My current thyroid doctor said she wants to rely on my TSH levels to monitor my desiccated thyroid meds (because I am on desiccated and not synthetic).

My Free T4 and Free T3 levels are excellent, and I feel good, yet she recommended lowering my dosage because my TSH level is on the low side. I know Hashimoto's patients should not rely on TSH levels to stablize their meds, but she said it is because I am on desiccated, and if I were on synthetic it would be different. (?)

I'm on a lower dosage for two months, and then we will do more tests. I'll post an update then, but am wondering if anyone has ever heard of this?

I've been on Armour (desiccated pig thyroid) for a year. I feel good better than I was on the synthetic thyroid replacement. The warning I received about Armour is dosage is slightly different with each batch that is made. The other warning was it may make you retain weight.

Educate me, please, about the differences between the 2 and why a doctor would prefer to prescribe the desiccated over the synthetic.
I've been on the synthetic for probably about 10 years now, but my mother just told me her doctor has started her on the desiccated to try to give her more energy. She has never taken thyroid supplements before this.
On the synthetic, I have a thyroid panel done once a year. I've been on it so long at the same dosage with good results, my doctor doesn't think we need to do the panel any more frequently.
Hugs,

loisba:

Synthetic thyroid (Levothroid, Synthroid, etc.) have synthetic T4. Desiccated thyroid is real thyroid from animals and contains both T4 and T3. Most people with Hashimoto's thyroiditis have difficulty converting T4 into T3, thus need supplements of both. Cytomel is the only synthetic T3 that I know of.

I was on synthetic T4 for eight years, and I still went downhill because I didn't know I had Hashimoto's. Once I got on desiccated, the improvement was amazing!

QueenMary50:

You might also hear that desiccated robs calcium from your bones, which is untrue, unless you are on an EXTREMELY high dosage, which is dangerous in lots of ways.

I haven't had a problem with the variations in dosage, since the body naturally doesn't produce a steady, even stream of thyroid anyway. I lost 30 lbs. the first year on desiccated, which I had gradually gained over the eight years on synthetic.

Does your doctor go by Free T4 and Free T3 levels when testing you, does s/he rely on TSH levels, or are levels adjusted according to how you are feeling?

This is a great link re: Armour Thyroid/T3/T4, etc.
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

My husband is hypothyroid, and synthetic thyroid hormone works just fine for him. But it did nothing for me. So I guess different people will exerience different results.

I am on Armour thyroid now along with a tiny amount of Cytomel. When my thyroid is tested, I get a complete panel and the doc takes all the numbers into consideration when deciding on a dose. I feel remarkably better on dessicated than I did on the synthetics, and I have not experienced any weight gain or fluctuations in effectiveness.

Several years ago (and two moves later) I had a great endo doctor.

Now I do not and I get very concerned about my Hashimotos. My PCP takes care of my hypo thyroid now. I get concerned because I'm often not sure where the thyroid problems start and end and where the MS comes in.

I've always questioned whether I have true MS. Yes, I do have lesions but they are not greatly changed. I wonder if thyroid can cause lesions also?

My doc relies totally on the thyroid panel he does every 6 mos.

I'm thinking more and more that when I see my neuro in late January I will ask to see an edocrinologist who specializes in thyroid.

Sorting out health issues is very complicated isn't it.

Tootsie

DianeD, me too! I went to an endo to try to sort out where some of my dizzy issues might be coming from. He immediately began lowering my Armour doses a little at a time (which didn't effect the vertigo at all). What did happen is increasing cog fog, joint and muscle pain. Scary and really noticable.

I stopped going there. Any doc who insists on changing your brand of thyroid from a natural to a synthetic..run..run away fast.

The natural contains both T3 and T4. T4 not bound to thyrogloulin is the only T4 available to be converted into T3. Estrogen creates more globulin and therefore lowers the effectiveness of oral thyroid.

Since the natural contains both, a person taking it does spend a portion of the day slightly on the hyperactive side. As the T3 is used, that evens out. So how you test actually does depend on the time of day blood is drawn.

There are other "T's" in the natural for which medicine has not yet found its biologic actiity. They don't know what they do. These are not in the synthetic.

I've been on Armour for 41 years now and am really protective when it comes to any doc who wants to mess with my levels or brand based upon their testing. I know how I feel!