Post by sara on Dec 2, 2009 7:31:50 GMT -5
Hey people! I (and about ten million other people) have run into a mysterious shortage of one of our prescription medications.
I've been taking natural thyroid supplements for more than ten years, and I found early on that effectiveness differed among the several brands/generics that were available at the time. Some fillers and binders seem to affect the absorption of the thyroid. Armour thyroid is the only one that really works for me, and for most other people, it seems.
When I went to get my prescriptions filled, the pharmacist said they didn't have my thyroid medicine and didn't expect to get any anytime soon. He said he has fifty customers who need it and can't get it.
So I went online and found a storm of websites where this problem is under discussion across the country. It seems the government has decided (the FDA and the Justice Department both seem to have some part in this) to remove Armour thyroid (as it had been formulated) from the market. Furthermore, last spring, the company that makes Armour thyroid reformulated its product with different fillers and binders, without telling the public, and what little they were able to manufacture is much less effective than the old formulation.
I am not able to find any evidence of documented adverse side affects for this drug, though people have apparently been using Armour thyroid for more than sixty years.
The general consensus is that the government wants to force the use of Synthroid, a synthetic thyroid supplement that is much less effective for the people who have tried both. The symptoms and complications of low thyroid are debilitating, ranging from hair loss, weight gain and total exhaustion all the time to congestive heart failure and worse.
I went to a small independent pharmacy near us today and they had 40 Armour thyroid tablets left, which I was able to get. It's enough for 20 days. That will get me almost to Christmas, but not through my daughter's wedding. BTW, it costs me $7.00 without insurance. I wonder if that has anything to do with all that's happening.
Is anybody else on this board taking taking thyroid and having this problem?
I've been taking natural thyroid supplements for more than ten years, and I found early on that effectiveness differed among the several brands/generics that were available at the time. Some fillers and binders seem to affect the absorption of the thyroid. Armour thyroid is the only one that really works for me, and for most other people, it seems.
When I went to get my prescriptions filled, the pharmacist said they didn't have my thyroid medicine and didn't expect to get any anytime soon. He said he has fifty customers who need it and can't get it.
So I went online and found a storm of websites where this problem is under discussion across the country. It seems the government has decided (the FDA and the Justice Department both seem to have some part in this) to remove Armour thyroid (as it had been formulated) from the market. Furthermore, last spring, the company that makes Armour thyroid reformulated its product with different fillers and binders, without telling the public, and what little they were able to manufacture is much less effective than the old formulation.
I am not able to find any evidence of documented adverse side affects for this drug, though people have apparently been using Armour thyroid for more than sixty years.
The general consensus is that the government wants to force the use of Synthroid, a synthetic thyroid supplement that is much less effective for the people who have tried both. The symptoms and complications of low thyroid are debilitating, ranging from hair loss, weight gain and total exhaustion all the time to congestive heart failure and worse.
I went to a small independent pharmacy near us today and they had 40 Armour thyroid tablets left, which I was able to get. It's enough for 20 days. That will get me almost to Christmas, but not through my daughter's wedding. BTW, it costs me $7.00 without insurance. I wonder if that has anything to do with all that's happening.
Is anybody else on this board taking taking thyroid and having this problem?
