sapphire5000

Hi Maz,

I have not ever been sure that I even had a thyroid problem until recently when I had my t3 checked and it was below normal. I was put on Armour Thyroid about 3 years ago even though my thyroid blood tests were still in the normal range at that time. I had some hypothyroid symptoms, so I was put on the Armour Thyroid hoping to address these symptoms:

severe fatigue
relentless constipation
low basal temp 97.4- 97.8
low BP 80-90/55
low heart rate 45-60 beats per minute
cold and heat intolerance (more sensitive to heat than cold)

(note: I'm 47 years old)

I never could get above 7.5 mg on the Armour Thyroid due to angina-like symptoms as I increased the dose (pain in chest, jaw, arm) (I don't have heart problems), but I decided to stay on that low dose hoping it might help a little. For the first few weeks, it seemd the Armour helped a little, but then over the last 3 years I have gotten progressively worse. Depression, and sleeping/sleepiness during the day (this never happened before) and also much worsened fatigue. My doctor never checked my t3 till just recently. So now it's below normal, after having been on the Armour for these past years. Another member on this board suggested that the dose of Armour is so low it might have pushed the t3 below normal. But when I try to go off the Armour, I can't function..... I guess I need whatever t3 I'm now getting from the Armour. So now, instead, I'm trying to add Cytomel to get the t3 back into normal. I just started the Cytomel 2 days ago. Am waiting and hoping the t3 helps. I'm truly debilatated by this condition... can barely function a couple of hours a day. Now that the t3 is actually below normal, it seems I do have hypothyroid issues, but maybe I did before, based on the above symptoms.... I'm not sure. Do you know how long it takes for the Cytomel to have some noticeable effect?

Sapphire

P.S. Thanks to everyone for the book recommendations!