Thyroid

[angiefox10]

Does anyone know a doctor in the area who prescribes Natural Thyroid?

[Pturner]

Sometime in November. :throwtomatoes:

[angiefox10]

Sometime in November. :throwtomatoes:


:a20::1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

[dsnrbec]

Life Family Practice prescribes natural thyroid. They are a general practice as well as alternative medicine and have many options to offer that are lacking at other places.

[angiefox10]

Thanks!!! I can't live without it and it's so hard to find doctors who will prescribe it!

[Janice Anderson]

Dr. Kalpana Desai on Old Camp Rd

[ewstanley]

What type of natural thyroid medicine do you take? I am currently on Armour Thyroid but I have heard good things about the Canadian Brand of Thyroid called Erfa. It is good to know that there are physicians down in TV that prescribe natural thyroid meds.

[angiefox10]

What type of natural thyroid medicine do you take? I am currently on Armour Thyroid but I have heard good things about the Canadian Brand of Thyroid called Erfa. It is good to know that there are physicians down in TV that prescribe natural thyroid meds.


Armour changed their formulation so it doesn't work for me any longer. I am now on Erfa and I love it!! Are you on the Thyroid forum in About.com? I hav Mary's pages on my FB page as well as well. I get the newsletters keeping me up to date on everything thryoid.

[ewstanley]

I was diagnosed just the spring. I had all of the symptoms but TSH was still within the normal range. I did a lot of research and wanted to try Natural Thyroid. My physician was hesitant but eventually put me on Armour. I live in Michigan now and can get my prescriptions filled in Canada for Erfa if I want. I never tried the old Armour so I guess I don't know what I am missing. I will be moving down permanently in October and was going to start my search for a new physician down there. I have been on Mary Shamon's website and also www.stopthethyroidmadness.com (http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com) which also has a wealth on information. I thought that I was going to have to start my search for a doctor all over again. Thanks for posting.

[JenAjd]

I'm on a thread re: thyroid on FB and read this weekend that folks who are Hypothyroid, have been presenting with swollen feet and ankles and sometimes their hands. I've had this and up until recently the swelling would go almost nearly away...however for the last week or so my feet/ankles are very swollen and even elevating them doesn't seem to help. Anyone here have that??? Or have you read about it on your other forums??? I had never put it together with my thyroid condition but thought it was due to the heat/humidity here.

[angiefox10]

I'm on a thread re: thyroid on FB and read this weekend that folks who are Hypothyroid, have been presenting with swollen feet and ankles and sometimes their hands. I've had this and up until recently the swelling would go almost nearly away...however for the last week or so my feet/ankles are very swollen and even elevating them doesn't seem to help. Anyone here have that??? Or have you read about it on your other forums??? I had never put it together with my thyroid condition but thought it was due to the heat/humidity here.

For me... It's my thryoid. Could be so many things, but if you are Hypo... Probably the problem.

[Trish Crocker]

I would be interested in hearing about natural thyroid. A few years back I got some lab results...everything was within normal range until I got to the thyroid part...said normal range .5-3.5 mine was 43. I called the doc to see if there was a mistake of some kind..he wasn't in so nurse checked lab results from 2 years previous...reading at that time was 40. I went 2 years without knowing that there was a problem or getting any treatment. Needless to say, I have a new doctor! I'm taking levothyroxine but would much rather use something natural if it works. You know, getting old sucks :)

[graciegirl]

If you have hyperthyroidism and do not take medications to stop your thyroid from overproducing you can have dangerous heart arrhythmias. Nothing to fool with. I see Dr. Hamilton Fish, an Endocrinologist in Leesburg. Trained at Georgetown. I think he is very good.

Jen...if your hands and feet are swelling you really should be seeing an MD.

[angiefox10]

I would be interested in hearing about natural thyroid. A few years back I got some lab results...everything was within normal range until I got to the thyroid part...said normal range .5-3.5 mine was 43. I called the doc to see if there was a mistake of some kind..he wasn't in so nurse checked lab results from 2 years previous...reading at that time was 40. I went 2 years without knowing that there was a problem or getting any treatment. Needless to say, I have a new doctor! I'm taking levothyroxine but would much rather use something natural if it works. You know, getting old sucks :)

I never felt quite right until I got on Natural Thryoid. If you go on http://thyroid.about.com/ there is a wealth of information! Hubby found the site for me! Because of this site, I was able to learn enough to get my numbers where they need to be, to get on the right medication for me! The articles are wonderful and if you to go the fourm, you will find people there who can guide you through the process of feeling great!!! These ladies and gentlemen are as nice as the people on here.

