Hypothyroidism Support Group

Hypothyroidism is the disease state caused by insufficient production of thyrohormone by the thyroid gland. There are several distinct causes for chronic hypothyroidism, the most common being Hashimoto's thyroiditis and hypothyroidism following radioiodine therapy for hyperthyroidism. Advanced hypothyroidism may cause severe complications, the most serious one of which is...

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Just started Armour and have questions

vannillabear
vannillabear
I know it's been another while since I've been on here. My wonderful PA that I was working with (at the Endo's office) left and I'm with a new one. My t3 and t4 levels came up alittle on the cytomel, but she wants me to try Armour, so I just started that. Ok my question is, can you take Elavil while on it? My GI specialist recommended it for my hyperthyroid symptoms, but I can't find anywhere if you are aloud to take it with Armour. If the Armour doesn't work this month, then I am going back to cytomel half a pill everyother day and start the elavil. I am nervous that the Armour is going to make my hyperthyroid symptoms worse. The cytomel helped with some, but then made some hpo symptoms worse. I'm lost when it comes to all this. I'm ready to stop taking all of it and just take elavil. The only thing is that I do have a nodule that they found, tested benign, but I know thyroid treatment can help that, if I don't do anything than it can grow. She also recommended that I see a Reumatoid doctor to see if I have any other Autoimmune diseases, because usually with Hashimoto's you can have another one too, and for some reason it's affecting my intestines. I don't have the normal hpothyroid constipation everyone else has, I wish I did. I actually have hypothyroid with chronic diarrhea. I didn't think that that was possible, but whatever. I am just sooo very frusterated. Please help with any advice.
cd3764
cd3764
For those that might be interested in seeing just what's what with "The Thyroid and Its Diseases", you can read a little about it here:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Thyroid-and-Its-Diseases/Leslie-J-De-Groot/e/9780443088957
cd3764
cd3764
Awww....mm - I don't know if I was typing when you posted but, thanks for your understanding.

I'm glad forums have the ignore feature.

Love and hugs back atcha :)
deleted_user
deleted_user
Cd-
you handled that quite well!! I am proud of your response and no apologies needed from you. Unfortunately there is always one miserable "buzz kill" in a crowd. The ignore button is a great idea.
Hugs to you and keep helping us understand what is going on with our bodies/treatment.
cd3764
cd3764
soflahappygal

Thanks for your supportive post! I do try hard on here and, it's nice to know that my efforts are recognized.

((hugs)) to you, too :)


And, vanillabear

Sorry for being OT again on your thread - this stuff seems to happen from time-to-time on here but, at least you can look forward to no more drama coming from my end :)
vannillabear
vannillabear
Cd, It's fine, no worries at all. I wanted to let you know an update now that I have been on the Armour for a week now. I have called me doctor this morning and waiting for the call return. My stomach issues have seemed to gotten alittle better, I only have to take one immodium everyother day to keep me normal. Not sure if that is from the med or just coinsodence. I couldn't sleep starting last Wed thru friday, not sure if that was from the med as well. I finally took melatonin to help me sleep sat night. I also get these huge migraines in the afternoons and they last all the way up until bedtime. Again, I don't know if it is from the med or not, waiting to consult my doctor on it. I do get more energy in the morning right after taking it though. So I am going to ask her if I need to take a second dose in the afternoon to keep it in my system, or if it is causing the insomnia and headaches. I am also going to ask her to add the other test you were telling me about, because I really wonder if I fit that description, if so then that would explain the headaches and not sleeping.
It just sucks, that some symptoms get better because I'm getting what I need, but other symptoms are getting way worse. So frusterating. I am hoping my doctor can help give me answers to this. But I want to know what you think.
vannillabear
vannillabear
Ok, Just spoke with the actual endo doc. She won't adjust my med right now because they can't tell what my levels are for another 3 weeks. But she did add cortisol testing to it, I'm hoping that is the right test for the hashitoxicosis. She did tell me that my Antibodies were really high, not sure what that meant. I did forget to ask her about the elavil, dang it! She told me the headaches may not be related so she advised I go to a nuerologist. Great! Two more docs to see now. Sooo frusterating. But she said if the Armour doesn't work then we will go back to synthroid and cytamel, maybe that would work out better..... Who knows.
cd3764
cd3764
Unfortunately, as we titrate up on our meds dose, we can have symptoms. It's not the meds per se.....it's all part of moving thyroid hormone levels.

