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.