Armour Thyroid

[Kate968]

I am one of those (rare?) people who do well on Armour thyroid. In many forums, people complain about it being useless since the reformulation and switch to Erfa. However, I briefly tried Erfa as well and did not like it; it tended to make me hyper and I had to multi-dose it, whereas Armour can be taken once in the morning without problems.

I know that the manufacturer added more cellulose to the reformulated Armour, and cellulose is said to bind to the thyroid hormones, thus lowering absorption. However, what I don't understand is WHY a manufacturer of thyroid hormone replacement would want to increase the amount of something that actually makes the drug less effective?!?!? To me, that sounds completely illogical. I know that Forest has not been very keen on communicating with patients, so all theories remain just theories, but can anyone provide a reasonable explanation for this change in formula? I read somewhere that the FDA was behind this change because the idea was to force NTH drugs off the market and replace them with synthetics, but I wonder if the FDA can really force a drug company to change the formula of a drug that is generally considered safe? I am not American so I have no idea how the FDA works or what its competencies are.

[Red_Star]

Forest laboratories make Armour, Thyrolar and Levothroid. Reading the article entitled "Does Forest Really Want to Save Natural Thyroid?" by Mary Shomon, it's obvious that Levothroid is Forest's drug of choice. Must be as cheap as chips to make Levothroid IMO.

"Forest's synthetic T4/T3 medication is unavailable/backordered/no return date, and Forest's natural T4/T3 medication is unavailable/backordered/no return date.

The Thyrolar shortage is blamed on a nonexistent USP issue, and the Armour shortage is blamed on a mysterious "shortage" of raw material that has never been explained. Neither explanation holds up, in my opinion.

Interestingly, Forest's levothyroxine drug Levothroid has no problems with availability and backorders."

"And Forest has never marketed Armour or Thyrolar, won't defend these products, and won't even mention them at their corporate websites. Fact is, they barely acknowledge their existence."

[gimel]

I have no idea how the FDA works, or why Forest made the change.   All I can tell you is that I used Armour Thyroid both before the change and after.  I can tell there is a difference if you try to take it sublingually, and perhaps that is the biggest reason patients don't like it as well.  Other than that aspect I am very happy with it.  

[sunrock]

The blame may not be Forest itself. FDA and pork products are a big political arena.
There are over 185 products that come from pig- by products
and the medicine for Thyroid is a small market compared to others.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Animal By-products
Mechanically removed meat and other animal parts that remain after the skeletal muscle has been removed in dressing or trimming. Meat by-products include offal, fat and blood intended for human consumption and products intended for use as fertiliser, animal foods, medicines and industrial use. This does not include sausage casings.

[Kate968]

My doctor told me to chew the pills before swallowing them. That seems to help. How do you take yours?