I can remember a few people the past year who proclaimed fervently that Armour was being discontinued because of the shortage. And I chuckle about it. Hopefully, my previous posts helped calm that fear.
But in case you haven’t heard, those larger sizes are back! And you can keep track of what’s going via the Forest Pharmaceuticals customer product availability hotline: 1 – 866-927‑3260 As of today, April 19, they state that the one grain tabs (60 mg) and 1 1/2 grains tabs (90 mg) are on backorder, and will catch up with production on April 20th, tomorrow as I am writing this. We’ll see.
Unfortunately, the new formulation has made Armour lacking in sweetness, and it’s almost impossible to do it sublingually. Sad. Maybe another pharmaceutical will get the hint. In the meantime, if you swallow your desiccated thyroid, make sure to avoid calcium, iron and estrogen at the same time. And if you’ve been doing it sublingually, and have to switch to swallowing, you may need a tad more.
Remember: if you have any issues with natural Armour desiccated thyroid in the treatment of your hypothyroidism, you can always ask your doctor for a prescription switch to Naturethroid or Westthroid, both fine FDA-approved, US Pharmacopeia standard prescription desiccated thyroid.
Janie
Want to be informed of my posts? Curious what I am raving about as a Thyroid Patient Activist? You can sign up for a Notification at the bottom of the links to your left.
P.S. If you haven’t bought the Stop the Thyroid Madness book yet, wanted to tell you that numerous patients are emailing me, stating they find the book even easier to refer to than this vast website (plus it has more details and information). So if you want the ease of referral, the book may be the way to go.
mette said:
Apr 21, 09 at 9:57 amHi!
Thanks for a very informative and impressive site!
I found it only a couple of weeks ago, and started taking my Armour sublingually. I have been reluctant to up the dose since I’ve had bad experiences with overdosing synthetic T4 (and T3) in the past. (I’ve taken T4 since 95 and switched to Armour a year or so ago. My doctor knows little about Armour, but lets me have it.)
.
I’ve felt much better lately, so thank you so much for the info!
I will up the dosage too — but I have a feeling that the sublingual bit made a big difference for me, not just the dosage! (Maybe because of my autoimmunity?)
I got a new prescription and bought 120mg in stead of 60mg, and was surprised at the different taste and the strange residue when I started them yesterday, so I actually compared the packaging on the 60mg and the 120mg, but saw no immediate difference. They sure took a long time to dissolve.
.
Do you know what the new stuff is, and if it works as well sublingually if you get it to dissolve? (The taste doesn’t bother me at all.)
Kaia said:
Apr 23, 09 at 7:02 amDo you think there’s any chance that Armour will change back to the old formulation? Swallowing it simply doesn’t work well for many people — some have celiac disease and don’t absorb medication well when swallowed, some have adrenal fatigue with morning nausea, making it difficult to swallow medication in the morning.
Janie, do you think calling Forest pharmaceuticals and complaining will have any effect? Maybe if they were aware of STTM, and listened to the fact that many people found success taking it sublingually, maybe they’d consider changing back to the old formula?
Lettie said:
Apr 23, 09 at 12:05 pmHas anyone got their voice back to normal on Armour Thyroid? If so how long did it take? I went undiagnosed for a long time and was just put on 30mg Armour Thyroid 1 tab per day on an empty stomach. im anxious to get results. I also was put on bio identical progesterone. I had extensive blood tests to reveal a low thyroid hormone and slightly low progesterone. had all the symptoms, deep voice, fuzzy thinking cold feet and hands, low sex drive rtc etc. Thanks all!
ibeji said:
Apr 24, 09 at 1:52 am@Kaia: If your health is your greatest concern, I think it should be possible to take Armour sublingually, whatever the taste is. I think there are lots of medicines which taste much worse. Has anyone here ever tried a concoction of Aloe vera leaves crushed in a blender? It is so bitter that I can assure you that anything else pales in comparison with it! You should try it at least once in your life. Any problems of taking Armour will vanish thereafter, for good.
Anyhow, the sugar in Armour was harmful to health anyway (says one of the best hormone specialists in the world that even trace amounts of sugar like those found in e.g. ham are harmful), so I can only say: well done, Forest Pharmaceuticals! (No irony intended, in case you’re having doubts)
Lucy said:
Apr 24, 09 at 7:36 amJust to share my own experience with the new formula — at first I found it took forever to dissolve bucally — 3 hours plus — but then I found that if I chewed the tablet completely to a paste first it seems to absorb in a similar time to the old stuff. (This is not to disagree with those who have had problems, just that it may be worth a try!)
