Though this page was written in 2010, it has been updated to the present day and time. Enjoy!
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After the turn of the century and within groups associated with Stop the Thyroid Madness, thyroid patients made a huge discovery–that many of them had an RT3 problem!
RT3 is the acronym for Reverse T3. Reverse T3 production is normal. It will occur if you have surgery, after a bodily accident, when having the flu and/or other stressful conditions. It’s your body’s way of moving out the excess T4 by converting it to more and more RT3, which in turn, lowers your metabolism.
But when thyroid patients have either low iron or a cortisol problem, up goes the Reverse T3. And why is that a problem? RT3 is not only inactive, but you might say it’s a T3 “antagonist”, binding to the same cellular receptor that T3 would have attached to, but now can’t. Thus, T3 will rise higher and higher in the blood–a condition we call pooling.
So what did patients learn to do? Find out the reason and treat it…and in the meantime, they lowered the RT3 by lowering the amount of T4 they were getting, or by being on straight T3.
And in 2010 came recall of one of the brands of T3 by Paddock.
PRODUCT
Liothyronine Sodium Tablets, USP 5 mcg, RX only, Net contents 100 tablets, NDC0574-0220-01, UPC code (01) 00305740220016. Recall # D-695-2010
CODE
Lot # 9C548
RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER
Recalling Firm: Paddock Laboratories, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, by letter dated May 18, 2010.
Manufacturer: Metrics Inc., Greenville, NC. Firm initiated recall is ongoing.
REASON
The recall is being conducted due to a stability failure at the 12 month timepoint; the assay value of this lot was found to be sub-potent.
VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE
11,064 bottles
DISTRIBUTION
Nationwide including DC and PR
Luckily, as the years went by, there continued to be other brands of T3 and new brands.
- Want to learn more about RT3 and the problems it can cause you?? You can read about it here on STTM’s Reverse T3 page, plus more details in the STTM book chapter on T3.
- Have you Liked the STTM Facebook page? Great place of daily information and tips!
- Like being informed?? Go directly to the STTM blog page and sign up for notifications at the bottom of any any page
- Need other thyroid patients to talk to? Go to the Talk to Others page.
- Have questions about what thyroid patients have learned? Check out the Question and Answers page.
Important notes: All the information on this website is copyrighted. STTM is an information-only site based on what many patients worldwide have reported in their treatment and wisdom over the years. This is not to be taken as personal medical advice, nor to replace a relationship with your doctor. By reading this information-only website, you take full responsibility for what you choose to do with this website's information or outcomes. See the Disclaimer and Terms of Use.
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20 Responses to “Recall of T3 tablets — 5 mcg. by Paddock Laboratories”
Blessings
I checked this site because I did great on the Sigma T-3, then when my pharmacy switched to the Mayne Pharma brand, it was like I was taking no T-3 AT ALL.
I realize each human body is unique, yet it is still startling to hear so many have the opposite experience to mine with these brands….
Janie Bowthorpe
There have been others who felt that way about Mayne…
Gail
I’m having the same reaction as you I feel like I’m not taking anything. Since I switch to this I am tired every single evening. My doctor even increase the dosage and it’s not doing very much. It’s hard to figure out however since I tend to have issues in the summertime anyway how much it’s the IV drug quality and how much is the summer heat. Please keep us posted
Janie Bowthorpe
Gail, please try chewing it up and then letting us know.
Toshka
Something prompt me to check the manufacturer on my T3 bottle this am. It’s Mayne Pharm. I called my pharmacist who looked thru my records and confirmed that my previous rx’s were Sigma which she said has been discontinued. Is this true?
Janie Bowthorpe
False. It’s just a distributor that provides it to your pharmacy that has decided to switch to Mayne.
Janie Bowthorpe
Blessings, can you try chewing it up and seeing how you do?
Dale
Did anyone have a better response with chewing the tablet?
I have been taking Brand Cytomel because Mayne produced Liothyronine was not working for me (I was doing okay on Sigma produced T3), however, Cytomel price has doubled in the last month $60 to $128 for 90 tablets. I am reluctant to go onto generic however the jump in the cost of Cytomel is a shock.
Lynn
I have always chewed my tablets & allowed them to dissolve sublingually (under the tongue). Despite doing so, I have had problems since being switched to the Mayne Liothyronine…all of my symptoms have come back…losing hair, super cold, incredibly fatigued, sleeping all the time & crying for absolutely NO reason.
Lynn
You have NO idea how happy I was to find this post! My local pharmacy just recently was taken over by a national chain & they switched my Liothyronine manufacturer to Mayne. I didn’t pay any attention to this until I started to feel AWFUL like I did before I was diagnosed & started treatment. That’s when I dug out an old bottle & compared manufacturers with my new bottle!
Unfortunately, I don’t have any of the old pills left to switch back to but I’m going to contact my doctor and/or pharmacy on Monday & see if I can get switched to another brand.
