Archie343

If you're experiencing symptoms of hypo the Armour, with its T3 component, will probably bring you quicker relief. The T4 in both drugs must be converted by your body to T3 before you reap the benefits and conversion can take weeks and occurs at different rates in different people. People that don't do well on Synthroid are probably not converting the T4 fast enough, in many cases.

As a natural product containing the fast acting T3 you are more likely to suffer from overdosing with Armour. I'm sure your doctor knows this and will set a fairly conservative starting dose, then increase it gradually as and if needed.

If you are not hypo or are only slightly hypo you could choose either drug. I've been on Synthroid since March and have had no problems. At one point a 25mcg increase helped by stopping my hair loss but after a couple weeks I started getting palpitations so I dropped back down to the original 200mcg dose. I continued to struggle with weight but was otherwise fine 98% of the time. I recently increased my dose by 12 1/2mcg and am doing a little better. Better energy and it looks like I might be able to lose some weight finally. If the palps return I'll go back to 200mcg.

My doctor won't prescribe anything but Synthroid and its generic equivalent. For cancer patients like me he insists on Synthroid. If you can manage the higher price I would suggest insisting on the name brand since many people find it harder to arrive at their ideal dose on a generic; quality control and doseage consistancy seem to be better with Synthroid compared to the generics.