Options for thyroid treatment

There are 3 strong rea­sons to look at all options right now for bet­ter thy­roid treatment.

1. Armour by Forest Labs was refor­mu­la­ted with a raise in cellu­lose in 2009. As a result, patients found it to outright suck, cau­sing a return of hypo symp­toms and stress on one’s adre­nals. A par­tial solu­tion is to pulverize/crush the tablet, which breaks down the cellu­lose and makes the des. thy­roid more acces­si­ble.
   
2. The same is true for Natu­reth­roid – it was refor­mu­la­ted, and many patients report a return of symp­toms on it. So pul­ve­ri­zing is your best option.
3. If you tire of crushing your tablet, Erfa’s “Thy­roid” in Canada is a won­der­ful pro­duct for most, as it resem­bles the old Armour, and can be done sublin­gually. The FDA is allo­wing US citi­zens to order it.

Here is a sum­mary of ALL your options, with a repeat of some of the above, plus more .

1) CANADIAN PHARMACIES: patients are fin­ding good luck with orde­ring the Cana­dian “Thy­roid” made by Erfa from web­site phar­ma­cies. It’s simi­lar to the old Armour — i.e. you can do it sublin­gually.  I, Janie, am using it along with Natu­reth­roid. You will need your doctor’s presc­rip­tion faxed to the site you choose. If one site is clo­sed down, check others. Pri­ces below may be dif­fe­rent – let me know.  They are in no par­ti­cu­lar order. See the January 20^th blog post about favo­rite Cana­dian phar­ma­cies.

• 77canadapharmacy.com As of 9 – 09, $81 for 300 tabs of 60 mg, plus a flat $14 express ship­ping fee. Patient sta­tes these peo­ple were won­der­ful. As of 11 – 09, $119.97 plus 10.99 for ship­ping for 300 tabs. of 60 mg “Armour”
• www.canadamedicineshop.com Ship­ping to US 9.95.
• universaldrugstore.com 60 mg — 100 pills (used to be $11; then $18 as of 12 – 09). As of Sum­mer, 2010, 400 one grain tabs cost  $71.75, not inc­lu­ding ship­ping  exchange rate cost. Use Pro­mo­tion code 945 to get $5 off first order.
• canadadrugsonline.com 60 mg — 100 pills $45
• pharmacy-online.ca 60mg — 100 pills $22.64
• northwestpharmacy.com –60mg 100 pills $34.99
• doctorsolve.com/ — 60mg 100 pills $
• candrugstore.com/ 60 mg 100 pills $47
• discountrxmart.com/ 60mg 300 pills $49  (this one doesn’t say Erfa) but it’s that by the description.
• crossborderpharmacy.com (same as canadameds.com)  60 mg — 500 pills $62 (as of 9 – 15-09, this has gone up to $119 on canadameds.com. Ludicrous)
• www.valuepharmaceuticals.com
• You can order directly from the makers of Erfa with a presc­rip­tion: http://thyroid.erfa.net

2) ARMOUR by Forest Labs and NATURETHROID by RLC: Both pro­ducts were in short supply in 2009 and star­ted retur­ning in 2010. And both were refor­mu­la­ted and cau­sing a return of symp­toms. To make them work as well as pos­si­ble, you may have to crush them with a mor­tar and pestle, or chew them up thoroughly.

3) COMPOUNDED DESICCATED THYROID: Any com­poun­ding phar­macy should have plenty of pow­der in stock, since their dis­tri­bu­tors do. Others will com­pound synthe­tic T3 and synthe­tic T4.  Use this link to find a com­poun­ding phar­macy and you’ll need a presc­rip­tion: http://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Compounding-Pharmacy BEWARE: Be sure to ask what you are actually get­ting in case it mat­ters to you – some called the two synthe­tics “com­poun­ded Armour” when it isn’t. Also, many com­poun­ders are adding a slow release filler like methyl cellu­lose, and patients report bad results.  A bet­ter alter­na­tive can be to ask for ascor­bic acid pow­der (Vit. C) or aci­dolphi­lus rather than ANY cellu­lose. They don’t seem to get that cellu­lose mixed with desic­ca­ted thy­roid is not good.

4) A GERMAN PHARMACY will sup­po­sedly send the medi­ca­tion abroad, presc­rip­tion requi­red and cre­dit cards accep­ted. They source the thy­roid from Europe and have no shor­ta­ges. They will also com­pound any strength and com­bi­na­tion you require. GERMANY’S THYREOGLAND from Munchen (Munich), Kloes­terl Apo­teke, Walthers­trasse, 80337 Muenchen. Phone: 089 54343211 (Let me know if my infor­ma­tion is inco­rrect, please)

5) NUTRI-MEDS: avai­la­ble for seve­ral years, Nutri-Meds is an OTC desic­ca­ted thy­roid pro­duct in both bovine and por­cine. It’s far wea­ker so you’ll have to take a lot more.  Tell you doc­tor you are using it to main­tain the rela­tionship. http://www.nutri-meds.com/

6) THYROID-S or “THIROYD”: These are two dif­fe­rent brands of  desic­ca­ted thy­roid made in Thai­land that many patients swear by. Goo­gle “thyroid-s Sri­pra­sit” or “thi­royd grea­ter pharma” to find sour­ces.  Infor­ma­tion on ingre­dients here. Keep your doc­tor infor­med of your use.

7) SYNTHETIC T4 and SYNTHETIC T3: Yes, it will seem a bit nau­sea­ting for some to have to get a par­ti­cu­lar name brand of T4 that you can’t stand. But the combo will help you, and you’ll have to play with amounts to find the most opti­mal amount. You can even choose to be just on T3, but you’ll have to remem­ber that you’ll have no T4, the sto­rage hor­mone, to covert to T3 for you.

8 ) HEALTH FOOD STORE pro­ducts: There are good over-the-counter pro­ducts with raw thy­roid you can check out.  But as it true for Nutri-Meds, they are far wea­ker. Addi­tio­nally, to raise these pro­ducts high enough to get some relief of hypothy­roid symp­toms can result in you get­ting too much of added subs­tan­ces in these pro­ducts. Check the labels.

Let me know of other options you have dis­co­ve­red and I’ll add them.

How to find a good doc­tor: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/how-to-find-a-good-doc

Ingre­dients in dif­fe­rent thy­roid brands: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/armour-vs-other-brands

Why desic­ca­ted thy­roid is a bet­ter choice than T4: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/t4-only-meds-dont-work

Order your own lab­work to show your doc­tor later: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/recommend-labwork