? thyroiditis

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I've had Hashi's for many years, and am now treating with 3 grains of Erfa

daily. Over the past few days I've been feeling really ill (worse than usual!),

feeling a bit hyper, though very tired, and have thyroid pain and soreness.

I'm wondering if this is an antibody attack. My question is, apart from

paracetamol, is there anything else I could be taking/doing to calm things down?

Also, I'm due thyroid blood tests - I know not to take my NDT for 24hrs, but

will a Hashi's attack affect the blood results?

Something else I thought I might mention. Been on sertraline for many years, and

recently the generic I got from the pharmacy looked very different, and didn't

seem to be working particularly well. I looked up the make (Teva UK Ltd), to

check out the incipients and discovered they contain Povidone, which is a form

of iodine. Does anyone know if this could have brought on an attack of

thyroiditis? (I asked my GP for a prescription for the non generic sertraline

yesterday - when I took it into the dispensary, the pharmacist looked disgusted,

ha, do I care!)

Would also like to bump my question re soya in meds, eg soy oil for vit d3 etc.

Thanks, peeps,

A

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I sent you a

response to the forum regarding soya in meds early this morning.

Luv - Sheila

Would also like to bump my question re soya in meds, eg soy oil for vit d3 etc.

Thanks, peeps,

A

_

[Guest guest]

Hi can someone convert the grains to mg for me.

thanks

Best wishes

Mandy

[Guest guest]

Hi , 60mcg of natural thyroid=1 grain = is 50mcg levo.so someone on 100mcg levo would need 2 grains natural thyroid.and 4 grains of natural thyroid = is 140mcg of levo.angel.

[Guest guest]

Hi Angel, I keep saying that unfortunately, there is no way you

can calculate how much natural thyroid extract somebody is going to need by the

amount of levothyroxine they were taking. Levothyroxine is only one hormone, (a

prohormone) (T4) that has to convert to the active hormone Triiodothyronine (T3)

in the liver, kidneys, brain, skin and several other thyroid hormone receptors

throughout the body.  NDT contains T4 and T3, and also contains the active

thyroid hormones T2, T1 plus calcitonin, Anybody starting NDT needs to do this

slowly to start with so the body can get used to these new hormones. You cannot

compare/calculate what amount of NDT you are likely to need by using a mainly

inactive thyroid hormone only.

Luv - Sheila

Hi , 60mcg of natural thyroid=1 grain = is 50mcg levo.

so someone on 100mcg levo would need 2 grains natural thyroid.

and 4 grains of natural thyroid = is 140mcg of levo.

angel.

[Guest guest]

Hi Sheila, yes you are correct, every one is an individual. but if ok on levo then moving to natural thyroid should be a strait swap. but only if every thing else is working properly. IE: adrenals and female hormones. and you feel staple on the levo other than levo not working properly. angel.

[Guest guest]

Hi - thanks for this - but what would 60 mg be then

Best wishes

Mandy

[Guest guest]

Read the following information Mandy - it will give you a lot

more information about natural thyroid extract as well as telling you how much

T4 and T3 ect. is in NDT:

Luv - Sheila

FACTS ABOUT NATURAL THYROID EXTRACT (ARMOUR

THYROID, ERFA ‘THYROID’, NATURE THROID AND WESTHROID)

This I sent out to all NHS

doctors and endocrinologists:

There are serious

misconceptions amongst the medical profession concerning the true facts about

Natural Desiccated Porcine Thyroid Extract (NDT) such as Armour Thyroid, Erfa„

Thyroid‟, Nature Throid and Westhroid as an alternative to

thyroxine (T4) only therapy, where a significant number of patients and their

medical practitioners find the synthetic product to be ineffective in restoring

their optimal health.

Although the following

information may not be relevant to your current patients, would urge you to

keep it for reference for the benefit of any future patients who do not thrive

on T4 only. Thyroid extract is often the most suitable medication for patients

who complain of feeling unwell, even though their Thyroid Function Tests may

show acceptable levels of hormone whilst taking T4 only.