[Trish Crocker]

Thank you Angiefox...I will definitely check it out.

[JenAjd]

Gracie...no fear! I see my primary every 3 months to check levels. We've discussed the swelling HOWEVER that being said...I just read that folks with "HYPO"..not hyper...seem to have issues with swelling. I'd never heard of that before and THAT'S why I brought it up here. Guess I will speak to my provider next time.

[graciegirl]

Gracie...no fear! I see my primary every 3 months to check levels. We've discussed the swelling HOWEVER that being said...I just read that folks with "HYPO"..not hyper...seem to have issues with swelling. I'd never heard of that before and THAT'S why I brought it up here. Guess I will speak to my provider next time.

The minute I wrote it I knew you would be taking all proper precautions. I am sorry. I didn't mean to sound so bossy. One of these days I am gonna meet you in person and so hope to be your friend.

[JenAjd]

The minute I wrote it I knew you would be taking all proper precautions. I am sorry. I didn't mean to sound so bossy. One of these days I am gonna meet you in person and so hope to be your friend.

Writing "anything" on the internet can be misconstrued!!! People can't see the facial expressions or voice inflexions etc. This forum many times comes across (not this thread in particular), sometimes in a very negative way. When I posted my question I was hoping for someone to be able to tell me they too had experienced this or knew of others who had. So am still waiting!
No problem Gracie!!

[shcisamax]

What is Erfa? I have never heard of it. When did Armour change its formulation? I have been on Armour for 7 years and didn't know anything about a formulation change. What did they change? I need to find a doctor here that won't push synthroid and will look at the T3 and T4 numbers instead of just the TSH. Who do you all think is the absolute best. I realize that is a subjective question but I am trying to narrow it by asking for a doctor that thinks Armour is superior to synthroid.. and I guess Erfa...although I know nothing about it. Guess it is my next google search :)

[angiefox10]

Life Family Practice prescribes natural thyroid. They are a general practice as well as alternative medicine and have many options to offer that are lacking at other places.

This is the doctor for armour.

[shcisamax]

don't shoot me but since I am low thyroid at the moment, I am not quite as bright as i should be. Who is the doctor on here that I should contact? Dr. Chandramohan was the name I was given on the other thread but you referred me to here. Who did you email? Who should I call? Chandramohan was a name on my insurance plan but I am not sure that is who you are referring to?
Clearly...I am confused.

[KathieI]

What is Erfa? I have never heard of it. When did Armour change its formulation? I have been on Armour for 7 years and didn't know anything about a formulation change. What did they change? I need to find a doctor here that won't push synthroid and will look at the T3 and T4 numbers instead of just the TSH. Who do you all think is the absolute best. I realize that is a subjective question but I am trying to narrow it by asking for a doctor that thinks Armour is superior to synthroid.. and I guess Erfa...although I know nothing about it. Guess it is my next google search :)

The thing I love about my new endocronologist in Bradenton is that she not only looks at your thyroid numbers, BUT all your numbers and she looks at the patient and considers how they feel. She's the totally intune with her patients and spends a great deal of time individually to be sure she's working on the right path. I love her logic and her thoroughness and her mannerisms. She's truly one of the best I have met yet.

BTW, I suffer with hypo.... also, and have had swelling in my hands and feet esp ankles and I was told this is very common. I was prescribed a water pill to help that and that was 20 years ago and I'm still doing quite well. Good luck, Jen.

[angiefox10]

The thing I love about my new endocronologist in Bradenton is that she not only looks at your thyroid numbers, BUT all your numbers and she looks at the patient and considers how they feel. She's the totally intune with her patients and spends a great deal of time individually to be sure she's working on the right path. I love her logic and her thoroughness and her mannerisms. She's truly one of the best I have met yet.

BTW, I suffer with hypo.... also, and have had swelling in my hands and feet esp ankles and I was told this is very common. I was prescribed a water pill to help that and that was 20 years ago and I'm still doing quite well. Good luck, Jen.

