Is Armour working…or not?

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Hello to my fellow hypothyroid-of-any-cause or Hashi’s patients!

Wow, I am steps away from 20 years (!!!) of making my focus about patient-reported experiences, observations, and wisdom!! Blows me away. ~Janie A. Bowthorpe, M.Ed.

Let’s talk about the desiccated thyroid brand called Armour.

I caught wind awhile ago that there seem to be strong, black and white rumors going around in some patient groups that today, Armour is working “FOR NO ONE”. Insert loud obnoxious voice: “FOR NO ONE!!” Black and white. Attention-getting end of story.

But to the contrary, there are opposite reports, too—others whose symptoms or labs prove it’s working for THEM still, even after picking up new prescriptions, one after another, and redoing labs to figure things out. So it’s not yet accurate to say it’s working for no one.

Rumor, rumor

Or there’s the recent rumor mentioned to me that I am “not caught up with what is going on”.  That made me laugh.  I’m still doing the same thing I’ve been doing for near 20 years…listening, evaluating, and reporting on consistent patient reports. The exception is that I’ve been delayed in getting this up due to having a very sick husband due to Agent Orange.

In fact, when anyone states “Janie is not caught up with what is going on”, in tandem with “It’s working for no one”, it’s basically insulting (do they realize this?) the body of hypothyroid patients who report and show excellent lab results and feel goods on Armour even still today. Because what I report is not about “Janie”. It’s about the patients who are reporting what they report. And it is definitely not consistent among patients that “Armour isn’t working for anyone”.

What about those whose labs strongly imply it’s not working like it used to??

It is also a fact, and I’ve seen them, that some have labs that make us very, very suspicious as to what is going on. They now have off-looking labs after having had perfect-looking “optimal” labs. Both!! I caught wind of that many weeks ago but have still been evaluating what I’m seeing from those patients, too, plus delayed due to what’s going on in my private life.

So this all leads to questions about what is going on when another body of patients go downhill on the same amount….

Is it a bad batch or two? Have some patients gotten the bad batch or a changed Armour, while others haven’t yet?? (We saw that happen with previous bad NDTs). Have the makers of Armour fallen to using crap porcine powder not made in the US? Is it just a matter of time?

The bottom line is this…

We do not have all the answers. Why? Because for those who have experienced that something is wrong with Armour (having had optimal labs, then their labs went to pot), others are expressing doing just fine with optimal labs to prove it. This needs to unfold to see….

  1. Why some find themselves with bad labs after having had optimal ones, yet…
    2. Others still have labs which are optimal.

And with that unfolding, it is clearly a reach (watch certain people overreact to THAT! lol) to state that at the current time, it works for “no one”. In fact and as stated, there is also still a clear body of people who have an optimal free T4 and free T3 on Armour with labs to prove it. That’s also why Stop the Thyroid Madness has a page about the gray areas of our experiences and observations.

Want to open-mindedly investigate all this?

Here’s what you can do so we can have better answers:

1) Keep an eye on your labs while on Armour to see which camp you fall in. That’s the free T4 and free T3, and comparing a before optimal set of frees to an updated one. BUT, it won’t be a strong comparison if you weren’t optimal before. If you have a midrange free T3, or a free T3 just above midrange, it does eventually backfire with fallen frees. Years of experiences have shown that for the majority. The individuality is when it backfires. https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/optimal Instead, the strong proof that Armour may have changed is when someone used to be optimal, then new labs on the same amount aren’t showing it at all anymore. I wish I knew the name of the guy who first revealed this to me weeks ago to thank him.

2) Watch your Reverse T3. (RT3) If RT3 goes above the bottom area of any range, it will become impossible to become optimal with your free T3 and free T4 over time. Then a backfire somewhere down the line. Here’s info about the RT3: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/reverse-t3

3) If you can, ask if there is a batch number you can be aware of for your latest prescription. Or another idea is that if you fall in the camp that once had truly optimal frees, but have them no more, let others know if you tried to raise Armour or not to get out of your current mess.

4) Report back to this post as to what you are seeing, discovering…without making black and white pronouncements that insult other’s experiences that are the opposite.

By the way…and bottom line

It’s also okay to use synthetic T4 with synthetic T3, or continue to use Armour if it’s working for YOU, or EVEN start it and watch those labs! You can still use this wise patient information in either use: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/optimal

Addendum: The bottom line message in this blog post is that it has clearly been an overreach to state it’s “working for no one!” at this early stage in patient expressions and questions as to what might be going on with Armour. All the latter is the point being made here. And NEITHER are we in a race. Is it possible that Armour will be better proven to have gone downhill? Of course. But let’s have more integrity in our approach about this, which I have always valued in my own approach as a Thyroid Patient Activist, because at the current day and time, it’s not yet as clear what is going on for “most” like it was with Naturethroid, WP, and NP. We are in a suspicious and exploration phase!

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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199 Responses to “Is Armour working…or not?”

  1. Kris

    I’ve noticed that my labs go down when taking 4 of the 15mg tabs vs. just 1 of the 60s. Why is that?

    Reply

  2. Barbie

    Can you take cytomel & armour thyroid at the same time?

    Reply

  3. Barbie

    Can you take armour thyroid together with cytomel’s generic (liothyronine sodium)?

    Reply

  4. Kim w

    Hi! Help pleeease!

    Been on armour for 20’years. I wanted to try my 60 mg as sublingual. Tried it for a week and tested. My labs dropped from free T3 3.8 to 2.8!! I thought even if it didn’t work sublingual, it would wind up in my stomach anyways and it would still stay the same. It’s like my saliva killed it!! And I didn’t get much of it at all.

    What happened?

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      60 mg is simply a starting dose from which we raise until we achieve this: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/optimal

      Reply

      • Kim

        I’m Sorry. I don’t understand your answer to my question as to why my labs went DOWN when I moved my 60mg from oral to sublingual. It’s been at 3.8 for a long time but as soon as I switched to sublingual, hardly any of it was absorbed.

        Reply

        • Janie Bowthorpe

          Your labs didn’t go down just from going from oral to sublingual. They probably went down because you are underdosed and the evidence finally hit. Sometimes the evidence of being underdosed takes time to hit someone.

          Reply

          • Kim wheeler

            Okay thank you. So what is the solution? Take more armour? When I take more, my labs go sky high. In fact, just the 2 weeks before, I increased my dose by 50% but it shot up to 5.4! I had to go back down to 60 mg. And got stable at 3.8.

            Then I thought I’d try sublingual- labs dropped to 2.8! I really think there’s something in the 60 mg tablet that doesn’t let it get absorbed sublingually…but it’s strange that my body didn’t get it all when it went to the stomach eventually.

            When i go back to swallowing it, labs go back up. It’s so strange

          • Janie Bowthorpe

            If you labs are going sky high, that is about this: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/pooling. Read it all. Don’t skim

            No, this is definitely not about something being wrong about the 60 mg tablet. Read what’s in the page that is linked.

  5. Kim w

    Wha do you mean that the thyroid medication “backfires”?

    Reply

  6. Crystal

    Hello! I just wanted to offer a citizen scientist report on Armour formulation irregularity issues. Four days ago, I started a new batch and the verrrrry familiar feeling of dizziness, exhaustion, heart palpitations, etc that I’ve come to recognize as formulation irregularities started almost immediately. I take a 1.5 grain pill at 7am and then supplement the rest of the day with 1/4 grain pills, for a total of 2.5 grains every day PLUS 17.5mg of T3. I’ve been on this protocol for about two years (see below for previous regimes) with no issues and excellent RT3 and T3 labs. I felt great. The new Armour pills are the 1.5 grain ones and I noticed that they seemed slightly different—less scent and drier. The second day of the new bottle, I felt very tired; the third day, the symptoms flared and I was completely indisposed. The fourth day, I took ONLY the older 1/4 grain pills (so I had to take a lot of them to make up my total) and—you guessed it—NO weird symptoms! Arrrgh. In 2009, I stopped Armour because of assimilation issues from the new formulation. I happily took compounded NDT for 12 years but in 2021 I experienced weird symptoms from the ‘same’ formula (from pharmacy I’d used all those years). And so I went back on Armour at a slightly higher dose and all was well…until Sunday. And it doesn’t look like any of the other brands will be available anytime soon. Sigh. Sadly, after 17 years on NDT, I don’t think I can take this lack of regularity and transparency anymore. Obviously, based on my experience of both compounded and manufactured NDT failing at random—and seriously disrupting my life—I have grown a bit afraid of what I’ll get month to month. I’m going to try T3 only. And if that doesn’t cut it, I’m going to try Tirostint+T3. The main reasons this really angers me are 1) NDT worked amazingly well until all these unacknowledged and unnecessary formulation changes and 2) I suspect there’s something in T1, T2, and calcitonin that it will turn out is crucial to thyroid functioning. The body does not make chemicals for no reason. My husband and I have joked that we should go into the organic porcine powder business just so I can get decent stuff to put in olive oil. What a shame no one seems to manage it now.

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      Hi Crystal. So that we can be careful with integrity before making a black and white assumption that we have a formulation issue, what was your most recent free T3, free T4 and RT3, with ranges plus date you did those tests? And can you do a screenshot of those results if I ask you to send the screenshots to me?

      Reply

  7. Pam

    3 ppl in our family is on Armour and all 3 recently had suppressed TSH and very low T3. I am only one w/o a thyroid. All 3 have our own Rx and filled about same time. Redo of bw showed still low. Is it the batch or the manufacturer? My Doc didnt think strange but offered to switch me – but what other med is available that works well?

    Reply

  8. renae mills

    I just got Armour prescription refilled 2/28/2022 (300mg size tab which I split in half; 150mg/day).
    Having quite a bad reaction every dose; dizzy and muscle aches. Has the formula been changed recently?
    Is there any way of finding this out. I am very gluten sensitive – and possible this is in product now??

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      It’s hard to know why sporadic reactions to Armour are reported here or there as you have honestly reported, even while others are doing well on it. And we also can never find out, without paying big bucks, if something like gluten got in a filler. 🙁 Sorry you are going through this.

      One thing to point out though: only 150 mg usually results in the vast majority not being optimal. Have you by chance tested your free T3, free T4 and RT3 on this?

      Reply

    • renae mills

      yes, I got labs last week and I am not optimal. FT3 is 3.8 (range 2.3-4.2); FT4 is 1.2 (range .8-1.8); TSH <.01 (range .40-4.5): Previously my FT3 runs at top of range when I feel my best. I have tried to increase (but kind of difficult to tell what I'm taking breaking this 300 mg tab up). But every morning now I get terrible dizziness and muscle aches shortly after taking Armour. Just got refill around 3 weeks ago. Feels like it is poisoning me…
      another interesting fact with my blood work – I had covid in Dec. : I tested D-Dimer and Fibrinogen (post covid blood test) D-Dimer high! .9 (range <.5). Fibrinogen normal. D-Dimer can be high with inflammation. Is the Armour causing inflammation?? or D-Dimer high left over from Covid??
      As everyone knows finding a doctor to address these somewhat weird issues they just have no clue – was told to reduce thyroid med because of TSH being too low…Jeez….

