These are the most common mistakes patients, or their doctors, make when a switch has been made to desiccated natural thyroid like Naturethroid/Thyroid-S, etc. and YOU can avoid them by being familiar with these reasons and making sure your doctor understands them, too. Can you find yourself below?
P.S. As of 2009, it may be mistake for you to be prescribed the brand name Armour. A slew of patients are reporting hypo symptoms returning on it, and other problems, since it was reformulated. Many are switching to Naturethroid. Talk to your doctor.
STICKING WITH TOO LOW A DOSE. For a myriad of reasons, this happens often. Have one of these been true of you?
1) being held on a starting dose (such as one grain, less, or slightly more) longer than two weeks
2) being bound by the directives of a TSH-obsessed doctor
3) failing to get a raise of desiccated thyroid until the “next labwork”, which can be weeks and months away
4) following an inaccurate Synthroid-to-Armour conversion equivalence chart
5) being forced to lower a dose due to a high free T3 with continuing hypo symptoms, which is a sign of low cortisol, not too much desiccated thyroid, or
6) being afraid to go higher!
For example, a doctor has his patient make her way up to 1 – 2 grains, notices great improvements, but also has continuing problems. OR, a patient makes her way up to 2 grains and notices NO improvement. And it’s common to think that desiccated thyroid is not working! In reality, it may simply mean a patient isn’t on enough! By observation, many patients seem to need 3 – 5 grains before completely ridding themselves of symptoms, though some are lower and some higher. It can also be very wise to check adrenal function, since low cortisol can prevent thyroid hormones from making it to the cells.…and you will still feel bad.
BEING ON AN OPTIMAL DOSE and FEELING GREAT, BUT BEING LOWERED DUE TO THE TSH LAB RANGE Similar to #2 above, this is the person that made his/her way up to an optimal dose, or the dose that simply made them feel very good and removed symptoms, but having the dose lowered by a doctor who saw your suppressed TSH (i.e. below the range). This is doctor who thinks that ink spots on a piece of paper tell the truth more than your symptoms! When on an optimal dose of desiccated thyroid (or being very near), you WILL have a suppressed TSH without being hyper. Being lowered is a WRONG move.
THINKING YOU ARE ON TOO MUCH BECAUSE OF HYPER-SYMPTOMS Yes, a doctor can guide you to go too high with desiccated thyroid and you’ll have hyper symptoms. You would then want to decrease your amount. But even more common is having hyper-like symptoms (anxiety, shakiness, fast heart rate, etc), especially on doses lower than 3 grains, because of underlying low-functioning adrenals (i.e. not enough cortisol), or even a low Ferritin—-each and/or both of which can be quite common in hypothyroid patients. So it can be wise to get both your Ferritin and cortisol levels checked. Ferritin is easily checked via a blood test, and if a patient is below 50, it can cause problems. As far as Cortisol levels, patients have found that the most accurate test is NOT a one-time blood test, but a 24 hour adrenal saliva test, which catches your levels during a 24 hour period. If money is an issue, try Discovery Steps One and Two on the Adrenal Info page on this site. Additionally, if you raise too quickly, or in too large a dose raise, your body can overreact, making you think you were on too much. The solution for patients has been to go back where they were, and go up in smaller increments, such as 1/4 grain.
FAILING TO MULTI-DOSE Occasionally, some patients take their natural thyroid all at once in the morning and say they do fine. But… most individuals will notice much better results by multi-dosing. For example, a person on 3 1/2 grains might take 2 grains in the morning, one grain by noon or in the early afternoon, and 1/2 grain by mid-afternoon. Multi-dosing better imitates what your own thyroid would be doing, and gives you the direct T3 throughout the day when you most need it. Spreading out the Armour also prevents stress on your adrenals.
SWALLOWING NATURAL THYROID WITH ESTROGEN, CALCIUM or IRON. Estrogen, calcium and iron bind some of the thyroid hormones and makes them unusable. So… it’s wise to avoid swallowing these at the same time you swallow your natural thyroid.
STAYING ON A STARTING DOSE TOO LONG. The key to understanding this mistake is with the word “starting dose”. When first starting on any natural desiccated thyroid product, it can be wise to start on one grain or less, which is lower than you will ultimately need. Why? To help your body adjust to the direct T3. BUT… patients have found it UNWISE to stay on that low dose much longer than 2 weeks without raising. Why? Because hypothyroid symptoms can return with a VENGEANCE due to the feedback loop between the hypothalamus, pituitary and thyroid gland.
