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Category: Acella

Who has the vision and courage of Dr. Lowe…and a message from Acella about delays

Each day, when I think about the passing of Dr. Lowe (which you can read about here), I reel in shock at this huge loss in our fight for better thyroid treatment and SANITY.

And now we have to ask: who will fill those shoes when it comes to the continuation of thyroidscience.org and the courageous message of Dr. Lowe?? Even the front page contains an important article titled “TSH is Not the Answer,” a report Dr. Carol Rowsemitt and Dr. Thomas Najarian: Their explanation and verification i.e. Dr. Lowe fought for what PATIENTS ALREADY KNOW TO BE TRUE about the lousy TSH lab test!

And Lowe announced that he was next coming out with an article concerning ” false statements of fact online about T3-containing thyroid products including Armour Thyroid” by The British Thyroid Association and UK Royal College of Physicians. He continued: ” The scientific facts patently show the falsehood of the two organizations’ statements. Is this a failure of responsibility to study scientific issues before making public pronouncements on them? Or do the statements constitute science fraud?” Unless it was already written, we might never see this article. But we all know the truth.

The loss of Dr. Lowe propels me to ask: Who do YOU see as a medical professional who has the following qualities:

  • high intelligence
  • an interest in true science rather than blindly following research with outcomes based on who paid for certain studies
  • the courage to speak the truth, even if it goes against the grain of staid medical opinion
  • compassion for thyroid patients and the willingness to listen to their experiences

Who, as a medical professional, can patients give a vote of confidence to as someone who can continue the legacy of Dr. Lowe? Propose some names by commenting on this blog post below. (If you are reading this via the Email Notification, click on the title of this post, which will bring you directly to the blog post where you can leave a comment).

A MESSAGE FROM ELLEN GETTENBERG of ACELLA (THE MAKERS OF GENERIC DESICCATED THYROID CALLED N.P. THYROID)

Over the past several weeks, Acella has experienced production planning issues associated with NP Thyroid. We sincerely apologize for this and want to inform our valued customers that we are putting measures in place now to prevent any further limited supply. We anticipate improved availability by the end of January. Please check back here on our website for further updates. If you need additional information, please email us through the “Contact Us” page on NPThyroid.com.

Ellen Gettenberg
Director, Marketing| Acella Pharmaceuticals
9005 Westside Parkway | Alpharetta, GA 30009
www.acellapharma.com

WANT TO PAY IT FORWARD AS TO WHAT STTM HAS GIVEN YOU?

Out of my own savings last Fall, I paid for three months in hiring a publicist for the message of Stop the Thyroid Madness…i.e. through the end of December. My goal is to reach far more who may not understand WHY they have problems thanks to the lousy TSH lab test or T4-only meds like Synthroid, Levothyroxine, etc. And she has done a fabulous job in getting interviews and articles out there–you can see what she has done on the donation page mentioned below.

After December, patients donations completely paid for January. Now we are working on February, and nearly half way there. But this will end sooner than later if more donations don’t come in. Go here to read about it and Pay It Forward.

HAVE YOU CONSIDERED YOU MAY NOT NEED HC TO HEAL YOUR ADRENALS? OR IF ON HC, YOU CAN DO THIS A LOT FASTER?

UK thyroid and adrenal patient Paul Robinson made a VERY interesting discovery–that he could heal his adrenals with his unique use of T3. Yup, and he SUCCEEDED. And it’s quite exciting news for adrenal fatigue patients. Additionally, if you are on T3, his T3 titration process alone is vastly superior to most other recommendations in the use of T3, and means you can use less!!

Take the time to find out for yourself!! There’s a good summary of what he discovered in the new STTM Facebook Adrenals group (and please note this group is for PATIENTS ONLY, not medical professionals. And for approval to the group, you canNOT have a hidden info and friends. We have to be this way to keep out spammers, and to see that you are who you say you are). You can also order his book from this Recommended books page on STTM. To order the patient-to-patient STTM book, go here.

 

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More on Acella desiccated thyroid….plus RT3 ratio calculator fine tuned!

 

Screen Shot 2015-11-09 at 12.21.12 PM(This post has been updated to the present day and time. Enjoy!)

In 2011, I had a friendly and informative conversation with Philip Vogt, the President of Acella Pharmaceuticals, and Ellen Gettenberg, Director of Marketing. Acella is the company which brought out what is often termed a generic form of desiccated thyroid, but appears to be simply another great brand name of NDT. It first caught the eye of thyroid patients in November, 2010. And I want to pass onto you what I learned:

Acella is different

Acella Pharmaceutical of Georgia, USA, is not like the gigantic pharmaceuticals we often hear about. Instead, they attempt to target the under-served markets, producing medications for particular niches of treatment, or those which are low-profile medications. They also seek to produce lower-priced competitive versions of certain medications while keeping the quality. Thyroid patients appreciate that, especially after seeing the 2015 horrible rise in price for Armour desiccated thyroid after Forest Labs was bought out by Activias–often triple the original price–besides the fact that patients began to report a return of symptoms.