      Reply

      • Megan

        D-Dimer is definitely high due to COVID. It is probably long COVID. I had to completely change my thyroid meds after I got long COVID. The only way that I was able to get better from the long COVID was utilizing something called Craniobiotic Techniques (see if there is a practitioner near you who does that; otherwise I do know of some in Wisconsin); otherwise, there is something out there called the FLCCC protocol that you can follow!

        Reply

    • Traci Pierce

      Hi, Renae. I have the same side effects…slight dizziness and MORE muscle aches…Armour has really aggravated my Fibromyalgia. I was on Nature-throid for 10 yrs…did great. Had to switch to Armour b/c Nature-throid was discontinued — and Armour sucks. I am seeing my doctor in a week and will switch to a T3 med. Armour is causing probs. Scratchy throat, muscle stiffness, lump in throat, itchy skin. You are not alone.

      Reply

    • Anne

      I have same symptoms but I didn’t put two and two together with armour thyroid…yes…I have same symptoms and starting to think it is the Armour thyroid!!

      Reply

    • Hiro Shimono

      Armor has been bought out twice so far and wonder about its quality now. I noticed it doesn’t work as well as it used to? I am on 180 MG

      Reply

  9. Karen williams

    Just a heads up s pharmacist told someone on my thyroid group that armour changed it’s ingredients s year ago. Adding more cellulose and another one he couldn’t remember. People were having allergic reactions and constant dose adjustment. I am now going to get mine compounded. So here we go again. Good luck everyone.

    Reply

  10. L.A.

    Hi Janie and STTM friends,

    I don’t know what to do. I’m struggling so much with chronic fatigue and weight gain. I remember a doc allowing me to try Armour Thyroid a decade ago and then being like, “Wow, this is what normal feels like – this is great!” And then I was no longer under that doctor and no doc would let me try it again for another decade.

    So this last year my doc had me start with NP Thyroid. It was awful. Something was wrong with it – even gave me headaches.

    Now he has me on 60mg of Armour. At first it seemed like it helped, and now I’m not even sure if it’s helping or hindering. I’ll have to go off of it to see if I notice a difference and which one it is. A lot is going on to cause me to feel fatigued so it’s kind of hard to tell. I wondered if it should be increased and I secretly tried doubling the dose to get through a work day and it seemed to help, but my doc says my labs are looking good and there’s no need to increase it so he just rewrote a 60mg prescription for the next 6 months.

    We do know my adrenals are suffering through so much stress. Before being pushed back to work, my cortisol levels were dangerously low. Now they are too high since I’ve returned to work. I am on a whole bunch of adrenal-supporting supplements and still so fatigued, to the point where I had to take off work again. We did find I am low on testosterone now (I’m female).

    Let me see if I can share some levels:

    Thyroxine/T4: 5.5 (previously 6.4 seven months earlier)
    Free T3: 2.7
    TSH: 0.290

    What other things can I share that may help decipher this puzzle of what’s going on? Otherwise, any thoughts are appreciated.

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      LA, 60 mg is just a starting dose from which we raise from by 1/2 grain every two weeks, slowing down in the 2-3 grain area to do labs. We are never meant to stay on 60 mg. https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/natural-thyroid-101

      Reply

      • L.A.

        Hi Janie,

        I’ve tried increasing my 60mg of Armour to 120mg. It’s been about a week, and while I was able to get some things done (which shows me I had a little energy), I still am not energized enough to work, not sleeping well, and muscles are tense, even causing me a headache right now. This could be from other factors as well, but today I’m not able to make it out of bed.

        On the average, have people been able to feel optimal on 120mg of Armour or is that usually still too low and should I increase it again? Or give it another week before raising it?

        Reply

  11. Garima

    Hi,
    I’ve been on 105 mcg of NP Thyroid for the last 1.5 years after being on Synthroid for 20 years for hypothyroidism. The initial 6 months were good but now my hypothyroid symptoms are all over the place. I have Hashimoto’s as well and have been working with a naturopath for the last year to try to correct some issues but have had minimal success. Here are my latest labs. Should I go back to Synthroid and ask to add in T3? I’m so tired of the recalls on the NP and just want something to work. How much T3 could I take. I have a host of other issues as well, estrogen dominance, EBV, candida.

    TSH: 1.23 (range of 0.4-4.5)
    Free T4: 0.9 (range of 0.8-1.8)
    Free T3: 2.8 (range of 2.3-4.2)

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      Hi Garima. That happens because you never got your frees optimal. Without them being optimal, a backfire is destined to happen, as you have experienced.. Study this page: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/optimal

      Reply

      • Garima

        Hi Janie,
        Thanks, I did read through that page on optimal levels. So, in order to get to that, I have to start at some dose of T4 and T3 and check every few weeks or months to see if I’ve reached it, even if I’m feeling good? If my treatment needs increasing, I would determine that based on whether my free T3 or free T4 is not in the optimal range yet? How do I know what dosage to start at? I’m working with a naturopath who hopefully will be ok with me experimenting but I’ve yet to find an endocrinologist who’s ok with changing doses even in the so-called ‘normal ‘ range of values. Thanks for your help.

        Reply

        • Janie Bowthorpe

          We use the two synthetics similar to how we’ve always used desiccated thyroid (NDT). A starting dose of NDT (one grain/60 mg) has 38mcg T4 and 9mcg T3 in it. With synthetics, we start somewhere close to those two amounts, based on the mcg of the T4 and T3 pills. Then we raise every two weeks or so by HALF that starting amount, slowing down the raises when we get similar to the 2-3 grain area of NDT, which would be equivalent to 76mcg T4/18mcg T3 to 114mcg T4/27mcg T3. We hold that for several weeks to allow full conversion of T4 to T3, then test free T4 and free T3. It’s also VERY important to test RT3 to make sure it’s NOT going up—should be in the bottom numbers of the range or below. DO NOT GO BY HOW YOU FEEL. You can feel good before the frees are optimal and thus end up seeing a backfire. It’s important to get optimal https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/optimal

          Reply

          • Garima

            Thanks Janie! Is it ok to start at such a low dose of T4/T3 when you’ve been on a higher NDT dose? My naturopath prescribed me with 25 mcg T4 and 5 mcg T3 and then increase after 2 weeks as you said. Will there be any negative side effects of such a low starting dose? I am on 90 mcg of NP Thyroid currently so will it be a huge issue if I immediately switch to 25/5 of T4/T3?

          • Janie Bowthorpe

            This is a reply to your Nov. 11th question, even if it falls before it.

            I missed what you have been on. If we are on a certain amount of NDT, and want to move to T4/T3, we move to the equivalent. So 90mg of NDT is equal to 57mcg of T4 and 13.5 mcg of T3 (based on one grain equaling 38/9mcg of T4/T3). And since we have rarely seen anyone be optimal on such a low dose, we’ll start moving up and test the free T4 and free T3 (but we have to wait a few weeks to see T4’s full conversion to T3.)

  12. Emily J

    Janie,
    I am on 180 mg Armour, I raised from 150 mg in early June. I was not aware of any Armour issues at the time. Armour is still working well for me at this point, but I may be because I raised my dose a few months back!
    Here are the lab results I’ve had from 2021: February 2, April 30, and September 30. On Feb 2 and April 30, I took my full dose of Armour 24 hours before the test, but on September 30, I took 1/2 the dose 24 hours before test and the other 1/2 12 hours before the test. (I heard that was more accurate to split the dose the day before the test, but it likely shows a higher FT3.) Feb 2 TSH .01, FT4 1.1 (range 0.8-1.1), FT3 3.8 (2.3-4.2), April 30 TSH .01, FT4 0.9, FT3 3.8; Sept 30 TSH .01, FT4 1.1, FT3 4.4 THANK YOU for making us aware of this new NDT issue!

    Reply

  13. Fatma Zarrougui

    Hmmm I think I know which black and white statements making group you’re refering to as I was just kicked out and banned from it without even being given a reason why. One of the admins replied to a comment I made but then immediately blocked me, so I was not able to see her comment or defend myself, and she was then free to have the last word and probably make me look like an idiot. How childish. Funny how I initially thought that group was about helping patients, seems it’s more about bullying and ridiculing them for what they have to say. Anyways at least I have your book which completely changed how I see hypothyroidism and how I will treat it from now on, thanks to you Janie !!!

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      There is definitely a group that I have heard repeatedly now bullies its members and bans them. The problem is that leaders in some groups let it get to their heads, sadly, and become that way. I’m so glad you have the book. It’s all in there.

      Reply

  14. Felicia

    I have Hashimotos. I was on Synthroid for years and switched to (125 mg) about a year ago after my insurance stopped covering. My labs were ok – just a little out of range but close. My doctor switched me to Armour to try. I took 60 mg of Armour for 6 weeks and repeated labs. I was feeling terrible. Extreme exhaustion, nausea, headaches. My TSH went from 0.12 to 15! Dr thinks I may not be absorbing? Started NP today to try that for 4 weeks. If that doesn’t work, back to Synthroid.

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      60 mg/one grain is just a starting dose from which we raise by 1/2 grain/30 mg every two weeks or less, slowing down in the 2-3 grain area to do the free T4, free T3, and RT3. Because you’ve stayed on just a starting dose so long is why this is happening.

      And there are still too many people reporting problems with NP. It was always about RAISING that Armour until you find the amount that achieves this: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/optimal

      Reply

  15. Tracey Schmiedt

    This has been an interesting read. The labs below were done in August. No RT3. Lab order was screwed up. Currently was on 3.5 to 4 tabs of 60mg of Armour. Trying to tweak that sweet spot. Been going great for close to a year – even with gallbladder removal in April. Was losing weight, hair was great. Still brain foggy a bit.(probably menopause related) Vit D great for first time ever etc. Literally, right after these labs, I renewed my prescription and immediately noticed the change in Armour. Different taste, size of pill etc. Within a couple weeks my hair has started to fall out – worse than I have ever experienced – had a hair cut yesterday and started to cry when my person showed me how much hair came out. And of course the immediate weight gain. Like 5lbs in a week. Both are my go to hypo symptoms. Now debating what to do? Change back to NP thyroid? Go to synthetic? or go back to compounding. UGH! I’m so mad right now.

