Armour Thyroid (natural thyroid, Naturethroid, dessicated thyroid)
I have not yet had a chance to try Armour Thyroid, so I can’t personally report on whether it’s the magic bullet for the few lingering complaints I feel might indicate my hypothyroidism is not being treated as well as it could be… but I have looked into it and done enough research to know that it is something I’m interested in trying at some point in the future. (Probably after I use my remaining levothyroxin refill, and can go into the clinic and say, “No, I’m definitely not depressed, but I’m still lacking energy. Could we please try Armour for 8 weeks or so?”) [NOTE: I have since switched to Armour, see more recent posts for details]
So, anyhow. Here’s what I’ve learned about Armour Thyroid (and, by association, other “natural thyroid” medications such as Bio-Throid, Naturethroid, and Westhroid) so far:
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Levothyroxin (Synthroid, Levoid, Levothroid, Levoxine, Levoxyl)
So, like most Americans today who find themselves lacking natural thyroid hormones, I was given a levothyroxin prescription. Levothyroxin is simply a synthetic version of T4 (thyroxine), which your body is then supposed to partially convert (via the liver) to the most ‘active’ of the thyroid hormones: T3. Synthroid is the most common brand-name levothyroxin available, but other brand names include Levoid, Levothroid, Levoxine and Levoxyl.
Many people report better symptom relief with a brand-name medication than with generic levothyroxin. According to the authors of Thyroid Power, the difference is so consistent, they don’t write prescriptions for generic medication any more (also, they say Levoxyl is almost as inexpensive as generic, but gives the benefits of brand-name quality control. Good tip!). Read more