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Category: Armour

I am very concerned for those on Naturethroid with a month-to-month supply

shortageWord has trickled down to me from a few patients and emails that even Naturethroid is getting harder to come by at pharmacies because of the extreme demand on RLC Labs.

No, they are not ceasing to make desiccated thyroid. They just weren’t prepared for the high demand due to the reformulation of Armour and problems it caused. And they aren’t keeping up and won’t for several months.

So, if you can’t last with your current prescription for several months, you will probably need to talk to your doc about getting a generic version by Major Pharmacy, or get some over-the-counter like NutriMeds, or even the “Hypo Support Formula” made by RLC Labs, but expect to take much more of either. Many patients are also mentioning Thyroid-S by Greater Pharma as a backup until RLC catches up. But it’s by mail order and will take a few weeks to arrive. Google any of the above. Finally, you can move a slight step backwards and talk to your doc about doing synthetic T4 and synthetic T3. It’s not going to be quite a good as being on desiccated thyroid, but it’s certainly better than being on T4 alone, don’t you agree?? Keep connected to your doc. And hang in there. This will pass.

Janie

P.S. I’ll be adding more information to this post tomorrow. Check back.

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Below is the actual release by RLC Labs:

For any patients experiencing difficulties in attaining either Nature-ThroidTM or WesthroidTM through their pharmacy, RLC Labs, Inc, asks these individuals to have their pharmacy contact us directly at 877-797-7997 to place an order, or have their pharmacy request a drop-shipment through their wholesale supplier.

RLC Labs’ products are only available through wholesalers, pharmacies and or their doctors; thus all confirmations and/or tracking information will only be available through the wholesaler, pharmacy, or doctor’s office that placed the order.

RLC Labs is experiencing a substantial increase in orders for Nature-ThroidTM and WesthroidTM. The recent unexpected influx has inundated our customer service and shipping departments, thus causing delays and depleting our current stock. We are working around the clock to fulfill all current orders; however, we cannot guarantee that
any future orders will be fulfilled until our stock is replenished.

RLC Labs will continue to accept orders from our customers, however as of Friday August 14th, we are backordered on all strengths of Nature-ThroidTM and WesthroidTM. Shipment is expected to resume within 90 days.

We regret to inform you of this situation; however, we can assure you that we are working diligently to replenish our stock and will resume shipping as soon as possible. Please accept our sincerest apology for any inconvenience.

We do understand how much of an impact this has as most of us employed @ RLC Labs, are hypothyroid and take our own product. Thus, we know and understand how important it is to get product back into the market place. We are grateful for your continued patience, patronage and support!

Feel free to contact our customer service department with any questions concerning this matter @ 877-797-7997.

Thank you from all of us @ RLC Labs, Inc.

4 replies

Why Forest Labs had gotten away with a “newly formulated” Armour that is causing so many problems

Armour tablets

 

This post was originally written in 2009, and gives you great history as to the disappointing change that happened to Armour as reported by patients. But it happened again in 2015, and you can read that here: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/2015/09/19/armour-and-unhappy-thyroid-patients/

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Numerous and ongoing comments to my blog posts below about the newly formulated Armour are shocking and despairing.

Additionally, thyroid patients are crying out about the loss of being able to do Armour sublingually. (Was Forest Labs not paying one hoot of attention to thyroid patients the last few years in their praise of Armour because of it’s sublingual effectiveness??) Sublingual administration was a godsend for thyroid patients who had digestive issues, including gluten intolerance and Celiac, as well as those who needed to take iron tablets (which you can’t do at the same time as you swallow desiccated thyroid, but could do with taking Armour subingually)

So how in the world did Forest Labs get away with reformulating and producing a product that so many patients are reporting to be problematic?

It’s not FDA approved. As many of you may know, Armour desiccated thyroid, even when it was produced by a pharmaceutical other than Forest Labs, was around far before the FDA (Federal Drug Administration) came into being in 1938. That’s why it does not have the designation of “FDA approved” as do those drugs which were created after the FDA existed. It’s called an unapproved drug, but Armour was presumed to be safe and effective already.

From the FDA: Under the 1938 grandfather clause (see 21 U.S.C. 321(p)(1)), a drug product that was on the market prior to passage of the 1938 Act and which contained in its labeling the same representations concerning the conditions of use as it did prior to passage of that Act was not considered a new drug and therefore was exempt from the requirement of having an approved new drug application.

Because it’s not “FDA-approved”, it does not have an NDA, aka New Drug Application. An NDA is used by the FDA to establish if the pharmaceutical product is safe, EFFECTIVE, more beneficial than side effects, and has in-house “controls” which maintain the quality, strength and purity of the product. (Thanks to “Ben” the pharmacist for reminding me of this.)

So…without that NDA, Forest Labs is, and has been, on their own, including with the latest introduction of a newly formulated Armour. So you might say, WE as patients were the guinea pigs. And sadly, we’ve been squealing and it’s a muddy picture.

The most important fact to state: USP (United States Pharmacopeia) desiccated thyroid is an effective and important drug which is changing the lives of a huge and growing body of individuals around the world. That was evident before Armour was reformulated, and is still evident with products like Naturethroid or Westhroid, which many patients are switching to. See my blog post about Naturethroid here, plus RLC Labs comment about Naturethroid here.

But something has gone terribly wrong with the reformulation of Armour, and patients appear to be leaving it behind in the dust in favor of another great and effective brand like Naturethroid. And whether it’s the fillers are not, Forest needs to take a new look at their reformulation of what was once a GOOD product, and hopefully this time, LISTEN TO PATIENTS.

