(This post garnered a lot of attention, up to FIFTY comments just a few hours after it went up. People are very interested in sharing their experiences in coping with the shortages! See below and add your own.)
This year will go down in history as shockingly miserable for enlightened thyroid patients on natural desiccated thyroid.
First came a reformulation in the most popular brand – Armour by Forest Labs. Patients worldwide in groups and forums reported a serious return of their hypothyroid symptoms on this product. A huge disappointment.
Second came the production shutdown of the two generic makers of desiccated thyroid: Time Caps Labs and Major Pharmaceuticals. It’s the first step in the FDA’s compliance plan to corral all grandfathered-in drugs (drugs already in existence when the the FDA was created in 1938) and make them each prove the efficacy and safety of their medication via very expensive clinical trials. i.e. over 110 years of safe and effective use of desiccated thyroid is not enough for the FDA?? We are still waiting to see the outcome of that plan with RLC and Forest Labs. – the two who were actually in existence before 1938.
Third came demand being greater than supply and shortages. Because of informative patient websites like Stop the Thyroid Madness, Sheila’s TPA-UK, Lyn’s ThyroidUK, Stephanie’s Natural Thyroid Choices, some areas of about.com (and other good websites I don’t mean to miss here), plus many fine patient forums and groups, patients found out why they had continuing symptoms on T4 thyroxine, and demand for natural desiccated thyroid grew exponentially.
STTM then created a list of options for all thyroid patients until the shortages resolved themselves, and also created CDT (Coalition for Desiccated Thyroid) where patients could discuss alternatives in a supportive and factual atmosphere.
And we’ve seen some interesting experiences and comments:
The new Armour: One grain tabs started to appear on some pharmacy shelves the past month. Other pharmacies have still been waiting. Many patients appear to have switched to other alternatives, though. One gal still on it feels she is finding success by adding T3 to the amount of new Armour she is on. Time will tell if patients can ever find success with the newly formulated Armour, and most feel it’s a huge loss.
Naturethroid and Westhroid: Patients reporting on their switch to either of RLC Lab’s two identical products report doing well, having to raise it slightly or lower it slightly, or just not liking them at all. Others have had a hard time finding it on their pharmacy shelves, but have been seeing some appear in the last few weeks.
Erfa’s Thyroid from Canada: When it became clear that the FDA was allowing this excellent product to be shipped to patients, many switched and had their prescriptions faxed to a Canadian pharmacy. Prices at many of those pharmacy websites were doubled after prescriptions started to come in from the US. Most patient who stuck with it seem to love it, reporting you can do it sublingually, as well. A few haven’t been impressed, but were finding their former success by raising it.
Compounded desiccated thyroid: In spite of being a more expensive option, some patients found success with this. Others learned they preferred the filler to be Acidophiles. If not the latter, Microcrystalline Cellulose was preferred over Methyl Cellulose – the latter which appeared to lessen the effectiveness of the compounded thyroid.
Synthetic T4 and Synthetic T3: some patients switched back to the synthetic combination, but many report that it hasn’t been as effective as desiccated thyroid was.
Other options: Patients moved to OTC products like Nutri-Meds, etc, which can be much weaker. Others sought desiccated thyroid from other countries and have found success.
So I’d like to hear from all of you. Did you go back to synthetic T4? What desiccated thyroid did you switch to? What worked and why? What didn’t work for you and why? What product do you hope to switch to once you run out of your current meds?
This entry was posted on Friday, November 6th, 2009 and is filed under Armour, desiccated thyroid, fda, shortages of desiccated thyroid. 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.
Janet said:
Nov 06, 09 at 2:14 pmI was given a prescription for compounded thyroid. However, I’ve had complications that I don’t really think were related to the compounded thyroid alone.
About a year ago, I was put on Yaz (birth control pills). And, without knowing the affect it would have, I had been taking it at the same time as my Armour (this is back when I HAD Armour still).
So, as time went on, I believe the estrogen in the Yaz was binding to my Armour, rendering it unusable.
Meanwhile, my doctor was testing my TOTAL T4 (dummy me… I wasn’t checking to see what he was testing). My total T4 kept getting higher and higher. And as that happened, the doc was lowering my dosage more and more.
When I first started taking Yaz, I was on 240 mg of Armour p/d. By this past summer, he had me down to 150 mg; which is what he prescribed for me in the form of compounded natural thyroid.
After taking the compounded thyroid for a while, I noticed that more and more hair was falling out. My thinking was getting foggy again, and I was feeling more and more tired every day. DRAGGING is more like it.
SO… I am due to see a new doctor this Monday. (My old one didn’t take my ins. and this one does — and he seems to be on the ball with proper testing and maintenance of thyroid problems). We’ll see what he has to say.
But, as I was trying to say from the beginning — I don’t know, exactly, how well compounded thyroid has been working for me due to these other complications. *sigh*… It’s a never-ending battle.
Thanks for all you do, Janie!
Kara said:
Nov 06, 09 at 2:19 pmI’ve started taking a Compounded desiccated thyroid. So far it seems to be working much better than the “new” Armour did for me. I’m not sure yet if I like it as well as the original Armour and I’m a little sad that it cannot be taken sublingually.
If my results don’t continue to improve, I’d like to try the Canadian Thyroid.
Best of luck to all those out there struggling!
Tiffany said:
Nov 06, 09 at 2:19 pmI had switched from Armour to Naturethroid, but then have now switched back to Armour. I had to go a full grain higher than i was on before, but it seems to be working better for me now at the higher dose. i still don’t feel great, but i am improving. i was able to get a 90 day supply of Armour through our employer pharmacy. my doctor has written me a Rx that says “Armour or Naturethroid or Westhroid,” so i can get whatever i can find. my family lives near the Canadian border, so if i need to order from Canada, they will go over and get it for me and then ship it to me. i am hoping it doesn’t come to that, but if it does, i’ll deal with it. i cannot tolerate the synthetics including the combo of synthroid/levoxyl with cytomel so i have to get what i can find!
Sharon Cummings said:
Nov 06, 09 at 2:26 pmAfter I became severely hypo from the “new” Armour, my doctor put me on compounded. It did not work at all (even doubling the dosage). I had some Westhroid left over from when my Hubby tried NTH.…it had not expired so I tried that.….It worked (but needed 4.5 grains compared to my usual 3.5 grains of old Armour), but I soon ran out and was unable to get more. I then bought Thiroyd from Thailand and found it somewhat effective. I could have increased the dosage, but did not want to take an unregulated product. Now on Erfa for a week and it is working.…I need a much higher dose though. I will likely go back to Westhroid when it becomes available again.
John Munson said:
Nov 06, 09 at 2:26 pmMy doc prescribed Synthroid and Cytomel generics. So far so good, but slowly starting to go downhill, energy wise. My thyroid was removed in 2006, followed by the RAI pill. Truthfully, I had my ups and downs on Armour, and would really like to be better regulated. Hopefully an increase in T3 will help that.
Vicki said:
Nov 06, 09 at 2:28 pmAfter finding my optimal level on the old Armour, I started having hypo symptoms returning. I did some research and found Armour had been reformulated. I am furious about this, I was finally feeling good after suffering for 6 years. I was able to buy a 2 month supply of Nature-throid. It helped a tiny bit but not much (even tried taking more and nothing). Am currently back on Armour and I feel like crap. I have not been able to find a doctor that can help me figure things out so I feel stuck in hole AGAIN.
Amy M said:
Nov 06, 09 at 2:29 pmI started on the new Armour then switched to Nature-throid and once that supply dried up ordered Erfa from Canada. I’m still not optimized because I’m dealing with my adrenal fatigue issues now but I do like Erfa’s taste and the fact that it goes sublingually very nicely. It’s also nice to be able to buy it in 100 or 200 count amounts. My online pharmacy didn’t raise the price but I’ve seen a wild variation of prices, one of the highest being from the manufaturer’s site. I plan to stick with Erfa, even now that Nature-throid is available at my local pharmacy again.
Janet said:
Nov 06, 09 at 2:30 pmOh.. so, to answer your question properly (*blushing), I haven’t had a problem. When I obtained my compounded thyroid, the pharmacy had enough to make me 3 month’s worth. However, they did tell me afterward that they were out of it after making my prescription and didn’t expect to receive any until November.
Aside from that, I received a bottle of 60 mg. of Armour from my regular pharmacy since they hadn’t canceled my old Rx. (I’ll take whatever I can get)
Kim said:
Nov 06, 09 at 2:31 pmI was thinking about ordering Thyroid S from Thailand, but now my local pharmacies are carrying 60mg Armour again. I know it is the reformulated Armour, but I’m doing ok on it. I took the old Armour sublingually, and started taking the new Armour that way as well until I heard that it is designed to be swallowed. So I started taking it on an empty stomach. I have gained a few pounds, but I am pregnant so that is normal. For now I’m happy to stay on reformulated Armour. I just hope it sticks around!
