Just switched from Natur-throid to Levothyroxine w/ Cytomel

[tracey123]

I just got switched from Natur-throid to Levothyroxine w/ Cytomel. I had to switch since Natur-throid is on back order for a couple months. I was taking one 64.8 naturthroid with a whole 32.4. Then in the afternoon I was taking a 64.8 with a half of a 32.4. so I was around 176mg. He put me on .88 of the levothyroxine with 5mcg of cytomel in the morning. In the afternoon he put me on .75 of the levothroxine with 5mcg of cytomel. Do you think this is a high starting dose of the synthroid with what I was taking on the Natur-throid. Have you ever heard of splitting the doses in the beginning instead just once a day?

[magpieannie]

Are you aware that there is a bill, included (burried) in the new government proposed health care package that will increase all current drug patents by 5 additional years (extending them from 7 to 12 years)? In case you've ever wondered why many of the large pharmaceutical companies are so in favor of health care reform??? Do you realize how much additional money is on the table here for these BIG synthetic drug companies? All the more reason for "them" to push, once again,  (look for opportunities/ LOBBY) for the end of dessicated hormone which have no patents, and make them no money!  What timing they all have!!!  There is no coiencidence here and we must not allow our health to be jeopardized for their greedy intentions!  Everyone should pay close attention to this situation, no matter what type of thyroid drug your body may or may not require, and be preparred to speak up and stand together if need be. Remember, that even if it is not your drug possibly being "threatened" today, it could be yours tomorrow!!! Before we know it, we could all be forced to take only one drug for the very complicated, multi facited thyroid/thyroidless afflicted masses, and there are MANY of us out there/here!  We are all ages and all genders, who all have very different situations and biological needs/makeup! One type of drug, simply won't work for the masses! ( And if you want to know the really sick thing about all of this? It is that if they can make us even sicker by forcing us onto "their pattented thyroid drug", then we will eventually need even more drugs that they also hold the patents to! We're talken BIG $$$$$$ here over time!)  It's unfortunate that we should even have to consider such a travisty possibly happening here in America or any other democratic nation, but unfortunately, money and power is at the root to most, if not all, evil!  We must pay close attention, for it is, unfortunately, not about our good health and well-being! We must speak up and unite if need be, as we must not ever take our medication for granted, as if it will always be available to us when, where, and if we need it! For it is but with the blink of an eye and the stroke of a pen, that our health could be adversly effected FOREVER!

[magpieannie]

Any new news on the FDA and Armour situation? Is RLC still ramping up production of Naturethroid/Westhroid with beginning pharmacy ship out dates of approximately, sometime in, mid November? We have enough Naturethroid to see us through mid December at our present  dose. However, if blood work reveals a need for an increase in meds, then we will be cutting it close to the mid November time frame. Please keep us in the loop on this so that we can be preparred, and proactive if needed, in locating our meds ahead of time. Thanks for all you do! You really do make a difference!

[CarolG52]

I too am an advocate of T3.  I literally had to take over my care and demand different tests, meds the works before I started even seeing an improvement, definitely didn't while my endo was in charge!
I too think this is all related to money and the ability to govern the T3 Meds.  These Pharmaceutical companies have friggin lobbiests in the government, just like the insurance comanpies do- working on behalf of them- all about the big mighty buck!
If they can't control it they ban it, than repackage it and charge even more!
I agree with Stella, we have to get our thoughts on this subject out there, we number in the millions and our voice can be heard if we yell loud and long enough!

[magpieannie]

You Go Girl!!! I'm behind you all the way!!!  If you need any help, let me know, letters,emails, phone calls etc....We should ALL join together and do what we can. You cannot do this alone.Where do we send our complaints and testimonies?  I can definetly see what is going on here! Is Merek Medco the company that makes Synthroid, or are they associated with them some how $$$$, or are they a health insurance company? Are they the company that is sending the bogus letters to the doctors saying that desicated thyroid production has been stopped and to stop prescribing it because it won't be available once current supplies run out? If so, and if this is what their letter says, is there a way we can see this letter? How can they make such a statement if it is not true? Are the makers (companies) of  desicated thyroid sending out letters in defense? Why is all desicated hormone getting harder to find at  the pharmacies?  What will happen to us if government gets control of health care??? This is a REAL concern for all users of t3 in ANY form.

[laura1967]

Splitting the T3 med into 2 dosages is a good idea, because T3 meds are short lived. Never heard of doing it with T4 meds though. It takes time for Levo to build up in the system, so there is no need to split dosages throughout the day with T4.
The conversion charts are way off with Naturethroid and synthetic, so you are going to have to play a little bit of a waiting game to see if you are on enough or too much.
Let us know how you do and make sure you retest within 6 weeks!
Dont forget to get copies of your test results so you can post them here! :)

[stella5349]

Please excuse my shortness on this post. I don't mean to be frank. But your endo is handing you a line of bull cr@p and if we buy into this plot that was started by Merek Medco then the people who truly need desiccated thyroid - like me - will be damaged forever.

