The FDA is attacking Armour Thyroid, 2 million affected

[wordnerd]

Ive never seen a doctor prescribe anything but synthroid honestly, im not sure what this is all supposed to be about.  Ive never used the competition when dispensing meds to patients in the past, and nobody has ever enquired about them either. 

synthroid wasn't really working for me
I read about armour
asked my Dr. if she would let me try it
She did
It worked

[Katie]

Dang  !  A close friend just started on Armour and it has made a world of difference for him.  Like night and day, he says.  He's type one diabetic and needs things to be right in every way possible.

They did that for me with hormone replacement therapy.  I was on bio-identical hormones.  (The traditional ones were horrendous for me, I tried many different kinds).  Now I can't get one of the components of the estrogen part because big pharma won.  I can tell the difference, since I have more glitches with the new formulation (two kinds of estrogen instead of three).  Not as bad as the big pharma drugs, but not as good as the old stuff.  They just attacked away with the estrogen until they got it taken away.  I can only hope that the reason I take it (bone loss) is not going to be affected.  My bones were doing well on the old formula.

I hope there is a special place in hell for all the big pharma people that do this and their cohorts. 

[Fishsurfer]

Easy way to initiate the die-off.....ban the medications that modern surbanites require to stay alive since they havent been truly active in probably 40 years since their last PE class. 

[bust.a.head]

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[wordnerd]

Hey - I'm active
AND I exercise
I am over what I would like to weigh - but still keep my weight down - esepcially for someone who is hypothyroid

[TheDoctor]

Ive never seen a doctor prescribe anything but synthroid honestly, im not sure what this is all supposed to be about.  Ive never used the competition when dispensing meds to patients in the past, and nobody has ever enquired about them either. 

synthroid wasn't really working for me
I read about armour
asked my Dr. if she would let me try it
She did
It worked

If Armour doesn't come back on the market, ask your Doc about prescribing Cytomel (synthetic T3) or its generic equivalent in addition to synthroid.  I'm currently on a combo of low dose of Armour (60mg/day) and Cytomel (10mcg/day).  I find the Cytomel to be SO helpful.  I think a lot of people have trouble converting T4 to T3 in the body, which is why synthroid alone (pure T4) doesn't work well for some whereas Armour (T4/T3 combo) does.  There is some recent research to back this concept, but AMA standard doctrine, which 99% of docs believe without question, is that it is impossible to have a T3 problem!  Yet another example of our fascist corporate-controlled society at its finest...

[SoundSquirrel]

I totally agree with the FDA issuing a warning if they feel a medication is unsafe for some reason.  Then let the patients sort it out.  I absolutely disagree with some overpaid pharma-shill deciding that my alternative therapy doesn't meet their definition of "safe."  Is being wholly dependent on a manufactured medication that may have supply interruptions in the future "safe?"  Makes me want to disagree using a pitchfork instead of a keyboard, sometimes.  Especially when I'm in such bad pain I haven't slept in 2 days, but am not legally allowed to use something that grows in my garden to relieve it.

I'm an old dinosaur nurse, and this product has been around a while.  Docs in general don't like it because they feel (in some instances justifiably) that the dose is not as carefully standardized.  The same could be same of most herbal products which have worked for centuries despite not being mainstream.  The good docs and NPs let people manage their own health after providing this information. 

I wonder how all these officious people will justify their interference when people start dying because they had been convinced an alternative product was too dangerous, and their usual medications are priced out/unavailable?  Basically, if you can't afford modern health care and are hypothyroid, you have just been triaged out by the system.  Hopefully we can all find some alternative practitioners willing to risk their reputations and licenses to help out.

[lynnie]

The manufacturer
has recently reformulated the med

This makes no sense to me......how can you reformulate a  drug once it is approved as is? Maybe the truth is that some folks are finally getting problems after long term use?

[Jonathan_Byron]

The manufacturer
has recently reformulated the med

This makes no sense to me......how can you reformulate a  drug once it is approved as is? Maybe the truth is that some folks are finally getting problems after long term use?

It was never 'approved' - it didn't go through the approval process as it was in use long before there was an approval process ... it was 'grandfathered' or given a pass. But the idea that it now has to be approved is fishy at best ... I have not seen any evidence of problems, or any evidence that the reformulation involves a significant change in the product.

....   Docs in general don't like it because they feel (in some instances justifiably) that the dose is not as carefully standardized. 

Modern medicine is great at standardizing medicines. Too bad patients are completely individual and non-standardized.

[LuaHasFreedom]

I wonder if the Armour manufacturers could reframe it as a food supplement?

[inigo]

Considering this is attracting the hypo/no thyroid crowd like bees to honey, I have a question.   what will we do when there are no more pills?  We can only stockpile so much.  Any plants we could use?  Any animals?  Should I be studying hog anatomy right about now? 

[Jonathan_Byron]

Considering this is attracting the hypo/no thyroid crowd like bees to honey, I have a question.   what will we do when there are no more pills?  We can only stockpile so much.  Any plants we could use?  Any animals?  Should I be studying hog anatomy right about now? 

With hashimoto's disease, the best thing to try first is a gluten free diet - don't wait until TEOTAWKI.  About half of all people return to normal or near normal once the wheat stops prompting the immune system to attack the thyroid.

Tyrosine is an amino acid that gets iodinated to make T3/T4.  A tyrosine supplement or high tyrosine diet might help some people with marginal thyroid function.

Here is some research on herbs that can (sometimes) increase thyroid hormones. We don't know if these effects would carry over to people with low thyroid function ... some might not be able to increase their own production, in which case, these would not help.   

Ashwagandha, Bacopa, and Bauhinia purpurea are three herbs that may have some potential in a collapse of society or trapped on a desert island scenarios. But they are far below anything that contains actual thyroid hormone.

The problem here is that it may be difficult to adjust the dose and (depending on the person) could even cause too much thyroid hormone / thyrotoxicosis. 

Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2005 Nov 19;149(47):2637-8.
    [Thyrotoxicosis following the use of ashwagandha]
    [Article in Dutch]

    van der Hooft CS, Hoekstra A, Winter A, de Smet PA, Stricker BH.

    Inspectie voor de Gezondheidszorg, sectie Geneesmiddelenbewaking, Postbus 16.119, 2500 BC Den Haag.

    A 32-year-old healthy woman developed thyrotoxicosis while taking capsules that contained ashwagandha herbal extract for symptoms of chronic fatigue. She was not taking any other remedies or medications. During the first few weeks, she took the capsules only occasionally without any symptoms, but after increasing the dose, she experienced clinical symptoms indicative of thyrotoxicosis. This was confirmed by laboratory assessment. The symptoms resolved spontaneously after discontinuation of the ashwagandha capsules and laboratory values normalised. To our knowledge, this relationship has not been reported previously in humans. Data from animal studies, however, have suggested that ashwagandha can increase serum concentrations of thyroid hormones. This case study suggests that thyrotoxicosis is a potentially serious side effect of ashwagandha.

[wordnerd]

You know, I WAS on a completely wheat free diet
Now I've added some wheat back into my diet
I think it's time to eliminate it again

[Michelle]

I'm very glad we're having this discussion.

M

[wordnerd]

For about 2 or 3 years I didn't eat ANY wheat, potatoes or sugar (maybe sugar in Light Yogurt - so very little sugar)
I felt good and lost weight
I was on meds though
Then I started gradually adding those things back into my diet and I have been feeling tired and gaining weight.
Of course gradually adding them - means I now eat them pretty regularly - same as any other addiction 
Time to go cold turkey again

Can I have my grilled provolone cheese on rye tonight, before I do that though?