Forest Laboratories places Armour Thyroid medication on back order

I just ran out of my perscription and I wasn't notified by my pharmacy that I couldn't get any, is there a place I can get it before I stop being able to function?

I just got off the phone with my local CVS pharmacy.  They told me that their manufacturer or distributor told them that Armour thyroid has been discontinued.  What now?  Do I have to switch back to Synthroid?

I will try a compounding pharmacy when I need more Armour.  Taking synthetic thyroid hormone is worse than taking no medication at all.

My 80 year old mother and I both take Armour Thyroid. I am posting this to let everyone know there are two other brands of natural thyroid- one is Naturethroid and the other is Westhroid. They are made by other companies. If Forest doesn't make some, we will have to switch. Synthroid didn't work for us.

I have just learned after having an anaphylactic reaction to generic Synthroid that they use SULPHUR in their pills-I don't know if it's just the yellow. I know that I'm allergic to sulphur, I couldn't even take chemistry when we did experiments. I had to go on Steroids to calm down my asthma, facial swelling,horrific headaches. I ASKED the pharmacy if there was Sulphur and it must not be listed properly or Walgreens didn't check because they said "No".
Then I reminded my P.A that she hadn't even run a Free t-3, Free T4 yet, just an elevated TSH how did they even KNOW what mg to prescribe!(I am an Medical Assistant who was married to a Internal Medicine Doctor) So she said I should do those asap. I again reminded her that this drug has a LONG half life, but she said "Just wait a few days and do the tests" 2 Pharmacies said the pill would affect my labwork for possibly 2 weeks showing false "good readings". So I went hypothyroid for two weeks and waited for results and appointment.
I finally saw a half decent N.P. who know a little about hormone and wrote for Armour 30 mg (I got the one last good bottle) I bragged to everyone who'd listen that I was cured. When I refilled sometime in June, I think I felt like I was going backward. The color in my face dimmed as my energy and memory did as well. She upped the dose to 60 mg (1 grain)Never felt as good as that first month, so I KNOW it's possible. Synthroid doesn't want ANYONE to know how good they CAN feel! I am a single Mom with two kids to take care of and 1 bottle of 120 mg I have to cut in half(which one half is always WAY bigger) My compounding Pharmacy said I'll need to switch to something else because they may not have enough "raw Product" to compound next month as ALL NATURAL THYROID IS GONE WITH NO DATE WHEN OR IF IT WILL COME BACK.
While the Endo's relax at their CME in a 5 star hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, targeted at Thyroid issues only. There is  no mention of Amour or T-3 AT ALL! I read all the lectures/studies. Just T-4 and studies with Synthroid.I went on these expensive trips that Skelaxin sent us to Santa Monica with $500 spending money to boot,Limo pickup,5 course meals, expensive hotel. Difference was we both thought the drug sucked. My ex jsut had to complete so many hours of CME. These Endo have sold their souls to Sythroid. Mine told me there were 2 drugs I could take, Synthroid or Levothyroxine! She has no idea I could rattle off names of several. She said "we don't NEED T-3) "but I'll write you for Armour since your labs are so good"-WONDER WHY? "But it will be gone forever very soon." she said. Synthroid pays for all kinds of her perks and trips! What disease do you know of that only ONE drug does ALL the testing, CME, EVERYTHING! NONE! Only hypothyroidism or thyroid cancer. They stopped teaching about Natural Thyroid replacement from disecreted Pigs in 1972. So it sounds like "Tree huger Medicine" to them. She told me straight out "You DO NOT NEED T-3"
I don't know how I'll survive after this month, without my Armour.
A lot of people don't even believe I HAVE hypothyroidism because I am 5 ft 5 in and weigh 113 lbs.
I'll sign anything possible to keep this drug available to me and others who need it. It's a crime to take away a medicine that has helped so many for SO many years for NO REASON AT ALL!  

RLC Labs, Inc is running low on Nature-throid and Westhroid (hypoallergenic) because of unavailability/unreliability of Armour.