Allie said:
Nov 06, 09 at 2:32 pmI’ve been getting my Thyroid from a compounding pharmacy and have been very happy! The price is only $25 a month which is the same price as my copay was with Armour. The pharmacist gave me a treatment plan to give to my doctor (she knows nothing about natural thyroid, only synthroid) and all is well. Anyone is free to email me at alliepaxton@comcast.net if you want the name of the pharmacy i use. They mail anywhere in the US. Good luck!!
Darlene said:
Nov 06, 09 at 2:36 pmI switched from Synthroid to Armour to Naturethroid. Couldn’t get the Naturethroid so I got compounded last month but now this month my doctor switched me back to Armour. At any rate, my levels as of a few weeks ago are over 20 from being in the normal range in the spring so she raised me from 1 1/4 to 1 3/4. Not feeling much different yet. Still have the lingering mild depression, extra pounds, irritability and pain around my vocal chords. We’ll see. It’s quite a journey. I want to test my iodine levels, too. My D3 is good now that I supplement with 6000 units daily.
Tami Williams said:
Nov 06, 09 at 2:40 pmAfter going off meds to do uptake and scan 10 yrs after cancer, I resumed my Armour (old) and then refilled(new). I was over 100 TSH at the time of the scan and down to 7 until the new Armour. By the time I realized how bad I felt and got tested — six weeks later — I was at 70+. I found out about the reformulation and switched to Nature Throid and after 1 month on that was back down to 5. But I couldn’t get it anymore and went back to Armour — I don’t do well on T4. But after 2 months on new Armour I was back in the 40’s and now my doc won’t prescribe NDT at all and I am on T4 and Cytomel. It has been 6 days and I feel terrible. My fibro was in remission and it is back, everyday getting worse, my brain is foggy and I am swelling. I really just have to thank the FDA for starting this nonsense and Forest for changing a formula that was working fine. I guess whatever they changed must have increased their profit margins.
Heidi said:
Nov 06, 09 at 2:48 pmI was on 105mg of Armour when the shortage hit and was able to find a small pharmacy that had a good supply of 120mg Armour. My Dr. agreed to bump my dose up. I shave off a corner of the pill to bump it back down to approx 105mg. I feel good so that’s all that matters. I have enough to last another 4 months or so.
Kim said:
Nov 06, 09 at 2:49 pmI am doing fine on a hand compounded thyroid from a pharmacy in South Bend, Indiana, and will continue with this!
Patty said:
Nov 06, 09 at 2:52 pmOld Armour was great for me at 2 grains with a split dose. After reformulation I thought it was still working OK until I couldn’t get it any longer so my pharmacy switched to Westhroid. WOW, what a difference. It was at that time that I realized the NEW Armour wasn’t working for me. I also in the panic received some Thyroid-s from an onine supplier. I take the Westhroid, 1 grain in the morning and Thyroid-s, 1 grain in the afternoon and I feel the best I have in the 7 months since I have started taking thyroid meds!
Thanks to everyone’s suggestions on this site and on Facebook for convincing me to get the Thyroid-s. It really works great! However I think I will stay with Westhroid but at least we all know now the alternative should something more serious happen to the meds available in the US.
Alexia said:
Nov 06, 09 at 3:19 pmI switched from Armour to Naturethroid.. I found a compounding pharmacy.. Working great.. If there are anymore shortages.. It is Canada for me!
Janine said:
Nov 06, 09 at 3:31 pmSwitched back to Synthroid and so far it is fine. I was have a lot of problems with Armour and now I know why. I will stay put right now and see what happens.
Thanks
Susan said:
Nov 06, 09 at 3:53 pmCompounded thyroid hasn’t worked for me. I’m gaining weight, my hair is falling out & my outlook on life is ‘gray’. My pharmacy is once again carrying Armour and I picked up a prescription today!
I’m trying a new Dr who does TONS of blood work (Yeah!) Not surprisingly, not only are my antibody levels elevated (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis), but my DHEA, Iron & Progesterone levels are all low. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that once I get levels back to normal, I’ll be on my way to better health.….
Marilyn Trujillo said:
Nov 06, 09 at 4:04 pmI wanted to share with you how I was doing with the current shortage.
I have a compounded problem. No only is it hard for me to find and get Armour, but I have not had health insurance on top of it.
I am not able to get regular labs or see the doctor since Dec of last year. THis has made it more difficult for me as my persecution is about to run out.
I have not felt very well on the new Armour. I would like to switch nd I have a place that I can buy it at, but they are still having trouble with getting it as well. They do have a brand I have never heard of that is so pricey that I am not able to afford a months supply.
I have had to buy some T4 and some T3 to get me through the time that there was no natural thyroid in my area. I can tell you that it is not as good as having the real thing.
I REALLY REALLY wish they would bring the old Armour back. I miss it, it saved my life literally and it is like morning an old friend after they changed the formula on it.
When and if I can get on health insurance I am going to see about trying Erfa. I have not been able to find a pharmacy that you can buy it with out a script yet, so health insurance is the only hope to find it for me LOL.
Thank you for this site and the support.
Angel
Regina said:
Nov 06, 09 at 4:12 pmI think I had a bad batch of new Armour since I put on 12 pounds until early summer. When I read about the formula change my doc wrote a rx for Westhroid/Naturethroid. I did very bad on Westhroid. Hairloss and temp 96/97. I sort of recovered on NT but had to take 2 grain vs 1.5 in old Armour.
Now there is no NT here. I have a stash of new Armour/leftover Westhroid and generic from Major Labs to survive until NT comes back, but I am frightened which one to chose come Sunday when I am out of NT. I can not afford any more setbacks.
Called RLC they say they will ship 1 grain to distributors in Mid Nov so hopefully by end of November pharamacies should have it.
sandy said:
Nov 06, 09 at 4:20 pmsince the nature-throid shortage doc put me on generic T3 and levoxyl. I only had previously been on naturethroid for 3 months when the shortage hit. Prior to that I was on T4 only and not feeling well. NT was great. The generic T3 and levoxyl worked ok for about a month but I have been slipping back in hypo hell over the past month. I just got word my NT us coming in the mail so I am psyched!
Barbara said:
Nov 06, 09 at 4:29 pmFinally got a doc to write RLC and was doing great. Now had to switch to Armour. not so great. Back to skin and hair issues, for sure.
Stefany said:
Nov 06, 09 at 4:37 pmI have switched to 3/4 grain of Naturethroid from 3/4 grain of Armour. I feel good and have not noticed any difference. I take Drenamin (Standard Process ) and Adrenal Support (Biotics). My TSH is .300 and FT3 and FT4 are in ideal ranges. After being on desiccated thyroid, my antibodies have come down to almost normal. I also follow Weston Price diet — lots of eggs, red meat, dairy (only if it is not pasturized), lots of butter, and fruits and veggies. I do not eat any soy and do not eat wheat either. I do fine with spelt. 5’8″ 135 and never had a problem with weight. Have a 4 month old who is 100% breastfed
Rainbow said:
Nov 06, 09 at 4:47 pmI switched from Armour to Cytomel only to get rid of my high Reverse T3. But I’m feeling better on the Cytomel than I ever did on the Armour, so I’ll probably just stay on it now that the RT3 is gone, instead of switching back to desiccated thyroid.
trisha said:
Nov 06, 09 at 4:47 pmi finally felt well on the armour thyroid. i had this slight not right feeling but i was functioning well. it took me a long while to get there. a lot of work. which makes me wonder if all the while previously i was taking “bad armour”. i switched to naturethroid and took a plunge that has me still recovering…and it has been 3 months. i think finally i am getting close. but have had horrible depression, awful anxiety and dizzy spells. i know that my adrenals took a blow with the improper conversion. so i am giving myself time to recover with out “switching” again. does it ever get better i wonder sometimes.…it reminds how our intricaltly God made me. best wishes to everyone…as we are all on this crazy journey together.
Bev said:
Nov 06, 09 at 4:50 pmFortunately, I learned from Janie to stockpile a lot of old Armour in my freezer and recommend that when desiccated thyroid does become readily available again that people do the same as there are bound to be some fluctuations in availability,- at least there has been since I started taking Armour years ago.
When I heard that there was a shortage coming up I ordered extra Naturethroid from my local pharmacist and when he could no longer get any I ordered from Anti-aging and Biogenesis online and once again have a good supply of Naturethroid on hand. I didn’t even try the new Armour as I didn’t feel comfortable with the symptoms people were reporting.
Plan ahead and be prepared, we need this medicine to live and have to take it seriously. Supplies can be uncertain for any number of reasons, when you need something to live make sure you can have enough of it!
Connie said:
Nov 06, 09 at 5:02 pmI only discovered STTM this summer. I had a very typical, ignorant doctor before I found the website and book. After I read the book (found it since I was researching why I was still feeling SO lousy) and went to a naturopath. The doctor I’m now seeing is amazing and you’ll be happy to hear that he thinks your book is a great reference book! Anyhow — I went from T4 only to naturthroid with great results. Although, thanks to you, I knew that we needed to check the adrenals and sure enough, they were in fatigue. I never got to be on the original Armour, but I’m feeling better than I have felt in years. I think I need to go up a little. Thanks for all you do.
