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.
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
acella contains mineral oil which acts like a laxative.
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.
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....
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.
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?
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.
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/
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
From what I can find, Nature Throid is not FDA approved; however, it is once again in supply.
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.
dailymed site. if its not fda approved do you still need a prescription for it ? how can they sell it? Kevin
Kev, what site did you look at? (pm me the link please if they erase it)
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? *****
WOW ... Great, interesting news! thanks for posting it!
fillers listed on website are dextrose mono-hydrate, maltodextrin, mineral oil
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?
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.
I just spoke to Walgreens. This has the same amount of T3 (9)and T4 (38)
per grain as all the other dessicated meds.
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.
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!