They say they are working hard to catch up to this new demand...So, have  your pharmacy call them direct at 877-797-7997 to assure availability for you.

Westhroid & Naturethroid are on backorder now until November at RLC Labs.  I just called them today on September 21, 2009.

The Forest Labs website just announced that they have shipped "a limited supply" of 60 mg. Armour thyroid to pharmacies, but did not give a date of arrival or what pharmacies will be receiving it.

Normally I do not like the "sue happy thing". But, this is physically making me sick to take a med that does not work now and did not in the past and yet here i get to be back on it and lose my life to it again, lose the progress that i had made on the armour thyroid and to have to start all over again if and when it does become available. The reason i was told why they stopped production was due to poor gastrointestinal dissolution. How many of you had poor dissolution? I had great dissolution on it and if you did not it is probably because of the damage done to your system by not having the correct thyroid formula in the first place. I found by going to walmart and putting myself on a multi-enzyme with probiotics in it that it helped the food digestion problem i was having even prior to taking the armour thyroid. If you do enough reading on the thyroid you find all the damage and illnesses it gives you from not being corrected early on. So, it makes sense to me to take a multi-enzyme/probiotic to help with the dissolution of the med(s) and food even if they do not tell you and why should they, you would see the doctor less, take less med's, need less tests and therefore, in the end affect all their bottom lines. Always remember most things if you break them down enough, you will find it evolves around the green back dollar in one way or another.

I would also like to know why it is that when a doctor prescribes the synthetic thyroid hormone they do not/did not also prescribe the missing component along with it if you do not know enough to ask? I had been on synthetic's for 24 years and they did not work, had difficulties and side effects with many, had to switch many times, been on them all at one time or the other and then the doctor's still insisted on putting me back on what did not work when the latest one did not work, so i requested to be put on armour that actually allowed me to start to feel better. That is why they took it off the market and not their made up bs line. When a product works too well they make less money because you then can eliminate those other drugs you no longer need and never would have had they given you the proper med's in the first place. It is all about the bottom line and it is not yours they give two cents about either! I want to know why over the 24 years i was never told, "oh, by the way when you take a synthetic thyroid hormone you do not get t3 and t4 you get one or the other"? So then, they are assured you will never get better, that they will always make money from you and that you will continue to need other med's for the new health issue's that creep up as each year passes due to what not having the proper thyroid hormone does to your whole system and they are quite aware of all this and why it is done this way. Maximum profits to them and maximum health issues to you and a life of a living death sentence that they really do not care about because it is not affecting their health nor their bottom line, period.

We all need to find an alternative approach and see how it sets with them when they are no longer needed. Boycott and see if it then does not affect their bottom line. Holistic med's may be the way to go, anything has got to be better than the bs that is going on now, how sick we all feel from them ripping this out from under us, no prepping, no notice, and they feel it is fine. Wonder who their pr idiot is that felt all would be fine with how it was handled. It is not.

I got hold of my dept. Of health pharmacy division to get some answers, i also wrote to my state senator, and i called my local television station. Even if some say they cannot do anything, press them for what they can do, who they can refer you to and how to make this thing stop being forced on us and ask as i did for a bill to be put in place to stop the pharmaceutical's from having the ok to just stop production of such a needed hormone. I was told there is nothing that says they have to produce or not produce a medicine. So, they get all kinds of perks of help and they have all the say in if and when they will produce med's and do not even have to notify those of us that it affects. The only way to change that is to start to complain to everyone and anyone you can think of and pass it on. Copy and email any of these forum letters to those you know to get the word out. Knowledge is power and we need to have some power=say-so in this as it affects every aspect of our lives and livelihoods. Everyone needs to kelp that can, there is strength in numbers as you all know and maybe armour thyroid did not plan on that because they probably figured we would all be so annoyed, frustrated, stressed, fatigued, in pain, unable to function and any other number of symptoms to fight back. They are wrong! Dead wrong. It is time to all speak up and put an end to them doing this sort of pulling the sheet out from under all of us with no fair warning what-so-ever and no fear of reprisal either.