    FT4 1.6 (.82-1.77)
    FT3. 5.1 (2.0-4.4)
    TSH 0.005

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      Yes, you seem to be in the camp that picked up a strange batch. And your frees are now very high! 1.6 for FT4 means it’s going to start converting to RT3 to clear out the excess. FT3 is also high as if it’s pooling due to a cortisol problem. The best bet now is synthetic T4 with synthetic T3, imitating what’s in NDT. One grain = 38mcg T4 and 9 mcg T3, for example.

      One other possibility: your weight gain can be because your RT3 has gone up. Your hair loss can be from being overdosed. So another experiment you can choose is lowering the amount.

      All in all, this is the twilight zone when it comes to NDT.

      Reply

      • Tracey

        Thanks for input. Been a struggle to find the sweet spot. 3 gains – I tend to go hypoish, 4 is too much. I have always had conversion issues. Going back to synthetic might not be a bad idea. I can regulate the T4 and T3 individually . I bet I am pooling. Historically, (I have a fancy spreadsheet) it seems whenever my T4 goes above 1.0 or so, my RT3 starts to spike. But to add to it, my doctor prescribed me pregnenelone. I took the lowest dose for a week or so. Did not like it. This was about the same time I went hypo.

        Reply

    • Jay

      Did you receive these in a factory bottle or a prescription bottle?
      What is the expiration date on the bottle?
      What are the imprint letters on a pill when you look at one closely?

      Reply

      • Tracey

        AP is one one side, other is 330. This in a prescription bottle. Expiration is 9/7/22. Are you seeing a pattern?

        Reply

        • Jay

          AP on one side and 330 on the other??? I just googled a picture of those pills and it says that it is NP………..NOT Armour.

          Reply

          • Tracey

            what the deuce. You are right. Not sure why they changed me. ugh. I’ll have to call the pharmacy and see when that happened. We had talked about switching, but dr said he wanted to wait and try the pregnenolone.

  16. Angela Frye

    Here is my two cents’ worth. Armour is working…inconsistently. I’ve had lots where I felt reasonably well, with good labs and lots where I did not. Right now, on a lot that I began taking in late July, I’m having a return of the PAC’s and flutters that I had on the NP batches that were recalled for super-potency. I didn’t have a cortisol problem then, nor do I now and, quite frankly, I’m inordinately pissed that I’m having to go through another cautionary period so that I don’t, as I did on NP, end up in the ER with an a-fib incident as I did in fall of 2019

    I also have seen my RT3 drop and I have a theory that we’re either getting inferior raw material in all of the brands at one time or another a/o the companies are boosting the raw material with T3. Raw thyroid product should contain some element of RT3 and I’ve almost always had it be good to borderline high, never low..except on what I experience as problematic batches.

    I am the originator of both the RLC/Nature-throid and NP/Acella petitions. I also, upon extremely unsatisfactory response from both companies, contacted the FDA regarding the apparent inconsistent potencies. Turns out I/we were correct to do so.

    One woman observed that her “long systolic” BP was elevated on Armour. I had the same problem concomitant with the PAC’s on NP, and now on Armour with excellent BPs prior to these issues and excellent BPs on my last compounded batch. Something’s wrong here and it needs to get fixed. The lawyer out in California who was suing Acella told me that there were associated deaths. Nothing to play around with. Particularly in a pandemic situation where overloaded healthcare systems are the rule, not the exception.

    Reply

    • Amy

      This has been my (recent) experience with Armour as well. I’ll pick up a new refill/a month’s worth, feel pretty good & pull decent labs then another month or so later it’s an entirely different story and I go downhill/feel crappy again. Super annoying! Armour does seem to be somewhat inconsistent in potency at times. Thank you for starting those petitions and sharing what info you know. Can’t believe what happened with those people on NP…terrible and just shouldn’t be the case. I thought I was going to die on it also…worst experience on a thyroid med ever!

      Reply

      • Janie Bowthorpe

        Amy, can you reply with those decent lab results and ranges?

        Reply

      • Angie F.

        You’re welcome. I have had to cut my dose to reduce PACs, which is annoying as hell. I had pharmacist give me a new lot, but the problem hasn’t abated.

        I’m filing an adverse event report next week. Again, this is the exact same problem I had on the super-potent NP.

        Reply

        • Janie Bowthorpe

          Angie, give us your free T3, free T4 and RT3 with ranges so we can learn.

          Reply

          • Angie F.

            I plan to run labs tomorrow. But, they were not all that remarkable when I had the same issue with NP EXCEPT a couple of hours post administration. (This in the ER.). So, there’s something else afoot. A contaminant or something else going on.

          • Angela Frye

            So. Labs are back. These are the result of my cutting meds back by 1/4 grain due to excessive PAC’s.

            TSH – 0.10 (.4-4.5)
            FT4 – 0.8 (.8-1.8)
            FT3 – 2.8 (2.3 – 4.2)
            RT3 – 11 (8-25)
            TPO – 13 (< .9)
            Thyroglobulin <1 (<1)

            Even at THIS dose, PACs, while decreased a bit, were still prevalent. I did do Ulta' "anemia" panel which was mostly unremarkable, but sat a bit on the low normal; transferrin/TIBC high normal, and iron itself high normal.

            A switch to compounded meds (which also feel strong) has eliminated the PAC's for the most part. This leads me to believe, as I have, that we're getting a T3 and perhaps T4 as well "dump" in some of these batches (look at TSH despite low normal frees) indicating a problem with fillers or a/o contaminated raw material. I also wonder if the raw material is being supplemented with synthetics, due to the cost and relative unavailability of thyroid hormone. I wanted to have these labs back before adverse event reporting. I'd like to add that my labs in May on a higher dosage looked much better with no PACs being experienced, a LOWER RT3, with only TPO Abs being slightly higher.

            It may be that the inconsistency we're seeing with pt labs and Armour may well be due to the inconsistent levels of hormone over a 24 hour period. I usually abstain from am meds and test around 11:00A for consistency's sake. We have to drive about 45 min to a Quest or LabCorps location if I order my own labs.

          • Janie Bowthorpe

            Hi Angela. I want to start out saying that I have seen some strangeness myself from some patients on Armour even while others are still doing well. It’s all bizarre.

            But we also have to evaluate this better to figure it out.

            For example, it is not unusual to see TSH that low even still, especially if you’ve been on a higher dose. TSH is sensitive to T3 in our treatment, but it’s also slow to rise back up. So your TSH is not that odd.

            Second, you can have pacs or palps from having low frees, which you have. You didn’t mention from what dose you decreased the 1/4th grain from. But pacs or palps could have happened because your previous dose was also too low and keeping you hypo, as well. It is not uncommon.

            Third, your Ulta anemia panel was in fact ‘remarkable’, not ‘unremarkable’, if your % was low (a low % would also mean low iron) and tibc was high (which also points to being in a low iron state.) And you mention your iron being ‘high normal’, which is not where it’s meant to be. And it being ‘high normal’ with that high TIBC means your iron labs can be pointing to a methylation problem, which this page explains: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/mthfr. It means a high normal iron level equals not being broken down for use due to the methylation problem, putting you in a low iron state. That can also explain your palps.

            You stated that the compounded meds also feel strong. Feeling strong can mean that all this time, you may also have a cortisol problem underlying all of this, with the methylation problem you may have, not necessarily that your batch of Armour is inconsistent.

          • Janie Bowthorpe

            Also, no, your RT3 was not reasonable. It’s moving up. Please know that I have never doubted that some patients are potentially experiencing bad batches. But you are not recognizing the other issues you have that could also have caused all this. Plus, I’m not getting the idea that you were ever optimal with your frees. If so, everything backfires with a bad return of hypo, plus more stressed adrenals.

          • Angela Frye

            Janie: I think we can all agree by now that the “strangeness” exists across the board with ALL manufacturers now. And I’d like to reiterate that if the suppliers of raw material are providing inconsistent or inferior product, then regardless of MTHFR mutations, cortisol issues (which are, with these inconsistencies, chicken or egg by now), until the problem is corrected, we’ll be forever chasing a moving target.

            I have no issues with the lowered TSH and I’m not clear on why you’re bringing that up. My observation was that it continued to be relatively low despite lowISH Free T3 and Free T4. Please know that I’ve been at thyroid replacement as long as you have, am familiar with most of the ins and outs and have a single copy of the MTHFR gene mutation and am watchful of the problem. I NEVER experienced PACs or A-fib until the NP late fall batches.

            These are not “palps” that I’m having, they are frequent, documented by ECG, PAC’s and past a-fib. Data and research have shown that these tend to be associated with higher circulating levels of thyroxine IF they are thyroid related at all, which they may or may not be in this case. What I can tell you for sure and for certain is that despite my current compounded med feeling “strong”, they (PACs) seem to be on the wane. So, again, that would seem to indicate that this isn’t a pt issue so much as it is a med issue. Under NO circumstances will I go back on either of the two recent problematic fills with Armour and raise. I’ve got better things to do than spend my time in a COVID-laden and stressed ER. In addition, even on the problematic Armour, decreasing the meds decreased, but did not eliminate the PACs. If this were an insufficient med issue the opposite would have been the case.

            I’ve already addressed the cortisol issue. And I’ve got a slightly older batch of compounded I can test that theory with pretty quickly and will do so today. I’ve asked the pharmacy in question, which I trust pretty implicitly, to investigate.

            All in all, this exchange is reminiscent of our conversation during my and others’ experience with NP, which we know by now had batches recalled for superpotency. As I’ve already stated, I’ve been at this a long time and I don’t think it’s reasonable to assume that cortisol or methylation issues suddenly appear with the administration of a new refill of medicine and disappear with another.

            My RT3 is fine at around 100. I don’t tend to experience any problem until I begin to hit around 130-140. Then, I simply get depressed. And, for the record, other than the PACs, I wouldn’t have had much clue that anything was wrong. Energy, strength, motivation, and sleep all good.

          • Janie Bowthorpe

            Angela, I think there is a failure to really listen to what I’m explaining to you. I totally agree that there has been strangeness across the board with NDT. But saying “across the board” hasn’t yet meant that Armour is as profoundly “across the board” the way Naturethroid was, the way WP was, the way the 2019 NP was. We are still having reports from a strong body of people who are doing great with Armour. We definitely did not have a strong body of people by this time who were still doing well on those. Thus, that leaves the importance to be more open that “strangeness” can also be due to other issues.

            I also included the word palps with pacs because in some people, both descriptions are used.

            We simply aren’t doing this exploration with wisdom by ignoring symptoms or labs which can happen even with a working NDT, not just with a badly working NDT. In your case, your RT3 is moving up. That can happen due to issues not related to a bad batch, and we have to consider it. Your Ulta anemia panel was in fact ‘remarkable’, not ‘unremarkable’—your high TIBC with high iron can point to an active methylation problem, which puts you in a “low iron state” and symptoms to match, not necessarily a bad batch of Armour.

