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Year: 2009

Another reason to shun T4 meds—your liver

Though this page was originally written in 2009, it’s been updated to the current day and time. Time does not change that your liver “may” be negatively effected by T4-only meds, or even being underdosed on NDT or T3. 

I’ve been noticing several articles coming out about a strong association between hypothyroidism and a twice the risk of liver disease and liver cancer, especially in females.

And then it dawned on me: another strong reason patients end up up playing basketball with their trash cans using bottles of Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothroxine or Eltroxin, and being replaced with a working desiccated thyroid or T4/T3 at the same time.

In other words, continued hypothyroidism (which being on T4-only meds has promoted) and undiagnosed hypothyroidism (because of the inadequacy of the TSH lab test) can ‘potentially’ promote the development of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a more severe Fatty Liver disease, if these articles are right. The next progression is liver cancer, aka hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Even worse, the study revealed that women who had been hypothyroid for more than 10 years had a threefold higher risk of liver cancer compared to women without a history of thyroid disorders. This will make you pause when you consider how many reports there are of patients having hypothyroid symptoms for YEARS with a normal TSH…and a clueless, TSH-worshipping doctor.

And if reading this bores you, understand that your liver is a HIGHLY important gland that you can’t live without. It plays a key role in detoxifying the toxins you ingest and breath in daily (including smoking), besides being a major fat burner.  Make the liver diseased, and you become a breeding ground for toxins, the rise of other diseases…then death.

The solution? Patients are running from TSH and T4-only doctors, finding a doctor to put them on a working desiccated thyroid, or T4/T3, and avoiding the most common mistakes of dosing.

P.S. The original report came out in the May journal issue of Hepatology  (the latter is now non-working–here’s the correct place it was to go.) (published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases).  Similar results were also reported in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 2005.

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50 replies

Why the party is over with Forest Pharmaceuticals, the makers of Armour

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Janie wrote the following in 2009 about Armour, and wouldn’t you know, 2015 sees another problem with Armour!

In 2002, when I first got on natural desiccated thyroid and it absolutely changed my life, it happened to be the brand name called Armour by Forest Pharmaceuticals.

And I swooned.

You could do it sublingually (even if it wasn’t made that way), and I praised Armour for that. So did other patients after we spread the word on patient groups, on the STTM website and in the Stop the Thyroid Madness book.

My fondness for Armour did not take away my praises for other prescription brands, though, including Naturethroid or Westhroid by RLC Labs.  I simply made a doe-eyed commitment to Armour for my personal treatment because you could do it sublingually. I have also used the name “Armour” interchangeably to represent all good desiccated thyroid products.

But because of a succession of three events, I think it’s time to give back my going-steady ring.

The first blow to my romance with Armour centered around the extreme tight-lipped secrecy from Forest when the reformulation of Armour began.

We can surmise the trouble begin in 2007 when patients were finding Armour in the larger sizes to be suddenly ineffective.  For the entire year of 2008, supplies were extremely limited and only the one grain size or lower could be found, if at all.  Patients were worried and unhappy.  I even supported Forest in my blog posts, assuring patients that everything would be fine.  But Forest said practically nothing. Why was and is Forest mum about why this was happening ?

The second blow to our courtship was the change to the “reformulated” Armour

Suddenly, patients find that doing Armour sublingually was a thing of the past. Now all we get is a never-ending chalky pasty residue under our tongues.  Additionally, many patients have been reporting that the amount of Armour that once removed all symptoms, was now bringing them back.  Huh?? In spite of an apparent drawback in some batches in 2007, why would Forest take an effective product and change it?

And the third and final straw to my affair of the heart?

I made a phone call to Forest using the same 800 number you all can use. That was Tuesday, May 5th. My intent was to ask about the word anhydrous which is now after the ingredient dextrose in the Armour ingredients listing. (It means that all moisture has been withdrawn, but I wanted to confirm the details for the brands page.) 