Thyroid patients are

desperately seeking an understanding and partnership with their NHS doctors to get

the best treatment possible. We believe that every patient has the right to

optimal treatment. Given that a number of thyroid patients do not respond well

to thyroxine alone and continue to have many of the debilitating clinical

symptoms of hypothyroidism, we feel that NHS doctors should be made aware that

they can prescribe natural thyroid extract within the NHS to those

patients who do not regain their normal health on thyroxine.

Many Practitioners believe

wrongly that they are not allowed to do this. UNTRUE

There are a number of

misconceptions about NDT which we would like to rectify, as it is important

that all medical practitioners are given the correct information.

 

Medical Practitioners

believe they cannot prescribe NDT UNTRUE

Armour Thyroid, Nature Throid,

Westhroid and Erfa „Thyroid‟ are the brand names of

natural, desiccated porcine thyroid extract. Branded NDT is authorised by the

United States Federal Drug Administration (FDA) as medicine that is

standardised to the specification of the United States Pharmacopeia. The

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has not objected to the

importation of NDT, as it is a FDA authorised prescription medicine,

standardised to the USP and is for the treatment of patients with thyroid disease,

for whom the UK licensed thyroxine is unsuitable. Consequently it can be

prescribed to patients who need it, subject to it being prescribed by a doctor.

Please see letter and Emails from MHRA to TPA regarding this.

Thyroid extract quality is

not consistent – UNTRUE

On their respective websites,

the British Thyroid Association and the British Thyroid Foundation suggest

that:

" Armour is prepared

from desiccated animal thyroid and the preparation and purification of this

product may not be at the same rigorous standards of more modern

medications "

This is either

erroneous or a deliberate attempt by the British Thyroid Association to mislead

UK medical practitioners and patients.

Forest Pharmaceuticals, the

manufacturer of Armour Thyroid, state that the amount of thyroid hormone present

in the thyroid gland may vary from animal to animal. To ensure that Armour

tablets are consistently potent from tablet to tablet and lot to lot,

analytical tests are performed on the thyroid powder and on the tablets to

measure actual T4 and T3 activity. Different lots of thyroid powder are mixed

together and analysed to achieve the desired ratio of T4 to T3 in each lot of

tablets. This method ensures that each strength of Armour will be consistent

with the USP official standards.

All

brands of desiccated porcine thyroid contain a mixture of thyroid hormones: T4

(thyroxine), T3 (triiodthyronine) in the proportions usually present in pig

thyroids (approximately 80% T4 and 20% T3). One grain (about 60 mg) of

desiccated thyroid contains about 38 mcg of T4 and 9 mcg of T3.Because the

preparation is whole thyroid gland, each 60 mg tablet also contains over

59 mg of all of the other constituents of pork thyroid glands.

The

current USP monograph for thyroid tablets has an Assay to measure the

quantities of liothyronine (T3) and levothyroxine (T4), a content uniformity

test,  a disintegration test and microbial limits.

Standards are set by an expert

committee with open public comment. You can see citations to two references

that discuss the stability of thyroid tablets and preparations at http://www.armourinfo.freeuk.com/document_1.html

The first paper does not

indicate that stability or uniformity were major issues in thyroid

preparations. Copies of these papers can be obtained, as well as copies of the

USP monograph on Thyroid Tablets from any medical or pharmacy school library.

Armour Thyroid, Nature

Throid, Westhroid and Erfa ‘Thyroid’ are made from bovine extracts – UNTRUE

We contacted the Drug

Information Pharmacist of the Professional Affairs Department at Forest Pharmaceuticals,

who state that Armour Thyroid comes from United States grain-fed domestic pig

thyroid. The thyroid extracts do not come from bovine thyroid. The reason some

confusion may have arisen could be because many years ago, the manufacturers

did produce a thyroid product, called 'Thyrar' (not to be confused with

Thyrolar), that was made from bovine thyroid.