            You stated that the compounded meds also feel strong. Feeling strong can mean that all this time, you may also have a cortisol problem underlying all of this, and not a cortisol problem that you have adequately addressed as you state you have. And having a cortisol problem seems to be still going on when you stated “Even at THIS dose, PACs, while decreased a bit, were still prevalent.” That doesn’t at all necessarily point to a bad batch of Armour. It can also point that you having a cortisol problem is still causing issues no matter what you are on.

            And no, Pacs or Afib can happen with a cortisol problem. We see that constantly over the years.

            And finally, I’m not seeing you show that you were ever truly optimal with your frees. Thus a backfire can happen, not necessarily an inconsistent batch of Armour.

            In summary, could your symptoms and labs be due to a bad batch of Armour? Yes! But they can also strongly be due to cortisol issues which are now rearing their ugly head and are not adequately treated, to having never been truly optimal thus a backfire, to something causing your RT3 to have an upward trend (there are three main causes, we note, that have nothing to do with a bad batch of Armour), to being in a low iron state which causes symptoms, and the fact that you have lowered your meds so severely.

            If Armour is ever recalled, we will have much better proof that it’s across the board. But at this moment in time, it’s not as strong as it was with NP, Naturethroid or WP.

            I think we have both presented our points, and it’s now getting redundant. So consider what I said, and I on my end will wait until we have far more people, far more connection to Armour that something is wrong, than we have now. Someday, someday….

          • Angie F.

            Restarted a June batch of compounded on Saturday. PACs have nearly disappeared. No feeling like my socks are being knocked off either. So, so far so good.

    • Karen

      Angela I remember you well. I also am having bad issues with armour. I called and reported the batch a couple of months ago same thing as with accella.nothing. I have been on armour a year and been in the er multiple times and admitted to the hospital three times. I have lost a lot of weight from stomach issues, I now weigh only 85 lbs. But my number say hypo. But one lab came back ft3 was high. Go get these jerks I have nothing left to take.

      Reply

      • Janie Bowthorpe

        Karen, you have to rule out if your problem is due to Armour “revealing a cortisol problem”, not necessarily the Armour itself being the sole problem. A high Free T3 points to pooling, which is a cortisol problem. https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/pooling. And this: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info

        Reply

      • Angela Frye

        Second submission. First either has not been yet or was not approved by moderator for some reason. Karen feel free to email me. I’ve asked Janie to provide my email or you can find it via the Acella/NP and RLC/Nature-throid petitions. Sorry you’re having to experience these problems as well.

        Reply

        • surfette

          Angie F. How can I talk to you about getting compounded NDT? I am convinced Armour is not working for me either. I am getting palps all the time, despite lowering my dose. I have been to the ER too. Can you provide your email? I don’t know how to find those petitions.

          Reply

          • Janie Bowthorpe

            Kate, it’s fine if you want to go to compounded. But there is also the possibility that you are getting palps due to being underdosed https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/optimal or due to having a cortisol problem https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info. Just want to cover all bases.

          • surfette

            My cortisol was tested and was fine. My labs were just taken and yes, my free T3s and 4s are a bit low, and TSH high. But I don’t understand how this could cause palps and anxiety. I need some science behind it before i go upping my dose. It is very counterintuitive and the palps scare the heck out of me. I need to know why low thyroid makes my heart flutter and gives me panic attacks like the one I’m having right now.

          • Janie Bowthorpe

            It’s not about blood cortisol. Blood measures mostly bound, unusable cortisol. We always need a saliva test, which also measures 4 key times in a day which is important. Saliva is also measuring UNbound, USEable cortisol. https://saliva-cortisol.squarespace.com/

          • Janie Bowthorpe

            Also, low frees keep you hypothyroid, which in turn stresses your adrenals. Stressed adrenals release adrenaline, which causes heart palps.

  17. SP

    Hi Janie,
    Just had thyroid labs done and everything is checking out just fine but I’m not feeling 100%.
    I’ve been on armour since the 2020 naturethroid recall.
    Is naturethroid still recalled? And if so, do we have any idea when it may come back? Is anyone on it and feeling good?

    Reply

  18. CHRISTA FAZZI

    My husband switched to Armour when WP became unavailable – probably a year ago. He is feeling okay, not spectacular. But his recent labs were confusing to me as I can’t find anything on the website about LOW RT3? He is still trying to get optimal after a few years (he does have a severe iron deficiency issue that we actively work on daily), but i have never seen the low RT3. RT3 is <5 (8-25 range), T3 3.3 (2.3-4.2) and FT4 0.7 (0.8-1.8) with 60 mg Armour and 12.5 mcg T3. The dr, always complains his TSH is too low of course 0.23 (.40-4.5) Is this an "armour" thing? He did so well on WP before it went south!!!!

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      He’s definitely far from optimal.

      Below range RT3 appears to be fine in our current knowledge.

      Whenever T3 is in our treatment, even that in armoir, it’s very normal for the TSH to go low and even lower than his when he finally gets those frees optimal. Our own correct dosing takes over the job of the TSH. Doctors are confusing our low TSH with the low TSH of Graves disease. With Graves, the TSH goes quite low because the frees are quite high… way higher than ours are.

      Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      No issue with a low RT3. It’s in fact a celebration.

      Reply

  19. Amy U

    Today I just picked up a refill of Armour and the description here by Janet is exactly how my new tablets look different. This is compared to the old tablets from the last time I picked them up, in June. Wasn’t there a survey on Facebook on this changed Armour issue about 6 weeks ago or so? I couldn’t find it. I’m in Wisconsin. I have a lot number for the new changed tablets, W04898.

    Reply

  20. Dee mc

    It is not just a matter of blood work, but how you are feeling.
    Right now I am feeling terrible on Armour – extreme back, joint pain, sleep all the time, in a fog, can’t concentrate, retaining water (gained 10 pounds in a week), loss of balance. I was previously on Nature Thyroid (2 years ago) and was not aware they were having problems. I experienced all the above problems, and am concerned since I suffered a serious stroke 2 years ago while on the Nature Thyroid and was on a decline for 3 months not realizing what was happened. I called my pharmacy (CVS and Acella, the manufacturer), both assured me it was only NP that was recalled, but my symptoms are VERY similar to my situation of two years ago. It is a serious matter when the company and manufacturer do not believe the patient symptoms. Time to take legal action if they are so fllippant.

    Reply

  21. Judy

    Hi. I’m thinking of going synthetic. What do you think of bio identical t3? Not slow release. Do you think it’s the same as the generic brands

    I know it’s a preference. Don’t want cytomel too expensive

    What’s your opinion
    Thanks
    Judy

    Reply

  22. Diane

    I wonder if the covid vaccine is interfering with thyroid levels. I would be curious if those saying it doesn’t work have had the covid jab. It is known to saturate particular organs, such as ovaries, so I don’t doubt it would affect all hormones.

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      The vaccine is shown to be so safe for the vast majority that it could be more about having COVID itself.

      Reply

    • Cris

      No, Armour was going downhill long before a vaccine was even available. I am one of the few that went hypo after being optimal for 3 years straight. I thought my weight gain was from the crap I ate during lockdown but turns out my Armour made my labs out of wack.

      Suppressed TSH started climbing out of the 0’s.
      RT3 climbed and FT3 dropped below mid range.
      FT4 went below range

      I’m anti-vax and normally would think you’re onto something but the timing is way off for it to be related in all these people who went hypo. Plus, you can’t mistake the difference in the pills in how they look, smell and taste for those of us still doing it sublingual.

      Reply

  23. Jen

    Hi there,
    I switched from Naturethroid to Armour recently & hypo symptoms started right back up. I read on another STTM post about grinding Armour into a powder & mixing it with a smidge of sugar. I started doing that & noticed an immediate improvement. I had my labs run & my dr raised my dose slightly. Grinding it up & raising a little bit has made a world of difference. I do think there must be something about the solid pill that is hard for me to digest. If you are having a similar issue, you could try these 2 things & see if they help you.

    Reply

  24. Josanne Vandekerkhove

    I had some old leftover 120 mg that the pharmacy accidentally gave me of my Armour Thyroid RX. I compared the smell of those with the new ones and there is no blood smell in the new bottles! Ugh! I was finally feeling normal again and now it’s back to symptoms and the taste is like eating powder with no iron taste anymore. That is usually how I tell if it’s potent or not. This new batch is crap! Why do they keep changing this upon us and why do they keep taking away vital meds for us like all the other NDT pills such as Westhroid!??

    Reply

  25. Karen H

    Is there any downside to crushing the Armour Thyroid tablets and swallowing them crushed with water to try for better absorption? Thanks!

    Reply

  26. Jen

    I started Armour 2 weeks ago after being on Naturethroid for several years. So far, I do not feel well on it. If anyone has felt better on it after raising, could you share how much you raised it by? I have read of people having to raise it as much as 60 to get back to feeling normal again.

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      Jen, how much are you on?

      In a fair exploration of whether your current Armour is working, or is not working, it’s also important to know about being optimal, and to see if you can achieve it. Have you read this: https://stopthethyroidmadneess.com/optimal? It’s important.

      As far as raising, it’s individual what amount will achieve what is in the optimal article above.

      Reply

  27. Brenda L Dean

    I have had a thyroidectomy in 2009, I have yet been optimal. I was however feeling pretty good on the Armour until November 2020 when I started feeling like I was on the crazy train, I had no focus, I was angry and irritable, my joints hurt, I had zero drive to do anything. I dropped back 1/4 grain taking me to 2 1/2 grains and I seemed to feel better but still not quite right. Now as time has gone by I am right back to the angry, irritable, non sleeping, painful joints that I had back in November. Out of no were I hit the wall the other day, if you even considered looking at me wrong I would take your face off, and after I did I felt like crap for doing it, I have joint pain, anxiety to the extreme, my entire body shakes internally, I can not hold a focused thought or conversation. I have requested to change over to synthetic however I am concerned on how long it is going to take for the synthetic to kick in. From what I am reading it is 6 weeks for Synthroid to work and 2-3 days for Cytomel to take affect, so what do I do in the in between time why I wait for these to start working. And then there is the Dr. who has no idea what dosage to give me so she started me out at 112 of Synthroid and 2.5 of Cytomel 2 times a day. I have no idea if this is correct, I feel like I am about to go on a miserable ride here that I can not control and truthfully I don’t know of it was even the Armour that created the issue to begin with

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      Hi Brenda. Sorry you are going through this. Since you admitted to not being optimal, it actually sounds like you just crashed due to not being optimal. It appears the majority of us do eventually crash from maintaining a non-optimal dose. The individuality is when. And it’s also suspicious that you have a cortisol problem from not being optimal. So in the spirit of exploring all aspects of this topic, you might want to explore this page: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info If the info on the page makes you suspicious as well, you’ll see a link to order a saliva cortisol test, too. If you do now have a cortisol problem, you can treat it (see chapter 6 in the updated revision STTM book), then try raising again.

