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798555 tn?1292787551

New natural dessicated thyroid sold US !

A new natural thyroid drug has hit the market which is made by Acella Pharmaceuticals. I asked a pharmacist today if it were a generic, she said it is Acella's brand called NP Thyroid. Cheap too, was only $12 per month cash price (no ins) at my dose 120mg day x 30 day supply.

from about thyroid - "The company, which is based in Alpharetta, Georgia, has a customer care toll-free hotline at 800-541-4802. Their website www. AcellaPharma . com does not have any information about their specific products"

The hidden good news here is the FDA approved a new dessicated product, which some feared would never happen!

On the other hand it may contain the same FDA approved filler that makes the newly reformulated Armour and Nature Throid brands less effective than in the past.

I'am stick to Canadian ERFA. But thought this news needs to be posted here.

Anyone get this yet, and it might be subbed for actual Armour brand, so pay attention Armour users!
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Avatar universal


There is a recent, excellent study that concluded that,  " Hypothyroid
symptom relief was associated with both a T4 dose giving TSH-suppression below the lower reference limit and FT3 elevated further into the upper half of its reference range".  

Most people taking T4 med find that their body does not adequately convert the T4 to T3, so even when the dose is high enough for Free T4 adequacy, Free T3 remains too low.  The objective of taking thyroid med is to relieve related hypothyroid symptoms.   Typically this requires Free T4 and Free T3 in the upper half of their ranges.   So this often requires the addition of a source of T3 to their med, or a switch to a desiccated type like Armour Thyroid, NatureThroid,  NP Thyroid, etc.

About the only difference among the T4 meds is the amount of fillers, binders, and dyes used in some.  Some people find that certain brands affect them.   As for what is a better medication, I expect that you will find it easier to reach target levels of FT4 and FT3 by using a desiccated type.    Why don't we take a look at your thyroid related test results and reference ranges shown on the lab report and see what they indicate?  Also, please tell us about any symptoms you still have.  
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I am on Levothyroxine 50 is this a good medication is NP better I have no problem paying for a better medication what is the best thyroid medication
Helpful - 0
2 Comments
Hello, guess old threads never die!

There is no such thing as "better" unless its better for you. Its trail and error, which I did a lot of. Note: trial and error is not for everyone.  Ive been hyper on labs with only T4, but felt hypo, as it did NOT relieve symptoms at all. I work in science, this was not my imagination LOL. I supped with synthetic T3 too, but that stuff is like a fast acting narcotic to me no matter how low the dose. Body used it to fast, then poof, it was gone. So I though Id try natural.

Trying natural in 08-09 what bad timing! Ive been hypo and hyper many times throughout the back ordered thyroid med days of 08-09, I was miserable for two years, changing meds while the FDA was shutting thyroid production facilities down, some for months, some forever.

The best time to change thyroid meds is at a low stress time. T4 to T3/T4 is a big change for your body. For me it was better in the end, but I constantly need to stay on top of availability news.

I've never had health ins pay/help for any brand of natural thyroid. All three brands of US natural thyroid have skyrocketed in price the last two years. ERFA Canada thyroid was what I was on till they changed it a little and its illegal to get from US now although they will still ship it. For those two reasons I changed to US NP brand. Then NP went up $ too. I use GoodRx to get a discount 1/3 price at the pharmacy, $50 for three months vs $150-200.

The Armour brand gets bough sold every five years,. Went from $15 for three months to $300. I dont trust the brand anymore nor will I support their greedy behavior.!!!!!

best wishes, LM
Hello LM.  Good to hear from you.  
535882 tn?1396576685
helps u poop
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
acella contains mineral oil which acts like a laxative.  
Helpful - 0
798555 tn?1292787551
When changing from a T4 med to natural T3/T4 med, you must ease into it, at a lower than normal dose. Introduce 1/2 dose then 15mg per two weeks after, as stated on the PDF file on the Armour site. Many docs dont even know this. Not doing this can possibly produce temporary hyper symptoms -  faster digestion is a possibility.
Helpful - 0
1263014 tn?1318032697
I started Acella thyroid a few weeks ago....the first two days I had horrible diarrhea and they put me on Synthroid for another few weeks.....With the Synthroid I had horrible vision blurring and they put me back on Acella....this time I had frank bloddy diarrhea......may have been my own body's reaction to it but it really messed up my stomach/lower bowels....
Helpful - 0
798555 tn?1292787551
Per : http://  dailymed  .nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?id=33943

dextrose monohydrate is the filler. I can only assume thats good, but dont know. No other coments on that filler here.

