# Help with labs..Hashimoto's on Armour



## danny2403 (Jan 25, 2011)

I haven't been on these boards in a long time. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I was first diagnosed with Graves 8 yrs ago (3/03). After being very hyper I was overmedicated and became very hypo. My endo was not managing my illness properly and thankfully I was able to educate myself with the help of these boards. I will keep things as short as possible, but after 1 yr I was stable and able to come off all meds.

I had been doing well until about 1 yr ago. I started to gain weight and feel symptoms of hypo....crying easily, tried, foggy thinking, slightly depressed and very low body temp (low 96 all the time). However, I am also going through menopause so my PCP kept telling me these symptoms were a result of that.

With my history I wasn't buying it and decided to see a new endo this past October. I have every lab done since 3/03 and brought them with. He told me I was initially misdiagnosed with Graves and I really have Hashi's (not a huge surprise to me). He did ultrasound of my thyroid and said it was slightly enlarged. My newest labs are as follows:

10/15/10

TSH 1.51 (.40-5.5)
Total T3 135 (87-178)
Total T4 9.1 (4.5-12.5)
Free T3 3.4 (2.1-4.7)
Free T4 1.0 (0.9-1.8)

New endo said everything is normal and all my symptoms are from menopause. I told him I always seemed to be at my best when my TSH is below 1. He didn't care about that and sent me on my way.

I was determined to find an MD that would listen to me and that believed in the use of Armour to bring a person into "their normal". I did find a new MD and he agreed to let me try Armour 30mg. He told me I could increase dose another 30mg if I saw no improvement in symptoms. He said since I know what hyper symptoms are he was ok with that. I started the Armour on 11/23/10. We also discussed possibility of adrenal fatigue but he wants to see how I do on Armour before exploring that.

I had labs done again on 1/5/11. I didn't realize at the time he only ordered Total T3 and T4, not Free...my bad.

1/5/11

TSH 0.34 (.40-4.5)
Total T3 137 (76-181)
Total T4 9.0 (4.5-12.0)

I am feeling much better...mood, energy, body temp have all improved. I have also lost 7 lbs. My question is about my TSH. It is on the lower side now. My MD wants me to stay on the 30mg for a while and repeat labs. My T3 and T4 have stayed the same. Any interpretation would be most appreciated. Thank you.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

danny2403 said:


> I haven't been on these boards in a long time. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> I was first diagnosed with Graves 8 yrs ago (3/03). After being very hyper I was overmedicated and became very hypo. My endo was not managing my illness properly and thankfully I was able to educate myself with the help of these boards. I will keep things as short as possible, but after 1 yr I was stable and able to come off all meds.
> 
> ...


Oh, yeah!! Even though those are the "totals", it is plain to see that you are doing good.

My doc keeps my TSH @ 0.03 all the time. Keeping the TSH like that keeps antibodies very very quiet. My Free T4 is slightly low which is NORMAL when taking Armour and my FT3 is nicely above the mid-range of lab suggested range but definitely not touching the top or over the top.

As long as your FREE T3 is where it should be, TSH being that low is not the least bit relevant.

It is good to run the FREE T3 from time to time. If you are feeling well, maybe every 4 months or so just to make double sure all is well in that department.

As you continue to feel well, you may become more and more physically active thus necessitating further titration of your Armour.


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## danny2403 (Jan 25, 2011)

Thank you for the information. My dr. will run free T3 in 3 months. When you say I may need further titration as I become more active, do you mean I may need MORE Armour because of increased activity?


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

danny2403 said:


> I haven't been on these boards in a long time. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> I was first diagnosed with Graves 8 yrs ago (3/03). After being very hyper I was overmedicated and became very hypo. My endo was not managing my illness properly and thankfully I was able to educate myself with the help of these boards. I will keep things as short as possible, but after 1 yr I was stable and able to come off all meds.
> 
> ...


Hi!! Next labs it is essential to have the FREES run. TSH can be suppressed and as long as the Frees are where they should be, there should not be a problem.

Any time someone takes T3, it will be a natural occurance for the FREE T4 to be rather low (below mid-range.) This is of no concern. It only matters where the FREE T3 is at which for most of us, half-way between mid-range and the top of the range is good.

With the totals, we don't know what hormone is bound and unbound so any comment I might make about those labs would no doubt be in serious error.

And thank you for the ranges; you must have known that we would need them.

How are you feeling? I am quite the Armour fan. Only because it works for me where T4 only did not. If you don't convert T4 to T3; Armour is a life-saver.


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