# 25yr old male just had total thyroidectomy.. synthroid or armour?



## djc04

Hi I am 25yr old male and i was diagnosed with papillary carcinoma, and just had a total thyroidectomy and had 8 lymph nodes removed as well on 4/4/13 :-/
I am on Synthroid 100mg since 5/1/13. I am worried that Synthroid will not work for me because its synthetic and its t4 only. I have read a lot about armour which has t3/t4 and it makes more sense to me.. I wish I could of been given armour but my endo said no which i expected and that i would have to.see a naturopath. Trouble is that naturopaths are not usually covered by insurance i dont think (still looking into that)..Is there any men or women here that had a total thyroidectomy and went straight to armour? Or just anyone on synthroid who switched to armour or some kind of dessicated thyroid? I feel like I am wasting time with Synthroid. So far it feels like synthroid makes me feel a little better but i still don't feel 100%. After the thyroidectomy my blood pressure is now low and my heart rate is low and.i have trouble sleeping at night.. Seems like i cant get that deep REM sleep as much. It also seems like my sexual energy has gone down, my ejaculations are not as big and come out slower (sorry to be graphic).. This is something very important to me as i am a sexually active with my girlfriend and I want to eventually have kids with her. Does Armour fix the sexual energy and heartrate / blood pressure better than Synthroid? I really want to be as natural as possible.. So if mother nature gave pigs identical thyroid hormones i want that in my body not a synthetic formulation. Too bad what i want doesnt matter to mainstream docs and you get what they give based off protocol.


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## joplin1975

Start with synthroid. Regularly check your free t4 and free t3. If you free t4 is midpoint to 75% and y our free t3 is low AND you feel badly, then either add cytomel or go doctor shopping and find someone who will prescribe dessicated thyroid medication.

The vast, vast majority of people do fine with synthroid. It's easy to get and relatively inexpensive. If you are converting t4 to t3 well, you could actually get into trouble jumping to dessicated hormone. Also remember dessicated thyroid hormones are highly processed and just as "synthetic" as synthroid. It's far from identical.

You are on a fairly low dose of synthroid right now, particularly for a man. I would expect you would feel badly. And that would naturally impact libido. When do you get labs drawn again? Patience is really important with thyroid stuff. It takes lots of time, but it does get better.

For reference, I'm female, very active, and am on 150mcgs. For a while I was horribly under edicated and the idea of sex was just...ugh. I didn't sleep well either. I'm on synthroid only and am now feeling better than ever (with a now very happy husband  )

PS - you may want to also check your testosterone. Thyroid dysfunction often goes hand in hand with other hormonal imbalances.


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## Andros

djc04 said:


> Hi I am 25yr old male and i was diagnosed with papillary carcinoma, and just had a total thyroidectomy and had 8 lymph nodes removed as well on 4/4/13 :-/
> I am on Synthroid 100mg since 5/1/13. I am worried that Synthroid will not work for me because its synthetic and its t4 only. I have read a lot about armour which has t3/t4 and it makes more sense to me.. I wish I could of been given armour but my endo said no which i expected and that i would have to.see a naturopath. Trouble is that naturopaths are not usually covered by insurance i dont think (still looking into that)..Is there any men or women here that had a total thyroidectomy and went straight to armour? Or just anyone on synthroid who switched to armour or some kind of dessicated thyroid? I feel like I am wasting time with Synthroid. So far it feels like synthroid makes me feel a little better but i still don't feel 100%. After the thyroidectomy my blood pressure is now low and my heart rate is low and.i have trouble sleeping at night.. Seems like i cant get that deep REM sleep as much. It also seems like my sexual energy has gone down, my ejaculations are not as big and come out slower (sorry to be graphic).. This is something very important to me as i am a sexually active with my girlfriend and I want to eventually have kids with her. Does Armour fix the sexual energy and heartrate / blood pressure better than Synthroid? I really want to be as natural as possible.. So if mother nature gave pigs identical thyroid hormones i want that in my body not a synthetic formulation. Too bad what i want doesnt matter to mainstream docs and you get what they give based off protocol.


Oh, I am so sorry to hear this. The only good news is that it was diagnosed and medical intervention has taken place. Will you have to have RAI also?

Usually, persons w/o a thyroid do have trouble converting T4 to T3 so you will have to wait and see what happens. It is a little early in the game but somewhere along the line you need to get your FREE T3 done and also get your testosterone level checked which should return to normal at some point but you may need some temporary assistance.

I am on Armour and thank God for it. If not for dessicated porcine thyroid; I would be a dead woman as I do not convert. At all.

Here is some info which may be helpful.

Understanding the Thyroid: Why You Should Check Your Free T3
http://breakingmuscle.com/

Dr. Mercola (FREES)
http://www.mercola.com/article/hypothyroid/diagnosis_comp.htm

Free T3 and Free T4 are the only accurate measurement of the actual active thyroid hormone levels in the body. This is the hormone that is actually free and exerting effect on the cells. These are the thyroid hormones that count.


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## webster2

I am not sure where you live but in Vermont naturopaths are required to be covered by insurance.

Sorry to hear your story. You may have to give it a bit of time before you begin to feel better. Hang in there!


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## djc04

I will give the synthroid a fair shot but if it doesnt work I will most likely try Armour or Naturethroid next, but I may consider adding synthetic T3 as well.. I did not do RAI. I just had surgery to remove it. I am probably a rare bird here but I don't believe in radioactive medicine.


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## djc04

I am staying in Michigan right now.


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## joplin1975

When are you due for labs? Did they draw any las post-op?

Again, I'm all pro dessicated thyroid meds if you need them. But if you don't, keep in mind that you can do more harm than good.


