't influencing that, empirical data is. And in this case, levothyroxine is cheaper than Armour. Armour is currently manufactured by a large drug company, Forest Pharmacueticals. They also make Lexapro and Namenda, two of the most heavily "repped" drugs on the market. So to the answerer below, don't presume that just because a drug that once made a drug company a lot of money, or is not "natural", means that doctors have been brainwashed by pharmaceutical companies."

DNA replied: "First of all most doctors will say Armour isn't used any more because they are taught by the drug reps to only use Synthroid. Armour is not promoted by the company that makes it because they make more money selling the generics. More and more people are finding Armour works best for their symptoms. Look through yahoo and you'll see forums dedicated to that subject. I was on Levoxyl, it did nothing for my symptoms. On Armour, almost every symptom is gone. Any caring doctor who has a patient on T4 like Synthoid and sees it isn't helping will consider Armour if asked. Your generic price you found on meds is pretty much correct. I think the brand name price of $100 is a little high, though I've never been on Synthoid. Supposedly Walmart sells man generics for the $4.00 price. I'm on Armour, and I would not use the generic form because some say it isn't as potent. The generics of T4 though are just as good as Synthoid. Many people feel better on Armour because they do not convert T4 into T3. Most doctors only test TSH so they never know that the patient isn't converting. The TSH test was developed by the makers of Synthoid to dose Synthoid. It should not be used to dose Armour. Yes, many doctors have been brainwashed by the drug companies. I see reps at the offices all the time. A sure sign that a doctor is brainwashed is when he/she will only use brand name meds and the reps are always at the office. The man made meds do not help a lot of people and the doctors should be seeing if the patient isn't converting T4 to T3. instead most doctors will say the TSH is fine and then proceed to put the patient on antidepresants, pain meds, and cholesterol meds, when all they had to do was put them on Armour. Armpur helps fatigue, hairloss, depression, and muscle and joint aches. It is nice when there are doctors who can think for themselves and choose wha is in the interest of the patient. Yes, man made meds are fine for some, but not for all."

Aries replied: "It's hard to give you an answer because everybody has different health insurance and pays different amount."

Hyperthyroid Question? I am soon going to be undergoing Radioactive Iodine treatment to destroy a portion or all of my thyroid, due to Hyper-thyroidism with a goiter. I am very overweight at about 280 lbs. Up and down with weight for years, actually. But have gained 80 lbs in 5 years. I have been told that the reason I gained weight, instead of the typical weight loss with hyperthyroidism, is because I have a goiter. My question is this; After the treatment, I will be automatically hypo thyroid and will be put on a hormone replacement. Is it possible that I will lose weight once my metabolic rate is normalized after this treatment? Since the hyperthyroidism was thrown off by the goiter, the goiter will obviously be killed off as well...and I wonder if my metabolism will speed up once I get dosed properly with Synthroid or whatever they give me...(truly trying to get the natural based Armour Thyroid meds instead of the synthetic meds), but either way...whatdya say? Thanks for all input! I am truly worried that I will gain even more weight!!!

Sandra replied: "Nope ...sorry to say. I was 100 lbs when i was diagnosed with that and I also did the Radioactice iodine. I had a child and since then I was overweight. I weight up to 180 and that was after the baby also. Your thyroid is kinda a tricky little shit and it takes forever to get normal. but some people are different. This was back in 2000 I was 20 years old then. and barely in the summer of 2005 it became normal since they finally found a dosage thats works for me and since then I have lost about 60lbs. But it can take awhile. The radioactive iodine just kills but its the meds that will help you, once they have the right kind for your body. I have change to hyper to hypo back to hyper and now im so confused i dont even know what I am anymore, I just take the medicine thats making me lose weight like crazy. Time will pass and soon everything will be fine."

icried1231 replied: "You wont automatically be hypothyroid. about 1% of ppl who go thru radioactive treatment DONT become hypo. Not a large percentage....but it happens. If you become hypo, it might take the doctors a while to figure out the exact dose right for you. After I had thyroid surgery it took my docs over a year to regulate my meds. The only way to "speed up" your metabolism is by building muscle, because muscle uses the calories you eat. Fat doesn't. I cant say for sure that you will have an easy time losing weight...I am having a very hard time taking off the 20 lbs I gained while my thyroid was all wacko before and after my surgery. Unfortunately the thyroid isn't the be-all end-all to your metabolism. You might have a ton of luck when your goiter is gone, you might not. You might already know this....BUT if you go to About.com there is a great woman there, Mary Shomon, she is a patient advocate for people with thyroid problems. She has one herself. Poke through her area on the website. I think you will find it useful! I hope that helps."