Time will tell.
Helpful - 0
734073 tn?1278896325
This is great news! My daughter is still doing great on Erfa as well. I have enough to get her through most of 2011. However, with "Obama Care" coming into play, I worry if US gov. will stop allowing us to fill scripts in Canada? I hope not, but maybe this new US desiccated med could be an option if need be? The ingredients don't say mycrocrystaline cellulose so that's good, since this was the issue with the new formulas of Nature-Throid and Armour correct?
Helpful - 0
798555 tn?1292787551
This post is about The new med Acella, its an alternative to Armour.

Aliittle info - Armour was reformulated in 09 and does not work as well as in the past for some people. I was on it during the change, it was not a good experience. Good that it works for you, and you did not notice the change in fillers used. Armour also has supply issues in most parts of the world and US - not good.

So we need another alternative besides Nature Throid, which also reformulated.

Many like myself have changed to Canadian Erfa.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I am taking armour thyroid for almost 5 years. This is my first thyroid medication and I am so grateful to some doctors who believed in it.
A great website for info is http://www.nutri-meds.com/
Helpful - 0
535882 tn?1396576685
it sounds good?  maybe a cheeped replacement . if it turns out OK. don't want to be the guinea pig  on testing a new drug
Helpful - 0
649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
From what I can find, Nature Throid is not FDA approved; however, it is once again in supply.
Helpful - 0
798555 tn?1292787551
Since we are starting to see people using this Acella Thyroid NP, I thought is would be good to post this again.

It has been brought to my attention that while Armour is still dealing with The FDA, its still not approved yet even after all they went through and the formulation change in 2009.

This non-aproval is a technicality from the day it was first sold years before the FDA was around. So Nature Throid or anything else with natural thyroid in it is most likely not approved either.
Helpful - 0
535882 tn?1396576685
dailymed site. if its not fda approved do you still need a prescription for it ? how can they sell it? Kevin
Helpful - 0
798555 tn?1292787551
Kev, what site did you look at? (pm me the link please if they erase it)
Helpful - 0
798555 tn?1292787551
Some other site has the info, didnt see it on the Acella site

From:

http://  dailymed  .nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?id=33943

NP THYROID 30 (levothyroxine, liothyronine) tablet
[Acella Pharmaceuticals, LLC]

NP Thyroid (thyroid tablets, USP) for oral use is a natural preparation derived from porcine thyroid glands. They contain both tetraiodothyronine sodium (T4 levothyroxine) and triiodothyronine sodium (T3 liothyronine) providing 38 mcg levothyroxine (T4) and 9 mcg liothyronine (T3) per grain of thyroid (or per 65 mg of the labeled amount of thyroid). The inactive ingredients are calcium stearate, dextrose monohydrate, maltodextrin and mineral oil.

Its not FDA approved.  Armour IS now aren't they?

So its the same amount of T's as Armour is, but total grain is 65mg, not 60. So grain per grain the hormone amount / strength is the same.

*****dextrose monohydrate - is that what was in old Armour? *****
Helpful - 0
168348 tn?1379357075
WOW  ... Great, interesting news!  thanks for posting it!
Helpful - 0
535882 tn?1396576685
fillers listed on website are dextrose mono-hydrate,   maltodextrin,  mineral oil
Helpful - 0
798555 tn?1292787551
T3 (9)and T4 (38) - I f I remember correctly, these were the #'s on the big bottle at the pharma they showed me.

Was armour T3 ....39?
Helpful - 0
393685 tn?1425812522
did you check the fillers out on this LM? I haven't done that yet.

What I have been told its the generic ratio of NDT.

Helpful - 0
798555 tn?1292787551
I just spoke to Walgreens. This has the same amount of T3 (9)and T4 (38)
per grain as all the other dessicated meds.  
Helpful - 0
798555 tn?1292787551
I hear you. Many brands have come and gone the last ten years here though. Every brand has had its supply problem, even Synthroid in .....'98 I think.

I still get mine from Canada.
Helpful - 0
219241 tn?1413537765
Awwww...now you know, don't you, that I am sitting here bashing my head against a brick wall crying my eyes out and stomping on an empty pack of Eutroxsig/Oroxine?
I just want to punch some pharmaceutical bureaucrat's nostrils in right now. Just so UN-bloody-FAIR. How come you guys have such a good range and fairly cheap supply of so many different thyroid meds and we don't? Seems like we are a country which will never get well.
Yeah, Aussies might be great at thrashing the Brits at cricket but by gosh we are a bunch of colonials when it comes to good thyroid care! Bah humbug!
Helpful - 0
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