Thanks for allowing me to vent how i feel on the subject of how this affects my life as well as the lives of so many others.

Also, maybe this is an issue for a class action law suit! Maybe then they would get the message why you can't just pull this kind of maneuver with no warning to those that it affects

I am not a conspiracy theorist; quite the opposite, really. But given the trying economic times and factoring in greed, what if the manufacturers of Sythroid and other synthetic thyroid replacements are choking off the supply of material(s) to the manufacturer of Armour Thyroid? I think if one follows the money, one will come up with an interesting and disturbing reason why there is a backlog of Armour Thyroid.

This whole Armour situation contains enough ingredients to be made into a Robin Cook Best Selling Medical Based Novel.  Perhaps we should solicit his support in getting to the "real conclusion" of the Armour vs. Synthetic Product availability, informed consent - right to know, what truths lie in the answers we are being given based upon who is giving us the information.  We live in a world where people chose their words ever so carefully, where the fear of liability becomes the root of witholding important information that would allow us Thyroid Folks (or lack there of)be able to make informed decisions about the best path for each of us (as individuals), knowing that this path is one we must walk for the rest of our lives.  As a 54 year old adult (also going through menopause)I resent that I cannot get a consistent answer about what the real problem is or isn't, regarding the abrupt withdrawal of a prescription drug from the market, called Armour produced by Forest Labs, forcing my body into a state of detoxification and the need to be placed on an alternative drug (Synthroid) with the added need for the missing components in a shooter called Cytomel.  The FDA Claims to be unaware of the problem, the prescribing Dr.'s were unaware this was iminent leaving the drugstores nationwide and their distributors also pointing fingers at the manufacturers.  Who are we supposed to turn to (I have turned to my local Palm Beach Post Medical Reporter who has been kind enough to try and help uncover this myster for the general public) only to be given the same run around as the rest of us.  I look forward to anyone who can enlighten us and step up?  Does this sounds like "Class Action Suit?"

Does anyone out there know how to get hold of Pen Col Compounding Pharmacy?

I met with my doctor today for my thyroid blood work results. She commented that she understood that Armour Thyroid had been discontinued. I read on the Armour site that it is "backordered." I also have noticed with each refill how much the price has gone up on this prescription.

It is troubling to me because I do not WANT to take synthetic thyroid hormone and frankly when I did, I couldn't tell one bit of difference in any of it. I did my own research, discovered Armour  and asked my doctor to prescribe it to me.

I am glad to have found this site and I hope that us users of this medication will band together and help one another stay on a natural course of treatment for our thyroid disorders.

This is both disturbing and frustrating! The last refill I had (I'm on 90 day refills) the pharmacist told my husband that it was getting hard to get and it was also well over $80! We have been used to it being less than my co-pay! Have any of you noticed the price of your medication increasing of late? Again, glad I found this site!

What are all the people on armour thyroid supposed to do???????? I would love to make the people in the ama take a dose of synthroid and see how they feel I was sick the whole time I was on synthroid. I have felt good on the armour until they ran out of the smaller doses. I am supposed to take 142.5 mcg........that is impossible to do when u can't cut the 60 mcg pills up. they just shatter.

This is horrifying! I have graves disease which is stress related. This is just stressing me out and all the other people trying to get armour. It's horrible!!!!!!!!!!!!

From another site:

We all MUST, I repeat MUST go to the FDA website MedWatch and make a complaint against Forrest and specifically the FDA itself. Threaten them with our sheer numbers and class action law suit or other such legal means. Tell them how this has affected you and others. Pass it on, we can only make change if we start ourselves. Go to the website below and click on the BEGIN button in the upper right corner of the page.
www.accessdata.fda.gov/.../medwatch-online.htm

I'm filling out my form now and complaining that this is unfair to put millions of people at risk.  I'm also pestering my pharmacy to help me find a place to have it compounded.  