Amber said:
Nov 06, 09 at 5:03 pmI have only been on Armour since April, so I don’t really feel like I’ve reached a good level yet. My most recent prescription, picked up less than two weeks ago, was from a compounding pharmacy. It’s a capsule that’s meant to be swallowed, so I can’t take it sublingually. I have been having headaches the last couple of days, but I’m not certain if that’s related or not. Still searching for optimal relief…
Deana said:
Nov 06, 09 at 5:16 pmI crashed on the new Armour, like being on Synthroid again, no good. I switched to Nature-throid and it was difficult transition, had side effects and my hair started falling out, after 3 months felt better. However, I ran out of Nature-throid and couldn’t get anymore. I am now on Canada thyroid, it is like the old Armour, can do under the tongue. Only a week, but feel good so far. I suspect it is a absorption problem for me. I did not get to optimal health until I did original Armour sublingually for several months. I am hoping my hair stops falling out after awhile. I really think we need the old Armour formula in liquid form. Any chance of this happening? Best Wishes to all fellow hypothroids.
Kit in St. Louis said:
Nov 06, 09 at 5:20 pmI can get compounded glandular, but decided to try synthetic T3/T4 sustained release. Am having trouble sleeping and am slipping into wackiness. Started on bumped up dose today. Wish me luck.
Will go back on glandular if I’m not feeling much better by mid-week next. Can’t afford to go crazy.
Vicki said:
Nov 06, 09 at 5:32 pmI am blessed that my doctor has his own pharmacy and he can make his own “Armour” compound . He is a great “open minded” doctor on top of that.Just what this website tells you to look for in a doctor. So if anyone lives in the North East Florida area — There is excellent help here. As far as how things are going on this in house made compound, I’m not sure due to the fact that I am in the middle of a full blown Adrenal crisis that makes thyroid problems feel like the common cold. Not to mention 3 lumps in my neck (Lymph nodes I assume )and to top that off I just found a lump in my breast.
Holly said:
Nov 06, 09 at 5:34 pmI switched to Thyroid-s and am doing fairly well. I’ve already lost some of the weight that I had gained with the reformulated Armour.
Drea said:
Nov 06, 09 at 5:36 pmWell, it took me a few years after I knew about natural dessicated thyroid before I could find a dr to prescribe it. I finally did this year, and within the first 6 weeks of taking Armour we started experiencing shortages in Austin. I was first put on Naturethroid, then on Westhroid, and I really preferred those two. Now I’m back on the Armour. I feel fine. Haven’t gone in for my blood work though, we’ll see.
Beth in T.O. said:
Nov 06, 09 at 5:59 pmAfter 6 horrible months on Synthroid I switched to natural. Since I didn’t have a doctor who would prescribe natural thyroid I decided to experiment with natural thyroid from the Vitamin & Supplement store just to see if it made any difference in the way I was feeling. I bought a bottle of Thyroid by American Biologics (this is bovine) and started taking 1 1/2 tablets a day, (divided into two doses) I noticed an immediate difference in the way I felt. I finally felt normal. My energy was back and aches and pains gone. I decided I should try to find a doctor who whould actually prescribe a natural thyroid hormone. In the mean time I ordered a bottle of Thiroyd made by Greater Pharma from an internet site without a prescription. I am still trying to adjust the dosage but have had good results from it. I meet with my new doctor next week so I can try to get a normal prescription that my insurance will cover. If she refuses to prescribe it I will just continue to order over the internet.
Jan said:
Nov 06, 09 at 6:02 pmI switched to NatureThroid when Armour trashes the good product they had. I noticed pretty quickly that I felt cold and my hair was falling out. I like the NT as I had used Westhroid before and it’s the same. With the shortage of NT, I got a prescription for Canadian thyroid. I have not started that yet since I have some NT left. My daughter was on the newer Armour and we saw her become hypothyroid on it. I switched her to some older Armour I had and she regained her previous healthy status. We did finally get some reformulated Armour that was just released but if she goes hypo on that, I will fill her compounded thyroid script or put her on Canadian. We don’t plan to stay on or continue with Armour if we have options. I don’t like the new formulation. It does not dissolve and I suspect, is not dissolving in the gut any better. Our plan is dessicated thyroid from either compounding pharmacies or NatureThroid. I can’t hack Armour.
Evelyn said:
Nov 06, 09 at 6:04 pmI ordered my thyroid from Canada and received the ERFA brand thyroid. I ordered the first batch before it skyrocketed in price. I have just re-ordered and the price has jumped at least 20.00 dolllars more for an even lesser amount of pills. So far, I feel more energy, haven’t had the heart palpitations that I had on the reformulated Armour. I also started taking Nutri-Meds Adrenal glandular tablet. I think adding the adrenal has helped. I plan to try Nature-throid whenever it becomes available again. I called about the compunded, but it cost more for a 30 day supply than ordering it from Canada. I hope by January I can order the Nature-throid. I will not go back to the reformulated Armour from Forest.
nicolle said:
Nov 06, 09 at 6:18 pmI started on Westhroid once I ran out of my Armour. It’s not as effective for me at the dose for the Armour (45mg) — I know, not much, but it did the job for the most part! I had to raise the dose to 60mg over the summer as I was taking the new formulation, and I was still having symptoms. I am in the process now of experimenting with raising the Westhroid dose. I can’t say that I would go back to the Armour, old or new formulation; I’m very sensitive to it and any sort of increase sends my heart a pounding. Plus, I would experience a HUGE hair shed and throat swelling with my cycle. I still feel jittery when I take too much of the Westhroid, but it’s not near as bad as it was with the Armour. Thankfully, my naturopath is amazing, and I have never had to deal with the synthetics. Best of luck to all of you, and I hope this crisis ends soon!!
Judy Abbie10 said:
Nov 06, 09 at 6:26 pmJanie need help
How do you store extra thyrod medicaton for a year. (from Janie: tightly sealed in the freezer, but is not necessary)
I have built a years supply of dessicated thyroid.
I read shelf life is 17 years or longer. Test stopped after 17 years on the dessicated product.
How do you store thyroid medication so the shelf life does not expire?
This is the brands I have in pill form.
023 (2grain) TCL on pill. This lab closed.
Westhroid
Nature-throi tab
The old Armour Thyroid
Norma Edwards said:
Nov 06, 09 at 6:33 pmI really got messed up on the new Armour; so I ordered Thyroid-S from Sriprisit. I am doing so well on it, basically as well as the old Armour. I am fiddling with my dose right now, because since my reformulated Armour fiasco, I’m having problems with heart racing and stuff.….….… I’ve about figured out my dose, 2.5 grains daily; at 3 I become a little hyper. I can remember when I was on 6 grains of Armour before I started iodine and my need has really lessened. I don’t know if I finally broke through some kind of resistance, or if the iodine helps my thyroid perform better. Anyway, I’m a happy camper!
mia said:
Nov 06, 09 at 6:37 pmI actually went to see a homeopath, and he tested my iodine levels. apparently i was severely iodine deficient! having already run out of armour, he suggested i try an iodine supplement to see if it helped my symptoms. it did! i’m so far doing iodine and a Thyroid Support supplement.
Now, I’m NOT saying anyone should stop taking their meds, but maybe in addition to doing whatever you’re doing, try taking a good iodine supplement as well. I take Iodoral.
I also have several friends who are doing well on levothyroxine (the bioidentical hormone).
Kris Peterson said:
Nov 06, 09 at 6:38 pmWhen I first started on Armour early in 2009 I was amazed by its effectiveness. I went from 180 mg to 90 within a month and then down to 45 mg shortly after that. Early last spring I ran out of my original Armour and started on my new prescription of Armour. Thanks to STTM I knew the supplies were running low on Armour, so I bought all the local Target had on hand in the 180 mg tablets during the summer.
My heart palpitations returned early summer with a vengeance and I was getting really discouraged but I just kept decreasing the amount of Armour until early October when I had my blood tests done. My total TSH was 4.5 up from .8 earlier in the summer. I don’t weigh myself so I have no idea what my weight has done but I know it is up by the snugness of clothing.
About a month ago I started taking 90 mg doses of Armour again. That was a huge increase from my 45 mg dose but I felt better. I was still having palpitations that were disturbing, so I started on 180 mg doses again about two weeks ago. Now my palpitations are manageable and I feel better.
Originally I felt Forest labs and their reformulation was not to blame but how could I go from feeling great on 45 mg of my original Armour to having a TSH of 4.5 on the second prescription of Armour? My functional medicine doctor doesn’t understand either as he has been in contact with Forest Labs and they felt any changes made would make the product more absorbable not less.
I am going to stay on 180 mg. until I feel hyperthyroid symptoms return and then decrease to what we suspect will be 75 mg for a maintenance dose. Meanwhile I am going to do an Iodine loading test to see if my Iodine levels are adequate and after that I will report on how I am doing.
