Should I take the plunge?

Welcome to HealingWell, bbarker. Synthroid has been the gold standard of treatment for hypothyroidism for at least 30 years, and the majority of people do well on it. To me it always makes sense to try the most statistically successful treatment available first, then move to alternatives if that doesn't work.

Armour dessicated thyroid was used before Synthroid was developed and sometimes can help those for whom Synthroid doesn't work for whatever reason. It is made from dried pork thyroid glands, so if you have thoughts about animal research or are vegan that would affect your feelings about it. Plus there is some allergic potential because of the pork protein, so it isn't always without problem either.

50 micrograms of synthroid is a quite small dose, in keeping with your lab results. If you're having clinical symptoms, I'd say it's worth a try. Otherwise I would hold off on the meds. If you don't feel confident your primary care doctor can manage this, you could request referral to an endocrinologist to follow you until everything is stable.

Good luck, and let us know how things go for you.

Ha! It is in that joint on the inside of the palm. The ring finger on both hands. I can actually touch the joint and its very sore. My finger are really stiff in the morning, I have to force them to open up straight. My doctor says it's osteoarthritis, but I find that a little odd since it is in both hands and the same joint at the same time. Isn't osteo an breakdown in the joint from overuse? I doubt they would both break down at the same time. Seems like that wouldn't be very likely.

On xray my hands looked fine. I did have a couple of other blood work results that were a little out of whack, but the doctor says they are false positives

ANA titer was 625 U/mL Negative is less than 100
Anti SSA was 625 U/mL Negative is also less than 100 This one I guess is for Sjogren's - No symptoms
RA was negative

Only symptoms I have are fatigue and the pain in my hand joints. I was thinking that this might be RA but all the doc says is Osteo. BTW I did have these titers done a second time because of him thinking it was false positive. Even coming back with these numbers he still says false positive!
Bev

625? That's not negative. That's a lupus positive.
My hands were the first thing attacked.
You need to see a rheumatologist. A PC doctor can not diagnose lupus properly.

Do you get low grade fevers sometimes?

It hit my hands first and then my feet. I couldn't grasp things without pain and sometimes I'd drop things because it hurt so much to grip things.

I was so fatigued I couldn't seem to move without great effort. I'd get exhausted just walking around the room.

Not really, I've just learned to adapt to the pain. I can tolerate pain up to level 5 the I have to reach for the pain killers.
Most of the time I can rub BenGay into the joint and it quiets down some.
I was on mobic and tramadol until my kidney doctor took me off of the mobic because NSAIDS are dangerous for someone with kidney issues and I have a small protein spill.

Have you tried Voltern gel? It helps some people with joint pain. You can ask for a sample from your doctor before buying the full kit of four.

I'm throwing lemons as fast as they hit me, but I'm getting kind of tired.