Do you Know How to Store Your Thyroid Medication?

If you take any type of thyroid medication, or any medications at all, did you know that how you store your medications can affect a medication’s effectiveness?  Because of the shortage of natural dessicated thyroid hormone, there are some patients who have ordered additional supplies of natural thyroid hormone either from Canada or through other suppliers. We’ve received many questions about the best way to store larger amounts of thyroid medication for patients who have additional supplies on hand.

Note: If you have any questions about how to store a particular medication it is a good idea to ask the pharmacist or even the manufacturer of the product on what is recommended for safe storage. So use the below just as  a starting point and always check with your pharmacist directly with regards to questions about your own medications.

Here’s a tip that is not well known with regards to your thyroid medication. If you’ve ordered a large supply and/or even if you wish to keep the medication that you’re currently taking “fresh”. It can be a good idea to have 2 separate original  bottles to use for your thyroid medication. When you fill you fill your prescription ask the pharmacist if they can split the amount of tablets into 2 bottles, or give you a larger bottle for storage purposes. One for example, would be the large bottle that you may have received let’s say if you ordered a 6 month supply of tablets, and a second bottle that you would store and open every day which contains just either a month or two of your supplies. This way you are not opening up a large bottle every day which would expose all of your tablets to air and could affect the efficacy of your medication. Now, each manufacturer may have different tips or suggestions but as a general rule, not exposing your medication to air each day can be a good idea. It is VERY important if you are using two different bottles of medications to properly label your bottles or better yet, to have the pharmacist do this for you at the time when you place your order so that you know exactly what is in the bottle, the expiration date, and your medication instructions.

Medication Storage Hints:

Store medications at room temperature: 59 to 86 deg F, 15 to 30
Celsius, in a dry place away from direct light. Good sites are a
kitchen cabinet away from stove/oven, and inside a dresser away from
windows. Keep medications out of the bathroom. Moisture from the
shower/bath can damage and degrade tablets and capsules.
Always check the label or package instructions for special storage
precautions.

Keep those little moisture-grabbing desiccation packets in medicine
bottles when storing for longer periods. If medication comes with
packing cotton, remove it, as it can hold moisture.
Keep containers tightly closed.

Refrigerate only those medications that call for refrigeration. Never
freeze medications unless directed to do so by your pharmacist.

Keep medications in their original containers to protect the drugs
from the damaging effects of moisture and light. Original labels
provide important information on drug identity, expiration & dosage.
Never place different medications together in a container. Storing
drugs together can cause unwanted interactions.

Traveling with Medications:

Suitcases are often stored at extreme temperatures in the luggage
compartment of a plane, bus or car. Always keep your medications with
you as a carry on item on the airplane. A medication that must be refrigerated
at a constant temperature (such as liquid amoxicillin) will need to be
kept in a cooler for travel.

Doctors Who Don’t Listen: What Part About This Medication Doesn’t Work For Me Do You Not Understand?

The Armour Thyroid Fiasco and The Run Around of Getting the Appropriate Replacement Natural Dessicated Thyroid Medication

Dear Readers, Since we first published our post regarding how Armour Thyroid Medication was reformulated we’ve received hundreds if not thousands of emails and requests for updates from those of you out there who are in a similar situation. I can totally empathize  with everyone who has wasted time, money, and precious energy on trying to come up with a replacement medication. And even though I have been perfectly happy with my change to Nature-Throid, my supplies were dwindling and the promised shipment dates of the middle to late November by RLC labs, are now looking like it may be December before it is available, and I wanted to make sure that I don’t run out of the medication that I must take every day for the rest of my life, because my thyroid was removed several years ago.

What perhaps is the most frustrating thing about this scenario, is that my doctor, who had no issue with writing a prescription for Armour Thyroid and then replacing it with Nature-Throid, simply doesn’t seem to understand that I must find a replacement for my natural desiccated thyroid medication and I will not, under any circumstances go back to using Synthroid. Here is a summary of what has transpired thus far on my quest to get my doctor’s office to write the correct prescription for me.

