# low dose armour? TSH only 3.2



## Defeat The Curse (Jun 30, 2011)

Hi, you can see my story here

http://www.thyroidboards.com/showthread.php?t=3476&page=5

long story short, been through two bouts of subacute thyroiditis, which is supposed to have a 90% of the time full recovery of thyroid.

first time for me in 2008 i recovered and tsh settled at 2.6 off meds.

this time late 2011 tsh settled at 3.3

So my thyroid took a little damage both times and now is struggling it looks like and after i found out the real TSH range should be 0.5-3.0 and even 0.3-2.5 i told my endo i wanted to start on some synthroid to see if i felt like i did before this ever happened.

I figured since my thyroid probably works about 85% of the way a low dose like 50 mcg synthroid would do the trick.

Now after reading about how bad synthroid is and how Natural Desiccated hormone is much better i would like to switch.

But from what i'm reading Natural Desiccated hormone like armour and naturethroid surpress tsh even on low doses so i'd have to take the same dose as people who have no thyroid function, which is an average of 3-3.5 grains.

Is this true, or could i just take 1/2 a grain of NDT and that would be the 15% little help my functioning thyroid needs, or should i just stick to a low dose synthroid.


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## northernlite (Oct 28, 2010)

This is my personal opinion on this subject -

Synthyroid is not bad and combo meds are not good. They are different medications that meet the different needs of various people. From reading these boards for more than a year I have read stories of people that do well on each one and stories of people that don't do well on each one. T4 is an effective medication for many of us that convert T4 to T3 well. And there are many people who would never feel well without T3 in their medication. One size doesn't fit all here.

Now here is my personal opinion and experience, with a TSH of 3.3 if you are symptomatic, you should be taking a small trial of T4. I believe you are correct at no higher than 50 mcg and maybe even 25 mcg.

If you are correct and you have 85% thyroid function then I would bet your body is correctly converting T4 to T3. In my opinion, the best T3 for your body is the one your own body makes!! If your body makes enough, you need to supplement T4 only.

Is it possible to start on a combo medication and find the right combination to feel well? Absolutely! But think about what you and your body have to do. Your body is making T4, you are supplementing T4. Your body has to combine these T4's and use it's mechanism make the right amount of T3 for you to feel well but wait....you are supplementing T3 too. So your body and you with your dosing have to take that into account. It is a very delicate balance and I have seen many people struggle with this if they jump to the combo meds when their conversion mechanism is working well in their body.

Every person is different, every body works differently but my overall recommendation for anyone hypo who has a thyroid is, start on T4. See how your body responds and converts, run FT3's every 6 weeks as you titrate up and see if you are a person that needs to add T3 to the mix to feel well.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Defeat The Curse said:


> Hi, you can see my story here
> 
> http://www.thyroidboards.com/showthread.php?t=3476&page=5
> 
> ...


Titration is to help the patient find the euthyroid spot where they feel well. So, whether it be T4 only or a combo T4/T3, the patient has to be started on a low dose, get labs every 8 weeks and the med it titrated upward as needed until you stabilize.

What recent lab tests have you had that you can share results and ranges?


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Yup, Synthroid isn't evil. If it works for you, its great. I think you'll read so much about people not doing well on it because...well, the folks who do well on it don't have much to chst about. I'm doing rather well on synthroid, but its certainly not for everyone. It is, I think, a good place to start, with the idea of combo medications to be kept in one's back pocket.


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## lainey (Aug 26, 2010)

> Now after reading about how bad synthroid is and how Natural Desiccated hormone is much better i would like to switch.


Really? Why is T4 standard therapy throughout the world if it is so horrible? In many countries, T3 is not available at all to patients, as in practice, T4 therapy is more than sufficient for a vast majority of patients. A lot of what you read online is biased and one sided--people who experience good results have little motivation to find validation on the internet or report their experience, whereas people with something negative to say often do.



> But from what i'm reading Natural Desiccated hormone like armour and naturethroid surpress tsh even on low doses so i'd have to take the same dose as people who have no thyroid function, which is an average of 3-3.5 grains.


It is the excess of T3 in desiccated thyroid that suppresses the TSH. Desiccated hormones do not correctly duplicate the ratio of T4/T3 found naturally in the body, with the net result being a suppression of TSH and free T4 values on bloodwork. The patient must be titrated by measuring free T3 values. As for needing 3 grains, if you have residual thyroid function, that would be highly unlikely, quite honestly. In all cases, you are supplementing to the extent necessary as measured by blood work.

You will likely find that low dose T4 would be satisfactory. In addition, because this is due to thyroiditis, don't be surprised if you doctor suggests you come off meds after a period to measure the damage to your thyroid by seeing if it kicks back in on it's own--it's not uncommon for your situation.


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## daisydaisy (May 12, 2010)

from what I have read if you cannot convert t4 to t3 then u have an issue otherwise stick to t4. if your not feeling well you may have other issues such a vitamin deficiency and adrenal issues or maybe gluten intolerance. please don't mess with your thyroid meds unless you have too it makes such a mess of things.


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