I'm kind of frustrated. Since starting my Armour in January, I was feeling so much better. A month ago I had blood drawn, which showed my levels as normal. The last 2 weeks though, things have gotten rough. Having trouble sleeping but always exhausted, weight loss totally stalled. Yesterday I took a 3 hour nap...an hour after waking up.

My motivation is gone, starting to feel depressed again, periods out of whack suddenly again. Blah.

I don't know what I can do though when my levels were in a normal range

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/things-we-have-learned/#

tecallahan in our Group recommended the above sight to me. If you take a look at it and some of the other info on it maybe it will help you make a bit of sense out of this Thyroid confusion we all go through.

Ginny

You need to have your adrenals checked -- they cause symptoms like this. If your cortisol is too low, or if your cortisol is high at inappropriate times of the day. Armour works best in the presence of strong adrenals. You may also want to have your Ferritin and Vitamin D levels check as well.

Extremely common for thyroid issues and adrenal fatigue to go hand in hand. I have the same thing -- go-go-go all day, can't go to sleep, wake up through the night and wake up exhausted. We are checking my adrenals next week.

About cortisol tests -- I've had mine checked several times when they do a blood draw in the morning to check my thyroid and lipids and it always showed "normal"... however, the best cortisol test is taken with saliva swabs -- you swab your mouth every 6 hours or so over the course of the day.

Cortisol is supposed to be it's highest when you awake in the morning and then gently go down throughout the day. When you go to sleep its supposed to start ramping up again.

Many people have cortisol levels that spike in late afternoon -- which causes anxiety, irritability, and insomnia. So, the blood test they take in the morning doesn't tell the whole story.

http://altmedicine.about.com/od/labtestindexbyfocus/a/CortisolDHEA.htm

Just like thyroid, don't always trust the verdict of "normal" when it comes to adrenals.

Here's a good article on adrenal fatigue: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info/

I wouldn't personally mess around with self-diagnosis or self-treatment, but I know a lot of people do -- they test themselves and treat themselves because they can't get doctors to listen.

There are several options for treatment ranging from something as simple as Licorice Root up to a prescription application of Hydrocortisone.

Like treatment for thyroid, it is a controversial topic in the medical community, so again, it's about treating your symptoms and adjusting when you feel better/worse.

But Armour thyroid won't really optimize your thyroid in the presence of adrenal fatigue, iron deficiency, etc..

my doc says that there is a variation in dose of that medication. You may have just gotten a different batch that is lower. I had the same problem when my doc tried to lower my dose of synthroid a bit too much and I increased it slightly, she was fine with the increase that I suggested, but synthroid is a more consistent dose of thyroid, though it is not natural. Pros and cons to all.

Oh my goodness. I so know how you feel!

Gosh, sounds like some people's DR's are quite good. All the DR's I have seen have never suggested checking my adrenal function, even though I have mentioned that I wonder if that is a problem. I think all the DR's I have seen just don't care much about their patients obviously. Just about getting paid!

My anxiety keeps getting worse and worse and I went to the DR about that and he said nothing, prescribed me nothing and gave me a $43 bill and a blood test form. For Thyroid level check and Iron(which by the way I know is fine as I take iron tablets)

Anxiety can be from weak adrenals - mainly cortisol. But there are things you can do to help calm yourself while you figure out if you want to fire your doctor and hire one that will treat your symptoms. Guess what, the Doctor is not the boss of you!!

So, natural things you can do for calming -- I absolutely love GABA -- I take 2 capsules in the morning and 2 before bed. It's a very sweet, mellow calming. I take it for vertigo -- my Naturopath told me that it's the natural equivalent of valium, but not addictive of course. The other thing I like for calming and for constipation is Natural Calm - it's a magnesium citrate that you dissolve in warm water. I have 2 teaspoons in the morning and 2 in the evening. Between these two, I sleep like a baby, no stress and no constipation. Life is good!!

If you decide to fire your doctor -- try to find one that will treat your symptoms - your whole body.
Here's a list of symptoms from hypothyroid: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/long-and-pathetic/ -- you may have symptoms that you don't even know come from being hypo!!

Here's some advice on how to find a doctor: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/how-to-find-a-good-doc/

Here's a list of suggested labs -- that will tell the whole picture of whats going on with your metabolism: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/recommended-labwork/

Please educate yourself and take control of your health - you are the boss, not the doctor!!

Terri

I don't know if your still stuggling since the OP was last month, but hang in there! Armour works well for some but it isn't for everyone. My doc says shes had a few patients build up an immunity to and it will stop working (changing the dose doesnt help) Her explanation is that because even though armour is made from nature, its not natural for our bodies. therefore, some peoples immune systems will fight against it. Many people find sucess wit Cytomel, or a combination of cytomel and a t4 med such as synthroid or levyoxine (spl?)