“Dear Doctor”, what part about “This Medication Does Not work for me” do you not understand? Please do not disregard my ability to tell what works for me nor discount my intelligence by thinking that your version of a synthetic medication will work just fine for me. We’ve already been down that road before, and it was a long one.  I was the one who had to find out that I had the thyroid problem to begin with, because for years, the proper testing was not done and I watched in horror as my ability to function declined.  I traveled to many doctors during this time with a list of symptoms that would have made any learned diagnostician proud, but I was not listened to, and treated with disrespect at many a turn. From the rude and dismissive Nurse Practitioner in the Endocrinology Clinic at MD Anderson who gave me a cursory exam and proclaimed that my “thyroid was fine” to the many internists who sent me to the wrong kinds of specialists, or who simply threw up their hands and told me that gaining inordinate amounts of weight, losing my hair, feeling like my body was run over by a truck, not being able to walk around the block, much less run for over an hour like I used to be able to do easily, was part of “getting older” and I should just deal with it.  At first, I thought so many doctors not being able to find anything must have meant that I should “deal with it”. I mean distance runners don’t complain you know? You just keep going, even when you think you can’t go another step, you keep going. So I did, but I also knew something was very wrong, especially when my ability to function declined so far that I could barely go to the grocery store without having to sit down and rest.  And when I showed up at the Mayo Clinic with my self proclaimed diagnosis in hand and asked the doctors there to confirm it, at first I was met with a “yeah, right” attitude, but after testing and finally a thyroid surgery, my suspicions were confirmed, and after a long period of trial and error with thyroid medication, had finally found my rhythm back after dumping Synthroid and getting on Armour Thyroid. Fast forward to Armour’s reformulation and switching to Nature-Throid, and finally getting that dosage adjusted. So if you are going to be my physician you’re just going to have to accept that I have a really good handle on what works for me and what doesn’t. And I finally trust myself enough to know that it is my body and I do know what is helpful and what is not.

I have called my doctor’s office and asked them to write me a prescription for “Thyroid” simply, “Thyroid” because that is the way it needs to be written in order for me to get my prescription filled in Canada. And I’ve also asked my physician’s office to write the prescription in grains not milligrams, so that I have some flexibility in re-filling the prescription with any natural desiccated thyroid that is available and not a particular brand, once this shortage clears up.   The response to my very specific request from my physician’s office was to have a prescription faxed to me for levothyroxine which is the synthetic version of a Thyroid Medication called Synthroid, which has never worked for me, and my physician knows it doesn’t work for me, and I will never take this medication ever again.  Thinking it must be a mistake, I called my doctor’s office and told them that I had received the “wrong” prescription, and that I was faxing them the specific information on how my prescription must be written so that I could get the Natural Dessicated Thyroid Hormone from Canada.  My fax outlined exactly how the prescription needs to be written so that I can get an appropriate replacement medication from Canada, and provides the reason/s which my physicians office is already aware of because they have other thyroid patients, for my needing to order thyroid medication from Canada. Several days later, I receive a call from my local pharmacy saying my prescription was ready. I called the local pharmacy back, because I hadn’t placed an order with them for any medication (they don’t carry what I need now) and low and behold, the prescription waiting for me  was for levothyroxine, or Synthroid. UGGGGH……     Did the physician’s office think I wasn’t going to check the prescription, or worse yet, that I don’t know what levothyroxine is? Good grief, I know everyone is busy these days with the swine flu going around and the shortage of natural thyroid hormone adding to the workload of everyone, but this is ridiculous, that it is so difficult to get the proper prescription written. Luckily, I am very knowledgeable about my body and what types of thyroid medications work for me, but there are others who are not, and who rely on whatever their physician writes down and then simply take it. Tomorrow, I will call the office again and see what the issue is with getting a proper prescription written. It is indeed an ongoing struggle to advocate for oneself in a system that is sometimes very unhealthy itself. But the payoff is worth it. Getting my thyroid issue under control has given me a new lease on life. I know it’s an ongoing battle, like now just trying to get the proper prescription, but I’m not stopping and I won’t settle for less than optimal treatment any more.  And I just completed the Susan Komen Race for the Cure this past Sunday in Austin, Texas. It felt amazing to run the 3.1 miles at a good pace and come through the finish line strong and with energy. And even though this was a short race it was fabulous to see all the pink shirts, the zest  of the participants  and to have a reason to run. I want to thank all the volunteers who gave of their time and who stood out on a Sunday morning and cheered for all of the runners and later the walkers who walked the course. Do you know how terrific it felt to cross the finish line and have all kinds of people clapping and cheering?  I  ran for not only all of the brave breast cancer survivors but for those who were not there and could not be there to run for themselves. I ran for all the women and men who are dismissed by their physicians or who are told that feeling poorly is simply part of the aging process. I think not!  I ran because I could run this year, and that was an accomplishment in and of itself.

Natural Thyroid Medication Shortage Hits Patients Hard

Many thyroid patients and physicians who treat them are left scrambling to find alternatives as a nationwide shortage of desiccated thyroid hormone leaves many patients in the dark about how to refill their prescriptions.

Patients taking any type of thyroid hormones often must spend days, weeks or even months to optimize their dose of thyroid hormones. And once their dose is optimized, it is important to monitor and adjust the thyroid hormone levels in the body. In the early/late Fall of 2009 patients all across the United States found themselves standing empty handed in pharmacy lines after being told that their prescriptions for natural thyroid hormones could not be refilled.  Changing medication, even to a different brand of medication, can be frustrating. Sometimes because of the different fillers used in the making of each medication, patients can respond differently.  Furthermore, there have been reported many instances of inaccurate or misleading information given to patients, including some pharmacists who reportedly told patients that natural thyroid hormone was being taken off the market, and they would have to ask their doctor to change their prescription to a synthetic version or man-made type  of thyroid hormone because they would no longer be able to get the natural thyroid hormones. 