      And none of the latter means you can’t switch over to the two synthetics, But doing so won’t change the cortisol problem is you do have one now from being underdosed.

      Reply

  28. Amanda

    Add another in the happy with Armour because it’s working for me camp! I was once given generic NDT instead of Armour and it was awful – I had to tell the pharmacy they can’t do that ever again even if it might save me $$ I’m happy to pay for what is working!

    Reply

  29. Renee

    I’ve been on Naturethroid for about 7 years but was switched to Armour last September after having a partial thyroidectomy (naturethroid became impossible to get in my area). Things felt really good and on point this past spring and I was so hopeful that Armour would be great for me. About a month ago I started noticing familiar issues with unregulated thyroid issues (hair loss, brittle nails, crushing fatigue) so I had labs drawn two weeks ago. My TSH was 0.03 and my T3 was 4.8. I’d just gotten this email two days prior and decided I wasn’t going to mess around anymore and had my practitioner prescribe Synthroid. I’ve been on it for almost a week and am looking forward to my next labs (and feeling more human)!

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      Renee, I think you better read this before assuming that Synthroid was a good choice: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/t4-only-meds-dont-work

      Also, it’s worth exploring that you’ve been underdosing armour, and thus experiencing the crash. The The vast majority of us end up crashing if we were never optimal with our frees.

      And it’s also worth exploring that your higher free T3 may be the result of now having a cortisol problem due to having been underdosed, plus once on naturethroid. Free T3 will go high in the blood, not making it to the cells, due to a cortisol problem. Explore this page carefully in the investigation: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info

      Reply

    • Cathy

      You could try adding T3 to the Armour and then slowly increasing the dose by 5 mcg every week until u get to maybe 50 mcg if u can tolerate it. Then you can switch the Armour for T4/Synthroid maybe at a starting dose of 50 mcg. Just an idea as am by no means an expert and am struggling myself.
      I slowly added T3 to my Armour planning to do the above and then my doctor suggested an all T3 regimen. I did not experience the rough transition I had expected when i replaced the 2 grains of Armour with additional T3. (Was on 2 grains of Armour with 50 mcg of T3) I had been expecting to feel terrible for the transition. I actually felt relief as the horrendous migraines that i only had on Armour finally stopped and i had a bit more energy. However, an all T3 regimen also has challenges and I am still struggling to become optimal and considering eventually adding Tirosint.

      Reply

  30. Rae Sanders

    I have been losing energy and hunger steadily since January. My labs were optimal in December, and I was taking 3/4 of an armour thyroid 90mg pill, which I have been on for 4 years since NP thyroid quit working. Since January, I have started feeling increasingly tired and losing hunger. I did not consider that the armour thyroid was the issue until I saw the recent posts and video. However, I realized my fatigue corresponded to when I got a newer batch of armour in January (my insurance will not cover so I purchase a 90 day for $140 via CVS mail order.)

    To investigate, I decided to use the extra pieces I had left from the pre-January bottle. Taking 3 of the 1/4 remnants over the past 4 days, I have immediately noticed a difference. I was able to lightly exercise the past 2 days, less brain fog, and less constipation.

    I am excited that I might have found a contributor to my energy decline, but now so uncertain what to do?!! I don’t have many of the pieces left. NP thyroid is out, now armour is out? Where do we go?!!

    Synthetic? or compounding!! Golly, I know the world has been upended by COVID, but it’s not like our NDT struggles are new. This is getting old. I just want something that works so I have enough energy to not need to take a nap 4 hours into the day.

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      Rae, there is a possibility to explore….that you simply need to raise the current armour and see what happens.

      You see, we have learned twice over the years that when the makers of armour change the coating, or change the pill press, we discovered we needed to chew it up to get good results, or in some cases, raise it, or both.

      Reply

      • Rae Sanders

        Thanks for insights. I was taking the full 90mg before, but my doctor (a naturopath!!) thought my TSH was too low and lowered to 3/4ths, but even after lowering, I still felt okay until the newer batches.

        Took the last of the remaining ‘good’ pieces today, sigh.

        The issue is that I also have anxiety, so when I do feel hyper if I raise, it’s rather uncomfortable. At this point, I would rather just maybe switch to synthetic T4 + T3 to get some stability/predictability, NDT over the past decade has been a constant struggle (except those glorious several years when WP thyroid was just great).

        Do we ever consider dosing by weight? I’m 5’5″ and ~115 pounds. Have actually lost weight since armour quit working well, because I get constipated and then feel too bad to eat.

        Thanks as always.

        Reply

  31. Amber

    I’m a complete thyroidectomy. I’m new to Armour as of 2 months ago. Starting dose was 120. I was on 150 mcg of Synthroid prior to. Honestly, I didn’t have a lot of issues with Synthroid other than some mild brain fog. I heard Armour may help with that so I’ve decided to try it. After 1 month my TSH dropped to 0.13 and my free T3 was 4.4. My dose has been dropped to 90 for the past 2 weeks. My complaint is this ridiculous ocular problem. Feels like blurry vision. What is going on? I’m ready to go back to my Synthroid but get nervous about no T3. HELP!

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      If armour was dropped due to the low TSH, biggggg mistake. It is perfectly normal for the TSH to go quite low with T3 in our treatment.

      Reply

    • Shelley Ross

      I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. After TT I had Follicular and papillary cancer with spread to lymph nodes. I was told suppressing TSH for first 5 years was important to prevent a recurrence of the cancer.

      Reply

  32. Eric

    I’ve been in contact with Allergen. The medical information department doesn’t even know where the ingredients actually come from according to the person I’ve spoken with on several occasions. They are only told it’s made in the states in Cincinnati. The quality control person told me a bit more by stating it used to come from China but they stopped it. According the another person working at Allergen the pigs that they use come from Canada, Mexico and Europe. I went on the USDA website and found tons of information; long story short it’s all about trade with China. So most of all pig and the parts we don’t eat are sent out of the states. For those of you that it works for I am glad it does. That is a positive that we all need to see. I tried again and it is really weak. I have taken it for over a decade. Prior to this last try it would give me all kinds of symptoms. I am in Texas. Janie, thank you and keep doing the good things you’re doing.

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      Interesting and crazy information they gave you. And schizophrenic!! We are in crazy times.

      Reply

    • Linda

      Humana, supplemental pharmaceutical coverage, stopped paying for Armour prescriptions & insisted on sending 90 tablets from their pharmacy with a bill of $160.00. I can’t take the pills at all. The side effects are severe itching, head to toe, and hair falling. I’ve cut the pill in half, even in quarters, taking 1/2 or 1/4. Doesn’t matter. side effects are the same. I assume I’ve received a bad batch. Has anyone had the same problem? (My last labs were good, not optimal, but no side effects. I’ve called my physician and I’m going to the pharmacy to pick up more Armour to see if the side effects are the same.)

      Reply

      • Janie Bowthorpe

        $160 for only 90 tabs?? That’s crazy. And it sounds like blackmail i.e. “We won’t pay for Armour prescriptions anywhere, but oh, you can get it at OUR Humana pharmacy.” Your symptoms sound more like a reaction to a filler, but since it’s a new bottle, it does make you wonder. Do the tabs have an A on them?

        Reply

  33. Dawn

    Hi Janie,
    I hope you are well. In your educated opinion, how long do you think this is going to go on for? I remember well when Armour changed hands in 2009 and it did not work. I switched to NP and did so well on it. Armour came back, but it was never the same. I know this seems to cycle around every decade with issues with NDT, but I would have thought now over 2 years into this one, that it would have been resolved, and we’d all be back in our piggy bliss. There seems to be no end to this. Any thoughts on this? Just looking for a glimmer of hope. Thanks so much. Stay well.

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      Hi Dawn. I seriously have no idea how long this will be happening, or even why we have two opposite experiences among patients for awhile now. But the hope from the past sits in the fact that 2009 Armour improved eventually for several years. It strikes me that the pharmaceuticals need to be better
      informed in order to examine what they may be doing to some of their tablets.And the other hope is that we do have T4 with T3 that works well.

      Reply

      • Dawn

        Thanks Janie. I wish I had a crystal ball! This is beyond exhausting. I started Sigma Pharm T3. Having terrible headaches and conversations on repeat in my brain. Weird side effect. I have no choice but to continue with this. I know there’s worse fates in life, but something so unbelievably prevalent as thyroid disorders, you would think it was a piece of cake for these doctors and pharmaceutical companies to help manage the disorders. I’m a nurse, and sadly I do not trust MDs. It’s a needle in a haystack to find one that would just give you 5 minutes to really listen.
        Continued good health to you, and enjoy the summer! Thanks for all that you do! <3

        Reply

  34. Janet

    Hello! I received a new script this week and started it today – noticed that the pills are different. So of course I don’t have labs or symptoms to report yet. But here’s details on the pill differences. They are more tightly compact, seem to have a coating. Whereas the old pills were more fragile, loosely molded and you could see the wear and tear from bumping against each other. Old were easier to bite and dissolves quicker. I have pictures but I don’t see an option to load pics. You can see a slight difference in width, color and height. The most obvious is the new pills are perfectly shaped as well as the logo – the old pills are warn and the logo is waring off. I think they smell pretty much the same. Didn’t think to taste when I took them this morning, I usually try and avoid the taste but I’ll report back on taste when I take my afternoon dose.

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      Very interesting. Thank u!

      Reply

    • Judy

      I have to agree with all of what Janet has said I did get a 90 day new script filled. I compared the old pills to the new pills I will say the smell is different. The old oils are more porky. Stronger pork smell to them and softer. The new ones seem to have a coating they are harder and the smell isn’t as strong. There’s a slight pork smell to them. I took the old and new pills. And crushed them with a spoon olds pills just crumble. The new pills are very hard didn’t crumble as easily. So I taste the new pill. It does taste different not very porky at all. Unlike the old one the strong porky taste there. No cat pee smell Thank goodness. But. The new armour pills seem to have a coating making them harder and less pork smell So something has change. Whether or not it has affected their potency only Time will tell. I haven’t started them yet. Still taking the old ones

      Reply

    • Janet

      Janie, is there a way I can send pictures? I noticed I can’t share them on your Facebook posts as well.

      Reply

      • Janie Bowthorpe

        Use the Contact Me form to say you have a photo of [fill-in-the-blank] to show me. I’ll respond, and to that response, you can attach a photo to send back to me.

        Reply

    • Amy U

      I just picked up a refill of Armour 30 mg tablets and the description here is exactly how my new tablets look different compared to last time I picked them up, about 3 months ago.

