Feeding Your Thyroid

My latest update on Facebook from Janie Bowthorpe was basically a continuation of her disagreement with Forest Pharmaceuticals and their changing the formulation of Armour Thyroid and Janie’s successfully getting many people to switch to Naturethroid and Westhroid. It is all getting old to me and I will apologize right now to any readers that offends and tell you that I am grateful to Janie Bowthorpe for her very informative book Stop The Thyroid Madness. I have a different take on the subject of the new formulation causing relapse in everyone and I will share it with my readers.

Early this winter I finally talked my very open minded doctor, Rob Bruley, in to prescribing Armour Thyroid instead of my compounded pharmaceutical T3 and T4 because we were not resolving my hypothyroidism issue after more than a year of constantly increasing my dosage. Admittedly he reluctantly did it, but he did it and told me I had to take a 3 grain dose of Armour Thyroid which by the way had to be special ordered at Target pharmacy (I tell you because it is useful information). 3 grains was equal to the T3 and T4 I was taking that wasn’t working very well although we had corrected several aspects of my thyroid malfunction. At that time I also started a bio-identical testosterone cream and progesterone tablet because those hormones were low in a recent hormone test I had taken.

I don’t want to quote exact times here because it is all a blur of history but approximately 6 weeks later I was having heart palpitations and sudden jolts that would awaken me in the middle of the night. I started taking half a 3 grain tablet at that time and when I called Dr. Bruley he agreed that this was the right thing to do, so he prescribed a blood test  which showed my T3 was now too high, T4 was okay and the TSH was within range although on the low side. I continued on 1 1/2 grains and when I had the next blood test I didn’t take my Armour the morning of the test as it will affect the T3 reading according to Janie and I was not in the mood to take any higher dosage. I was now feeling rather hyper at times and for instance if I was writing something it would almost look scribbled because I was writing too fast (my own test) so I knew I was a little over medicated but the test would tell.

That test came back with both T3 and T4 within range but my total TSH was .3 which indicates suppressed thyroid. I have since cut my half tablet in to half which amounts to 3/4 grain of Armour Thyroid. I will need a blood test in a few weeks but I can tell you that I still feel a little hyperthyroid. On 3/4 grain my heart palpitations are almost non-existent but at times I feel agitated like I need to run a marathon but I don’t run anymore.

Now to my point, the newly formulated Armour has seemingly corrected my thyroid problem greatly reducing my need for thyroid stimulating hormone. I don’t take it sublingually anymore because most of my digestive issues are resolved by not eating grain of any kind and drinking kefir every day. Swallowing Armour allows for slow release of the thyroid stimulating hormone. If and when I did what Janie suggested and took the tablet sublingually I would get a jolt in the morning that was uncomfortable and if I took some early afternoon when it had worn off I was too hyper to relax by bedtime. Swallowing it with my morning tea works perfectly for me I have sustained energy during the day and I am ready for bed at night.

I am now taking Alpha Lipoic Acid (300 mg) twice a day (with breakfast and supper) as well as a B-Complex vitamin for energy and liver health. If you take ALA you must add a B Complex as the ALA lowers your levels of the B vitamins. I also take 200 mcg of a sodium selenate/selenomethionine supplement. When I feel an energy lag I have a great B12 supplement called ProBoneO by Life Enhancement (Dr. Wright). I eat a diet free of gluten, with lots of greens, fresh eggs, avocados, grass fed meat, etc. My conclusion is that by balancing my hormones and taking the right supplements (no excipients or fillers), following a gluten free diet and staying away from excititoxins I am healing my thyroid.

Instead of complaining about the reformulation of Armour Thyroid I would tell you to try it. If it doesn’t work or you start to experience hypo symptoms again follow this advice before you change to Naturethroid or Westhroid:

Balance all your hormones not just your thyroid hormone.

Eat a gluten free diet full of greens which can be from Barley grass and Alfalfa grass or greens from the garden that are raw or lightly steamed. Add homemade kefir with no sugar added for a health gut.

Throw away supplements that have excipients and fillers as they negatively affect your immune system and create a bio film that keeps you from absorbing the supplement.

Judiciously stay away from MSG which means making your own fresh food with no boxed convenience foods and reading The MSG Myth.

Exercise using the T-Tapp method as she concentrates on cleaning your lymph system and allowing your body to heal itself.

If you do all these things and still suffer from hypo symptoms then it is time to try something new. If you choose not to try these steps first don’t cry foul on Forest Pharmaceuticals point your finger at the real guilty party, you.