THINKING DESICCATED THYROID IS NOT WORKING WHEN SOMETHING ARISES. Desiccated thyroid contains direct T3, and the T3 can initially aggravate certain conditions. When this happens, doctors have had patients stop the increase of their desiccated thyroid, or decreased it to give the reaction time to go away. An example is Mitral Valve Prolapse – one patient noted that with each raise, she had palps. But they went away within the first 5 days after each raise. One gal got itchy when she got on desiccated thyroid, and was so determined to blame Armour that she got off, got back on Synthroid, and is STILL itchy.
ADDING T4 or T3 to DESICCATED THYROID, OR EVEN TOO SOON! Most patients report that they do perfectly fine on desiccated thyroid alone, especially when they have taken the time to raise and find their optimal dose, which is often over 3 grains and has removed all hypothyroid symptoms. But some patients and their doctors feel the need to add either synthetic T4 or T3 to their natural thyroid dose to achieve a certain result . The challenge is in not adding it too soon, otherwise you miss out on the benefits of the T4, T3, T2, T1 and Calcitonin. Instead, if they had simply upped their desiccated thyroid more, they might have gotten the results they desired. Occasionally, a patient may suspect they have thyroid hormone resistance when 5 – 6 grains of desiccated thyroid is not doing the job. At this point, they add T3, or Cytomel, to their dose, to achieve results. Addtionally, since most patients on an optimal dose of desiccated thyroid only achieve a mid-range T4, some are adding a small amount of T4 to raise the level.
GOING UP WITH DOSAGES WAY TOO FAST. This was observed a few years ago: a doctor put his patient on desiccated thyroid. One grain, then 2 grains, 3 grains, 4 grains, 5 grains, then 6 grains. But the problem was that he did this within 4 – 5 weeks! OUCH. He started to find himself majorly overdosed with symptoms to match (high heart rate, sweating). He had to stop for a few weeks… then resume again at one grain and do it the right way. Namely, patients have noted that after they have been on a starting dose for a few weeks, they can start rising by 1/2 grain or so every 2 – 3 weeks. It’s all individual, and some may need lower amounts, but that seems to be the general amount to raise. They also note that when they get up to 2 – 3 grains, it’s time to hold each dose at least 4 – 6 weeks to allow the buildup of the T4, and to see it’s conversion to T3 results.
PAYING TOO STRICT ATTENTION TO LABS. As mentioned above, thyroid patients have noticed that doctors tend to treat lab results rather than treat PATIENTS. Labs are interesting, and labs are good adjuncts to the full spectrum of dosing. BUT… SYMPTOMS are IMPORTANT. For example, patients have learned that even if there is a very suppressed TSH, and/or a high free T3, yet symptoms continue, it’s important to look at one’s adrenal function, since low cortisol can make the free T3 go high while symptoms continue.
BELIEVING THAT DESICCATED THYROID IS “HARD TO REGULATE”. Totally and completely false. Patients have found nothing hard about desiccated thyroid. You simply raise it high enough to rid yourself of symptoms, which in turn gives you a free T3 towards the top of the range and a suppressed TSH. Believing that desiccated thyroid is hard to regulate is akin to believing that tricycles are hard to ride. 
THINKING THAT SYNTHETIC T4 ALONG WITH SYNTHETIC T3 (aka Cytomel), OR THE COMBO OF THE TWO (Thyrolar) IS JUST AS ADEQUATE AS NATURAL DESICCATED THYROID Adding synthetic T3 to your Synthroid, Levoyxl or other T4 brands is definitely a step up from being on T4 alone! We applaud that addition. But.…to say it’s equal to being on desiccated thyroid t’ain’t so. Too many patients who have been on the synthetic combo, and switched to desiccated thyroid, report that the results were even better. That’s impressive. Besides, with desiccated thyroid, you are getting exactly what your own thyroid gives you – T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin. Makes a difference.
THINKING YOUR DOCTOR KNOWS MORE THAN YOU DO. Granted, we have great respect for education, and we appreciate the knowledge that a medical school trained doctor brings to our health quest. It’s important! BUT… that education does NOT take away from our OWN knowledge and our OWN intuitive sense about our bodies… about what works, about what doesn’t work… no matter what that doctor says. This website, and even more the STTM book, represents just that! So, patients have discovered that the doctor-patient relationship is best as a TEAM, with respect going BOTH directions. Doctors are not “gods”. They can and DO make mistakes in judgment. TEAMWORK counts. Find a good doc!!
Want to order your own labwork?? STTM has created the right ones just for you to discuss with your doctor. Go here: https://sttm.mymedlab.com/
Need help interpreting your lab results? Go here: www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/lab-values/