Lori said:
Nov 06, 09 at 6:44 pmI had been on a synthetic compounded T3/T4 for years. Probably should have just increased the dosage but wanted to go for the natural thyroid. I asked for the Nature Thyroid and was on that for a month when I could not longer get it. Instead I got the compounded dessicated thyroid. I how found out I am in adrenal fatigue so I am starting that process with Isocort. I do not like the compounded desiccated thyroid. The one month I was on the Nature Thyroid I didn’t have any problems. I asked my pharmacist when he would get the Nature Thyroid in and he is saying not until the end of November… Guess I will look elsewhere… This truly is a journey. I can’t wait to be optimized and feeling good again!
Heather said:
Nov 06, 09 at 7:05 pmHi,
I feel for you all.. I have only JUST been diagnosed, after 37 years. My doctor prescribed this for me, about two weeks ago, and I have not yet taken my first Thyroid pill, but hopefully, I will be shortly.
After having seen this site, I decided that I wanted natural dessicated thyroid.. and low and behold, I had no idea that Armour was going through this much trouble when I decided that. In any case, my doctor wrote me prescriptions and told me to order it from Canada. Truthfully it’s LESS money at full price than what I pay in copayments for my provigil. So, I can’t get it with the insurance, but, hey..
Now, I did a lot of searching for it in Canada. Note that you won’t get very far when searching for Armour Thyroid. It is not marketed in Canada as Armour. I saw that it was marketed as “Thyroid”. I probably would have had slightly more luck that way.
If you look for it as Armour, what you get is a bunch of Canadian pharmacies that can’t ship it to you because to get ARMOUR brand name.. they have to order from the USA. The same product, though, THYROID (canadian label) was availalbe over there. Now, when i ordered mine, technically it was coming from New Zealand. However.. it’s about 14 days delivery. Shouldn’t be an issue as long as you plan a head a bit. I was able to order 500 pills in the 30mg dosage, which will take me through my first couple of series of “doses”. They were approximately 18 cents a pill. I paid, all total.. $110 or $111 for 500 30mg pills including the shipping. (I pay $270 for a three month supply of Provigil, my portion). All told, the company was great. The people taht I spoke to at the various pharmacies (and note that this is how I found out that Armour isn’t any more available in CA than in US.. because it’s a different brand name there).. were all very nice.
Good luck to everyone. I can’t tell you how it works yet, since I haven’t even started. But.. I have a hard time believing that one little pill will solve the majority of all the things that have been wrong for 37 years (gotta love it!. and i really hope it does, but..it’s really hard to believe that all this searching, and all these doctors, and all these tests, and it could be something so simple and readily treatable. Am I that lucky?)
Shauna said:
Nov 06, 09 at 7:18 pmI have been on Synthroid, Levoxyl and the old Armour thyroid. When they changed the formula my symptoms of tiredness all came back. The nurse ordered me some of the Nature thyroid and i am doing pretty well now. I have to order it from out of state as many do not carry the meds here locally. Also, easier to get from this pharmacy.
Julie N. said:
Nov 06, 09 at 7:21 pmI was diagnosed in August 09 and got 30 days’ supply of new Armour and then it instantly wasn’t available. I was started on 1.5 grains. I switched to Thyroid-S, which was a big difference, sublinguals nicely. I am on 3 grains and am doing well at this level. Thinking I might need to move up again soon. The pharmacy I ordered from in Thailand was very easy and I got free shipping and it took about 7 business days to get to CA. My endo was thrilled with it too… Can’t say anything but extreme exhaustion has really gone away yet. I look forward to getting my life back and am considering staying on Thyroid-S permanently because there is no Rx required, it is affordable, and also for the sake of consistency.
Oh one symptom that did go away when I got to 3 grains was my intense inner ear pain. Sooooo glad. It was painful!
Julie/31
Darla said:
Nov 06, 09 at 8:37 pmI crashed on the old Armour this summer from there are I tried Naturethroid — at first I thought the dose I was on 1 1/2 and 2 gr was too strong so decreased still didn’t feel right so I moved to compounded — this has helped slightly but still not 100%. I’m in the process of increasing my dose and changing to a pharmacy that only uses ginger as a filler. Although I’m better on compounded I prefer taking meds sublingually so I am also getting a prescription for Thyroid by Erfa as a backup if compounded doesn’t help me improve. Of course all of this turmoil is affecting the adrenals so trying to address that too. It seems to be a never ending saga. I am looking forward to being optimized and a better quality of life very soon! Good luck to everyone who’s on this journey.
Sue H. said:
Nov 06, 09 at 8:47 pmWhen I was first learned I had hypothyroidism 12 years ago, I was was put on Synthroid, and had an allergic reaction. The doctors tried me on the other synthetics and I had the same allergic reaction. So I was finally given a prescription for Armour. It took two years for me to be brave enough to try it, for fear of another allergic reaction. I was on Armour for 10 years and doing just great! This spring I started having an allergic reaction to something but could not figure out what was causing it. It surly wasn’t my thyroid medicine I had been on and trusted for 10 years. Spring became summer, I was becoming very sick and very weak, I was still having an allergic reaction, every day my throat would close off and I couldn’t swallow. Still no one could figure what was causing such a reaction. Then I discovered that Armour had been reformulated. Well had I been told that months ago, I would have saved a lot of time and money and suspected right off, that it was my medicine causing my problem. I stopped taking it right away. This was in August. After stopping the new Armour, my allergic reaction symptoms started going away. I wanted to switch to Nature Throid or Westhroid. My doctor of 12 years went on medical leave and I have spent well over $1200.00 going to different doctors trying to get a prescription and all of the quacks that I went to wanted to start me on Synthroid, Duh I told them I am allergic to it. Anyway, to the point, Nov. 2, I went to the ER, explained things to someone that didn’t have a clue, told them to test TSH, FT3 and FT4, ER doctor got my TSH back and it was 150, T4 was 0.3 and didn’t test T3, came in and said good news, your not going to die, I talked to an Endo and we need to start you on Cytomel. WHAT???? Thats a T3 med and you didn’t even check my T3, besides I am allergic to synthetics, do you guys even know what you are doing!! Pull my IV so I can get out of here. I had a few Westhoid pills at home I hadn’t taken, because of fear of allergic reaction. I went home and started 1/4 grain that night. TSH is 150 I figured I was going to die anyway, I know about the coma I am close too even though the ER doctor didn’t know. Day 5 starting to feel a bit better. Yesterday I got a script for Nature Throid. So I have enough to baby my dose back up. For 12 years I have been trying to get a doctor to check my adrenal glands and no one will do that. Today finally, I found a doctor willing to do so!! Wish me luck in getting that 150 TSH down down down!! Thanks Forrest for the utter hell you have put me through.
Traci said:
Nov 06, 09 at 8:51 pmDid very poorly on New Armour. I briefly switched to Major Thyroid, and was beginning to do okay, but I knew that was to be short-lived, since they weren’t going to be making it, anymore. My doctor wrote a prescription for ERFA Thyroid, and I feel just fine, now. I’m going to stick with it. It’s about 1/3 the cost of Armour, too, so that’s a BIG plus!
Elenor said:
Nov 06, 09 at 9:34 pmI found the new Armour to be less effective/efficient than the old Armour was. After jumping through a few hoops for my doc (lab tests, mainly — and I offered to let him hold the 500 pills (Canadian Erfa) and dole them out to me, if it would make him feel better… which, as I hoped, made him realize he could trust me, sheesh!), I got the Erfa and took the first few pills swallowed, before I realized I could go back to sublingual. (YAY!) I’m still exhausted, esp. right after I eat (I’m pre-diabetic too. {eye roll})
No weight loss (alas!), my hair’s doin’ okay. Stopped losing eyebrow hair, it seems. The main thing not yet fixed is the exhaustion. I have started partly on the Drs Eades’ “6-Week Cure for the Middle-Aged Middle” and have lost FOUR INCHES!! off my waist! (Their new program is to get rid of visceral fat — and man-oh-man, it really seems to work!) I’ve just ordered (as recommended in this thread) the Nutri-Meds Adrenal support. Hoping that will help with the tiredness.
Wishing y’all good luck in getting optimized! (Wishing the same for myself… {sigh})
Oh, I was on 4 grains of Armour till about 6 months ago, (having gone up as high as 6 grains a year or so ago), and then dropped to 3 grains (as my doc asked). I started on four of the Erfa, just to see if it would affect the exhaustion.
Paula said:
Nov 06, 09 at 9:46 pmI’d been on Armour since November 2002 with good results. I started reading all the problems people were having with new Armour, but didn’t think it was affecting me. The shortage hit and I am now taking 105mg compounded thyroid. In retrospect, my fatigue and hair loss was definitely increasing. Now, I think I want to stay on the compounded formula. I just had my labs done: TSH 1.01, free T4 .63 and free T3 3.4 so symptoms are better and labs are good, too.
I have to add that I’m simply amazed at the people who’ve reported really high TSH numbers. I had terrible brain fog at 7.1. I can’t even imagine 150! I think I would be dead!
