I agree Armour is excellent. I used it for about 7 years and it kept my tsh low as in below 1. I have Hashimoto's.. and it looks like my antibodies attacked my thyroid full board. When my thyroid gave out on me altogether recently and my tsh went up to 103!! :( my doctor refused to let me stay on Armour. He switched me to Levoxyl at 100 mg. In one more week I'll go up to 200 mg. I'm thinking once my tsh is at normal.. I will ask to go back to Armour and if he doesn't allow it... I will just have to find another doc.
Synthroid, (Levothyroxine) is T4 only and I know some have found great benefits (including myself) of adding T3. Armour has both T4 and T3. If you are on Levothyroxine, you could add T3 with the drug called Cytomel. I know of some that actually take both Cytomel and Armour with great results. For me, when I was on Armour and Cytomel my tsh went down way to low, so I was actually hyperthyroid. I think I will ask if I can add Cytomel to the Levothyroxine until I'm able to go back to Armour again.
RE: gluten free... YES if your thyroid is sick at ALL... try gluten free. I had a friend suggest this about 4 years ago... MAN do I wish I would have taken that advice!! I guess the ingestion of wheat will increase these antibodies that attack the thyroid. I've been gluten free for the past 5 months and it sure has help with my over all health... although it's too late for my thyroid. When it's gone... it's gone for good.
RE: weight loss... I was able to lose 30 lbs over the past year... even with a non functioning thyroid. I plan on losing another 10 lbs... and I'm fine with losing it very slow and stable with fast 5.. because the goal of course is to be a total of 40 lbs lighter for the rest of my life. I lost the first 30lbs through diet, (low carb and now gluten free) and exercise, (mainly strength training) With fast 5 I feel as though I can add back some carbs that I really miss.. like rice, fruit and potatoes. This has been great... I can't believe how much I enjoy my meals.. (I usually have one large meal at breakfast and a smaller meal b4 my eating window closes).. I have been losing only a half a pound a week and some weeks nothing. I'm hoping once I get my thyroid levels in order to lose more like a lb a week. I'm just happy to not be gaining at this point, especially through the holidays.
>
> Your endo's response to you switching to a natural thyroid replacement
> is a typical one. I was on Synthroid for 3 yrs. I NEVER felt all the
> way normal on synthetics. He then decided to switch me to the generic
> brand, Levoxyl. I kept asking him about natural replacements but he
> wouldn't hear of it. He said they were too difficult to regulate and
> didn't work good enough. Most doctors do try and persuade their
> patients to NOT want to switch to a natural replacement. Not only is
> about 89-98% of the research being done in med schools today funded by
> big pharma, doctors also get a lot of kickbacks for prescribing certain
> meds....Armour and other natural replacements are not included in those
> kickbacks because they aren't owned by the big drug companies. They
> can't patent natural...well, at least for now any way. Monsanto's hard
> at work on that as I write, but that's a whole other rotten topic:-(
>
> Any way, although I felt somewhat better on the synthetics, I did not
> feel all the way normal until I found a doctor that would prescribe
> Armour for me and there was NOTHING "tricky" about switching. Sorry
> but, that's a bunch of hogwash;-) They just start you out at a low
> dose, maybe about 30mgs, then check your symptoms and blood work and
> raise your dose accordingly. Synthetic T4 only meds do NOT convert into
> an adequate amount of T3, leaving you with symptoms that neither you OR
> your uninformed doctor realize are related to inadequate treatment.
> [Eliminating gluten was another key to healing my very sick thyroid.]
>
> >>"The current rash I have is concentrated around my waist and
> mid-torso. Has been itching for some months now (I forget how long),
> and though I've tried hydro-cortisone cream applied topically, it
> lessens the itch but doesn't seem to take it away or end the rash.
>
> If anyone has ideas, I'd be grateful to hear them. I am not diabetic or
> even pre-diabetic (I had the glucose tolerance test early this year -
> the one that lasts for HOURS - and it showed very clearly that my blood
> sugar was in the absolutely normal range.) So it shouldn't be that."<<
>
> I am no expert but, from my experience and research most any form of
> skin interruption, as in, acne, rashes, hives, psoriasis, and etc., is
> just our body's way of detoxing. When your liver is over loaded, say,
> from the loads of toxins we're subjected to these days or a poor diet,
> it can't function properly, then, other organs can't function properly
> as well and the body uses the skin as another form of detoxing.
>
> Nancy
>
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