The disease status of porcine

animals born, raised, and slaughtered in the USA or Canada can be accessed

through the World Health Organization, Office Internationale des Epizooties

(OIE) website at http://www.oie.int Here

you will find that the USA and Canada are classified as being free of List 'A'

porcine diseases including foot-and-mouth disease, swine cholera, swine

vesicular disease, and African swine fever. This disease information can also

be confirmed through United States Department of Agriculture USDA Animal Plant

and Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Armour is a natural preparation of USP

grade desiccated thyroid powder derived from porcine thyroid glands.

The above named NDT meets all

the requirements set by the USP for thyroid medications and manufacturing

specifications are tightly controlled, contrary to the BTA and RCP's current misconceptions about desiccated thyroid. The

natural porcine thyroid powders are not sterile products nor are they designed

to be such.

The finished lots are tested

for, and meet all USP compendial requirements, including those for the absence

of Salmonella and E.coli pathogens. The manufacturers also verify that the

Total Aerobic Plate Count (TAPC) does not exceed 10,000 Colony Forming Units

per gram (CFU/g). The entire thyroid process is performed in accordance with

the FDA Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) requirements. After

processing, the thyroid products are packaged, stored, and handled in a manner

to prevent any cross-contamination.

SO WHY THE

CONTINUED MISCONCEPTIONS?

The BTA Statement on natural

desiccated porcine thyroid extract has incorrect information regarding the

reasons why NDT is not currently licensed in the UK. They also give out

incorrect information about the reason NDT was withdrawn after synthetic

thyroxine had been developed in the 1970's. This was NOT due to quality control

problems; the suggestion that it was is blatantly untrue, and there are NO

studies to support it.

In the United States, Armour

and several other thyroid medications were 'grandfathered' in when the US

Congress passed the Kefauver- Drug Efficacy Amendments of 1962, to

tighten control over drugs. Before marketing a drug, firms had to prove safety

and effectiveness for the products intended use. The requirement was applied

retroactively to 1938, when the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act was

passed. Pre-1938 drugs were granted ‘grandfathered’ status because they were

generally recognised as safe and effective, provided no evidence to the

contrary developed. Too much evidence to the contrary developed concerning the

levothyroxine products and the FDA decided none was generally recognised as

safe and effective, so these synthetic products lost their 'grandfathered'

privilege and had to go through the New Drug Application process. The NDT

brands

mentioned

here retain their ‘grandfathered' status since no evidence to the contrary

has developed concerning their safe and effective status.

As NDT has never been licensed

in the UK, it has never been withdrawn. The falling demand was the result of

assertions by certain drug manufacturers and medical authorities that the

synthetic thyroxine was, by definition, better, and that porcine thyroid was

greatly inferior. There have been NO studies to support this and BTA are

seriously in error when making these assertions.

Interestingly, in a 1980 study,

a number of generic versions of desiccated thyroid were found to be unreliable

in potency. The amounts of T4 and T3 in Armour, on the other hand, were found

to be constant (ref 1). Moreover, two-year old tablets of Armour Thyroid

contained similar amounts of T4 and T3 as did fresh tablets

Pharmacological Basis of

Therapeuticsâ€, sheds some light on this question. The reason why 'other' brands

of desiccated porcine thyroid extract were withdrawn is: " Several

years ago (1963), a large batch of material came into the hands of a number of

distributors in the United States and Europe and, although of proper iodine

content, it later proved not to be thyroid extract at all. This episode gave

desiccated thyroid a bad name because several publications about the

unreliability of thyroid extract appeared before the hoax was uncovered " .

A further allegation from the

BTA state that the use of NDT causes " substantial fluctuations to T3

levels " .