Michele said:
Nov 06, 09 at 10:11 pmI was being treated with Armour based on symptoms after years of being sick because my test numbers did not show
I needed thyroid. Then I read on FB about the Armour formula changing…so just finally got some Nature-throid.
It is helping me some… May switch to the
Canadian Throid…which I understand is like the old Armour
after trying this for awhile…to compare, if needed.
Thank you all for sharing…you are helping others!
Yvonne said:
Nov 07, 09 at 2:04 amI had been doing well on old Armour for 3 years at 1.5 grains. Had no idea there was problems with new formulation & shortage as i live in the UK and you cannot get a doctor to prescribe natural dessicated thyroid here due to their insurance cover. I had one trusted website who was my supplier where i managed to obtain 2 grains of Major brand in the hope naturethroid or the like will be available by Dec. it’s not ideal but i’ve been on it for 5 days and feel fine so far.
I would like to try Thyroid-s as people seem to be doing well on it but as there are so many dodgy pharmacy websites out there, i would appreciate anyone emailing me privately about a reputable non-prescription one.
Thanks
Dee said:
Nov 07, 09 at 5:27 amI was on Armor, switched to new Armor. That ran out and I was either on Naturethroid or Westhroid, depending on what was available that month. Now I have 4 months supply of Dessicated thyroid and I am about to begin this. I liked the NTH and WTH over the new Armor. I am also on an additional 10 mcg of Cytomel and 5 mg of DHEA (for adrenal support). It was 120 mcg of Armor– 130 mcg of Naturethroid, now back to 120 mcg of Dessicated, so I hope this goes smoothly!I feel great and have actually been able to loose weight for the first time in 5 years.
brad cherson said:
Nov 07, 09 at 7:54 amwe have plenty of material.…would be interested in finding out the excipients used in those compounded products that people said did not work as well…make sure avicel or methylcellulose is the ingredient…
I am part of a list serve and many pharmacists are doing alternatives with fillers and trying to time release the natural, etc.…i have found with our patients to stick with the original formula and not try and doing any other adjusting the the capsules..
you can call me to discuss the options..
Crystal said:
Nov 07, 09 at 8:23 amI have been on Armour for two years now.This has been a miracle drug for me. I had not had any issues getting any until last month. I called TEN pharmacies to find some. I was frantic as I am 4 months pregnant. I was able to get a three month supply and am in hopes that the issue will be cleared by then. I just want to make it through my pregnancy with Armour, then if need be, I will switch. The baby deserves to be on a good med at least. The main side effect that I loathe that has returned, is hair loss. My levels are fine, but my hair tells me otherwise. This was a bad side effect of Synthroid and Levothyroxine. I pray that this will work out for everyone. I am NOT a fan of either of the other meds. I remember the first time I purchased Armour, I immediately read the side effects(which were NONE) Synthyroid and Levo had a huge list!! So far I am cutting my Armour to get the dose I am needing. It just to be easy, now the new formula pills crumble when cut. These are as rare as gold!!! haha. I hope things begin to look up soon
Janet A> said:
Nov 07, 09 at 8:45 amAfter successfully using Armour for 1.5 years I crashed on the new formula in August. TSH had gone from 1.07 to 5.12.
I’ve switched successfully to NatureThroid. It’s not the best sublingually so I’m planning on eventually going with the ERFA Canadian product which is good for sublingual delivery.
Lynne said:
Nov 07, 09 at 9:04 amAfter switching to Armour thyroid in May of 2008, I was feeling better than I had in years. I didn’t feel the intense need to go back to sleep at 10am after sleeping for 8+ hours at night. I was actually able to lose 30 lbs and my general well being was so much better. Starting in June of 2009, I wasn’t able to get the proper dosage without cutting my pills in half. I started to gain weight again, was increasingly tired and my mind was cloudy. I honestly didn’t think much about it until my hair started falling out. We had just moved and this was a very stressful time for me. I had my levels checked and sure enough I was hypo again. I have since had to go on Synthroid and am not feeling great. I so hope that Armour and the other manufacturers can do what they need to do with the FDA and start producing Armour again. I had a taste of what it feels like to feel good and I want it back!
Sally said:
Nov 07, 09 at 9:23 amThis is a great site and there are postings on here that mention compounding pharmacies that you can get desiccated thyroid from.
http://www.metabolism.com/2009/09/02/armour-thyroid-disappeared/
Catherine Clark said:
Nov 07, 09 at 9:39 amThe new Armour is horrible! I didn’t do very well on it. In addition, I got very sick with asthma attack and bronchitis and a close shave with pneumonia, so RT3 once again became a factor. I am on T3 presently, and once I complete the T3 course I will be taking Thyroid-S. I will not be going back to Armour unless they change the formulation to the old one, which worked quite well for me. Before going back to the T3 again I was up to 5 grains of Thryoid-S and hope once the RT3 is cleared out I will be able to take less NTH. I have been able to lose a little weight recently, so am hopeful about being able to lose more in the near future. My TSH before I found out about NTH climbed as high as 10.75 and I wan’t what you would call functional! I am taking 125 mcg. of T3 and will be for the next 2 months or so, since I have been on it almost a month now.
Deana said:
Nov 07, 09 at 10:58 amI was on synthroid for years, added cytomel with no luck, switched to NT for two months and was doing better, then couldn’t get anymore so I ordered Thyroid by erfa from a canadian pharmacy I found on STTM. Price was more than 4 times what I paid for NT before this all happened. It didn’t come in time so I got compounded dessicated porcine thyroid from a local pharmacy. I begged him to not use methyl cellulose but the guy said that or nothing. I bought it but it didn’t work. I was so tired and became a couch potato. Thyroid came in 4 days later and I gladly started it. It seems to be better but I’ve only taken it two days. It is sweet tasting, and it disolves much faster than the NT did. I put it between my cheek and gums. I am seriously considering moving to Canada for their thyroid! I can’t imagine what we’re going to keep going through. No pharmacy around here in NM has NT, and don’t expect to either. Thank God for STTM and thyroidless yahoo group.
My integrated medicine clinic does not believe me when I tell them about the armour reformulation. They tell me that Forrest was shut down by the feds and there will never be armour again. Even though I’ve seen armour on the pharmacy shelves here! They’re compounding “natural” T3 and T4, which is not pork but is lab made bioequivalent. I am not interested in this one either. They don’t even know that the thyroid has more than T3 and T4.
I encourage muscle testing of the various options. This thyroid from erfa tests at 98% for me. NT was only about 80%, and the compounded I got with methyl cellulose only 50%!
Lynn Dunning said:
Nov 07, 09 at 11:16 amI have been using Thoroyd from Thailand and it is great. My numbers are up and my symptoms are gone. I am on 4.5 grains, but was on 4.25 grains over the Spring and Summer. Since finding out I am celiac I have gone off gluten and have lost 16lbs. Only another 14lbs left to get back to 140.
Tami said:
Nov 07, 09 at 11:20 amThe only thing so far is I had to switch from Walgreens to CVS. CVS had Armour and Walgreens did not.
Michelle Carrico said:
Nov 07, 09 at 11:57 amAFter years of suffering, not being able to lose weight or stay awake for longer than an hour at a time, I insisted on a full thyroid panel about 7 years ago. My Dr. reluctantly did it, only to discover, I was very hypo, dangerously so. I was 35, my ovaries had already failed and felt like I was 80! He put me on synthroid, which helped for a while. About a year later, I went to another Dr. who diagnosed me with Hashimoto and added cytomel, which helped for a while. After about a year, my hypo symptoms were back and I was gaining weight. I started doing some research, felt like Armour would be worth a try, found a local Dr. who prescribed it along with bio-identical hormones. Armour changed my life, gave it back to me. I have been able to lose 100 lbs, with a lot of work, eat organically as much as possible, run 4 – 6 miles a day and have felt like I think I should, until about 3 months ago, I noticed my hypo symptoms returning. This past week I changed to Naturethyroid. I ‘m not sure about it yet. I haven’t felt well, but maybe a bit under the weather, I’ll know in a couple of days. I must say the foggy thinking is getting better, but I am bloated,fatigued and cold.
BAck in Febuary, my grandfather died with Hashimoto hypothyroid. He was on synthroid. For 3 or so years, his bp would drop, he would pass out and fall. They put him on a pace maker, ran test after test. His thyroid was never checked until it was to late. All of his Dr.s were very reputable. This just goes to show, often the medical field doesn’t take this seriously enough.
Jon said:
Nov 07, 09 at 1:36 pmI was doing great on Armour for over 8 years until Forest reformulated the ingerients and I started to feel many Hypo symptoms return this spring. So I asked my Dr. for a script of Nature Thorid and after finally getting my pharmacies to fill them, I was feeling more like “myself” withing a week. So I have been ok on NT for over 3 months but my 90 supply is running out tomorrow and all my pharmamcies have told me it is on Manufacturer b/o with no release date. So I have been scrambling for options and a freind was able to find some of the “old” Armour at their local pharmacy. I will be starting this on Monay and am a bit worried about it in general but mostly b/c not sure how my body will react to the change again. But if it does work well for me, I have 2 months supply then I don’t know what I should do. I really don’t want to try to get the new Armour again especially after what I ahve read about others recent experinces. So I am hoping NT starts producing more very soon and get my hands on it before the FDA bands it too!
