Welcome to medications.com

My doctor prescribed Armour Thyroid to me to help me lose weight;...

Posted at 2:40 AM on Nov 09, 2007 by cjzam, #24902
My doctor prescribed Armour Thyroid to me to help me lose weight; he did this without taking a blood test. My thyroid was perfectly fine when I began taking it. I took it for three weeks, but didn't like the palpitations and weird things happening to my heart so I stopped. Since then, about two weeks ago, I have had horrible muscle cramps in my upper back, neck and shoulders. I also have pain in my right arm which I am assuming is a pinched nerve from the muscles. Any ideas what to do?? I can't take the pain much longer.
REPLY TO THIS POSTING | Private Message me | Add as friend | Flag as inappropriate
 
Reply 6 months ago on May 30, 2008 by annasher, #8729

I suggest you make an appointment with an endocrinologist ASAP. It could be the doctor is unknowledgeable of proper treatment of a thyroid disorder, which you say was never there. It sounds more like you have a thyroid issue after stoppping.

Private Message me | Add as friend | Flag as inappropriate
 
Reply 4 months ago on Jul 12, 2008 by pproft, #10009

The problems you are having with Armour are due to low cortisol (adrenals). Many people that switch from a T4 only medication to a T3/T4 find problems with heart palps and being anxious because the additional T3 brings out the low adrenal issue. Few doctors even admit that there is a thing called adrenal fatigue, however you will find holistic doctors familiar with it. Until you address the adrenal problem you will likely have problems with at T3/T4 medication. On the other hand, if you have problems converting T4 to T3 (an a LOT of people do), then T4 medications like Synthroid and Levoxyl will leave you feeling achy and fatigued and with hair falling out. Most people find that they need to be on 3-5 grains of Armour (180mg - 300mg) to relieve all hypo symptoms. It takes a special doctor to know this. Armour will suppress your TSH and it is a lousy measure of Thryoid function. A better test (if you can convince your doctor) is a Free T3 and Free T4 test. You need your FT3 to be at the top of the range and your FT4 to be mid range to feel good. Take a look at this site: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

Private Message me | Add as friend | Flag as inappropriate

Make a reply to this posting:

Type your reply to this side effect post:




Medical advice disclaimer
© 2002-2007, Skylabs Inc.  |  About Us  |  Disclaimer/Terms of Use  |  Advertise  |  Contact Us  |  Site Map  |  Developed by: W3matter.com