      Reply

      • Amy

        My new tablets actually taste sorta like the good old NP. I was surprised! More porky tasting than the previous several months. Dissolving ability – I let them turn to mush under my tongue and the texture is pretty much the same as the previous Armour tablets. The reason I recently asked my doctor to prescribe the 30 mg (x6 a day for a total of 180 mg) is to see if I can confirm a theory that the 30s are “maybe working better” than the 180 strength.

        Reply

  35. Dina Ciccone

    Labs from Armour, one year apart. I have been on 122.5 mg for a few years since NP reformulated and messed me up. I do have some older tablets which I am going to examine under a microscope. Let me know if you want me to send you and example of those that worked and those that did not.

    T4,FREE + TSH 07/15/2020 (#2837115, Final, 07/14/2020 9:22am)
    Report Result Ref. Range Units Status Lab
    THYROXINE, FREE (FT4) 0.83 0.80-1.73 NG/DL Final
    TSH 0.024 0.234-4.020 UIU/ML LOW Final

    TSH+FREE T4-224576-P 07/02/2021 (#3471267, Final, 07/01/2021)
    TSH 7.650 0.450-4.500 UIU/ML ABOVE HIGH NORMAL Final 01
    T4,FREE(DIRECT) 0.54 0.82-1.77 NG/DL BELOW LOW NORMAL Final 01

    Reply

  36. Jerry

    I have been on Armour since Nov. 2020, after being switched due to unavailability of Naturethroid, which I was on since 2018. Prior to that I was on Synthroid since the late 1990s and had experienced elevated blood pressure. My labs in May were very similar to previous labs on NT and I can say at this time, Armour is working well for me. Just a little background, I have almost no thyroid function at all and am entirely dependant on supplement. I take D3 but NO OTHER MEDS and I have no other health problems. I do not consume alcohol, soda or other sweetened drinks and maintain a diet rich in fresh fruit, vegetables and lean meats, avoiding processed foods as much as possible. If it is not working well for some, it can be other medications, not being optimal or other issues described on this site. As always, some healthy skepicism is in order when statements are made that seem greatly exaggerated. Employees of competing brands may be responsible and those manipulating stock prices love to start rumors. But of course, we are all different and it may not work well for some, particularly if they are using hard illegal drugs, which is an exploding problem throughout the world. And in my decades of service as a firefighter, heavy drug users are LEAST likey to tell the truth. Even if there are studies on the effect of illegal drugs on thyroid patients, they are quite likely out of date as the illegal drug market is rapidly changing and the poison on the street today is far more potent than it was even 5 years ago. And that is before they put insecticide or rat poison in it to get even higher. Be skeptical!

    Reply

  37. Susan Siens

    After being on NP Thyroid for years the latest batch of crap caught up with me (I was losing my memory). I switched to Armour and immediately began feeling better. When I had taken Armour in the past it didn’t work well whether I chewed or swallowed it, and if I put it under my tongue it just sat there. It must be the reformulated Armour because now it dissolves under my tongue even better than the NP did though it’s not sweet. My numbers are okay; my prescription is for 5 grains daily, but I only take 4. Unlike many hypothyroid patients I have never had digestive difficulties; I think all my own thyroid hormone went to my gut and my brain, and i had a very fast digestive system (have learned to eat a fairly high-fat diet to combat that). I avoid the fifth grain due to it speeding up my digestion and I’m still working on raising my cortisol. If the chiropractor does a good job on me, he stimulates my adrenal nerve which helps tremendously. So for right now Armour is working. I tried synthetic T3/T4 many years ago when my cortisol was just fine, and it did not work for me, but it seems like the only option if I run into bad Armour.

    Reply

  38. Judi C

    I’m reading The Thyroid Reset Diet and by Dr. Alan Christianson. His website states that ALL NDT comes from one source in the USA. With RCL Labs out of production and Armour and NPThyroid having recalls and issues too…..doesn’t this point back to the source of the porcine powder? Even though my numbers are better, I still don’t feel well and I have tried levothyroxine. I can’t take it. If I can’t get NDT, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I am going to try the Thyroid Reset Diet and see if that helps. FX.

    Reply

  39. Stephanie

    I’m new to the group and using Armour. I’ve used Synthroid for over 12 years and was never able to regulate my tsh while taking the medication. I’ve chosen to find a 2nd opinion and begin Armour. It’s been one month, and labs are due soon. What can I expect with numbers and my symptoms.

    Reply

  40. Maggie

    Armour seems to be working for me…at this moment anyway. I just picked up a new 90 day supply and am now fearful that things may not go well. Still seeking a doc in NH who will agree to a free T3 in the upper range. Current doc squawks that “you tsh is already suppressed”. Uh…isn’t that the goal?

    Reply

  41. Ann

    Good Morning Janie,

    Thank you for addressing the current state of what MIGHT be happening with Amour. I switched when I got the recall notice about my NP a few months back. I have been slowly working my way up but started feeling the hyper like symptoms. I just had my saliva cortisol checked and it shows very high morning cortisol which explains a lot.

    My question is if all the other levels throughout the day are where they should be would you use the supplements on your page about high cortisol in the morning or at night before you go to bed? Specifically I wanted to use the Phosphatidyl Serine.

    Thank you for all you do and I hope you and your husband find peace and healing!

    Reply

    • Ann

      I should add to my above question: The reason for my confusion is that on the high cortisol page it states you would take PS an hour before your saliva test shows the high but when I read your personal journey with high cortisol you had said you as well had a high morning cortisol and dosed with PS the night before so I was just wasn’t sure as to when to actually take it to do the most good. Any insight you could give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again….you and this site have helped me so much.

      Reply

  42. Jen

    Who here is on Levothyroxine and Cytomel/T3 and doing well? My husband and I are SO FRUSTRATED with the weight gain and hypo symptoms on Armour and Sigma Pharm. I hate chemicals and love a totally organic life but we don’t know what else to do. Curious how many people were on NDT and doing horrible who switched to Levo and are feeling better. We are so desperate that I’ve been scouring the internet for overseas sources and willing to try anything!!!

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      Many people are doing well on T4/T3. We We do seek to make sure we get optimal though. https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/optimal

      Reply

      • Rae Sanders

        I see on the website (and in the book I have!! old version though), there is info about switching from T4 to NDT and from NDT to T3, but I haven’t seen switching from NDT to a T4+T3 combo.

        Anyone do this successfully and/or know of a translation? How much and when to take? (Especially for those of us who experience incredible fatigue in the second half of the day?) Hugs to all of you!!

        Reply

  43. Crystleyz42

    I know my iron is great bc I’m under tight monitoring by a hematologist (ferritin HgB) every 3 months.

    Was on what turned out to be a bad batch of NP roughly Jan-April 2021 (I get large refills). The notice came from Walgreens that I was part of the recall and I got in w doc early May. Switched to Armor 180mg. Follow up 6w later? T3 was bottomed OUT. 1.8 and the bottom of the range was 2.4.

    I’m trying synthetics now. I just can’t w this NDT insanity any longer. I was part of the NP recall in 2019. Not again! No more poor quality control!

    Reply

  44. Dr Edna Hirsch

    I am thankful to Janie and this website. Have been coming here on and off for many years. Hashimotos hypothyroid.
    Over the years have been mostly on Armour, then ERFA when things went down hill with Armour. Back on Armour for about a year.
    Recently had a new prescription filled and have been feeling crappy. I looked at the container and realized that it now says Allergen and not Forest Labs. Hmmm. I wonder if that matters. Forest is owned by Allergen but they could be using different sources.
    Cant make it through the day and I have to use a supplemental older pill from ERFA to make it through.

    Reply

    • Tommy

      Susan – You said you took 1 gr of what? at 4:30 AM and it put you out….I really must know what that is that puts you out at 4:30 that is not a benzodiazepine. I also wake at 4:30 and don’t like it. Please get back to us.

      Reply

      • Janie Bowthorpe

        Waking up at 4:30am can be the result of stress the day before, I have noticed in me.

        Reply

      • Susan

        1 grain(60 mg armour). I get up to pee @4:30 am, then take a grain and lay back down til around 11:30 am and get up and take a second grain Armour and can go back to sleep again if i dont need to do anything. Then my last grain is around 7:30 pm. The armour, for me, is like a sleeping pill. It could be a lot of things not related to armour. I wrote a novel explaining but prolly not the right place for it here.

        Reply

        • Tommy

          woW. On its face, it seems counterintuitive to take any form of thyroid formulation before
          either turning in or napping. However, when I take NDT – even in the morning – I tend to feel a little
          crashy even though I am more alert than without it – I want to nap – which I do on the weekends.
          It is kind of a weird sensation of increasing alertness, yet with a relaxing effect.

          I had been taking Thyroxine Sodium with less than poor results – I actually felt 100%
          worse than not taking it. Should work in theory because my own TSH is within range with ferritin &
          Fe saturation not in a bad range (w/ KI in the form of iThroid). I’m convinced that a pure T4 formulation
          is not the way, at least not for me, anyway.

          Reply

  45. Susan

    Im one who was on NP when it started smelling like cat pee. I switched to armour and was complaining about it from day one. Ive lifted weights 3 decades and have gained 50 lbs, skin is painfully dry, zero energy. Im taking 3 grains armour.i was taking 2 grains and 20 cytomel but feel cytomel hits fast, lasts two hours, then its gone. Switched to all armour-zombie.

    The good thing about armour is, its allowing me to sleep.

    I have had severe insomnia since i started down the thyroid path in 2010. Only when i finally got iron up and took hydrocortisone, was i able to sleep, but this was on cynomel only. When i weaned hydrocortisone i developed shooting adrenaline, fear and anger and completely unable to sleep, at all, so was out on ativan on ER, so ive been back on hydrocortisone since 2013 which i do not like! I also have had to take ativan to sleep. I am working on weaning ativan.

    But, i wake at 4:30 am every morning, get up and take 1 grain and it puts me out like a light.better than ativan. Also, when i wake around noon, i can take second grain and go back to sleep for another couple of hours

    Thats great! Yet I worry about when im off ativan, about my energy. Also, the weight gain. Ive been injuring myself a lot lately. My knee is cracking when i walk and had to have major rotator cuff surgery since on armour.

    Armour also causes me bad heartburn,just like np. Inever had that issue with it. I took armour in 2015. And i took naturthyroid in2013-2015 and maintained a low weight. It was when i was switched off naturthyroid that i really gained noticeable weight. Like someone else mentioned. When optimal, i was able to eat anything i liked and didnt gain or lose. Naturthyroid was the best for me.

    Was thinking, if allergen bought armour, maybe theyre adding t4 to it to save money?