How they make their version of desiccated thyroid

When it specifically comes to its desiccated thyroid, they go by older version “recipes” – using more dextrose (sugar) and less methylcellulose, which we love But in their case, the tablets are stated to contain NO cellulose. That is actually good. Their tablets are also not as hard-pressed as Armour seems to be now. That means patients who like doing their NDT sublingually can make the Acella version work.

The ingredients

Acella started out with a 65 mg tablet to represent a grain, but by 2011, became a 60 mg tablet for its “grain”. They also make a 30 mg tablet (1/2 grain) and a 90 mg tablet (1 1/2 grain). The desiccated thyroid is speculated to come from the same manufactured source as do other brands.

Says the website:

The tablets contain both tetraiodothyronine sodium (T4 levothyroxine) and triiodothyronine sodium (T3 liothyronine) providing 38 mcg levothyroxine (T4) and 9 mcg liothyronine (T3) per grain of thyroid (or per 60 mg of the labeled amount of thyroid). The inactive ingredients are calcium stearate, dextrose (agglomerated) and mineral oil.

Note that like all manufacturers, they use the “synthetic” names for T4 and T3, but desiccated thyroid is NOT synthetic.

Reports by patients

They love it. It’s rare to hear anything negative about it. (If you do have a bad reaction to even Acella’s NP Thyroid, here’s your reason: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/ndt-doesnt-work-for-me). So we say “Keep up the good work, Acella!

JanieSignature SEIZE THE WISDOM

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HAVE YOU LIKED THE STOP THE THYROID MADNESS Facebook page? It gives you daily inspiration, information, and discussion on certain topics.

ABOUT THE RT3 ONLINE CALCULATOR on STTM: My brainy techs have added three more combinations to the calculator, so it is now ready-to-go to help you figure out your ratio: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/rt3-ratio So far, the feedback is very positive and we have seemed to remove “most” kinks. REMEMBER: you need to put your Free T3/total T3 in first, then all the measurements will appear for the RT3.

WHEN TESTING YOUR THYROID LEVELS: remember NOT to take your desiccated thyroid, or your T3-only, before labs, we learned the hard way. The T3 rises consistently after you take it, giving you false-high reading and freaking your clueless doctor out. **Picture doctor, eyes bugged out like a giant wasp, looking at lab result** With desiccated thyroid, the T3 will peak in approx. 2 hours, then a slow fall; with T3-only, it can take approximately 4 hours to peak. Recommend labwork found here.

NEED A GOOD PATIENT GROUP? Go here. Of course, the groups are free and can be very helpful. Or, you can choose a paid consultation with Janie, which seems to be extremely helpful for those who want more immediate feedback and help.

TYPICAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS about thyroid, treatment, more issues: www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/common-questions-answers

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What does the production of a new generic desiccated thyroid by Acella mean??

Even tho I saw this mentioned by a patient here or there on patient groups, and later saw it mentioned elsewhere on the net, I have been very hesitant to talk about it on this very widely-read website called Stop the Thyroid Madness.

Namely, there is a new US-made natural desiccated thyroid product out there. It’s considered generic, and is being actively substituted for Armour when patients go to pick up their Armour at the pharmacy. It’s made by Acella Pharmaceuticals LLC in Alpharetta, Georgia, which was formerly Brookstone Pharmaceuticals. And I just found out that the inactive ingredients are listed as calcium stearate, dextrose monohydrate, maltodextrin and mineral oil. Anybody see cellulose in there?? Neither do I. Very nice.

It also contains the same T4/T3 amounts we are used to in the 60 mg, one grain tablet: 38/9. Oh, and it’s still called an “unapproved drug”.

Now before you get all ticked off at me for NOT wanting to talk about it here as it has been done elsewhere, understand this: last year, we saw the FDA shut down ALL generic production of desiccated thyroid. The implication was that ONLY ones around since the 1930’s (Armour and Naturethroid) were allowed to exist, being an unapproved drug. So…I worried that by mentioning it, we might give TOO much attention to a new one and see THIS ONE shut down.

But right now, I am seeing information about it on certain medicine website, including this one connected to our government.

Don’t ya just love the way things happen with a medication that turns lives around and we know NOTHING as to whythey are happening or when from the FDA?? Pitiful, typical…and sad.

***If you want to talk about this new generic version, which some patients are accepting in place of Armour and trying, go to the NTH (Natural Thyroid Hormones) yahoo group here. It’s so new that there’s not a lot of feedback yet from folks, but I suspect we’ll start to see more and more.

P.S. If you have been through any long-term stress, you need to know that your cortisol will go high to help you cope, and in turn, it can drive your potassium and magnesium levels low. That happened to me this year as I went through prolonged stress from the economy. So be sure and get those tested, and specifically the RBC (red blood cell) rather than serum. The RBC tests will show what your cells have.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2011!

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As we enter another wonderful year, the Stop the Thyroid Madness website couldn’t exist without your donations to the hosting fees, which have grown substantially due to the popularity of this patient-to-patient informational website. If you have benefitted from STTM, please consider donating to the fees here. And thank you, since your donation assures that other will benefit as you have.

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