Here is an update on the situation and some information that I hope will help any thyroid patients get through this crisis.

1. There is as of September 2009, a shortage of Natural Thyroid Hormone in the United States so it may be difficult to refill your prescription for Armour Thyroid or Nature-Throid™, two of the more popular natural thyroid medication brands. If your local pharmacy does not have any additional natural thyroid medication in stock there are some options in terms of getting additional natural thyroid medications and they are listed a little further down in this article.   Several factors may have contributed to the shortage of the Natural Thyroid Hormone.  In the Spring of 2009, an unannounced reformulation of the popular natural thyroid medication Armour Thyroid had patients wondering what had happened when their TSH levels reportedly started to rise and/or they had a return of hypothyroid symptoms that had previously been relieved. Many patients chose to utilize another natural thyroid medication called Nature Throid and the small company in Arizona, became deluged with orders for their product. Because this is a non-synthetic version of thyroid medication, there are raw materials that must be obtained in order to produce the medication, and the company that produces Nature Throid simply faced a higher demand for their product than they were initially prepared to produce. The company states that they expect to begin shipping out product again during mid to late November. Additionally, Forest Labs, manufacturer of Armour Thyroid has been out of stock of their medication as well. 

Here is the announcement that Forest Labs posted on their website: (This was taken from the website 9/29/09)

”Updated Statement from Forest Laboratories Re: Availability of Armour Thyroid:

Forest Laboratories understands how frustrating the back order situation of Armour Thyroid has been for patients, and we apologize for the supply interruption.

A supply of powdered Thyroid gland, the active ingredient of Armour Thyroid, has been made available to Forest by its supplier. Forest has produced and shipped a limited supply of 1 grain, also known as 60 mg.

We understand that this limited distribution will not meet the current anticipated demand for the product, and we continue to work diligently to meet demand.

Although Forest is addressing the backlog of Armour Thyroid as quickly as possible, we are not prepared at this time to give a definitive date by which the product will be fully restocked. Please check for future updates on the availability of Armour Thyroid through the Forest product availability toll-free hotline at (866) 927-3260.

In the meantime, we encourage patients to speak with their physician regarding appropriate treatment for their condition. “

2. If you are running low on your medication, it is possible at the present time to still obtain natural thyroid hormone from a compounding pharmacy in the United States. Even some larger chain pharmacies such as Walgreens may have a compounding option available at specific locations in your area. Make sure to check on the pricing as well so that you are not shocked at the cost of your medications if you do end up using a compounding pharmacy to fill your prescription.  One of our readers takes 195 mg of Nature-Throid per day that cost her 35.69 to fill her prescription for a 90 day supply  in August of 2009 using a Safeway Pharmacy. This breaks down to around 11.90 per month for her thyroid medication or .39 cents per day. Now, the same prescription if she ordered it to be compounded in her area, would cost 56.00 for a 30 day supply, which equates to 1.86 per day.  And because of the shortage, the pharmacy would only fill a 30 day supply.

3. OTHER OPTIONS TO PURCHASE NATURAL THYROID MEDICATIONS

Canadian Pharmacies have been reported by many patients to be both helpful and prompt in getting out their medication to them.  Here is a list of the pharmacies and pricing we were able to obtain as of 9/29/2009. As you can see, many prices have gone up significantly since September 9th, when we last checked prices. 

* Note: You will Need a health care provider’s prescription in order to order from any of these Canadian sites.

The name of the Natural Thyroid Medication in Canada is Called “ERFA” or just Thyroid.  Here is an excerpt from the manufacturer of Thyroid in Canada in terms of the ingredients:

Note: Taken from the Erfa website on thyroid: “Each tan-colored tablet, embossed PD, contains: desiccated thyroid derived from porcine thyroid glands 30 mg, 60 mg or 125 mg. Nonmedicinal ingredients: cornstarch, magnesium stearate, sugar and talc. Energy: 1.2 kJ (0.28 kcal)/30 mg tablet; 1.1 kJ (0.26 kcal)/60 mg tablet; 2.2 kJ (0.52 kcal)/125 mg tablet. Gluten-, paraben-, sulfite- and tartrazine-free. Bottles of 500. 30 mg is also available in format of 100. Store at controlled room temperature 15 to 30°C.”

Call the pharmacy first and ask if you have any questions before ordering.

Also: some of the Canadian pharmacies will ship the medication with an ice pack. Thyroid medication as a general rule does not need to be refrigerated, but it should also not be exposed to high heat for extended periods of time. Some of the delivery trucks even in the fall weather can get upwards of 100 degrees, which would not be good for thyroid medication, so either call first and ask the pharmacy if they will ship with an ice pack, or put this in the special instructions field when you order the medication if you are choosing to use this route. If one site is reporting being “sold out” or down, just continue down the list and check additional options.