These statements that the insurance companies are making to these doctors are close to suiable issues and I am in the fight of my life to get this cr@p stopped. I am working very hard with all sorts of companies and doctors to get some relief of this.

THEY WANT YOU TO SWTICH TO T4 meds PERIOD. They are doing all they can to pull thyroid patients off desiccated thyroid and put them on T4. If T3 Cytomel is used until their KILL is complete on the labs that make desiccated thyroid is done - then so be it in their minds. Once they get the population OFF desiccated thyroid completely then they will pull the PLUG on Cytomel too.

Read the UK news on the British Thyroid Association. It's happening there and we in the US are starting to see exactly what they did some time ago.

I am a HUGE advocant on " What ever works for a person, (whether T4 only - T4 and Cytomel - or a natural dessicated product like Armour - or Naturethroid) is great - the word here is Whatever works...

I will not sit back and let pharmacutical companies to stupid doctors dictate only one treatment for all!

I hope you all stand with me on helping keep desiccated thyroid available. Please keep the medicine alive for the poeple who need it and want to continue treatment.

Look at how the TSH lab is the dictator of thyroid disease... we read it here over and over all day long on how people are suffering because of a shotty lab used to decide on how to treat or not!! AND they can't make up their stink'n mind on what the REAL numbers are for heaven's sake. You can read posts here from .5 to 5.5 - even higher for some and their doctors are calling them frick'n normal!! What the heck are they basing this stuff on!!

THEY do not want you to know about Free T3 - testing... Due to the fact FT3 is the MAIN INDICATOR of thyroid disfunction. Why do they NOT want you to know?? TO keep us horribly sick so we spend our last frick'n dollars on trying to find out why we feel like he//.

I went from picking up 4 scripts of my Naturethroid at my doctors office to ONLY getting one. I had absolutely NO THYROID due to shotty care and now I feel like I only have 1 month to figure out what the he// I am going to do too.

I will not sit back and watch them destroy all I did to get myself well. I will fight this until I no longer can't.

[magpieannie]

Please keep me posted on how you do with the levo. and cytomel. If this is true then we may be forced to switch too. It's always good in the unpredictable world of thyroid to have a plan A,B, and C!  My daughter will have to get t3 somehow? I wonder if the compounding pharmacist will be able to continue getting the desicated thyroid powder if Armour, Naturthroid and Westroid become unavailable? That's probably next! (Just incase that needs to be our plan B.) I don't like the way this is playing out for sure. These companies are bouncing us around like YO-YOS! Sounds political, and the t4 companies probably pulled someones purse strings in Washington $$$$$!!!!! This is not some game, this is effecting real lives! Unbelievable! Maybe your endo. is just helping to spread the rumor, and it's not really true? Most endos. push for t4 only! Seems they've sold their souls to the t4 pharm. companies.

[tracey123]

I spoke with my endo doctor Monday he said that he thinks they might discontinue the dessicated thyroid all together. He said they might have to have the goverment come in and regulate it and put it out there like a new drug again. We will see. I called the lab that makes natur-throid and they said it will be at least 90 days. Armour is not even given a difinitive date. I hope I do alright on the new mix.

[magpieannie]

laura1967 would probably know about this. Try to contact her. My pharmacy was also out of Naturethroid and Armour. They only had a little bit of Westroid left. They said it was back ordered and didn't know when they'd get it? Like to know what is really going on here??? They said they could compound it for my daughter, but she is only 8 years old and was born without a gland. She switched from a life time of synthetic t4 (Synthroid)  six months ago due to many hypo. symptoms, the worst of which was 83 PVC's in a 20 day period revealed by a Holter Monitor study. Found out that her Freet3 was very low but t4 and TSH were high normal. Switched slowly to Armour! Did great, felt good, blood was good, then something changed! Think we must of finally gotten a refill of the reformulated: joint pain, ache all over and blood levels were drastically different with no dose change, just the new refill. Switched to Naturethroid 1 month ago. Doing better and better, but still trying to work out the dossage. The Naturethroid conversion chart seems a little off! Well more then a little actually!  So far she is on 1 full grain more of the Naturethroid then she was on the Armour. She is just getting adjusted to the Naturthroid( med. and dose) and I don't want to throw any other variables into the mix before labs in 3 weeks. So I said no thanks to the compounding, even though her doctor said it would be the same. In our experience Armor and Naturethroid,  even though they are both desicated hormone, are not the same, so I doubt that the later would be exactly the same! Luckily the first pharmacy that I called out of the phone book had Naturthroid, however the pharmacist did seem a little surprised when she checked. I was relieved! It was a CVS here in town. Don't know what to expect next month! Atleast I will have her blood work drawn before then, so I can get a clear picture of how only the Naturethroid is doing before possibly being forced to change course yet again! If anyone knows what is up with all this, please fill us in! Thanks