Armour Update

For those who are interested I have done some research with the help of my functional medicine doctor, Rob Bruley in to the formula changes of Armour Thyroid. As there is quite the buzz about this at the site http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com I think it is good for all of us who take Armour Thyroid to be informed.
Forest Pharmaceutical did willingly talk to Rob Bruley, M.D. and told him there was a formula change within the last year. They did not change any of the active or inactive ingredients. What they did change was the amounts of two inactive ingredients. They decreased the amount of anhydrous dextrose and increased the amount of cellulose. Rob said that the increased amount of cellulose may have the effect of increasing the thyroid effect from a given dosage as I have had to really decrease my dosage of Armour Thyroid.
I had asked Rob about taking it sublingually as recommended at STTM, so he posed the question to them. They responded that they are asked this question frequently but they have no data to prove or disprove relative absorption of the product sublingually vs. swallowing. Therefore, they cannot endorse this route of administration. They say it was never intended to be taken sublingually. Rob also asked about gluten and they said it is gluten free (hurrah!). They also said they use no dyes because they use titanium dioxide as a lightener.
Now I conclude from all of this that one can still take it sublingually if desired, and I do most of the time. However, I also think that it is entirely possible that they tweaked the amount of anhydrous dextrose just enough to make the taste less pallatible when taken sublingually because they know people are doing it and they don’t want to be sued for misuse of the product. We are, after all, a very litigious society and they do have to cover their butts (pardon the expression).
If anything the increased cellulose should cause it to be better absorbed as the tablet will get to the stomach more intact and I know from using cellulose caplets that the cellulose disappears after just a few seconds in water, so it clearly will not last long in stomach acid.
Another issue a person could have with sublingual adminstration is a burst of T3 when you take it and a sudden drop in energy a short time later. As there are days when I don’t want to bother with taking it several times I find swallowing it and getting a slower release easier.
I hope this information is helpful and fairly presented. Please leave any questions or statements by clicking on “comments” and I would love to share what you have to say with other readers.

Natural Thyroid versus Big Pharma Synthroid

There is a big debate going on at the online site Stop The Thyroid Madness (STTM) because Forest Pharmaceuticals has altered the formulation of Armour Thyroid. Janie Bowthorpe, author of STTM and natural thyroid advocate, is all a twitter because allegedly the new formula is causing hypothyroid symptoms to return and the taste is awful. I am bothered because I just started Armour Thyroid and have seen good results (my t-3 has gone too high even) and I have decreased my dose by half of what it was with compounded thyroid. I have seen tremendous improvements from my days taking Levothyroxine, so I would love to hear from people on their experiences good and bad.

I have been letting my Armour melt under my tongue or in my vestibular area as Janie recommends and really have nothing to complain about. Does it taste like a piece of candy? No. Do I need everything to taste sweet? No and if you do you need to look at your diet and get rid of the sugar. Is the texture chalky? Yes but it is medicine. I do have a health problem and if a little chalky tasting tablet helps me feel better I am all in favor of it. The other issue that Janie brings up in her book STTM is that different times and seasons may necessitate more or less Armour (or some other natural thyroid) is it possible that the folks needing more grains with the new Armour thyroid are suffering from seasonal issues and not the alleged decrease of porcine thyroid or the addition of other ingredients that make up the tablet made by Forest Pharmaceuticals.

I must say that first of all Forest Pharmaceuticals needs to talk to Janie Bowthorpe. Quit refusing to speak to her because she has an online site or whatever your reasons are because you are creating a problem of confidence where there may be no need. All of us should have the right to talk to someone who has the answers about any medication we take and refusing to talk to her shows your childishness and typically inconsiderate behavior of every other arrogant pharmaceutical company. It is frightening for anyone who takes a pill for a certain quality of life and we need answers.

To Janie and the other voices complaining about the taste and texture, get over it. Also if the dosage has changed there must be a control group to determine this and not just one voice here and one voice there saying they have had to increase their dosage or that their hypo symptoms have returned. Do they, for instance, have allergies that their body might be fighting off as it is now spring? Did they have some recent incident, such as a death in the family, that could trigger return of symptoms? Have they just returned from an overseas trip because that taxes the body and causes hypo symptoms to become exagerated? Jane and John Q. Public cannot just start making accusations against Forest Pharmaceuticals without more substantial evidence that the new Armour Thyroid really has diminished abilities because all they do is scare the rest of us in to making a decison that could ultimately harm us not help us.

If you are interested in this ongoing Armour debate tune in to STTM and be a vocal participant. Twitter about the issue, put it on your Facebook page, in general call attention to the problem, openly discuss the issue with others who have a vested interest and in the end you will hopefully be able to make an educated decision that you can then discuss with your physician and make a change or stay with Armour. It is ultimately up to you to take control of your health.