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## Andros

djc04 said:


> I will give the synthroid a fair shot but if it doesnt work I will most likely try Armour or Naturethroid next, but I may consider adding synthetic T3 as well.. I did not do RAI. I just had surgery to remove it. I am probably a rare bird here but I don't believe in radioactive medicine.


I just now saw that in your siggie. Now, a word to the wise. If a little piece of thyroid is left behind and it surely is because the surgeon cannot risk damaging surrounding organs, the thyroid can and does grow back and in the case of cancer, it usually is.

Not a fan of RAI myself but it is a low dose and it could be life-saving.

Okay; off the soap box now. I told you.

LOL!!


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## webster2

I agree, there are times when what we don't like may be helpful. Thyroid tissue can implant itself in other parts of your body. You should reconsider the RAI. Yes, I am a nagging old woman...


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## djc04

You guys aren't telling me anything I haven't heard already. It is very catch 22 though because you can contract leukemia from RAI and it can also cause infertility. In my case rai had more risk than benefit. Also i have heard horror stories from a family friend going through 4 rounds of rai and then the cancer becoming more powerful and becoming resistant to the rai.


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## Andros

djc04 said:


> You guys aren't telling me anything I haven't heard already. It is very catch 22 though because you can contract leukemia from RAI and it can also cause infertility. In my case rai had more risk than benefit. Also i have heard horror stories from a family friend going through 4 rounds of rai and then the cancer becoming more powerful and becoming resistant to the rai.


Always do what you think is the best thing for you. You know your own body and your mind.

We will support you no matter what your decision.


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## Octavia

I just want to say that I agree with what joplin said about your dose of Synthroid being quite low. Hopefully you'll get a big jump when you get your labs done. Synthroid works for the vast majority of people. I ended up needing to add Cytomel for the T3...never tried Armour.


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## kiki13

I completely disagree that "most people" do well on synthroid; I think it's quite the opposite in fact.

I also think it's downright criminal to put someone with zero thyroid function (due to thyroidectomy, RAI, whatever) on a T4-only med like synthroid.

A well functioning thyroid makes about 20% of the T3 in your body; the remaining comes from T4->T3 conversion in your peripheral tissue. So after a thyroidectomy you're already "behind" on T3 production. Many people then struggle to convert synthetic T4 meds, and people post-surgery struggle more than others.

I wouldn't spend months waiting for synthroid to work. I'd push for a dessicated med now. Make sure you get your free T3 and free T4 tested regularly to ensure you're on a high enough dose. And make sure to get morning labs and take the dessicated meds after the labs (if taken before it can give an artificially high free T3 result).

If your doctor won't look at this, or just doses based on TSH, find a new doctor.


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## djc04

kiki13 said:


> I completely disagree that "most people" do well on synthroid; I think it's quite the opposite in fact.
> 
> I also think it's downright criminal to put someone with zero thyroid function (due to thyroidectomy, RAI, whatever) on a T4-only med like synthroid.
> 
> A well functioning thyroid makes about 20% of the T3 in your body; the remaining comes from T4->T3 conversion in your peripheral tissue. So after a thyroidectomy you're already "behind" on T3 production. Many people then struggle to convert synthetic T4 meds, and people post-surgery struggle more than others.
> 
> I wouldn't spend months waiting for synthroid to work. I'd push for a dessicated med now. Make sure you get your free T3 and free T4 tested regularly to ensure you're on a high enough dose. And make sure to get morning labs and take the dessicated meds after the labs (if taken before it can give an artificially high free T3 result).
> 
> If your doctor won't look at this, or just doses based on TSH, find a new doctor.


kiki13 well said. That is how I feel. Only trouble is finding a Dr. who will RX Armour. Anyone tried ordering Armour or generic dessicated thyroid from a canadian pharmacy online?


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## webster2

Have you asked at your pharmacy for names of doctor's that prescribe natural desiccated thyroid replacement? I get mine from a naturopath. Good Luck!


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## webster2

I just read your signature line. You are on a really low dose of synthroid and it hasn't been that long since your surgery. You may want to wait until your next lab work to make any decision about switching to NDT. Hang in there.


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## djc04

webster2 said:


> Have you asked at your pharmacy for names of doctor's that prescribe natural desiccated thyroid replacement? I get mine from a naturopath. Good Luck!


I can do that? They will list off doctors for me?


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## webster2

I did it. Some pharmacists were okay with telling me, others acted like I was nuts. That didn't bother me! I asked 4 local ones. One was very willing to talk to me.


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## djc04

Cool! Thanks for the tip. Shouldn't be a problem.. It's not like I am asking for narcotics right? lol


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## Andros

djc04 said:


> Cool! Thanks for the tip. Shouldn't be a problem.. It's not like I am asking for narcotics right? lol


Right! ROLF!!! Good luck and do check out Naturopathic Doctors in your area as well. Just make sure they have the training and the paper to back it up. References wouldn't hurt either.


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## webster2

djc04 said:


> Cool! Thanks for the tip. Shouldn't be a problem.. It's not like I am asking for narcotics right? lol


Funny you should write that, the second endo I saw looked at me like I asked for crack when I mentioned taking NDT. Good Luck!


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## djc04

Update: I have been RX'd NDT Armour for about 3 months now. My physicians assistant RX'd it no questions asked. He is great and very open minded. This is down in San Antonio TX. I have adjusted well to the medicine.. I just wish it would.give me more energy? I don't feel very motivated or energetic most days unless its for food or a natural high of some sort. The best thing is that the brain fog and irritability for the most part are gone. I am a lil worried that Armour has titanium dioxide in it.. Thinking about trying ERFA or compunded thyroid


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