Hi, new to this board, I'm on the thyroid one alot. I was seeing a naturopath and was trying to take alternative med. to boost thyroid but I had to switch to armour thyroid medication because it was not working. Does anyone know what all I should now take in vitamins and supplements for someone who takes armour thyroid. Right now I take, Pro DHA by Nordic Naturals for depression and anxiety, 30mg CoQ10, 200mcg selenium, Digestive enzymes,
300mg magnesium. I want to take a multi but seems like when I do I have trouble sleeping ( don't know why that is). Also, the naturopath says L-Tyrosine is good for helping thyroid but I don't know if I still need this if I'm taking armour. Any suggestions from anyone taking thyroid supplement or any info at all greatly appreciated. Thank you.

ttrouten, how long have you been on Armour? Hope you have as much success with it as I have. I've been on 120mg. Armour for about 1 1/2 yrs. now, and my TSH has varied only .002 in that entire time. As far as the supplements go, I only know that a lot of people advise staying away from iodine. Some on either Armour or one of the synthetics have reported problems with it. My multi has the selenium, but I don't know anything at all about the L-tyrosine.

Thank you so much for your reply. I just started armour a week ago. I had alot of trouble with synthroid. How long did you take it before you started to feel better? I have to start slow. Just half of a 1/4 grain in the morning and the other half before dinner. I'm glad your doing good on it it gives me hope. Thanks
Terra

Hi Terra,

Well, you are taking a lot of pretty good supplements.

DHA is used most often to lower systolic BP in adults, and to help brain maturation in kids, esp. those with ADHD. The EPA fraction of fish oil has a lot more science behind it regards helpfulness for mood issues; you might want to look into that. There isn't alot of science on fish oil & thyroid; one animal study has suggested that taking a lot of DHA can increase TSH; and another animal study suggests that taking EPA reduced thyroid damage when animals were exposed to goitrogenic chemicals, but that's a pretty slim rsrch base. Did your doc rec the DHA to you for a specific reason?

A good multi is helpful to thyroid function, since many vitamins & minerals contribute to metabolism. Do you take your multi at bedtime? That would affect sleep for a lot of people. If you get a multi with no or low iron (assuming you don't need it), you can take the multi about 4 hrs. apart from your T med & it will be OK.

Iodine can promote autoimmunity in the absence of selenium, but you've got that base covered. Thyroid hormone is essentially iodine bonded to protein (l-tyrosine). Anyone who is taking T meds is getting iodine. While I don't recommend more than the RDA for iodine, it is an essential nutrient. Recent studies in the USA have shown approx 12% of the population is iodine deficient; esp. among people who consciously select a low-salt diet for health reasons. If T4 is low, one possible reason is iodine deficiency.

Have you seen the thread on the thyroid healthboard entitled, "Things We Can Do?" You might get a few more ideas there.

It can take quite a while to get stabilized on T meds. Some of us barely get stabilized, when our gland sputters & takes another nosedive. So hold on to your patience ...

Best wishes.

Hi Elmhar, Thanks for posting. My doc did not tell me to take fish oil. I did it to try to help with the brain fog from the hypothyroid. They told me at Nordic Naturals to take the DHA for mood. That is why I got that one. Does DHA acutally increase the tsh? Wow, If it does I did not know that. No wonder I have been going downhill. Do you think I should take the Higher EPA instead? I thought that one was more just for inflammation and joints and stuff. I'm glad I posted on here, I'm always worried that what I might be taking is making my condition worse when I trying so hard to make it better. Thanks

It seems that you are taking most of the right supplements. I asked my doctor (Dr. Arem, author of The Thyroid Solution) about taking Omega 3. He said it would be a good idea to take 2000 mg a day. The softgel I am taking also contains 720 mg EPA and 480 DHA and 4IU Vit E.

ttrouten, I started to feel better in a week or two if I remember correctly. Really the only symptoms I noticed before the Armour were fatigue and dry skin. Oh, and a lack of moons on my fingernails. All have disappeared with the Armour. By the way, I break the tablet in half and let one dissolve under my tongue in the morning and one in the evening. That way (sublingual) I don't have to worry about when I eat or what supplements I take when. That makes it so convenient.

Thanks so much guys for your info. It helps to talk to people in the same situation as you. I love these boards. Don't know what I'd do without ya.

take coconut oil! It is good for you.Best oil for cooking to.Mercola .com is crazy about it .

I'm Hypo and have Hashimotos. I was on Armour for many years, but no longer. I now take Iodine supplements with good results. There are many articles you could read about thyroid problems being the result of a deficient amount of Iodine. I don't mean the kind of Iodine that is in Morton's salt. That is processed salt and very bad to ingest; in fact, can even cause further problems. I take two different kinds of iodine - Iodoral and Modiflan, which is natural brown seaweed made into capsules.

Ballady