I have a doctor who agrees with me: Armour was and is the only acceptable form of treatment for hypothyroidism. Our best hope now is that the FDA does not declare pigs themselves illegal.
We can still find compounding pharmacies that will formulate batches of "Desiccated Thyroid USP". It is VITAL that your doctor write the prescription for that, and not for Armour.
Recently, Forest Pharmaceuticals started to change its formulation and its fillers. Many of us became sick, and started exhibiting hypo symptoms. It coincides perfectly with the rush to meet demands for the H1N1 Swine Flu shots. Whether this is the cause or not for the "shortage" is beyond me. I DO know that when I hear the word "shortage" I automatically think that someone somewhere is making a LOT of money. I'm 62 years old and smell the fish when they stink, whether in Denmark or in DC.
(Aside: It's interesting that Premarin is derived from pregnant mares urine, and it seems the drug of choice for most doctors in treating menopause.)
The male-dominated health care system seems determined to place little or no importance on how women feel or function. I realize that many men become hypothyroid also, but the majority of sufferers are female. Many women (and men) may die, slipping into myxedema coma. Since it's estimated that 25 out of every 1000 females in the US are hypo, the immediacy and gravity of this situation is too big for even OUR idiot-controlled (read: Pentagon) media to ignore for long. But obviously it will take many deaths before they take notice.
Armour will never be the same (remember the sweet taste as it melted under your tongue, remember how even your doctor didn't know that the delivery system was sublingual?) and probably won't survive as a company. Good. Armour's conduct during this greed-generated crisis is deplorable. Their inane internet pop-up and their (identical) phone message are designed to give us hope. The only hope I have is that they appear before a Senate sub-committee, and lose every penny that they've ever made on us, their guinea-pigs, their cash-cows.
Next, I want to see BIG PHARMA and the FDA (same thing) step in and realize that millions and millions of dollars can be made simply by providing us with Desiccated Thyroid USP. Killing us won't make them ANY profits.

Thank you moma4faith for providing the FDA website.  I started on Armour Thyroid at age 15 and still using it (age 63) (or did as of one month ago) at the very same dose:  formally known as 3 grains, now known as 180 mg daily. And thank you Jessica for your insights of this shortage may relate to the swine flu vaccine.  I have emailed a compounding pharmacy in Colorado to see if they will honor an out of state script and if so what would the cost be.  My internal med. doc told me she would write a script for any US or Canadian pharmacy and I found one that has 180 mg tabs at a cost of almost $400 for 100 pills.  That seems greedy to me.  This happened to me in the late 1970's and early 80's during which time I gained over 50 pounds.  Then their was a lawsuit against Synthroid and Synthroid lost and Armour was back on the market; supposedly not related????  In the 4 weeks I have taken 150 mg of the generic Synthroid I have not had one normal bowel movement (rocks to water), have been so confused it is affecting my business, gaining weight, sleeping 10-12 hours a day with a 45 minute nap during the day, experienced increased arthritis pain and crave meat.  My female doc assures me she has a lot of knowledge about this issue and disagrees with my wanting T3 but  respects my symptoms and concerns.  Hopefully this will blow over soon as it has in the past; problem is no one will tell you when Armour is back on the shelf. I am fortunate to have insurance coverage thru MerckMedco; they claim no knowledge of any other thyroid product like Armour, refuse to look into it.  My doctor did say that one of her patients has had some luck with taking "Thyroid Support" available at health food stores along with the synthetics so maybe I'll look into that. I'll come back to this blog as I have found it very useful.  Thanks!

This is awful I was on Armore Thyroid for years, till I was lied to and was told that it was made out of cows thyroid and because of mad cow dease they put me on Synthroid, it never worked well and now I know why, because of the Sulfa in it.  I started gaining weight, and it has ruined my system, and now have a hard time getting it regulated even with the Armore Thyroid. I also think the Labs are falseifying the lab work because they want you to go on the synthroid. My Dr. keeps saying he doesn't like the A. Thryroid. If I get the right doesage it I feel myself again. But they keep saying its reading high when the last test on that lower doesage it read low. And if 2 reading read good and one alittle high on a higher doesage then it is lowered, and it still is on the high side. That makes me very skecptical of the report.  You can get a thryroid support at the health food store. I find it a big help. Its called thryoid Support.  Its a supplement.