    Was thinking about trying some ndt from new zealand? it feels like such a conspiracy. When optimal, i feel like a million bucks. Now, im walking around in a haze. Almost threw my glasses in the toilet type of out of it!

    Labs perfect. Iron fine. Im taking 20 hc still. I use the io groups

    Reply

  46. chris phillips

    it took armour to get me back in normal range…i had been on nature throid for years and
    armour worked so much better, i could cut my dose even. i wish it cost less but it sure
    is superior.

    Reply

  47. Sharon Hagen

    The only time I’ve been able to remain optimal was on the OLD WP + Cytomel. WP had only 2 fillers, inulin and coconut sourced medium chain triglycerides. All other NDTs and synthetic T4s and T3s contain more fillers.I had an instantaneous positive response to WP, almost immediately felt like “my old self” after years on various T4 replacement plus Cytomel. and without changing diet or exercise, lost 35 lbs, so I was then only 10 lbs above my lifetime stable weight (I ate healthily but as I pleased and had never needed to diet), which is good for bones and health when one is older. When WP became unavailable, first I tried a compounded T4+T3 and had a drastic fail according to my labs. I know I can’t digest many forms of cellulose well, told the compounding pharmacy not to use it but they used it anyway. So then my doctor switched me to NP Thyroid + Cytomel at an equivalent dose. I never felt well on NP and my RT3 started to rise and my 24 hour cortisol tests showed rising levels 24/7. I was in a stressful situation but blamed part of the stress on being under-medicated though I couldn’t get labs to prove it. I was still adjusting NP when the lockdown happened and I could neither see my doctor nor get new labs. I only feel well if my FT3 is at the top of the range or …if they will let me…a point or two over. My FT4 needs to be just above mid-range. That’s where they were and remained stable there on the old WP + Cytomel, for several years, when my cortisol, rT3, and other labs were fine..
    I gained weight, had a low temperature, and felt awful on NP even with my usual dose of Cytomel. When I got the notice that the batch of NP I was on had been recalled for sub-potency, I was not surprised. I had a telemedicine appointment with my doctor, who decided I should get labs in her office because that would be safer and she was starting to see limited patients with strict protocol. (I usually went to Lab Corps so I could make sure the time of day was always the same)I When the labs came back, WALLA ! FT4 and FT3 very low for me and rT3 high at 20. I also did a 24 hour cortisol test and my levels were even higher than before….not surprising since I had to begin a lawsuit against my landlord and move mid-pandemic. My doctor switched me to Armour at the same equivalent dose I’d been on with WP and NP and same Cytomel I always need…25-30 mg since 2009 regardless of T4 source, the lower with NDT. I took herbal compensatory supplements for the high cortisol and still do : AM I take NeuroCalm by Designs for Health and PM I take Cortisol Manager Allergen Free by Integrative Therapeutics, both prescribed by my doctor. After 2 months on that original dose of Armour I had new labs. My FT4 and FT3 were still too low and rT3 still at 20. My Armour dose was raised from 120 mg to 135. I didn’t feel any better and the only difference I noticed between the NP and Armour was that a persistent rash went away, a rash that I found people had reported as associated with NP on Drugs.com. After 8 more weeks I had new labs and my FT4 and FT3 hadn’t gone up significantly and were still not optimal (FT3 3.6 (2.0 – 4.4) FT4 direct 1.13 ( .82-1.77) though my rT3 had fallen to 15.4, still not good but better. Did this mean that Armour wasn’t working for me ? I don’t know, it certainly seemed like I should have had a better increase in my levels and not even close to how I felt on the old WP.

    At this point I’m not quite 2 weeks into T3 only protocol. I titrated onto it with a night time dose of Armour plus Cytomel with 2 more doses of Cytomel and SigmaPharm during the day at replacement value for a week and have been on T3 only for 2 days. Using the SigmaPharm (which I found weaker and not as good as Cytomel for me when I tried it, but had a lot in a vacuum sealed ziplock in the fridge) wasn’t optimal but Cytomel is so expensive even when ordered from Canada and I was almost out. My new refill of Cytomel arrived today and now I will be on Cytomel only for a month and then retest. I will be watching this blog over that time to see others reports. I am hesitant to go back on Armour given the lack of significant rise in lab levels…certainly not optimal for me even with the extra 25 mcg Cytomel…..and will discuss with my doctor. When I went from Synthetic T4 + Cytomel to WP, I felt that the T1, T2, and calcitonin had an added benefit, but maybe it was just the low and non-irritating fillers. My doctor has hypo herself and she switched herself from NP to a combination of Tirosint and Cytomel and feels fine. Meantime I have edema and am hauling around an extra 20 lbs, 10 of them added after my Armour dose was raised. Time will tell. I’ll check back in if you want me to.

    Reply

  48. Karen Bice

    I was on Armour for years then switched to NP Thyroid. I held on to NP and have been feeling great after the recalls. However, four months ago I decided to try Armour again & asked my Dr. for the switch. I slowly worked my way on Armour (90mg. NP, 30 mg. Amour) increasing the Armour until it was 100%. I gave it a couple of months on full Armour and felt horrible. I must have received some of the bad batched. Thus, I worked my way back to NP Thyroid. I still have some Armour left, and I guess I keep it for emergency back up.

    Reply

  49. Teri

    Have been on 60 mg. Armour since March and its been effective and working for me, just had bloodwork a few weeks ago.

    Reply

  50. sam

    anyone here taking nutrimeds, thyrovanz or thyrogold?
    the white colored one seem to not work [thryogold used to work then didnt a few years ago ] thank you jamie and everyone here is how ifound out about thyrovanz worked great then which then also stopped working!

    the nutrimeds seemed to work but only the dark color ones also anyone know if for sure is from new zeland and not argentina or texas?[ GMO feed , glyphosate ]

    anyone take ancestral supplements? they a re dark color thyroid ] i read someone tested it and high levels glyphosate afteid to take them anymore if no glpyphsate woudl go back to that or add to nutrimneds or thryovanz thank you very much for any help

    Reply

    • Danielle

      Sam I take Ancestral NDT, I feel better on one pill but can’t take more than that. I recently tried to switch asked for Armour doc sent over NP Thyroid 15mg script( along with my regular T3 script), I said whatever I will try it.

      I was on it 3 weeks. Horrible! Hot flashes, headaches, shakes so bad made driving a no go at times, severe insomnia, normal tired. Ran labs to see what was going on and quit after that. Labs came back with my lowest Free T4 ever, it took a nosedive, but T3 and reverse T3 came back optimal for the first time in my life! Tsh the same just under .5 which is normal when I supplement. So NP Thyroid is missing T4 completely from what I could tell, filled June 8th 2021.

      Back on Ancestral and T3. Within 2 days my body calmed. I can tell I am not optimal but at least the shakes, headaches, hot flashes, and insomnia are gone.

      We are Ancestral fans in this house, their other products work. But never lab tested them to see the contents.

      Reply

      • sam

        thank you danielle it says only 30 mg thryoid but alot of liver i v e been taking nutrimeds the dark ones are the only ones that seeem to work but is 65 mg and woudl take a few , before that thyrovanz [ stopped working ] beofre that thyrogold stopped working when capsules filler were white instead of dark ]
        am worreid that any of them could be from GMO fed cows have been too tirred to figure out how to have it tested mayeb i will ask GMO free usa if they know anything glad to knwo you like ancestral it sounds realy great and i have a few bottles.a nd it was only one review that said that so maybe is fine

        Reply

  51. Denise

    Bloodwork on May 6
    Armour 90 mg, Liothyronine 15 mcg

    Reverse T3 18.9 (9.2-24.1)
    Free T3 3.2 (2.0-4.4)
    Free T4 .56 (.79-2.19)

    Bloodwork on June 30
    Armour 120 mg, Liothyronine 20 mcg

    Reverse T3 13.4 (9.2-24.1)
    Free T3 3.7 (2.0-4.4)
    Free T4 .94 (.79-2.19)

    Feb 20, 2020
    Free T3 1.09 (0.79-2.19)
    (Believe I was already taking Armour 90mg, Liothyronine 15 mcg)

    By the way, I’ve never been optimal since being diagnosed.

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      Hi Denise. Thanks for going to the trouble to post your labs. 🙂

      The problem with your labs, in this discussion, is that a free T3 can eventually fall if one wasn’t optimal, or has an RT3 problem like you.

      And the free T3 can go up there (as yours did on June 30th) from pooling due to an adrenal problem. https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/pooling

      Reply

  52. Sue Prytherch

    First of all, I was on NP Thyroid, and got off of it when it started smelling like “cat pee.” I have been happily on Armour for over 2 years now. So, it’s working for me. But, here is what I think. Most of our prescription drugs now come from China. Why? Because China sells the powders cheap and other countries cannot match the cheap prices from China. Let’s say you are a US producer of dessicated thyroid. Your company is perhaps a pork producer, and the dessicated thyroid is a by-product of the pig. Let’s say your company sells “X” amount of porcine powder for $10,000 (to the drug companies). You sell it to the drug companies who are then making Thyroid “pills” and selling it to pharmacies. Well, along comes China. They send out their sales people to the drug companies and they tell the drug companies they will sell them the same “x” amount of porcine powder for $5000. If you are a drug company, needing to supply your manufacturing facility with porcine powder, and you want to be profitable, it is very tempting to start buying your porcine powder from China. So, I think the US porcine company might try to compete with China prices for a while, but I believe that China’s prices are sooo much less, that the US porcine suppliers cannot compete. Perhaps they cannot even make it for the $5000 price. So, why do it, and LOSE money. So, they STOP making porcine powder… and China becomes the only supplier to most, if not all, of the drug companies making dessicated thyroid. I bet this scenario goes on all over the world, until the only dessicated thyroid being supplied is from China. And be aware that this is not only thyroid meds, it is an astounding amount of other drugs, too. And none of the drug companies are going to stop it, because they are all greedy, and they WANT the cheap prices from China to manufacturer their drugs. So……………. why are some Armour pills working and some are not?? Perhaps there is more than one location in China making dessicated thyroid, and all of us in the US go to different pharmacies and those pharmacies have different suppliers. Perhaps Armour gets it’s supply from China City #1 for a while, and then from China City #2 for a while. So, even though we still see “Armour” on the label, it has been changed along the way – coming from different suppliers in China perhaps. So, by now you see my skepticism of China products, especially drugs. But let’s take it one step further….. Let’s say China now has a World monopoly on Porcine powder, and it slowly decreases it’s active porcine ingredient in it’s powder. From 100% porcine to perhaps 80% porcine.. and now the Armour pills that you thought contained “X” amount of dessicated thyroid, now contain LESS. And the thyroid patients, all have worse labs… (stretched out over months or perhaps years) and so their doctor’s all raise their dosage…. and Armour now sells more pills, with a lesser does in each….. Just let me ask you, how long, IF EVER, would it take the American thyroid public to figure that out. Or the FDA…. Or the batch of clueless doctors to put their finger on that. NEVER.

