Unfortunately, patients who want to switch to desiccated thyroid from T4-only meds like Synthroid et al, or those already on desiccated thyroid who want to fill their next prescription, are going to find it difficult. There are widespread shortages in desiccated thyroid like Armour, Naturethroid and Westhroid. (see my posts below).
But there’s good news, and it comes in the form of “Thyroid” by Erfa.
Erfa’s “Thyroid” is an excellent natural desiccated thyroid product according to the experience of patients who use it. It contains:
- Dried Thyroid
- Magnesium Stearate
- Cornstarch
- Talc
- Sugar
**Note the “sugar”. Patients also report they are able to do this brand of medication sublingually! That is good news.
The Erfa website states you can obtain their desiccated thyroid medication outside of Canada via a special access program and follow their steps:
For patients outside Canada and the US:
2. Your doctor should fill in this simple document (not required for the UK)
3. Fax or e-mail us the documents at 1 – 514-931‑7330 or info@ERFA.net
For patients in the US:
1. get a valid prescription of Thyroid from your local doctor
2. your doctor has to fill FDA form 1572 (e-mail us a request at info@ERFA.net
3. Fax or e-mail us the documents at 1 – 514-931‑7330 or info@ERFA.net
Thank you Erfa from Stop the Thyroid Madness and thyroid patients all over the world who KNOW what a superior treatment desiccated thyroid really is!
This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 and is filed under hypothyroidism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Stephanie said:
Aug 25, 09 at 8:46 pmCan anyone tell me how effective Erfa is compared to the old Armour (which worked well for me) and compared to RLC Labs Naturethroid/Westhroid? I just finally got some Westhroid last week right before the shortage, so my body is stil adjusting to it, but I think anything will work better for me than the new Armour, which was like taking nothing.
Theresa said:
Aug 26, 09 at 8:12 amStephanie,
I have been taking Thyroid (Erfa) for a couple of years now, and I know it is FAR superior to $ynthroid! I can’t compare it to Armour (not available here in Canada), but everything I have experienced or heard about it is that it works well. It is important to multi-dose (like Armour), and to go gradually with any increases (I have gone from a starting dose of 90 mg — which I was on far too long! up to 240 mg, divided into 3 daily doses). You have nothing to lose by trying it. I hope I don’t live to regret singing Erfa’s praises, and have to worry about shortages here in Canada! Good luck with it!
Michelle Shepherd said:
Aug 26, 09 at 8:29 amJanie, I just wrote them yesterday! I have a copy of the FDA form if you would like to post it somewhere on your site? They emailed me back within 12 hours and have been very pleasant. I’ve also heard good reports of their med from other boards… My only concern is pricing b/c the website states 500 count bottles except for 30mg which can come in bottles of 100. I’ll post later once I have that narrowed down. Thanks for all you do!
Kim said:
Aug 26, 09 at 10:35 amIf ALI is the ONLY supplier of dessicated thyroid in North America, Isn’t ERFA experiencing a shortage as well?
I asked this question on the last blog post and got no response.
(See blog post above this one)