I get my perscription at Raley's Pharmacy and they said they can get the 1 gm or 60 mlg. I get the 90ct also but they will give me 160 ct. so I might just do that incase.

There is a compound pharcacy in San Jose Ca.  I will find out more and will enter it again.  Thanks for Listning J

My naturopath strongly urged me to ask for armour thyroid. My ent.surgeon doc allowed it. Then an oncologist lied to me by stating that not only is synthroid easier to dose but that it helped prevent cancer ! so I tried it. I felt like sh--! I was extremely & uncontrolably anxious, heart racing. I did not even wait for other side effects. I just went to the first doc to switch back. He did not know about the back order & I have to call him tomorrow. I told him of some of the ingredients in synthroid (that is on their own website - some ingredients I am sure were excluded on their list - like sulfer) I refuse to fear any consequences of the unavailablility. I know that the universe wants us to live happy, healthy & fulfilling lives. I called a few pharmacies in NYC & will speak to a pharm In the morning. I am going there any way & am sure some one will help me.

The evil powers of the government that have succeded in dumbing down the masses of followers will stop at nothing...with all the FDA bull about banning the natural & allowing products like aspertame! what may we do to save ourselves?

I am now dependent on thyroid substitute cause my right one was covered by a tumor & so was removed & then the doc suggested taking the other... I agreed, being on morphine & with my supportive husband not yet at the hospital. the left turned out, after lab scrutiny,to be fine, but too late, they can't put it back! we need to find those with the knowledge of perfect health & do as they do. but for me - I now need the substitute to survive. plus i've been on insulin for 40 something years. ENUF of the sad stuff. do not give up.

I took Armour meds for many years and was my labs were all over the place.  My endocrinologist changed my meds to Levoxyl.  He expressed to me that I should never take Levothyroxine as its compound is as unpredictable as Armour.  I have been taking Levoxyl for about 10 years and when I lost my insurance Levothyroxine was cheaper.  I questioned a Nurse Practiticianor and the Pharmacist before switching.  They both told me there was no difference.  I was only on this med for 2 weeks and it thru my thyroid into a storm.  I went right back to Levoxyl.  There has been some media coverage regarding this lately.  Levothyroxine appears to be compunded as unpredictable as Armour.  I also am allergic to Synthroid, but I believe it is not a true allergy but a sensitivity to the binding compound.  Please give Levoxyl a try.

Was diagnosed as hypothyroid almost 2 years ago and began on generic levothyroxine.  I felt GOOD for about 2 months, then the symptoms began--nausea, heart palpitations, aches and pains everywhere.  My PCP upped the dose a bit, but nothing changed.  That went on for at least 6 months, and he finally sent me to an endocrinologist.  She tried 50mg brand name Synthroid.  Again, I felt really good for about 2 months, and the same symptoms began again.  Because I was going away, I went to ER and they kept me overnight, testing every organ in my body and finding nothing 'wrong'.  Noone considered that Synthroid could be the problem.  So, there I was on Synthroid for a year, feeling miserable and making everyone around me even more miserable!

Finally, after I did research online, the endo tried Armour Thyroid, which also worked 'great' for about 2 months, and the same symptoms began again!!!  On my own, I cut dosage from 60mg to 30 mgo (am cutting 120's--since that is all my local CVS has available, and my 90-day supplier has none).  THAT worked for 2 months--hadn't felt that well in over a year -- and now the same symptoms are back AGAIN!!!  

I live in the Boston area, where there are more medical schools and world-class hospitals than anywhere on earth!  I like and trust my endo, and I know she's willing to try anything I want, but I'm at my wit's end.  I'm thinking that no med might be better than anything I've tried so far, since I'm on such a low dose.

Anyone else have these symptoms on Armour?  I really thought I had found the answer, and it is depressing that it doesn't seem to be.