Any advice/feedback would be greatly appreciated.
thanks!
Jon
Starrie said:
Nov 07, 09 at 1:56 pmI took the new Armour for a while and was getting really dizzy — and didn’t feel well. I switched to Naturethroid — which I am doing sublingually (if you put it under your tongue the wax coding will disintegrate and the pill dissolves pretty well). I feel just as good as on the old Armour — although sometimes I feel that it wouldn’t hurt to raise my dose a little. My temperature is still in the 97s and I get tired sometimes. I just got a blood test on Thursday to see how my levels are doing. If they are on the low side I am going to raise it.
Also — just wanted to share — I saw an integrative doctor who had me do a stool test and it was found that I had low gut bacteria and probably a leaky gut. She put me on GI Flora and after a couple of months I am not getting burning sensations in my thyroid anymore ( from Hashimoto’s ). She says that after treating my leaky gut it is possible that my Hashimoto’s will go away and my thyroid could recover over time so I can get off of the meds. We’ll see! I have to say that so far what she said would happen has come true — no more burning sensation in my thyroid. I am impressed.
Juli said:
Nov 07, 09 at 2:14 pmI was on Synthroid for about 10 years with no hypo improvement while the top endo said I was doing fine, regardless of my symptoms. Read Mary Shoman and found a new family practitioner and went on Armour with good results. Then my insurance dropped Armour and I went to Naturethroid with no health changes. Insurance dropped naturethroid so I’m getting my prescriptions filled at K-Mart on my own dollar, which is less than my former copays! I’m afraid to try the new Armour formulation. Have some naturethroid left and hope to wait out the shortage or go to ERFA if necessary. My daughter works in medical compliance and told me that it IS a good thing what the FDA is doing in removing grandfathering, only it is SO expensive to do the testing that is required. Too bad the longevity of NDT doesn’t count toward the testing required.
Shar said:
Nov 07, 09 at 5:31 pmI have tried the new Armour and it was awful. I gained weight (30#), lost hair, got depressed and anxious, my skin got dry, and I got bad eczema and rosacia. My body hurt all over. I couldn’t focus on anything for very long.
Then I tried NatureThroid. I improved for about 4 weeks before I started to fall apart. Tried raising several times to no avail.
Next, I was able to find some generic NTH by Major. That worked for about 2 weeks, before I started falling apart.
I am now trying ERFA with good results so far. I don’t feel great, but my temps are higher than they have been in a long time and I have energy! I have only been on it for 2 weeks, but I am hopeful.
Kiara said:
Nov 07, 09 at 7:15 pmI was only on Armour for 6 months after 11 years of pain — finally started feeling human — pain lessened, started loosing weight becasue I had energy and didn’t need to eat high sugar snacks and sodas to get me through class (full time grad student). Felt wonderful. And then Armour disappeared off the shelf. After crashing for the summer, in October I finally got EFRA’s thyroid. It took awhile to get the perscription but as mentioned earlier, just plan ahead. So far, it seems to working just as well as Armour. The price escalation is disturbing, but I can atleast get it regularly. I recommend this option for those of you who are considering it.
Monica said:
Nov 07, 09 at 7:56 pmAfter much searching for Armour and no success, I did lots of research and decided to ask my doctor to prescribe compounded Nature-throid. I haven’t been feeling great lately and I can’t say it’s from the reformulation because I’ve gotten my prescription filled at a number of different places and for different combinations of strengths (I take 90 mg a day) — who knows if I got the old or the new? I had to convince her to write the prescription showing her printouts of conversion charts and telling her what to write. She has been my doctor for 10 + years and trusts that I’m not taking advantage but she does think synthroid is a simple solution for me and doesn’t understand why I’m resisting. With prescription in hand, I found a compounding pharmacy locally and was shocked when I picked it up because it was 60 mg Armour Thyroid! They had just received a shipment! I had mixed feelings — very happy to have natural thyroid in my hands but disappointed that I couldn’t try the Nature-throid. But I have evidently found a pharmacy that will alter my prescription! It was written for compounded 1.5 grains of Nature-throid! I paid cash for 2 more months of supply so I don’t have to worry about the problem for a while.
Florence said:
Nov 07, 09 at 11:48 pmI was doing ok on the new Armour (2 grains) but due to it not being available I had my practitioner write a prescription for compounded thyroid. I found desiccated or porcine thyroid was not available from compounding pharmacies in Albuquerque so the practitioners office phoned the Women’s International Pharmacy(WIP). I have been taking the compounded porcine thyroid from WIP for 10 days and feel good; my neck and shoulder pain is gone. I think I will stay on this porcine thyroid from WIP. I have to work on the best way to take the compounded medication. I read one person suggest to take it with food in the morning and that helped alot since I was absorbing it too fast with no food. I am a little tired but I need to stop staying up so late on NDT websites. After the exhaustion I felt on synthetic T4 and too low dosage of Armour, I never thought I would be able to stay up too late at night again.
Joseph Greenlee said:
Nov 08, 09 at 1:30 amMy uncle is getting it from the nutrimeds website.
He has just started taking it the past few months and it has changed his life completely. I can’t thank you people enough for getting me links to someone who can finally provide him with this. I want to cry whenever I think about how much happier he is now.
Doug Parra said:
Nov 09, 09 at 5:36 amI have been an athlete all my life. I am 34 now and still compete professionally. It was not until I started working with Dr. Ray Peat, Dodie Anderson and Matt LaBosco that I realized how much damage I have done to my thyroid over the last 20+ years of constantly pushing my physical limits. Without a doubt managing stress is the biggest factor in controlling our body’s energy production which the thyroid plays a significant role. The “BIG 3″ stresses we face everyday are 1.) physical stress– how much we push our thresholds, 2.) mental/emotional stress and 3.) nutritional stress– do we skip meals, not keep stable blood sugar, eat grains, soy products, PUFAS– polyunsaturated fatty acids– from vegetables and many oils such as canola and flax oil, transfats, etc.
Of the 3 stress above I feel nutritional stress is the most manageable and also has the most powerful affect on the thyroid. Through changes in my nutrition and only eating foods that support oxidative metabolism I have been able to make positive changes. By monitoring my blood pressure, pulse and temperatures daily I have seen objective changes for the better. BUT that does not mean I can do it alone. It will take probably a few years for my body to heal but perhaps will always have to take thyroid. From the interview Mary Shomon did Dr. Ray Peat http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/ray-peat.htm where he states “I have been told that the company which now owns the Armour name and manufactures “Armour thyroid USP” has added a polymer to the formula, and I think this would account for the stories I have heard about its apparent inactivity. Some people have found that the tablets passed through their intestine undigested, so I think it’s advisable to crush or powder the tablets. ” my experience confirms that the new Armour has issues. My temperatures did not changes at all over two weeks of continual increase of Armour from 60mg to almost 180mg. Fortunately I was able to get some Erfa Thyroid from Canada and started noticing a difference after a few days at only 60mg. My temperatures started to rise and definitely felt a change in energy. Dr. Ray Peat confirmed with me that the Erfa Thyroid was as closest to the “old Armour” formula out of all listed on the STTM site. It has the sweet taste and dissolves under the tongue quickly.
It is important we have reliable natural thyroid product(s) available but also at the same time we can never forget the most powerful drug there is.… food. If we continue to eat foods that suppress thyroid and liver function we become even more dependent on thyroid products for our health. In many cases people will need to take thyroid for the rest of their lives but that does not mean we should stop being fully dedicated to understanding how the body creates energy through food.
Doug Parra
Susan said:
Nov 09, 09 at 7:15 amAbout a month ago I started taking Compounded thyroid. Luckily my doctor has a good understanding of this because he also does bio-indenticals. I actually feel a little better. I’m not happy that the cost is more but it is still cheaper than a lot of meds and if I feel good that is all that matters to me. I’m still in shock that this is happening in our country. My mother will run out of Armour in two months and she is still in denial about this.
Jennifer said:
Nov 09, 09 at 3:45 pmI was able last month to get 180 mg and cut them in half. Only to find today that they do not have on hand that mg. The pharmacy worker told me she might be able to get me 60 mg. I went to the Canandian drug company up the road. At first she thought that she could get me Armour, but then found out it was not available. I am possibly going to get Thyroid from Canada. I still cannot understand what is going on. Is the Armour back on the market? I was told no at my pharmacy, which is Walgreens.
Beside the Armour Thyroid, I have been supplementing with Kelp, Selenium, and L-Tyrosine. Seems to be working pretty good. Although I think I am due for another blood test. At least now they are checking T3 and T4 levels. And I think my T4 was a little off.