I always did very well on Paddock brand but haven’t seen any in quite awhile. Does anyone know if they’re still making it?
Carla
I cannot find Perrigo anywhere and it is the only brand of generic T3 I can take. Everyone has Sigma which makes me sick. What are we to do? The pharmacist suggested trying the brand name Cytomel but I hate to pay the high price if it might make me sick also. What are we to do?
Susan
I called Mayne Pharma to ask about ingredients, and they confirmed not only that there is no gluten or corn, but also no soy. They emailed me a PDF of the package insert for my review. The customer service rep was really great.
Karen
My pharmacy filled my last Liothyronine prescription with one from Mayne without telling me they were switching. I called Mayne at 800 344 8661 and spoke with someone named Carol who checked and said their Lio is both gluten free and corn free. I didn’t ask about Perrigo and recalls but was happy to get that ingredient information from Mayne. Hope this helps.
Lynn
Janie, this is what Perrigo said in response to my inquiry about the unavailability of liothyronine Sod 25mcg: “Thank you for contacting Perrigo Consumer Affairs. As of 31DEC2017, Perrigo no longer manufactures the Liothyronine Sodium Tablets. Beginning 01JAN2017, Mayne Pharma sells the product in their own NDC number. The new NDC number for the 25mcg is 51862-321-01.” I called Costco and told them the new number and they state it is “out of stock” with no availability date. I called Mayne Pharma at 252-707-6400 to find out if it is now available, and was told it has been recalled and she couldn’t tell me anything else and referred me to the Inmar Recall Response Company at 1-800-967-5952 where you must leave a message as no humans answer the phone. I am sure when they call back it will be a scripted response about the recall. Who knows when Mayne will have the new manufactured T3, but if I ever find out why it was recalled, whether they are changing the ingredients in the new batch (like adding gluten, etc.), or when it will be available in the future, I will let you know. If any of your readers know anything, that would be great too.
OzarkOllie
I was doing great on Sigma brand Liothyronine. My pharmacy switched to Paddock 3 months ago and it’s like I’m taking nothing at all. Every one of my symptoms is back. I can’t stop crying even though I have NO idea what I’m crying about. I will gladly pay more to go back to the Sigma because I’m miserable on the Paddock.
Sue
I love this brand. The paddock/perrigo brand is the only one I don’t have a reaction to. For a while I was on a dose that required a half pill and these are terrible to cut in half, they just crumble, but at least they work. I have to make sure my pharmacy orders the perrigo/paddock brand for me. If I don’t ask, they send me Sigmapharm, which is terrible for me. The fillers they use caused a terrible reaction – it started about 6 weeks after my first pill. By the way, the Sigmapharm are very easy to cut in half, but did not agree with me. I first had hormonal acne along my chin line – odd since I never had acne, even as a teen. I didn’t realize the cause so I kept taking the pills for 4 months. By the time I stopped taking them…and for months until my body recovered….I had awful cystic acne, my hair looked great, I had a terrible time keeping my weight normal and I am already too thin, I was getting hot flashes and yet was still cold all the time. I couldn’t think clearly and my emotional state was just crazy. I couldn’t take any stress at all, I always felt uptight and my asthma was out of control. I was panting (not as dramatic as a dog, but panting) and just could never catch my breath. It was awful. Then once I stopped it took about 2-3 months for my body to recover and things to go back to normal. It was awful for me on that brand. The brand of generic DOES matter and some mfg do use fillers that cause reactions of all types. Once I was on a generic birth control pill that caused hives, but other brands of generic (mfg) did not. The point to my story is that one generic is not always the same as another so it can be worthwhile to try different mfg if a particular drug causes side effects.
JB
Sue … I had the same problem when my 90-day went to sigmapharm from paddox generic. I had to pay for brand name, now I’m finding out that paddox is called perrigo, so I’m going to have dr write DAW for perrigo generic only. Express scripts says they will fill it that way then. Luckily I kept the old bottle that listed the pill mark number and the Express script pharmacist was able to tell it is now mfg/distributed by perrigo. I also felt horrible when I went to sigmapharm and it took me a couple of months to figure it out, it made me feel anxious and I had tinnitus really bad.
TheRealDeal
Is the Sigma Pharm brand not gluten free? I have been taking it.
I tried the Paddock generic, and while it is gluten free, I felt such a drastic change vs. the brand Cytomel, that I stopped taking Paddock. As in, I felt like I didn’t take anything. I felt sluggish and horrible. It just didn’t work for me 🙁 I also tried to take it sublingually and the tablet would just crumble and it was so powdery.
Julie
This medication has a filler in it that gives me heart arrhythmias. I have a really hard time making sure my pharmacy orders from a different lab.
Ed Mashek
Well this is just wonderful. I was on that at the time. So what are we as patients supposed to do about this? Seems if they were giving us bad medication something should be done about it, or at the very least given a refund.