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69 replies

I am done with Armour, say a growing body of individuals

donewitharmourThis page was originally written in 2009, and can be read for historical value as to what happened. But once again, Armour appears to have once again changed in 2015, which you can read about here.

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Once again, I just approved one more comment of someone who has had it with Armour, and is switching. On the new Armour, she states she has a return of her former hypo symptoms: hair loss, joint pain, fatigue, heart palpitations, low body temps are back, etc.

And you see it happening all over thyroid patient groups on the net. Many folks are done with Armour.

It’s too chalky. It tastes terrible. It doesn’t break into smaller pieces well anymore. It’s lost the ability to be done sublingually. And even worse, it has caused a return of symptoms.

In case you are wondering what this is all about, read the 40 current comments attached to the June 2nd post Trying the Newly Formulated Armour? Before that, you can read my May 7th post Why the party is over with Forest Pharmaceuticals and the current 37 comments. And especially powerful is the April 28th post Patients say PHOOEY to new Armour formulation and Forest Pharmaceuticals with a current 57 posts.

So what’s their next step?

Right now, doctors of patients on Armour on being asked for a prescription for Naturethroid. Many report it working wonderfully; some state they need a little more to be as optimal as Armour. A small minority aren’t sure about it yet. But overall, the majority are happy.

So let’s get an update of those who have switched: what product did you move to? Is the same amount giving you the same results? Did you have to more to a slightlyl higher amount, or lower amount? Was your pharmacy cooperative for a different brand? Did you have to explain to your pharmacy that Naturethroid can be drop-shipped directly to them?

P.S. Thyroid patient Cheryl emailed me and said she is sending the above posts about Armour’s problems to practically everyone on her email list, hoping they in turn will send it to their friends, and the word will get out. If you want to do the same, this post is the most updated, and includes the links to the former posts.

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121 replies

UK’s Royal College of Physicians continues to be deaf, blind and royally dumb.

throwingup1

Funny how things work. I had been wondering what the heck was going on with thyroid patients in the UK after the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) came out with their February 6th guideline stating that 1) thyroxine was the only medication needed for hypothyroidism, 2) “natural” medications were dangerous and 3) the only labs needed are the TSH and T4.

All the above goes totally against the life-changing experience of a growing body of patients.

Equally a part of this B-grade horror movie is the stand taken by the British Thyroid Association (BTA). Read it. And UK-TPA thyroid patient advocate Sheila Turner began to go through her own hell when her Armour was taken away, which you can read about in the February 20th blog post here.

And suddenly, I get an email from Sheila, informing me that the RCP stand is as bad as it was three months ago for her and other thyroid patients.

Sheila states: This is absolutely unbelievable that out of the hundreds of references we sent to the Royal College of Physicians to show their guideline to be flawed, they have taken no account of one single one of them. They are publishing their previous guidance without one since change. The world has gone mad.

Dear Sheila, Further to my email of 6 April, the comments and materials received by the College have been reviewed. This position statement or guidance (not a guideline) was produced on behalf of the Royal College of Physicians, in particular its Patient and Carer Network and the Joint Specialty Committee for Endocrinology and Diabetes; the Association for Clinical Biochemistry; the Society for Endocrinology; the British Thyroid Association; the British Thyroid Foundation Patient Support Group and the British Society of Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes and is endorsed by The Royal College of General Practitioners. The President has asked me to let you know that this review has not resulted in any changes to that statement. It should be noted that it is about the treatment of primary hypothyroidism and does not preclude other treatments for exceptional cases by specialist endocrinologists who can make clear to patients any associated risks. References supporting the statement are listed below. Yours sincerely, Catharine Perry Administrator – Diagnosis and treatment of primary hypothyroidism. BMJ 2009;338:b725 – Vaidya B, Pearce S. A Clinical Review of the management of hypothyroidism in adults. BMJ 2008;337:a801. This contains references for 35 articles and states that Armour thyroid is of no proved additional benefit to levothyroxine. – The Lancet Volume 363, Issue 9411, Pages 793 – 803, 6 March 2004. This covers the history, epidemiology, pathophysiology, and clinical diagnosis and management of hypothyroidism and is written by Caroline GP Roberts and Paul Ladenson of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA. This review, which references 164 clinical articles, states that the treatment of choice for hypothyroidism is levothyroxine sodium (thyroxine) and does not refer to Armour thyroid. – Baloch Z, Carayon P, Conte-Devolx B, et al. Laboratory medicine practice guidelines. Laboratory support for the diagnosis and monitoring of thyroid disease.Thyroid 2003;13:3-126. – Association of Clinical Biochemists BTA, British Thyroid Foundation. UK Guidelines for the use of thyroid function tests. http://acb.org.uk/docs/tftguidelinefinal.pdf – Surks MI. Ortiz E, Daniels GH, et al. Subclinical thyroid disease: scientific review and guidelines for diagnosis and management. 2004;291:228-238.

And as your peruse the six references above which they use to defend their tunnel-visioned, moronic position, you realize that you, your words, and your positive-outcome experience on desiccated thyroid, as well as the use of far better labs, is about as important within the UK’s latest medical pronouncement as is dirt on the bottom of a rusted bucket in the middle of an empty field in nowhere. Yup.

Or as Harold Shipman stated about the RCP’s guidelines: What a brilliant wheeze.

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See below on the potential importance of potassium in your health and well-being. And on the May 7th post about the party being over with Forest Pharmaceuticals, comments continue to come in about experiences with the “new” Armour.

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