77 Canada Pharmacy: As of  September 9th, 2009 the price was $81 for 300, plus a flat $14 express ship­ping fee.  On 9/29/09 price showing on their website was $120  for 300 plus the flat rate shipping charge, so a substantial price increase. Talked to them on the phone. Very helpful representative, they were willing to ship with an ice pack if you put your request in the special instruction/s filed.

Can Drugstore:  60 mg 100 pills $47   Shipping 9.95 per order, unless order is above 99.00 then Free Shipping

Canada Drugs Online:  60 mg — 100 pills $45     Shipping from Canada to the US is 10.00 per order and takes between 5-15 business days

Cross Border Pharmacy (same as Canada Meds)  60 mg — 500 pills $62 (listed on 9 /29/09 at 60 mg –500 pills for $119 —big increase in price)

Discount Rx Mart 60mg 300 pills $49 on 9/09/2009,   up to 60mg 300 pills $54.69 on 9/29/2009  (this site says Thyroid/Armour Thyroid) but they also say it’s marketed under the name Thyroid in Canada       * Free Shipping to the US (allow 7-10 days to receive your prescription)

Doctors Solve:   60mg 100 pills $47   Shipping: 9.95 US for Shipping: they state cold pack items are 15.95 for shipping

Universal Drugstore: 60 mg — 100 pills $11 as of 9/9/2009:  
on 9/29/09 price was 60 mg – 100 pills $19                300 tabs 60 mg were $51.50 
Shipping from Canada to the US (5-10 days and flat rate of 7.00) is listed on their website per package        

 Pharmacy Online  60mg — 100 pills $22.64,   300 tablets 35.49     Shipping to the US is 9.95 per order

Northwest Pharmacy  60mg 100 pills $34.99 on 9/9/09        up to 60mg 100 pills $52.49 on 9/29/09

Note: They are listing their Thyroid medication on their site as Armour Desiccated Thyroid, but other pharmacies I checked with are out of Armour and have it reported as being on backorder for an extended time.  Shipping: flat rate 9.99 per package

4. DIRECT FROM THE CANADIAN Thyroid  Manufacturer:  You can also go directly to Erfa, the Canadian manufacturer’s website, place your order online, then fax or email your prescription into the company and you can order your Natural Thyroid Hormone Directly from the Canadian Manufacturer

(Dosage would be the same as Armour Thyroid)

Pricing as of 9/29/2009:  60 mg –100 pills 39.00, (500 tablets 60 mg strength are listed at 70.00 USD) so this may be a better deal then just purchasing the 100 tablets. Shipping however, is expensive on this site. When I filled my shopping cart with 2 bottles of medication (shipping came out to 30.00) 20.00 for shipping plus an extra 10.00 for “handling”, so the medication was more reasonable on this site, but the shipping charges were much higher than any of the other sites, so just compare what strength you need if you are ordering and make the best choice for you.

Note: Again, be careful about the shipping options if you are choosing to use an International Pharmacy or ordering from Canada. Ask if the pharmacy offers an ice pack to be placed in the container so that your thyroid medication is not exposed to high heat during transport.

5. Other Overseas Pharmacies: According to a reader there is a GERMAN PHARMACY that will send natural thyroid abroad. No shortages were reported as of 9/29/09 and they will compound the medication for you. GERMANY’S THYREOGLAND from Munich,  Kloes­terl Apo­teke, Walthers­trasse, 80337 Muenchen. Phone: 089 54343211

If you find other options or updates on pricing, please let me know and I’ll keep this page updated for you to use as a resource.

Thyroid Medication Nature-Throid VS. Armour Thyroid

Armour Thyroid Medication Reformulation Part III

If you’ve been following along with this series on how Armour Thyroid Medication was reformulated, you’ll know that it came as a surprise to patients, including myself, that a medication could simply be reformulated without informing patients, physicians or pharmacists. So, to pick up after the last update, I had a resurgence of all the hypo-thyroid symptoms that I had previously been managing so well while on the naturally desiccated thyroid hormone, Armour Thyroid, and found out that Forest Laboratories, the drug company producing Armour Thyroid had changed the fillers. Since I was obviously not doing well on the new reformulation, the new task at hand became on what to do about replacing Armour Thyroid.