Nichele said:
Nov 09, 09 at 9:24 pmWhen I could no longer get Armour or Naturethroid I ordered Thyroid-S. I have been taking that for about 2 1/2 months. I love it! It has been perfect for me.
I will admit that when I first ordered and received my Thyroid-S I was a bit leery. It had made me nervous buying something from overseas. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to take it, but once I started I was pleasantly surprised.
Lynne Karlinsky said:
Nov 10, 09 at 5:41 pm2 to 3 months on the Armour thyroid reformulation and my TSH went from 1.89 to 11.89 and symptoms returned. Sure hope Nature-throid is available soon. Dreading going back to Synthroid until it does!!!!!!!!
Jessica said:
Nov 10, 09 at 8:02 pmCrashes in the new Armour…went from a TSH of .02 to 3.3 and felt horrible. On NT now and have been for three months and my menstrual cycle is all over the place and I am moody. Called my doc two days ago at the advice of some others and am waiting for a call back. Frustrated and looking for options
Shae said:
Nov 11, 09 at 10:03 amI went back to Levothyroxine. It is AWFUL! I forget to take it (I really think that is my body’s way of rejecting as I NEVER forgot to take Armour). I am supposed to take 45mg of Armour — and out of the country pharmacies only had 60 for the lowest dose. No one wanted to work with me on giving me the 60 and me taking 3/4 of the pill. I was left without a choice, except for compounding which was exponentially more expensive than the Rx from another country. No thanks.
In the meantime, my chiro has a supplement that is supposed to help. All of my cravings are back. I sleep A LOT (except through the night). I will be going back to Armour. It was working for me. I never tried it with the “old formula” nor did I try any other brand. But whatever I got was working. Just holding my breath for it to come in. My pharmacist said the end of the month.….. 19 days and counting.
Dwayne said:
Nov 11, 09 at 10:51 amI was able to get a full month of armour last month and now the pharmacy just filled only a 10 day supply but I have been very lucky going from pharmacy to pharmacy and taking whatever they have and so far haven’t had to switch back to Synthroid because I refuse. I will do nautral supplements with guggul in it like I have been along with L-Tyrosine. The armour seems to have gotten better– not as good as before but better than when it was first put back on the market from reformulation. I have my Dr appointment in early Jan and haven’t had my thyroid panel done since early July so I will be surprised what the numbers are.
Nan said:
Nov 11, 09 at 2:47 pmI read all the comments and learned much. This is a valuable thread. I affirm the best for us all.
The new Armour reformulation has been an exhausting nightmare for me. It caused goiter, difficulty swallowing (neither which I had had before), dermatitis herpetiformus (extremely painful, oozing rash on my hands and face) and I developed a cellulose allergy — so now I cannot take any pills with cellulose. Also, my heart beats became irregular, my skin thin and brittle and I look as though I have aged 10 years. It also triggered a movement disorder I had had in remission. A friend asked me if I had had a stroke. I went from vibrant to dreary — and during a time when I need to help my daughter wade through college applications.
Forest’s actions are unforgivable. The least they could have done is issue a notice through the pharmacies that the formula was going to change and that patients should note any reactions. How hard would that have been? Bastards. Did I say that?
I switched to NatureThroid and my symptoms slightly improved. The heartbeat is fine, the rash better but lingering, the goiter gone. Yet I now eat constantly although I’ve only gained a pound or two. I suspect it’s because I have the world’s healthiest diet — no gluten, no soy, no damaged fats, teensy amounts of sugar, lots of fresh fruit and veggies…careful with the foods that affect thyroid.) And, my numbers are in range — but I am as irritable as a rattlesnake in a pig pen.
I asked my endo to write a script for ERFA which has cornstarch as a filler. Bless him, he did, and I just ordered it today. I am giddy with excitement over the possibility that it could be the solution.
Thank goodness for threads like this — at STTM I have
learned about ERFA, food cravings. adrenal fatigue (my doctor says I’d be think if I had poor adrenal function) and that my symptoms aren’t exclusive to me.
Also, removing gluten from my diet brought positive results. Thyroid less enlarged, dose reduced from 60 — 45mg, weight loss, brain fog lifted, skin improvement…and a slew of other physical benefits. But of course, the new Armour torpedoed this. It’s all synergy.
DeAnna said:
Nov 12, 09 at 9:10 amI had a Total Thyroidectomy before the age of 2 years old for a large goiter by a small town surgeon. I went 28 years on Synthcrap — always with vague symptoms that would be diagnosed as “depression” perhaps since they never knew for certain — exactly what they tell every WOMAN with symptoms such as these. Excuse me, but not sleeping at night and anxiety does not mean we sit around CRYING fromm clinical depression. (I’m a little sensitive about this through the years because my father had Bipolar/schizophrenia since Vietnam — children of a bipolar parent live in fear they will inherit that disease) For years those were my 2 main compliants in addition to the migraines and pain.
I THANKFULLY traveled to find a doctor who finally prescribed Armour after years and thousands of dollars wasted. Unfortunately — I only had one year of success and removal of hypo symptoms — the best I had ever felt in my life — before the reformulation occurred and I was immediately sent into Hypo — symptoms were much more pronounced and I have been miserable since. My doctor did not even know about the reformulation so I was left to find out on my own. I tried Westhroid but the shelves would not stay stocked and of course my doctor would not keep me on the dose I needed. I finally am self treating and on Cynomel only with Adrenal support. I have an appointment next Monday for my PCP to put me back on Synthcrap too due to the Tachy symptoms — not sure what else to do. It’s effecting my relationship with my fiance and he’s been very supportive throughout all this. I pray they find the cure during our lifetime — but even now — 32 years later — I still get the same looks and same responses from the Endo quacks. What’s even more frustrating — I’m an RN myself. The ONLY treatment we learned about in nursing school was SYNTHROID — only T4. The NT was considered “too hard to monitor etc”. I truly believe in my heart — the Pharmaceutical companies are doing this on purpose to keep us all hypo so we would buy EVEN MORE prescriptions for our migraines, psoriasis, depression, body aches etc. Just one big fat lie. It’s actually pretty brillient for the money hungry companies — “let’s keep all the hypo people miserable — they will pay a fortune to try to feel better but yet never will feel normal” — but it’s extremely unethical. I think if we all looked into the companies donating money to the nursing schools and medical schools — we would see Synthroid Manufacturers at the top of the list. This proves my point in today’s paper. Complete FRAUD.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33867108/ns/health-more_health_news/
Tired,
DeAnna
Susan said:
Nov 12, 09 at 3:29 pmI switched to Naturethroid because nobody had the Armour. Seems to be working for me fine. But then the reformulated Armour didn’t have an adverse effect either.
Lora said:
Nov 16, 09 at 9:44 amI have been on Armour since March 2009.
I have always been on the new formula so cannot compare it to the old stuff.
I had to swap to Nature Thyroid at one point, which was a total disaster. I think it has also thrown something out as I am back on armour but now need double the dose.
Although I am now exercising 5 times per week, so not really sure what the problem is.
Just managed to get a 1 month prescription of armour, but I think i’ll have to order Thyroid S from Thailand.
I can’t get Erfa as i’m in the UK and my private doctor won’t prescribe it.
helen said:
Nov 18, 09 at 3:32 pmI was taking NaturThyroid but then came the shortage. I now take T4 — Levothyroxine once a day and T3 Liothyronine Sodium 2/3 times a day. This is working much better than just taking T4 alone. I don’t know if i’ll go bcak to the NT or Armour yet…
connie said:
Nov 19, 09 at 2:55 amCan anyone help me? I am hypo and I am on synthroid. My labs show I need to increase (T-4 in the 5 – 6 range) which is better than what it was. However, when my doctor increases I feel very tired, he tells me to stick with it and ride it out, I cannot get over the fatigue and resort back to the original dose although I had heard this happens, I cannot afford to feel this brain-dead fatigue. So my doctor told me to increase one or two times per week. Still, this frequency causes 2 – 3 days of lingering fatigue, so by upping my dose just 2 x per week, and each increase causes me to be overwhelmingly tired, thats the entire week of sleeping…I cannot get past this. How long should this last if anyone has had this happen? Also, my T-3 is finally in range but the lower end. That is not Reverse T3 but Total T3. I am thinking I should request cytomel, I have never ever taken a T-3 but only the T-4 Synthroid. Would this raise my T-4 and show on my labs as within range? I am not feeling very bad, just a bit more fatigued than I should and mostly, my brain fog is just to much sometimes. I live in the central florida area and really need a recommendation to a good thyroid doctor, Im not doing well with current doctor. He prescribes by labs only and makes to many errors. Half the time while watching my D-3, he forgets to order so I am marking on my lab requests what I need. When I ask for tests mentioned on this site, he says I dont need it. I wonder if he thinks he’s paying for it all? He’s so out. Also, I would love to get my poor adrenal glands tested, is there anyone in the area who knows what doctor can help. I would greatly appreciate this. I absolutely love this website, I have gotten more information here than any doctor has cared to mention.