Kathie,

Does your doctor prescribe natural Thyroid? Anything else and I feel like crap!


Life Family Practice

[KathieI]

Kathie,

Does your doctor prescribe natural Thyroid? Anything else and I feel like crap!


Life Family Practice

Well, I believe Armour is natural, I know they had a problem a few years back getting the natural ingredients for Armour and if there was a formula change, it was probably due to that. But she has me on alternating with 60mg and 90mg every other day. Seems to work real well,,, have a full head of hair again... THANK GAWD!!!!

[shcisamax]

Well if you can believe it, I am on 105.. when I discovered my thyroid wasn't functioning about 15 years ago, my tsh was 217...really. I had water on my heart which they wanted to drain with a needle. I was a sick puppy. Synthroid was not a good fit to say the least. I thought I had discovered nirvana when I found Armour. Will never go back. How long does it take to Sarasota?

[KathieI]

Straight down the 75... about 1 1/4 hours. We should make it a girls day out and go shopping at the outlet mall?????

[angiefox10]

Life Family Practice in The Villages These are the doctors who I emailed and they sold Armour.

If you go to aboutthryoid.com you will learn much about the changer in Armour. Some of us had trouble with it. We cut our meds in half and take them twice a day.... Once in the morning and once in the afternoon. We put it under our tongue to make it more effective.

Some of us had to change brands. According to the company who makes Armour, they didn't change the dose, only the filler. I don't know if they changed it back or not. I haven't ordered it since.

[RichieB]

BTW, I suffer with hypo.... also, and have had swelling in my hands and feet esp ankles and I was told this is very common. I was prescribed a water pill to help that and that was 20 years ago and I'm still doing quite well. Good luck, Jen.

My wife had very similar symptoms, and fortunately her thyroid problem, also hypo, was caught early. She was started on Synthroid, and that worked for her. Took a while to get to her proper therapeutic level through trial and error, but she felt better once she got there.

I've been following both threads. Sometimes, it is difficult to find a good specialist "for you." In addition to an endocrinologist, my wife needs a neurologist. She is pleased with the ones she currently has.

[KathieI]

My wife had very similar symptoms, and fortunately her thyroid problem, also hypo, was caught early. She was started on Synthroid, and that worked for her. Took a while to get to her proper therapeutic level through trial and error, but she felt better once she got there.

I've been following both threads. Sometimes, it is difficult to find a good specialist "for you." In addition to an endocrinologist, my wife needs a neurologist. She is pleased with the ones she currently has.

Rich, I was just referred to a great neurologist here in TV. Just loved him. My primary has given me the best referrals so far. His name was Dr. Singh and he's right on 441/27. I was very leery of going to anyone other than my doctor in Los Angeles but thought I'd better establish something here. Dr. Singh was very good, very articulate, nice and thorough. He answered a lot of questions even my doc in LA didn't answer. Liked him a lot.

[CarGuys]

For me... It's my thryoid. Could be so many things, but if you are Hypo... Probably the problem.

In my early 20's I went from 165 to 95 lbs in less the two months. Had a thyroid out of control! The size of a orange but it was in not visible out.

They operated and remove all of the thyroid and damaged the parathyroids. Left bleeders and had to have a emergency trach to breath. That was not fun?

So it's been a roller coaster for me my whole life.

Never heard of natural thyroid. I'm on synthroid now. In the morning it's a bowl of pills. I am searching for a new thyroid Doctor. I seem to remember one recommended in Leesburg

H

[CarGuys]

If you have hyperthyroidism and do not take medications to stop your thyroid from overproducing you can have dangerous heart arrhythmias. Nothing to fool with. I see Dr. Hamilton Fish, an Endocrinologist in Leesburg. Trained at Georgetown. I think he is very good.

Jen...if your hands and feet are swelling you really should be seeing an MD.

Thanks Gracie I went back and found this post for your Doctor. When I was hyperactive I could do no more than walk. My heart was full tilt all the time. When I tried to exercise I would drop from exhaustion. They thought I had sugar at the time or because I was young Lazy-

Although in my 20"s I could drink anyone under the table because my body burned it up like a blast furnace.