This is once again quite

unsupported by evidence. Doctors using NDT have found that over time T3 levels

sometimes rise to a small degree without any significant consequence. The

assertion that these so-called minor variations in T3 can cause strokes and

osteoporosis is again completely without foundation or supportive evidence. We

are all aware that over dosage with T4 and T3 is undesirable, but NDT is no

more likely to cause such problems than is synthetic T4 and T3. Splitting the

daily dose would obviate any potential concern about transient elevations of T3

levels. All thyroxine, whether made by the thyroid itself, or given

exogenously, has to be converted to the active T3; and the thyroid produces

just the right combination of T4 and T3 (as well as T2 and T1 and other

unspecified hormones) that are available in NDT. Since T4 and T3 have been

released together by the thyroid gland in all mammals (and many other species)

throughout evolutionary history, it is absurd for

the BTA to suggest that this

combination is potentially damaging. Desiccated thyroid has been used for a

century in hypothyroid patients with great benefit and no harm, and the

suggestion, again by the BTA that the long-term effects are not known are

incorrect. This is how nature does it and natural thyroid extract is almost

identical to human thyroid.

 

WHERE NEXT?

Despite an extensive literature

search we can find no scientific evidence to support the fact that synthetic

thyroxine is superior to natural desiccated accounts for the unsatisfactory

results in many patients. There is a growing body of scientific evidence that

shows that many patients often do not regain a true sense of well being on pure

synthetic thyroxine and prefer NDT because it works and actually makes them

feel better. It is also quite untrue for the BTA to suggest that blood testing

in patients taking NDT is less than satisfactory; indeed, it presents no

difficulties of any kind.

It appears that there has not

been ANY attempt to empirically evaluate the evidence regarding the use of

thyroid extract. Its wholesale dismissal by the BTA and RCP represents, at

least in part, a biased attitude. TPA would like to see the instigation of a

properly conducted prospective randomised control trial as soon as possible.

Hypothyroidism is one of the

few medical conditions where people are being refused a choice of treatment if

the one and only levothyroxine therapy doesn’t make them well.

Hypothyroidism is also one of

the few medical conditions where people are joining Internet support groups to

find the information being denied them by their doctor. The current situation,

whereby hypothyroid patients are being left consider alternative medication,

owing to their misconceptions about NDT is unacceptable.

There

are valuable lessons to be learned by endocrinologists and GP’s on these

support groups.

Since natural desiccated

porcine thyroid extract has been available since 1894, long before synthetic

T4, and has been making patients better, it is up to such medical authorities

to PROVE on the contrary, that synthetic T4 is as good, safe and reliable as

Armour.

We are seeking to work in

partnership with our medical practitioners to get the best treatment for

hypothyroid sufferers. Getting the correct thyroid medication for the patient

improves quality of life, and has helped many sufferers to return to work, relinquish

state benefits and contribute towards the nation’s wealth. I would welcome your

suggestions as to how we might work together to increase general awareness and

understanding of the issues .

If Armour thyroid were labelled

as USP it would be expected to meet the requirements of the USP monograph

throughout its shelf life. The current USP monograph for thyroid tablets has an

Assay to measure the quantities of liothyronine and levothyroxine, a content

uniformity test, a disintegration test and microbial limits. Standards are set

by an expert committee with open public comment. Citations to two references

that discuss the stability of thyroid tablets and preparations can be seen at

http://www.armourinfo.freeuk.com/document_1.html The first paper does not

indicate that stability or uniformity were major issues in thyroid

preparations.

Copies of these papers as well

as copies of the USP monograph on Thyroid, Thyroid Tablets can be seen at any

medical or pharmacy school library.

Idis and Pharmarama, as importers

and suppliers, have to prove that Armour Thyroid, Erfa „Thyroid‟, Nature Throid or Westhroid is being supplied for the

permitted indication, and a spokesperson for Idis and Pharmarama has agreed

that doctors now only need to write on the prescription “required for the

treatment of hypothyroidismâ€.

PLEASE SEE THE LETTER and

EMAILS RECEIVED FROM MHRA on the TPA website

From: thyroid treatment

[mailto:thyroid treatment ] On Behalf Of Mandy

Jennings

Sent: 17 March 2011 22:10

thyroid treatment

Subject: Re: ? thyroiditis

Hi

- thanks for this - but what would 60 mg be then

Best

wishes

Mandy