(From Janie: you’ll get better help by joining patient groups: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/talk-to-others And it’s your T3 that needs raising, not T4.)
Marsha said:
Nov 19, 09 at 9:33 pmWhen I could no longer find my 90mg Armour, I switched to 60mg (seems to be an amply supply in central Florida of the 60s). Felt sluggish on one and a half of the 60s (to equal 90mg), so I began taking two 60s (120mg). Feel much better. I split my dosage — I take half in the morning and half in the afternoon (for a refreshing of the T3). Am also taking between 9mg and 12mg Prolamine Iodine by Standard Process. Started taking the Iodine in March; it has made a big difference.
Leigh said:
Nov 20, 09 at 5:47 amAfter 2 years of adjusting dose and reassuring myself “this too shall pass,” was just beginning to have days of functioning on a combination of Armour & Unithroid when NDT disappeared. Now taking Nature-Throid, but just haven’t been able to recover my energy level. Have increased antidepressant which helps but does not solve the problem. I am not depressed, but I am unhappy.
Ironically, if my brain were working properly, I would be leading the charge to bring a class action against the FDA and possibly Forest and RLC as accessories to the crime! Having background in law & medicine, I’d see to it our case made The Boston Tea Party look like, well, a tea party! It is appalling that we fully enfranchised citizens of this great democracy are being so horribly abused by an agency of our elected government. Is this China? Myanmar? Russia? Iran? Honestly — I don’t understand it. I understand a desire for economic security, but I don’t understand hurting someone else to get what I want (yes, I think the FDA is the culprit, and money is the motivation).
Missy said:
Nov 20, 09 at 10:01 amI was previously on 2 gr. Armour daily. My doctor quit practicing at the same time Armour became unavailable. Grrr! So, I tried Nutri-Meds porcine desiccated thyroid. I’m curently on 3 1/2 capsules every morning and feel really good. My only problem is some weight gain (8 lbs.). I feel heavier but my clothes still fit(?). My energy is stable all through the day and I exercise by walking/jogging for one hour 4 days/week. I think if I started eating better I could lose a little. Anyway, I do like Nutri-meds and I’m looking for a doctor to test my levels and see if they are OK. I monitored my underarm temperature for 10 minutes every morning before rising to arrive at the dosage I’m taking. Hope this helps.
Starrie said:
Nov 20, 09 at 1:52 pmI went to my doc this morning and convinced her to write me a prescription for Erfa Thyroid. I just got done ordering a bottle from Universal Drugstore in Canada and I am nervous! I hope that it gets to me in the mail ok and the FDA doesn’t confiscate it! This is going to be a a long two weeks of waiting!
I was doing ok on Naturethroid and when that ran out I am now taking compounded Naturethroid and have been feeling dizzy.
-
Stephanie said:
Nov 21, 09 at 10:00 pmI was born with congenital hypothyroidism (actuallyCongenital Euthyroidism) as I was born without a thyroid gland. I have been on Synthroid generic and non generic brands all my life and have been through depression more times than I’d like to count. I am currently on Synthroid and would like to have it changed to something else. I have gained and lost weight on and off. I am not particularly a vein person but my weight has really crept up this time. I have gained 40 lbs in the last 6 months to a year. My endo suggested piggy (Okay, she didn’t say it like that but I know what it is, I think.) Or maybe I didn’t know. I told her I would wait and see what this new level of Synthroid does. (4 weeks later I still feel bad and even though my diet is better and I am more active I am steadily gaining weight and still moody and short tempered. I also have dry skin, and difficulty concentrating. any suggestions?
From Janie: Yes, read this site. lol. It will help you immensely.
Karl said:
Nov 26, 09 at 9:32 amFlorence, I live in Albuquerque and just got a prescription for compounded thyroid (porcine) from Hiland Pharmacy. My doctor, Dr. Joseph Perea is wonderful if you need a new one.
Gretchen O. said:
Nov 26, 09 at 3:12 pmMy doc sent my (and my daughter’s) prescriptions to Women’s International out of Madison. The compounded wasn’t as strong, and I had to up my dose to a whole grain from previously being perfect at 3/4. I also made sure to get my iodine (prescribed from my doc also) every three days, which is best for me to avoid palpatations, and that put me back to “normal.” My daughter (17) is VERY frustrated. She was likely born hypothyroid, and has suffered for years with various problems. Her acne returned with a vengeance, she immediately gained 6 pounds, and her immune system is down. Our family IS on a gluten-free/dairy-free/low-sugar diet — and all organic — for other reasons and I think that has helped the adjustment, though I never planned it that way.
Dwayne said:
Nov 30, 09 at 8:05 amThe armour thyroid that is NOW going back on the shelves in the pharmacies– is far superior again to what they were first putting out after the new formulation. I feel just as good now as I did when taking armour before the mess they created. I do swallow the pills but what a HUGE!!!! difference in my energy levels and sleep again. WOW
Starrie said:
Nov 30, 09 at 9:07 amSo, I am still waiting for my ERFA thyroid to arrive from Universal Drugstore. I ended up doubling my dose from 1 grain to 2 grains of compounded naturethroid and I am feeling better. The compounded stuff is DEFINITELY weaker than regular old Naturethroid. Can’t wait to get my ERFA THYROID!
Lisa said:
Dec 01, 09 at 7:24 amThanks to this web site I only had to suffer 8 months on Synthroid after having RAI due to Graves.It didn’t take long to realize it wasn’t working and I needed an alternative. I couldn’t find a DR who would prescribe dessiccated thyroid so I was able to order 300 Naturethroid from Canada before the supply dried up last Aug.. I am down to my last bottle and waiting on Erfa to arrive. My DR wrote the Rx with hesitation asking “do you really want the metabolism of a pig?” Ha! She wants me to have a Synthetic T4-T3 combination compounded to suit my exact needs. But I don’t want to ever be on synthetic again or waste another year of my life finding my optimal dose. Natural works beautifully why change??
I hope to find a more supportive DR eventually.…
Robin Hart said:
Dec 15, 09 at 11:48 pmWhen I started getting bad reactions from the reformulated Armour Thyroid, I immediately switched to Nature-throid and it was a seamless transition. I stocked up as much as I was allowed. Now I am running low, and have decided to have my local compounding pharmacy make up the pills for me, using dessicated pig thyroid same as Nature-throid or Armour. Haven’t started them yet but my NP reports that many of her patients do better on the compounded dessicated thyroid than any of the brands. We shall see. I pray that my pharmacy continues to have access to the dessicated thyroid powder so they can compound it for me.
Robin Hart said:
Dec 15, 09 at 11:53 pmBTW it is University Compounding Pharmacy in San Diego that is going to make the dessicated thyroid pills for me, in case you want to try them too.
And Lisa, I am appalled that your MD actually asked you if you wanted the metabolism of a pig. What I wish for her is to be afflicted with hypothyroid so that she can experience first-hand what we’ve been through, and she would change his tune soon enough. I am also a recovering Graves disease patient who went through radiation “therapy” and tried Synthroid — it made me feel less than human. Armour was great until they changed it, and Nature-throid was great until I couldn’t get any more of it, so now it’s compounding pharmacies for me and hope to god it works. Really, we shouldn’t have to go through all of this strife for a medical condition that we cannot control or change. It’s balderdash.
Cingh from the Netherlands said:
Jan 08, 10 at 7:55 pmBeth in T.O. (half way around the globe from me) did exactly what I did.
Pretty funny.
I took Synthroid, was not really happy with it. And my hair fell out because of it.
So I tried American Biologics supplement, those work really good and stopped my hairloss, took 1 in the morning and 1 before dinner.
Yesterday I ordered ‘Thiroyd’ over the internet and will look to get a prescription from my Doctor.
shahzad ali khan said:
Jun 16, 10 at 3:58 pmHi, i need help iam new to natural thyroid, actually i have yet to take my first tablet, i live in Pakistan, i have been taking 50mcg of synthroid (eltroxin here) and i have zero energy levels i have vitamin D3 insufficiency, iam having wierd aches an pains, high levels of acidity, foggy mind, trouble focusing and reading, i read about natural thyroid and i finally found a website that delivers to pakistan, and have bought thiroyd of greater pharma, now after reading most of the names on this site i didnt come across anobody using this brand from this manufacturer, so i dont know whether its a good product or not, i also want to know can i simply stop taking synthroid and switch to natural thyroid immediately the next day? and how much dose should i take my TSH is 11 and FT4 is 1.1 and T3 and FT3 i have yet to check, do i swallow this tablet or let it dissolve under the tongue? do i take it before or after breakfast, and i have heard its better to take break the doze in half and take it twice a day.
I will be thankful if you could help me out Janie.
THANK YOU
Shahzad Ali Khan
(HI Shahzad. Let me send you to patient groups, where you will be able to reply to comments back and forth which doesn’t happen well here: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/talk-to-others You will also find many answers here: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/things-we-have-learned or even more detail in Chapter 3 in the STTM book)