First of all, it’s not that easy to change medications. Especially, if you’re taking a naturally desiccated or non-synthetic thyroid hormone. Most doctors, especially if they don’t have a good understanding of thyroid issues, or simply believe everything that their drug rep tells them, will prescribe a synthetic medication which contains only T4 hormone. Other synthetic hormone preparations may have only T3, but the bottom line is that your body produces both T3 and T4, so many thyroid patients will do better taking a medication that more closely resembles the hormones that your body would produce naturally if it could do so. The other argument that some medical practitioners use is that they will tell patients that it is perfectly acceptable to take a synthetic T4 hormone supplement only because the thyroid gland will convert some of the synthetic T4 to T3. This is a problem for many of us with thyroid disorders because if you are relying on an already malfunctioning thyroid gland to do conversions of hormones for you, it can be problematic to expect that you will get the proper conversions with a thyroid gland that is not working optimally. Not to mention the fact if you talk to a group of thyroid patients, most likely the ones most satisfied with their treatment are those who are taking non-synthetic type/s of hormone replacement. Not all, because the thyroid is a complex organ, and of course, everyone’s body is different, thus the need to adjust dosages and pay attention to patient’s symptoms. But most patients I have interviewed and the thousands of news group postings online seem to reflect a common denominator in that most will feel much better by taking a naturally desiccated thyroid hormone.

Alright, we’ll talk more about the different types of naturally desiccated thyroid hormones in another segment, but for this time, we’re going to focus on Nature-Throid™. After finding out that the thyroid medication that I relied on every day to keep me functioning no longer worked, I got busy and found that there were many thyroid patients who were switching over to Nature-Throid. So I called my pharmacists and explained the situation and found out that because Nature-Throid and Armour are essentially the same active ingredients, that they could most likely just refill my prescription with Nature Throid without my having to schedule another doctor’s visit. My pharmacy actually ended up making a call to my doctors office for me and my doctor just went ahead and wrote out a new prescription and faxed it to the pharmacy and I was able to pick up my new Nature-Throid medication the very next day. It took some adjustment in order to get my dosage correct. Even though theoretically, the Nature Throid is the same “active” ingredients because it has different fillers my body does process it differently and I am now taking 1/4 of a grain less than what I was taking using the Armour Thyroid. But so far, it’s been a few weeks and things are finally getting back to normal in terms of my energy, memory and other symptoms. And no more headaches which is great.

As always if you’re on any type of medication, make sure to listen to the signals your body is telling you and don’t ignore any new side effects even if you think that it “couldn’t be an issue with your medication” because you’ve taken it for years.

And no, there’s not a mis-spelling with the words “Nature-Throid” . The “y” has been left off the word Thyroid, so please make note of this if you’re trying to have your pharmacy order it in for you if it is not in stock and you want to try it as an alternative to Armour Thyroid.

Armour Thyroid Medication Change Part I

Armour Thyroid Medication Reformulation Part II

Armour Thyroid Medication Reformulation Part II

When Forest Labs changed how Armour Thyroid Medication was formulated, there apparently was no announcement made to physicians, pharmacists or patients taking the drug. Forest has not responded to my request for information or an interview regarding this issue although their Pharmaceutical Customer Service Telephone Number (866-927-3260) states that there are “unexpected production delays” with certain strengths of Armour Thyroid.

When my hypo-thyroid symptoms re-appeared after getting my thyroid prescription refilled, and it was the second time that this had happened, I went online to research possible causes. And imagine my amazement when I discovered I was not the only one having difficulty with the new Armour. I found hundreds of other patients with similar stories reporting brain fog, tiredness, muscle and joint pain, hair falling out, feeling cold, weight gain. All symptoms I was all too familiar with and which were associated with improper levels of thyroid hormone in my body.

According to sources who have been able to speak to someone at Forest Labs, the laboratory changed the fillers in Armour Thyroid. The changes that were reported to have been made include the following: increasing cellulose (this has made Armour more difficult to dissolve), and reducing the amount of dextrose (which was the ingredient which gave it a slightly sweet taste). The “active component” of Armour has said to have remained the same.

Why you must stay vigilant regarding any medications that you take: Medications are made up of “active ingredients” which is the actual part of the tablet containing the specific “medicine” and in-active ingredients which can be flavors, fillers, and dyes. This is why you may have a brand name medication that is similar to a generic version of a drug, but generic versions may work differently for individuals. Because all of us are unique in how we respond to medications, certain fillers or non-active components of a medicine may help or hinder your body from absorbing or responding to a particular medication. That is one reason why in certain cases some physicians will not allow substitution of a generic drug for a brand name, or perhaps vice-versa. In the case of the Armour reformulation it has nothing to do with generic vs. brand names but it is important to understand how fillers, dyes and flavors can effect your response to a medication. From the hundreds of e-mails I’ve received from thyroid patients who had read my first post regarding Armour Thyroid’s reformulation it appears that there are many of us whose bodies are not responding properly to the medication change.

If you are taking Armour Thyroid and have comments about this issue please enter your thoughts below. Let me know if you are experiencing any problems or if the medication is still working for you. One way to tell if you have the “old” Armour or new formulation is that the old formulation had a stronger smell, whereas the new one is less pungent. If you’ve taken Armour before you will understand.