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      Very interesting theory, Sue. I have personally suspected that China had something to do with American Labs in the US ceasing to supply porcine powder. just never could prove it, and still can’t.

      Reply

      • Sharon Hagen

        The only flaw in your speculation is that NDT manufacturers, prior to their demise, said that they were sourcing porcine powder from “Europe.” At the time I thought “Huh. WHERE in Europe ? Bulgaria, where there’s an active world wide drug cartel, with well established smuggling lines perhaps ?” That’s not to diss Bulgaria alone, but with the EU, what does “coming from Europe” mean anymore ? And from where did these “European” sources get their supply ? China maybe ? How would we know ? How would we know what the pigs were fed, what antibiotics or pesticides were in their feed ? Those are rhetorical questions, because the obvious answer is that we patients don’t know doodly about what we’re ingesting in, in this case porcine powder, but also in fillers or in the entire drug itself. I’m not just talking about thyroid medication in that case. I read a horrifying account about the FDA FINALLY inspecting a nominally US pharmaceutical company’s Indian manufacturing facility. Rodent and insect infestation, drug cross contamination in the machines, you name it. The FDA does NOT regularly inspect foreign manufacturers of drug components. I mean, I wonder how long Acella manufactured sub-potent NP before the FDA caught the problem ?

        @ Janie Bowthorpe, are you keeping a log of what strengths people who are not doing well on Armour and are reporting that to you with lab backup are on ? NP bad batches were for specific strengths, both recalls, 90 mg and 120 mg. I wonder if we will track the same with Armour ?

        Thanks so much for the work you do <3

        Reply

        • Janie Bowthorpe

          I don’t disagree with you about what does “Europe” really mean. It could mean that chinese powder got to somewhere from a European seller, and was soldd. Or anything! We just don’t know. All we know is that the porcine being used suddenly smelled like cat piss…when for decades, it has not…and symptoms were returning. Even if symptoms were not returning, who would want to be ingesting pills over time that smell like that.

          I am not yet keeping a log. It was all I can do in my personal situation with a sick husband to get the blog post up. But either I will eventually have a way for people to log in information, or someone else can….

          Reply

      • Sue Prytherch

        Hi Janie, First of all thank you so much for all the work you do. It is amazing. I think the only way for us thyroid patients to get “good” dessicated thyroid meds, is to buy a pig farm and make our own. Wouldn’t that be something! Anything is possible. I keep hoping that a whistleblower from the US pork industry will tell us all what has been going on, but that’s certainly doubtful. At least it’s good that with YOU, and the internet, many of us can keep informed and communicate with each other on what we are finding. I shudder to think how many of the US prescriptions come from China. Maybe 60 minutes needs to do a story… 🙂

        Reply

        • Janie Bowthorpe

          Believe it or not, in the near 20 years I’ve been doing this, I’ve talked to a few people who were consuming the thyroid of pigs on their farms. lol.

          Reply

        • sam

          sue and janie [ thank you janie fro all thta you do and hope your husband is ok ,
          i even asked the wonderful organic farmer i buy food from if coudol sell cow or pig thyroid said fda or usda or soemthing woudnt allow it think

          will ask 2 more orgnaic farmers next janie did thye do well the people you tlaked to sounds slike thatsthe way to go !

          Reply

      • Cathy

        We have been reading that the U.S. has been sending massive quantities of pigs to China. This article states that along with beef. I have been wondering about all of this for quite a while and how it is affecting natural dessicated thyroid meds.
        https://www.stltoday.com/business/local/u-s-faces-meat-shortage-while-its-pork-exports-to-china-soar/article_d5cd77e3-2a0d-5392-9233-db3bba8c8b27.html

        Reply

        • Janie Bowthorpe

          Glad you posted that because I remember a rumor that China in some way had something do with the only American facility that makes porcine powderceasing to do it in 2017.

          Reply

  53. Russ

    I’ve suspected a change in Armour for the last two months.
    Was feeling good for about a year or so.
    Now feeling crappy again, need a nap at 1:30 pm every day and have put on nearly 10 lbs. while on my regular dosage of 2 grains.
    (Not sure if it makes any difference but I’m located in So. California/Orange County area. )

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      That sounds frustrating, Russ! And to make your experience more accurate, you have to see if you were never quite optimal and thus, finally crashed from not being optimal. Some non-optimal people crash fairly soon; others can go a year or more before they crash from not being truly optimal.

      Reply

    • Edna

      I was feeling the same as you. Came to see that now my prescription says Allergen and not Forest lab.
      How about yours?

      Reply

      • Rae

        Mine says Allergen too!!

        Both are 90 day supplies of 90mg from CVS mail order pharmacy delivered to Decatur GA.

        Reply

    • Rae Sanders

      Same, Russ!! This stinks!! I was feeling really well, and now I am painfully tired all the time. Hope things get better for you.

      Reply

      • Janie Bowthorpe

        Rae, another thing to explore is that hardly anyone is truly optimal on 90 mg or less, as you felt you were. Yes, we can feel good on non-optimal doses, but it ends up all crashing. There’s definitely a possibility that this is what happened to you, not that you had a bad batch of armour. And there’s also potential evidence that you have a cortisol problem now from not truly being optimal. I referenced this in my previous reply to you: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info

        Reply

        • Rae Sanders

          Thanks so much, Janie. I will talk with my Dr. about raising, though she was the one who wanted to lower based on TSH.

          The immediate shift from feeling great to horrible did correspond to the change in batches, so while I may need to raise based on that, it is darn frustrating at having to deal with these variations. (I purchased a cortisol test from the site suggestions, so will do that).

          I’m sure I have high cortisol… I’m a frequent ‘fight or flight’ mode person.

          I also wonder whether there is some new filler that only affects some of us? I am highly sensitive to chemicals and changes of all kinds, lol. Are either of you?

          Reply

  54. daphne kanas

    So odd, my issue is I feel amazing on it one day and then the next I feel like I have a heart attack; I went on tirosint, that seemed to be good, but I still feel tired or sleepy. In the evening, I have more energy, so I guess it comes in waves. I also have half of my thyroid as of 2015. So I haven’t been able to get this whole thing in order, really.

    Reply

  55. Jennifer

    Armour is NOT working for my husband and I. We went back on it after the new Thyroid S was recalled due to subpotency. Been on it for a couple months and steadily losing energy, gaining weight, arthritis worsening, bloating and insomnia have been horrible. We are now looking for another solution. Also tried Tru Thyroid and that was even worse plus half the shipment never arrived and they have refused to refund my money. Armour has been chewed up and swallowed. It’s impossible to do it sublingually because it forms a terrible paste that doesn’t dissolve. Terrible I wish these companies would stop screwing around with our health!

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      Jennifer, before assuming that Armour isn’t working for you, compare you free T4 and free T3 to this page: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/optimal

      It also sounds like you could have an adrenal problem. This: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info

      Reply

      • Jen

        My adrenals are actually perfect. I had saliva done a month ago and all was right where your site says they should be. We were both perfect on Thyroid S for years until last year. Then NP which failed, now Armour. I honestly don’t care about labs as much as symptoms. I’ve gained over 15 lbs since being on Armour and my skin is severely dry, insomnia is awful, hair is thinning, nails breaking, no libido. I KNOW how I feel when I am hypo and the medication is not working. Armour is not working. My husband has also gained weight and is fired all the time since going to Armour. Now we are wondering what we can try taking NOW???

        Reply

        • Janie Bowthorpe

          If you are in the camp of people who had perfect cortisol results, perfect iron results, a low RT3 (all are important) and truly optimal frees, yet still went downhill on Armour, then a next good choice is using the equivalent amounts of T4 and T3 as are in NDT.

          Reply

  56. Jeanne

    So sad to read this! I have not run labs in a while as I’ve been stable on 240mg for years. About to call my pharmacy for my 90 day refill…. Makes me wonder if I should get a smaller amount… it’s STUPID expensive! Will follow this conversation closely and consider getting some labs. Thanks for all you do Janie!

    Reply

  57. Mary Garito

    Thank you for your post Janie and for all you do to keep us up to date. I just want to report that my husband and I both take Armour and have not seen any changes. We both still feel good. (Just FYI we both have half a tab of 300mg every morning, and do not chew it, just swallow. I used to multi-dose but found I’m OK with the one dose.) I will report back if we see any change after our next prescription.

    Reply

  58. Stephanie Gundrum

    I was on NP Thyroid for 18 months (after NP and Naturethroid became unavailable) and labs after this time (and plus 25 lbs) basically looked like I was not taking ANY thyroid meds! (moving and Covid created finding new Dr problems) Switched me to Armour, some labs improvement but physically no change, switched back to synthroid in May – waiting on tests. ( also added Contrave for weight loss- hoped the naltrexone would help- minimal weight loss after 8 weeks) I have not been on Synthroid in 15 years- but never found an optimal range with any NDT – but lots of Dr resistance and availability issues.

    Reply

  59. Steve

    Finally got all my labs optimized and soon after developed a serious case of A-Fib.

    Anyone else having this issue with Armour?

    Reply

  60. Judith Kiplinger

    Is there any pattern in states where it is or isn’t working optimally?

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      VERY good question!! It would be a great poll to find out…but you’d also have to weed out those who never got optimal. Never being optimal eventually causes a bad crash. And the latter is not related to Armour having changed/not working.

      Reply

  61. Karen K

    I’ve been optimal on Armour for 9 months. My last refill was 2 months ago. My latest labs were 2 weeks ago and levels are still optimal with all hypothyroid symptoms eliminated. Body temperature is finally back to normal after many years of below 98 degrees while on Synthroid, Naturethroid and then back to Synthroid.

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      Karen, congratulations!! You are in what appears to be a still substantial amount of patients. Time will tell how all this pans out.

      Reply

  62. Chris

    Thanks for this. I feel like I made an oops on getting off Armour. I was one who was optimal on 2 grains and lost weight. Then it just stunk the last 2 months. I’m calling my doctor to go up a grain tomorrow.

    Reply

    • Janie Bowthorpe

      Keep us informed. For those who have seen a decline in Armour, it’s very curious if raising it will make it work again.

      It’s kind of like the decline of armour in 2009. Several reported that by chewing it up, they were able to get out of their hypothyroid state again. So the big question is: can it work better by raising??

      Reply

      • Chris

        Yeah I miss it. I asked to go on a synthetic T4/t3 and regret it and it’s only been a week and change. I’m afraid to go gravel back but I will.

        I know they wanted to put me on 25 mcg of t3 when I was on 120 mg to pump up the t3 bc they focus on t3.

        Reply

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