When I reached the representative for Forest, and after she asked my name and I gave it (oops),  the tune of the conversation changed.  She said she could not answer my question since I own a public website, and would have to inform the “Media group” from Forest, and they would call me back. When I asked when, the answer was a vague as Synthroid is in treating hypothyroidism i.e. she didn’t know. I even called back the next day to get the same dribble.   Why have representatives on the Forest hotline been instructed not to answer a simple question from someone like myself,  and I still have not received a phone call from Forest?

Sob.

Yup, breaking up is hard to do, but a gal can only take so much strange betrayal, tight-lipped silence…and ignoring a simple question from someone who has done a LOT to put money in their pockets out of extreme gratitude. Thank goodness there are other fish in the sea.

JanieSignature SEIZE THE WISDOM
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A un-brilliant double whammy by the FDA concerning a weight loss medication

alliThere’s an over-the-counter weight loss drug called Alli made by the huge pharmaceutical GlaxoSmithKline. You can see it on the shelves of most any Wal Mart or local drug store.  It’s also called Orlistat which is marketed under the trade name of Xenical by the pharmaceutical Roche.

It’s promoted as safe, and it works by limiting the absorption of fats from what you eat, which in turn reduces your intake of calories.  (What has always turned me off about Alli or Orlistat is that is creates oily and loose stools. Bleck. )

Medscape just today reported about an FDA warning: the Use of orlistat may decrease L–thyroxine (T4) absorption and lead to hypothyroidism. Clinicians are advised to administer levothyroxine and orlistat at least 4 hours apart…

Oh jolly. So now we have the FDA giving a warning about Alli causing problems with “thyroxine” use,  yet it’s the VERY “thyroxine” use that causes a certain large percentage of those using Alli to need to use it in the first place. You can see that reality in the questions about the hypo problem on the Alli forum.  i.e They are all on thyroxine!

Hitting my head against the wall.

P.S. Reported in Endocrine Today and from just a month ago, and article titled Hypothyroid patients required increased levothyroxine during pregnancy.  Zombie Endocrinologists. Zombies. That’s like having an article titled Sick patients need more blood-letting. i.e LEVOTHYROXINE SUCKS AND SHOULD BE IN THE PAST just as much as blood-letting.  WAKE UP ENDOCRINOLOGISTS!! WAKE UP!!

*Check out patient response to the newly formulated Armour below, and add your own comments.

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Thyroid patients say PHOOEY to new Armour formulation and Forest Pharmaceuticals

armourtabletsugh1 As the “newly” formulated Armour desiccated thyroid pills, made by Forest Pharmaceuticals/Laboratories, have been hitting the market, so are comments coming out from some thyroid patients…and they are not in the least complimentary.

The reason that Armour had been favored by so many thyroid patients among all the desiccated thyroid brands is the ability to take it sublingually.  Sure, Armour was never officially made to be taken sublingually, but it worked.

Sublingual refers to the administration of a medication via the millions of tiny capillaries that line your mouth and mucous membrane. The pill was placed under the tongue and allowed to dissolve–most of it entering the body directly via your sublingual glands, and only a small amount swallowed.

Some patients who switched from swallowing to sublingual noticed the difference, too.

But the beauty of sublingual has gone even farther than noticing anything different. First, it was always a known “baddy” to swallow any pills that might contain iron, estrogen or calcium at the same time we swallowed Armour or any other desiccated thyroid brand. Why? All three interfere with and bind a certain percentage of the thyroid hormones in our stomachs.  We were forced to take any of those hours apart from swallowing our pill. So doing the Armour sublingually allowed us to swallow the above pills, or drink milk, or eat high iron foods, at our own timing and not hours away.

Second, the old formula was usually gone in our mouths within 30 minutes give or take. Now, patients who take their newly formulated pills sublingually (which now has less dextrose and more cellulose) despise the “chalky, pasty, gritty residue” left in one’s mouth.  It also results in Armour taking far too long to be properly absorbed.

Third, those with adrenal fatigue can find themselves waking up with nausea due to the morning low cortisol. And being able to take Armour sublingually bypassed the need to swallow a liquid to take a pill and promote more nausea.