I was diagnosed with hypothyroid when I was 13....I am now 50 and I have always taken either Eltroxin or Synthroid. I am not sure what normal is, but I also take antidepressants, have for many years, never poop....ever (I do eat an extremley healthy diet, mucho fibre), always groggy in the morning, very dry skin, no memory...NONE, severe brain fog, very difficult to read, learn or study. Cannot think straight or concentrate. Very slow at everything I do....sooooo embarassing.

Today is the first time I have ever heard of Armour-wonder if this will help me. Can I get it in Canada......also I have not heard or a compounding pharmacy.

I just convinced the 3rd doctor I've been to, to give me armour, and when I went to the pharmacist he told me that the manufacture is no longer making armour. what the heck?? where can I get some? I hate synthroid, I have felt like hell on it, gaining weight, losing a ton of hair, breaking out in cystic acne, I'm 34 years old and this is the worst I have ever felt in my entire life. I tried to go off levothroxine which is what they first prescribed me, and I ended up in the ER suffering from myxedema which if I didnt continue with my synthroid I could go into a coma and die so I had no choice but to accept a "different" pill, synthroid. Now that I have yelled at my doctor until he finally wrote me armour, they are telling me it isn't going to be available anymore.  I'm in Minnesota...who can I turn to that has armour? my pharmacist says it wont be available anywhere.! I hate doctors, I hate our government and I hate the fact that they do not care about how people feel, over how they can control us and gain more money!

....but Forest can't keep up with the demand for Armour???  Come on...give me a break...this is destroying lives...

I keep trying to post on this site and the site keeps bouncing me.  I live in Michigan 6 months and Florida 6 months and upon arrival I was able to find one month's supply at Sam's and one month's supply at Wal-Mart and nothing since.  However, I am doing much better with the constipation, still a little confused and still feeling very coerced.  Sam's and WalMart have a crappy attitude, esp. when you ask for 10 mg then 20 etc.  Finally they ask what I need and I say 180mg and after they get done smirking at me they say try Synthroid.  Been there, done that.  My holistic MD says he can hook me up with a compounding pharmacy in Tampa but they are really $$ but that will be my next alternative...along with contacting Jessica's womensinternational.com

This is a real nightmare. I went undiagnosed for over a year (even though I insisted it was my thyroid), then went on synthroid which did nothing but change my labs to "perfect".  They would up it for me and I would feel hyper coming on, so back down it went.  Their supposed cure made me feel worse than I did before.  Went to a great Endo who gave me Armour and I have never felt better; lost 30 pounds, hair came back to life, etc.  Now with this new formula my hair looks terrible, I'm having trouble sleeping and I have acne at 42!  Then to make matters worse I can't even GET the medication I deperately need.  Can this really be legal?  I just don't understand... Someone add me to a class action suit if we can find an attorney who would take it on.  Where is Erin Brokovich?

I had not heard of the new shortage until Shopko Pharmacy called me and said they have no Armour Thyroid available and there won't be any so I should call my Doctor. It's the weekend I can't call my Doctor.  I immediately called Walgreens and they too said there was none available in the 30mg (1 grain), so I proceeded to call CVS Pharmacy and they had enough to fill my prescription so I at least have a supply for one more month.  I am hoping by then this mess will be straightened out. A while back a pharmacist informed me that the pharmaceuticals needed the hormone or something of the pig to manufacture the H1N1 flu shot and that was why there was a shortage.  Now at first when the H1N1 was available to selected persons then there was Armour Thyroid availability.  Now I see that every person is now eligible for the H1N1 flu shot since December, 2009.  So that would mean more vaccination ingredients are needed for that reason.  Now here we sit as Guinea pigs being forced to chose a synthetic drug that will only put us back to where we started before being diagnosed with thyroid disease!  Does anyone care about us?  I am sure many of you share similar other health problems that developed over the years before we were diagnosed with this horrible disease. If the damn drug was used for over 100 years then why can't they just find a simple cure besides hormone replacement.  Like I wrote we live in America and there has to be a solution to this mess. A Better one than what they came up with.