Kaia said:
Apr 28, 09 at 7:28 am@ibeji: Thank you for your response. I will explain why it is not possible to tolerate the new formulation of Armour:
1: It takes hours to dissolve, and it doesn’t really dissolve. It just leaves a chalky, pasty, gritty residue in your mouth, some of which is swallowed and therefore not absorbed properly for many people.
2: Many people split their Armour doses into 3 or 4 times a day. This means that you could spend the majority of your day with this disgusting residue in your mouth, waiting for it to dissolve, barely able to speak.
3: I have adrenal insufficiency (as do many other thyroid patients). One of the symptoms of this is morning nausea. I simply can not drink liquids in the morning, so this rules out swallowing the Armour(I can’t take pills without liquid). Also, those with Celiac disease can’t absorb medication well when swallowed. Celiac and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis are both autoimmune conditions, and many thyroid patients also have Celiac disease.
4: Many people with hypothyroidism also have iron deficiency anemia and other nutritional deficiencies. Iron and calcium must be taken 4 hours apart from thyroid medication. If you dose your thyroid medication several times a day, how is it possible to fit in other supplements? When it was possible to take Armour sublingually, this was not an issue, since taking it sublingually does not interfere with absorption of other supplements.
5: Many people split their thyroid pills in order to dose them throughout the day. I have a pill splitter, but this new formulation of Armour basically crumbles when I try to split it. A portion of the pill just turns into powder, so people are not able to take their full doses.
And I have a few questions, ibeji: Who is this hormone specialist who states that even trace amounts of sugar are harmful to your health? And is this just a theory of his, or does he have scientific evidence to back it up? I have difficulty believing that the tiny amount of dextrose in the old formulation of Armour could possibly do any damage.
And I can see that you are very complimentary of Forest Pharmaceuticals. Are you connected to the company in any way?
I am still hoping that Forest Pharmaceuticals will realize that their new formulation simply isn’t serving thyroid patients as well as the old formulation. Many patients who struggled for years finally found something that worked, and now are struggling again. It’s so disappointing.
Sheri said:
May 03, 09 at 10:08 pmI swallow my Armour, but my children chew and swallow theirs. I have noticed lately that my daughter, who takes a 2-grain pill, has not been very willing to eat her pill in the morning and we find an unfinished pill hiding somewhere later. Well, that’s not doing her any good! I was going to talk to my pharmacist to see if they can compound something that would both make this taste better for her and not affect its effectiveness. I might also ask him if I can do something to make it taste better! Maybe crush it with some honey? We will see…
Thank you for bringing this change to my attention!
JEANNE said:
May 07, 09 at 6:55 pmI CHANGED FROM GENERIC SYNTHROID TO ARMOUR IN MARCH…LOST 10 LBS IN 10 DAYS…THEN GAINED IT BACK.…I GUESS IT TOOK THAT LONG FOR MY BODY TO RECOGNIZE IT(?)
ANYWAY…I WAS TAKING IT ORALLY AND SWITCHED TO SUBLINGUALLY.…THEN SWALLED THE WHOLE PILL IN THE MORNING THE LAST FEW DAYS .…I WENT AND RE-DID THE LAB WORK YESTURDAY…THE RESULTS BACK TODAY WERE THAT T3 IS WITHIN NORMAL LIMITS TSH 3RD GENERATION IS HIGH…AND T4 FREE, T4 TOTAL AND FREE T4 ARE ALL LOW.…STILL EXCEPT FOR FATIGUE…I FEEL MUCH BETTER THAN I WAS ON THE GENERIC SYNTHROID AND 10 DAYS AFTER STARTING THE ARMOUR STARTED MENSTRUATING AGAIN…SO MY FATIGUE IS IN THE EVENINGS…I’M THINKING IT NEEDS TO BE LOWERED…BUT I’M NOT SURE AND WHEN I WENT TO THE NEW DR SHE ASKED ME WHICH I WANTED TO DO RAISE OR LOWER…(I WANT A DR WHO KNOWS! BUT HAVE NO INSURANCE AND FEEL I’M AT THE MERCY OF THE SYSTEM I AM FORCED TO USE…)
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!
JEANNE said:
May 07, 09 at 6:59 pmAS FAR AS TASTE IS CONCERNED…I TUCK IT IN MY CHEEK AND DON’T TASTE IT AFTER IT’S HAD TIME TO DISOLVE ALL OF THE MED ALL THAT’S LEFT IS THE SWEETENER.…DRINK A SWIG OF WATER OR TEA AND BITE THE BULLET.…YOU CAN BET YOU’D NEVER WANT TO DISOLVE A SYNTHROID IN YOUR CHEEK!