In the next installment, I’ll explain what thyroid medication I am now using, and the good news is that I am slowly getting back to my old self, and the hypo-thyroid symptoms are slowly disappearing.

My Thyroid Meds – Armour Changed Their Formulation Without Telling Patients

Armour Thyroid: A Patient’s Story – What Happened When Forest Labs Changed Armour Thyroid

PART I: My Thyroid History and Background

It had taken a better part of two years to get to the bottom of my thyroid issues. I had been told for so long that there “was nothing wrong with my thyroid” that I almost started believing it myself. But deep down inside, I knew that there was something very wrong. And whatever it was, it wasn’t getting better, but worse. To make a long story short, I ended up in an operating room, far from home, after finally, getting a doctor to admit that not only was their a problem with my thyroid, but it needed to be removed because it was dangerously large. Fast forward to after the operation.

At first, of course, I was prescribed the synthetic medication Synthroid. Almost all doctors do, especially those associated with major medical centers. After a while on the Synthroid, when I found myself with raging headaches, bloating, and a face that looked unusually swollen, I decided to take matters into my own hands and I asked my primary care practitioner to change me over to Armour Thyroid. Trouble was, my primary care doctor thought she knew better, and refused to switch anything with my medication as she thought the Synthetic thyroid medication called Synthroid, and touted by most all the endocrinologists, would be just fine for me. I’m usually a very calm and kind person, with a very slow fuse, who will give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but after my 2 year journey of being misdiagnosed or just plain undiagnosed at all, my patience was a little thin, and I heard myself tell my doctor that I didn’t care what everyone else was prescribing or even if she thought the synthetic Synthroid was better. The one thing I knew for sure after two years of being tossed about and patronized by the medical professionals I had placed my trust in, was that I understood my body better than anyone, and I knew that Synthroid was not working for me and I needed to try something else. I then said that it may not matter to her, but it mattered a great deal to me, and if she wasn’t going to help me find an alternative, I would find someone else who would.

That was the last time I saw that primary care doctor. I found another physician who was more than willing for me to try Armour, and after a few days on the new medication, I was feeling like I was on the road to recovery. Several months passed and there were several medication adjustments, and I learned how to fine tune my thyroid dosage by paying attention to how I felt along with charting my body temperatures, and keeping an eye on my lab work. Note: Although the most important part of getting my thyroid medication regulated was finally having the courage to pay attention more to “how I felt” rather than “what the lab work said”. I learned that there is a big difference between my labs being within normal range, and “being optimized for me” . After two years had passed, on an Armour Thyroid dose that was optimized for my body, I was finally feeling “normal” and had my previous energy back along with the zest for living and enjoying each day to the fullest. The muscle aches had vanished. Where before every muscle in my body had felt like I had been run over by a truck, now there was no pain. Exercising had become a joy again and no longer did I take a shower to find large clumps of hair left behind, or on my car seat when I drove. My face lost it’s roundness, and I dropped the weight that had crept on like an unwanted guest during my previous thyroid struggles. So everything had reached a place where I felt healthy and vibrant, and full of life. Until the time came when I placed a refill order with a new pharmacy. A mail-order pharmacy. You see, my insurance company used to reimburse the cost of a three month prescription refill only if one went through their mail order pharmacy. So I had my Armour prescription transferred to the mail order pharmacy and began taking the new tablets when they came in. After a few days I noticed that I was beginning to feel swollen and bloated again. And my energy started dipping. I spoke to some friends and told them that I thought perhaps I had “received a bad batch of medication”. Maybe the medication was left in the heat too long during transport or maybe the mail order pharmacy didn’t fill the prescription correctly. I didn’t know what was the issue, but I was certain that the medicine that I had relied on to bring me back from the depths of such deep tiredness that it was almost too much to stand up, wasn’t working.

So, I went back to my local pharmacy and asked them if I could change/transfer the remaining refills on my prescription and paid for another batch of Armour Thyroid. Apparently, my local pharmacy must have still had the “old” stock on hand because I very quickly felt better and made up my mind not to use the mail order pharmacy again.

When my medication ran out, I was back to refill my prescription. But this time when my tiredness and muscle pain returned I was thinking that perhaps I had just been working too many hours, or it was the summer heat taking a toll on my body. Maybe I had been exercising too much and needed to reduce the intensity. Even after everything I had experienced how quickly and easily it is sometimes to revert back to trying to come up with alternative reasons why we may not be feeling up to par. I never dreamed that there would be something that had changed in the prescription that had become so important to my daily life. I had no idea that the Armour had been reformulated and for whatever reason, my previous symptoms were starting to return.

In the next installment, I’ll share with you how I found out that Forest Labs had changed the formulation of Armour Thyroid Medication and I’ll share with you what I did about it. Stay tuned for more information about my thyroid journey back to health and how I hope by sharing my story, that it will help others who may be wondering about Armour Thyroid or struggling with health issues that have yet to be properly diagnosed or acknowledged.