I live in New York City/the Long Island area. I have been searching for a pharmacy that carry this drug and have been unsuccessful. I was willing to be switch to either Nature-Throid and Westhroid, both of which are non-synthetic thyroid medications and the pharmacies don't have them either. Can anyone tell me where I can find these medication in the New York/Long Island area? I really would appreciate it. I am running out of medication and I don't want to be depress again by taking synthetic medications.

Last week I was very surprised when I went to get my thyroid prescription refilled, and the pharmacy told me that I could no
longer get them! I've been on Armour thyroid since I was 6 months
old and I cannot in no manner take synthyroid! It doesn't work
on me at ALL! For several months, I've been having serious medical
problems, I've also bee hospitalized because of it!
I've have been experiencing severe chest-pains along with
other symptoms! My blood pressure is out of control, it was
very low, but within a month, it has raised very high, running
in the 170/107 several times a day! I'm on blood pressure medicine
too along! I can tell when my thyroid isn't right! my doctor also
believes that this is also giving a false reading on my tests!

I would like to know if there is anyway I can get on board of the lawsuit that is about this problem with the company!If I can make
a difference of helping others who are like me in this issue, I
would like to do it! Thank You..
      

Hello, Any new news from Armour? I have been trying to get a scrip filled since September 09, Walgreens just keeps saying it's back ordered.  Such s*%t. I have had at least 9 months saved up at all times. Well until now that is. I have one month left and well, WHAT CAN WE DO? I have tryed Synthyroid/Levlothyroxine. Just makes me a different person. Any new news or ideas? Should I start raising my own pigs? Lea

I was out for almost 3 weeks just now, but I did find out that Canada makes natural dessicated thyroid and it's called Erfa. You'll need to get a written prescription from your doctor for natural dessicated thyroid and it may take up to 3 weeks for it to come from Canada.

I am getting pretty frustrated of this manipulation by the medical field.   I have been or had loved ones affected by one thing or another all my life.   There are not many doctors who truly care about the health of their patients anymore - just that bottom dollar line.  

We are real people, real problems, and in these difficult times struggling enough as it is!   I took synthroid for year and it did nothing.   After being prescribed Armour, I felt so much better but now because of the shortage I am taking a compounded version.   I only hope my new doctor will continue to prescribe this as my latest doctor has moved to another state recently.   Otherwise, I will continue to look for one that will.   I have no health insurance as well and must pay the doctor visits in cash as well as my meds, it is costly!

Keep it up everyone!    If no one speaks out, nothing ever changes.....

I was taken off of Synthroid in December after 8 years of very unsuccessful treatment. I NEVER felt right. I was started on Armour Thyroid in December and felt 100% better in 2 weeks. Guess what ... just like you when I went to get my script refilled, I couldn't find it anywhere! I was on what I am reading as the "new" formulation of Armour so I cannot compare to the older formulation.   It was horrible to finally find something that changed my life and the way that I feel and then to NOT be able to get it again!!!

I found Armour on canadamedicineshop.com and just had to fax them a copy of my script.   My doctor says it smells like the "old" Armour.    Just wanted to pass this along.   They were very professional and easy to work with.   I got free shipping with a 3 month supply!    

So far, this medicine has a sweeter taste and a slightly stinky smell in the bottle.   If you were on "old" Armour this is what I hear that it was like.    It was $35 for 100,  30mg pills.   More expensive but totally worth it.  

Hope this helps someone!

I feel like crap and want my meds back! Who do these people think they are by taking our meds away? I wish they could go through what we are going through! Sorry but I am mad! I just want to feel good again!

ERFA Thyroid from Canada is equivalent to Armour Thyroid. There is no need for people to go on Synthroid.

Hi, since getting very sick on the "new " Armour I have tried several other desiccated thyroid meds. None of them seem to get me back to my normal state of wellnes. I tried the Canadian Erfa product and felt sick, I think it has to do with the corn starch in it. I tried Naturethroid befor that and it was not perfect but I am taking it again after the Erfa stuff made me sicker. I really would like the old Armour back and don't know how long I can survive without it.I am closed to giving up, wish I would not wake up anymore to another day of feeling like crap.