The best we can do is keep track of any symptoms we have and then compare them to our bloodwork.

I keep a daily journal noting things like sleep quality, digestion quality, energy/strength/stamina and, of course, any symptoms.

This helped me identify my optimal levels.

Please know that a starting dose is often a tease to the body and can actually make us feel worse in the beginning....that's why we need to get regular labs and keep working with the doctor to optimize our levels - upper half/upper third of the range for FreeT4 and FreeT3.

The antibody tests that are "high" are probably the TPOab and/or TGab antibody tests. These are often seen in all kinds of autoimmune thyroid disease with very elevated levels in Hashi's.

The test that will help you determine whether or not you have Hashitoxicosis is the TSI (thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin) test.

The cortisol test is part of checking adrenal function - I hope others can provide more information along those lines since I'm not familiar with adrenal issues except to know that, if there is a problem, it needs to be treated before/during thyroid treatment.
cd3764
cd3764
There's another thread on here about the cortisol test and Ninja Mother has some good information:

http://www.dailystrength.org/c/Hypothyroidism/forum/13255779-24-hour-cortisol

And, you can always go to the site I linked earlier

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info/

Again, I don't know much about adrenal issues except how they affect a person's response to thyroid meds.

I'd be inclined to start a new thread with any questions you might have because I'm sure there are others on here that can provide good information.
vannillabear
vannillabear
k, I'll have to ask for that one. I actually get retested next week and then see my doc the following week. I don't know where the time has gone. Anyway, I'll definately be bringing it up to my doctor.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Hello, I'm taking levothyroxine. It seems to be keeping the systems down but it isn't doing anything about the weight. I have found a shake product that has taken 3lbs and 5 inches off in 8 days. Its a 90 day challenge but results are much faster than that. go to http://deborahslankard.bodybyvi.com
This is a miracle and I didn't think it was possible. I thought I was going to have to deal with living with a barrel roll for the rest of my life, But I don't.
vannillabear
vannillabear
deborahsla- That doesn't partain to me.
cd3764- I decided to go ahead and try the elavil, so we'll see tonight if I'm ok with it. I'm tired of feeling depressed and I am tired of my stomach issues. I didn't have a headache the last two days, I ate more food than usual though, so I think it helps. I am trying very hard not to skip meals or binge.
cd3764
cd3764
vanillabear

Sorry to hear you're still feeling poorly - best of luck to you with the elavil. Hope you'll consider taking it 4 hours away from your Armour - that's usually the recommendation for "interfering substances".

Glad to hear other aspects are better.

This is truly how it goes as we titrate up on our meds doses.

The bad becomes less bad and the good becomes better.

Please continue to keep in touch.
vannillabear
vannillabear
Ok, so I've been on the elavil for a week now, and I can't sleep. I can fall asleep just fine, but I always wake up at 1, toss and turn, fall back to sleep, and then I'm up and down from like 3 on. I even tried taking melatonin last night, didn't help. What do I do? I'm nervous that they will up my meds and this will just get worse. I have been having stomach problems the last two days too. Why won't this madness stop. I am going to print off the stuff about hashitoxcosis, but I don't know if I'll get anywhere. What do I do? My husband says to stop taking the armour, but if my body needs it, then I need to keep taking it.
cd3764
cd3764
Sleep issues are a listed side effect of Elavil......

And, your dose of Armour is so low that I doubt it's done anything....if you've been on it for at least two weeks, I suggest asking your doctor to increase your dose.

You might have symptoms as you titrate up on your dose - many of us have them. But, the only way to restore wellness in regards to thyroid hormone is to be patient with the process.

The roller coaster ride smooths out the closer we get to our optimal levels....the longer you delay the process, the longer you won't feel well.
cd3764
cd3764
I believe you're due to see your doctor - right?

If so, it would be a good idea for you to get that TSI (thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin) test done.

If you have TSI, you'd still need Armour....but a higher dose taken in conjunction with an anti-thyroid drug.

You really need to know just what you're dealing with.....Hashitoxicosis....or the common experience of symptoms associated with thyroid hormone meds titration.