Fourth, those with Celiac disease, and even those with standard low thyroid digestive issues, found sublingual administration to help their absorption of what desiccated thyroid offers, which they didn’t get well if they swallowed the pill.

All in all, the buzz around patient groups or on comments here  about the newly formulated Armour is not complimentary.  It doesn’t work well sublingually. It’s too chalky. It leaves a gritty paste in your mouth.  And patients are highly disappointed.  Let’s hope that one of the pharmaceuticals takes the ball and runs to create a sublingual desiccated thyroid.

What is your experience with the new formulation? Are you still trying to do it sublingually?  Have you found doing Naturethroid sublingually works? Are you switching to Naturethroid or Westhroid out of principal, as many are stating they are doing? Use the comment section and let’s talk.

*Express your opinion to Forest here: 1-800-678-1605, ext. 66297.

*Want to know what’s on Janie’s mind? Want to read the latest about desiccated thyroid and better treatment? Use the Notifications on the left at the bottom of the links.

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Let’s set the record straight about “swine flu”, viruses and Natural Desiccated Thyroid!

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Though this page was written in 2009, it’s been updated to the current date and time!
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With the recent March outbreak of swine flu in a few humans, I want to speak of facts.  This would involve all of you who use  desiccated porcine products like NP Thyroid, Armour,  Naturethroid, Westhroid, Thyroid-S, etc.

Recent cases

As of April 26th in the US, there are only 21 human cases of “swine flu” this year reported by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention):  California 7 cases;  Kansas 2 cases;  New York City 9 cases;  Ohio 1 case;  and Texas 2 cases. There have also been outbreaks in Mexico which may be related.  No one has died and none of the cases have been severe.  The current outbreak is a combination of swine, bird, and human influenza viruses.

What is the Swine flu?

Swine flu is a type A influenza and has been in existence with pigs for a long time.  Many pigs will get sick when it does go around; very few will die.

Why are humans getting it?

The real irony is that humans can be ones who give it to pigs in the first place!  But in turn, new human infection from infected pigs is actually quite rare. In most all cases, a healthy human will get it from contact with a live pig, such as at a livestock show. Then, the infected human will spread it to other humans.  So, when you see that “21” people have gotten it,  some may have gotten it from “one” person–i.e. a human-to-human contact.

The CDC also states that in a particular study, 76% of swine exhibitors tested had antibody evidence of swine flu infection but no serious illnesses were detected among this group. In other words, the majority of those exposed don’t even get the illness. If they do, it’s mild for most and only serious for a very small minority.

How common is swine flu among pigs?

Swine flu is common in groups of pigs all across the world, especially during the winter months.  Anywhere from 25-50% show evidence of having been infected.  But many pigs are vaccinated against it.

Can I get it from the use of desiccated thyroid products?

The standards in the making of desiccated thyroid powder as set by the U.S. Pharmacopoeia is extremely rigorous.  So, it is important to understand that your chances of getting swine flu from taking a US Pharmacopoeia-approved product is remarkably low, low, low. You have a much greater chance of injury from riding in your car.

So, for me, with all the above facts, I’m going to take my NDT with ease and peace, because using desiccated thyroid to treat my hypothyroid is FAR FAR better than any other treatment. Perhaps you will decide to do the same.  If you stay worried about it, you might also want to avoid using your car, stop using stairs, and avoid most people at all costs. :)  P.S. Check out the comments to this post. Will also help put you at ease.

* Here’s Dr. John C. Lowe’s rebuttal to the scare of swine flu. It confirms everything I’ve said plus a whole lot more.

* Want to know what’s on my mind? Interested in the latest information on desiccated thyroid? Just use the Notifications on the bottom right of any age. 

*If you find the website to be too enormous for your brain fog, or want better ease of getting the facts, the patient-to-patient STTM book is proving to be a good choice, say many who write me.  Just make sure you have a yellow highlighter. haha

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