Mulberry Pharmacy in Mulberry, Florida (863-425-1101) will compound a natural dessicated thyroid as a replacement for Armour.  I have had good success while taking it OTHER than I still lack the energy I had.  They need a doctor's script and will mail.  I take 180mg daily. My doctor sent in the wrong script (150mg) but I kept it as I had some 60mg Armour I can cut in half to equal 180mg.  The cost for 3 months of the 150mg was $91.  My insurance wants more info from the pharmacy and I've not had luck connecting with the compounding pharmacist there yet...but this has been a Godsend to me.  Hope this helps someone. Judie, PS I ran into a Forest pharmaceutical rep and she said she wasn't aware there was a shortage in Armour???? And, a Michigan compounding pharmacist just laughed at me when I asked him to compound the drug...don't these guys have some type of responsibility to the public?

I have gone undiagnosed for many years. My family doctor sent in the tests for my thyroid but tells me I'm fine.(and they only test TSH, NOT T3 or T4).
  
I continued to suffer from all the symptoms of hypo yet my doc wont do anything.  I finally went to a natural path dr who tested me without a lab and yes sir, I am hypo.  Took Natur-throid for 6 months and felt like a new person.  Lost weight, sleeping better, hair stopped falling out, tons of energy, I felt like the light turned on inside and I had reason to continue.
  
Now, because the darn Doctors cant fill their pockets or go on free vacations if they prescribe natural thyroid medications - they take it off the market and I have never hit such a low in my life.

Would love to inflict hypo on all the Doctor's who are against natural thyroid medications and see how the like life after that.
Totally disgusted with the medical profession!!!!!!

I'm new to this hypothyroid business. After all the negative comments I've read about synthroid, I don't want to use it. My doctor prescribed synthroid, I'll take until I get Armour Thyroid only. Hoping it will be any day now. I hope to get the original, even the new will do. Anything but this synthetic stuff. I've taken one whole day, 25mcg hoping it won't be too much longer. Supposedly my Caremark/cvs pharmacy has it on order. Pray for the original, they said it was. We'll see.  I like anyone else wants only natural to help. Being hypothyroid is no joke. I would love to feel better, indeed. Thanks for reading my venting. Bye Bye

Well, it looks like no one has posted on this site in 3 years. Where did y'all go??? Please tell me thyroid meds did not kill you!!! I've been on Levothyroxine for 2 years, on The Synthroid brand, the past 4 months. And just last week, I talked my doctor into prescribing me Armour Thyroid. He did so, but with reluctance!! Today was day 2 on Armour 60 mg's. And I feel just as crappy! Maybe even worse! Severe sweating episodes on and off, then feeling really hot and flushed, esp. around my face. Which even looks puffy. After just 2 days on Armour. I thought I was doing the right thing for my hypothyroidism by asking for this drug. But after reading all comments here, I'm not so sure. I'm thinking it's because the Armour is of the new formula, now. At first it all sounded promising, but those post were from 2009 & 2010. The last 4 or 5 comments written say that, now that Armour is back, it is not the same. The bottle does stink inside. Is that the way the old Armour was? As far as the taste, I swallow it, so I haven't noticed a taste. Is it suppose to have a sweet taste??? I am so sick and tired of feeling sick and tired!!!! I felt ok before I was diagnosed with hypothyroid and put on the meds!! I wish I'd never taken anything for it, to begin with. And just allowed my body time to correct itself. In 2010 I weighed 125 pounds. NOW I weigh 164.3 pounds!!!! Levothyroxine didn't help, Synthroid didn't help, no matter how many times my doctor "tweaked" the dosage. And now Armour is not at all, what I thought it would be. What the hell is happening to us women? And why are we the ones who suffer from hypothyroidism? Why don't many men get it?? I have 5 sisters and they don't have it. Why me???? I want my body back. I want to feel normal again! I have no sex drive, no energy, brain fog all the time! No patience. Moody as all get out. Thank God, I have no hair loss or really bad dry skin! So makes me wonder if I really am hypothyroid. PLEASE, somebody, anybody, write me back. TELL me what to do now!?!?!