Armour Thyroid Medication Reformulation Causing Some Patients Problems

Thyroid Medication Reformulation – Some Patients Report Armour Thyroid No Longer As Effective

Patients taking the thyroid medication Armour Thyroid, which is a naturally desiccated thyroid hormone drug, are reporting problems with the medication after the manufacturer, Forest Laboratories, changed some of the fillers of the medicine.

What was reportedly changed: According to Forest Labs the only thing that has changed in the new formulation of Armour is the fillers. More specifically they say that they have increased the amount of cellulose, added cornstarch and decreased the amount of dextrose in the Armour Thyroid tablets. Unfortunately, for many thyroid patients, this change has resulted in patients reporting that their hypothyroid symptoms, or problems with too little thyroid hormone, have returned when they receive their new prescriptions filled with the new formulation of Armour.

We’ll talk more about this in upcoming articles, but what was most striking maybe the fact that I cannot find any announcements to physicians, pharmacists, or even the general public from the manufacturer, Forest Labs, advising anyone that the medication was changed.

Can you imagine how it feels to be taking the very same medication you had been taking for months or years and suddenly having symptoms start returning and then calling your doctor or pharmacist and being told that “everything is the same” with your medication when it’s not?

Stay tuned as we’ll share the story of one of our readers who had that very same experience. Thyroid medication can sometimes take months to regulate, and once you are on an optimum dose it gives many patients the feeling of having their energy and sense of self back. To suddenly lose this with no warning and then perhaps worst of all to be told that it is “all in your head” when there is really something changed with your medication is not a good thing. Another reason, dear readers, to trust your judgment when it comes to your body, your medications, and how you feel. More on Armour Thyroid and our reader’s stories coming up soon.

Has Your Thyroid Been Properly Checked – Tips for Thyroid Testing

Has Your Thyroid Been Properly Checked? There are many patients writing in with questions about their thyroid test results and it’s no wonder they have questions. Doctors, many times, are not up-to-date with the research and recommendations on thyroid treatment, and patients who rely on their doctor’s interpretation of their thyroid test results could actually have an undiagnosed thyroid condition. Why is there so much confusion regarding thyroid test results?

Reasons for Confusion among patients and doctors regarding Thyroid Testing and Results
There are numerous reasons why patients have such a hard time getting help with a thyroid issue, but a main issue is the problem determining the correct reference range, and organizations are now acknowledging what patients have known for years, that the TSH reference values for “normal” were too high. (Note: It can also be confusing because if your TSH values are too high, this means that you have too little thyroid hormone in your body.)

1. Confusion among professionals regarding exactly what reference ranges in terms of lab results is normal. Let me explain, there are many different types of thyroid testing, but one of the main tests that family practice doctors may order is called the TSH test. Although it’s not the most conclusive thyroid test, it is the one that most doctors are familiar with, so generally, this is the first test that a patient may have ordered if there is a question about the thyroid. Normal Thyroid Reference Ranges may vary depending upon the laboratory used! What, you may say? Isn’t there one “standard” for thyroid testing? No, and that’s part of the problem. For example, some labs may still report TSH levels that fall between 0.5 and 5.0 to be “normal”. But you may not feel “normal” if your levels are within those ranges, and you may struggle with many symptoms of having a low thyroid level including weight gain or difficulty in losing weight even with appropriate diet and exercise. Even though there are now new guidelines that are being published in journals and discussed in the endocrinology community, many family doctors are not aware of the guidelines, or are simply relying on what the reference ranges of the particular lab that is used, to determine if treatment for their patients is necessary.

Back in January of 2003 the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) released a press release stating “Until November 2002, doctors had relied on a normal TSH level ranging from 0.5 to 5.0 to diagnose and treat patients with a thyroid disorder who tested outside the boundaries of that range. Now AACE encourages doctors to consider treatment for patients who test outside the boundaries of a narrow margin based on a target TSH level of 0.3 to 3.04. AACE believes the new range will result in proper diagnosis for millions of Americans who suffer from a mild thyroid disorder, but have gone untreated until now.”
If you have been told by your doctor that your thyroid results are “normal” and you fall outside the ranges of 0.3 to 3.04 you may want to Get your copy of the press release from the AACE now, print it out, and show your doctor the highlighted areas.

2. A 2nd organization, which is called The National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry and is part of the the Academy of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), published the following Laboratory Medicine Practice Guidelines: Labor oratory Support for the Diagnosis and Monitoring of Thyroid Disease. This is also a document on Thyroid Laboratory Testing that you may want to Get Your Own Copy Right Now and Print it out and take to your doctor.

In this material which discusses laboratory testing and analysis it says “In the future, it is likely that the upper limit of the serum TSH euthyroid reference range will be reduced to 2.5 mIU/L because >95% of rigorously screened normal euthyroid volunteers have serum TSH values between 0.4 and 2.5 mIU/L.”

