Found a fantastic doc who confirmed Hashimoto's last week. And so the treatment begins... BUT, after two days, I'm having a weird reaction. He prescribed 1 grain of Armour Thyroid and it's causing two symptoms: extreme bloating, and an odd contraction in my body an inch above my belly button and three inches to the left, just below my ribs. I paged the doc last night after 6 hours of the weird contraction (they are about 4-5 minuted apart) and he suggested phazyme to reduce the gas and castor oil on my stomach, he said it goes through the skin and relaxes the muscles (he thought it was a muscle spasm caused by excess gas). So this seemed to do the trick by the time I went to sleep. He told me not to take the Armour when I woke up if I was still having the spasm. I wasn't so I took it, and then my belly got bloated and the spasm has come back. Anyone have any thoughts on this or similar experience? I was so excited to get a diagnosis/meds after years of suffering and sadly, my suffering continues...
Bodies need time to adapt to having adequate amounts of thyroid hormone. Yours has been functioning on a dearth for months-to-years. You'll have to be patient while it gets used to the effects. You may experience worsening of old symptoms or the onset of new ones. Know that it will be temporary.
That said, 1 grain is a high starting dose. For most people, 1/4 or 1/2 grain is better. You could get a quality pill cutter from the drugstore and split the dose for a couple of weeks. Makes it easier on your body. Still... You're going to have to be prepared for feeling "different" until you feel "better".
__________________ "We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses." Abraham Lincoln
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2 days is very quick though, so that makes me wonder since bloating is a hypoT symptom as such (which you are if not you would not have started treatment) it's very well possible the bloating would have occurred/started even if you did not start taking Armour.
As far as bloating being better in the morning, it most often will be better in the morning, which is typical from bloating (gets worse as the day passes by).
as you might know the meds titrating process takes time and patience. hang in there.
Just checked the dosage, it's 30 mg - is that half a grain? - sorry for that (it's all so new to me). And as for the bloating, it's extreme (not my usual) and it's after taking the med and not eating anything out of the ordinary.
Thirty mg is half a grain. You could still halve that and go at it more gradually, if you'd like to.
Still, if this symptom is due to the onset of treatment, it's the kind of thing that will disappear if given time. Understand that the goal is to get your system, including bowel transit time, moving at the speed of a healthy person's. You're going to feel different as you move through the titration process. Prepare for it; you'll be fine in time.
__________________ "We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses." Abraham Lincoln
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