[angiefox10]

In my early 20's I went from 165 to 95 lbs in less the two months. Had a thyroid out of control! The size of a orange but it was in not visible out.

They operated and remove all of the thyroid and damaged the parathyroids. Left bleeders and had to have a emergency trach to breath. That was not fun?

So it's been a roller coaster for me my whole life.

Never heard of natural thyroid. I'm on synthroid now. In the morning it's a bowl of pills. I am searching for a new thyroid Doctor. I seem to remember one recommended in Leesburg

H

This is the best site I know to learn about your thyroid.

I believe there is a "best doc" link on there.

There is a forum you can log onto and ask questions. It was because of this site that I found out about Natural Thyroid. One of them being Armour.

Thyroid Disease Information - Hypothyroidism - Hyperthyroidism - Thyroid Cancer - Autoimmune Disease - Hashimoto's - Graves' - Goiter - Nodules - Metabolism - Weight Loss - Diet - Hormones - Hormonal Balance - Perimenopause - Menopause (http://thyroid.about.com/)

Some people do well with synthroid. I do not. It's a synthetic med that doesn't include everything your body needs to function properly.

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=synthroid+vs+armour&oq=synthroid+vs+&aq=1&aqi=g4&aql=&gs_nf=1&gs_l=hp.1.1.0l4.1369.5397.0.8748.13.8.0.5.5.0.299. 1070.2j5j1.12.0.JrQjnNbQ8as&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=ff42559d799f52a1

[CarGuys]

Like reading my medical life in review!

Thanks Angie

[NotGolfer]

I confess....I haven't read all the posts on this thread (right now)...but I did try to post a response earlier today and my computer was "frozen" so will give it a go now.

I have been on Armour Thyroid for a bunch of years now but was given the RX up north b/4 we moved down to T.V. I've had 2 practioners re-up my RX here so don't take "no" for an answer! One practioner was Dr. Kalpana Desai and the other was the nurse practioner with Dr. John Burress.

Here is a link that I have from Facebook (and I understand she's written some books as well). It's good to try to educate yourself as much as possible. If you can't find it then I'd say google her name! We all have to advocate for ourselves with our medical care!

*Mary Shomon: About.com Thyroid Site

[RichieB]

Straight down the 75...

I can tell that you spent some time in California :icon_wink: :)

[RichieB]

Rich, I was just referred to a great neurologist here in TV. Just loved him. My primary has given me the best referrals so far. His name was Dr. Singh and he's right on 441/27.

Kathie, thanks for the recommendation on the neurologist. I'm making note of all of these in the event that I can get my wife to at least take a look at The Villages. Many times good physicians are found through word of mouth.

Here's a very recent doctor story that happened to us last week.

I called my wife's primary care doctor, who is a different one than mine, to schedule an appointment for her. I got told that he "has gone on indefinite leae from the practice." We had to scramble to find another PC doctor for her, especially since she had some prescriptions expiring. My doctor really did me a favor and took her on, as he wasn't accepting new patients.

A bit of a rough spot, but a good end to the story.

[lightworker888]

Dr. Brownstein's book "Iodine and why you need it" has very valuable info on thyroid as well as his book on Salt. There is also a great message board on Yahoo groups - Iodine Group- which is run by a naturopath with 4 moderators all of whom have treated their condition naturally, some using various approaches including Armour. I have been on the iodine protocol since last June and it has been a real turning point for me. Here's a link if you are interested.

iodine@yahoogroups.com

Dr. Brownstein is the expert on Iodine and Salt and the THyroid connection. I also learned years ago that most thyroid issues start because of low adrenals so adrenal support is also key. Of course it took me til now to remember and start supporting the adrenals better! Oh well, better late than never.


LW888

[kris contos]

I have never had swelling but the thyroid can cause many problems if it is off. Do you have your T3 and T4 levels tested? if these are not tested they may be off and your med may need to be adjusted/changed to a natural hormone. If they are off you need to be on a natural hormone such as Armour or Erfa as a synthetic med will not address these areas of your thyroid.
I am less tired now that I am on Armour and also more regular with my BM's.
It can take awhile to get the right dose but be patient. It's worth it.

[shcisamax]

Armour, in my experience, is superior to synthroid. Some doctors would disagree but for me, the difference was huge.