“A serum TSH result between 0.5 and 2.0 mIU/L is generally considered the therapeutic target for a standard L-T4 replacement dose for primary hypothyroidism.”

“Thyroxine requirements increase during pregnancy. Thyroid status should be checked with TSH + FT4 during each trimester of pregnancy. The L-T4 dose should be increased (usually by 50 micrograms/day) to maintain a serum TSH between 0.5 and 2.0 mIU/L and a serum FT4 in the upper third of the normal reference interval.”

We’ll have many more updates about thyroid testing, and how to talk with your doctor about this very important issue. Maybe the most important thing is to learn to “trust” your body and to become your own best health care advocate if you are not feeling as well as you used to in the past. Before “accepting” that getting older means feeling worse, or that menopause means less energy and weight gain, or being told by your physician that you are simply depressed, you owe it to yourself to get your thyroid checked and to make certain that you are working with a physician who understands how to interpret the results properly.

How Your Heart Works – Understanding your Heart

When it comes to the health of your heart, it helps to have basic understanding of its structure. This is especially true if you’ve been diagnosed with a specific problem that stems from your heart’s anatomy. Let’s discuss the structure of your most important muscle in very simple terms.

Your heart is made up of four chambers. The right atrium and ventricle help to circulate blood through the lungs. The left atrium and ventricle help to circulate blood to the rest of your body.

So the blood that’s on the right side of your heart is depleted of its oxygen and the blood that flows through the left side of your heart is oxygen-rich. The atria receive blood into the heart and the ventricles pump blood out of it.

Between these four chambers there are valves. These valves help to keep blood flowing in the right direction. They also prevent it from slipping back to the wrong chamber when the heart is at rest. In a sense, they are one-way doors.

The cells of the heart are specialized and actually will beat on their own. To make sure that they all beat at the right time, the heart has a special area called a pacemaker. This is located in the right atrium of the heart and is called the SA node. It sends an electrical impulse to regulate your heartbeat.

The heart is the central organ of the circulatory system. The entire system works together to deliver oxygen and nutrients to the cells. At the same time it picks up wastes and carbon dioxide from the cells. In order to do this, blood vessels provide a transportation network for delivery.

The left ventricle empties blood out into the aorta – the strongest artery in the body. It carries the blood away from the heart and branches off into smaller arteries and eventually blood makes its way to the capillaries.

At the capillaries the blood makes its exchanges and then returns to the heart through the veins. The vena cava is the major vein that returns blood to the heart. There are also pulmonary arteries and veins that transport blood from the heart to the lungs and then back again.

The heart may seem like a simple structure, but it can actually be quite complicated because of its many structures and its essential functions. The heart is the most efficient pump on earth – no manmade structure can come close to its efficiency and longevity.

Heart Healthy Cooking Tips – Cook for the Heart

When it comes to keeping your heart healthy, your diet is critical. Incorporating new cooking techniques can help you to improve your cholesterol and blood pressure, which in turn will reduce your risk of heart disease.

And if you learn to cook healthy for the whole family, you’ll lower everyone’s risk. Using healthy oils to cook is a great first step in improving your cooking. Olive oil and canola oil are the best oils because they’re monounsaturated.

This type of fat actually helps to lower cholesterol and make your heart and blood vessels work more efficiently. Anytime you need to cook in oil, you should use this type. As often as possible, you should try methods of cooking besides frying.

There are many options such as baking, broiling, and grilling that are healthier for your body, but still give great flavor to foods. As often as possible, you should add vegetables and fruits to your recipes.

For example, if you’re going to make an omelet, add tomatoes, peppers, or other vegetables to your eggs. Try using egg beaters, for a delicious scrambled egg with zero cholesterol. Adding the vegetables, increases the fiber content and the nutrition you get from your food.

People in today’s world are on the go all the time and it’s hard to fit cooking into your schedule. But cooking at home almost always is better for you than eating out. One way that you can make sure you get as many meals at home as possible is to double your recipes.

Use one part of the recipe to eat for the current meal and freeze the other part to be used another day. When you get home from a long day and don’t feel like making a big meal, you can simply heat up the food you cooked earlier.

Using lean meats is also an important technique for lowering your saturated fat. When you need to use beef for a recipe, choose cuts that are “round” or “loin” to keep the fat low.

Whenever possible, get low fat ground beef for cooking. Drain your meet of any excess oil in the pan, and I also take a paper towel to the meet to blot any oil before adding my healthy sauces. If you can make substitutions in your recipes, lean chicken and turkey often make more sense for your heart health than red meat but be sure to check the cut and nutritional information about the fat content on the label.

Many people make the mistake of eating bland food when they’re trying to get healthier. But you need to make sure that the food you cook is still delicious and appealing or you and your family won’t be able to stick to eating healthy. So make use of your spice cabinet and find flavorful recipes that you look forward to eating.

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