Thyroid Wars

So as you know, I've been taking thyroid medication now since about May of this year. It has made a dramatic difference in both my ability to lose weight as well as helping me not feel so tired and irritable. The medication I've been taking is Armour Thyroid. Armour Thyroid differs from Synthroid in that it is a T3-T4 combination, while Synthroid is only one of the two (I forget which one.) Some doctors swear by it, and others curse it. My doctor is of the school that swears by it. And seeing how well I've done on it, I do as well.

Well, turns out, Armour Thyroid is on a major back-order, and this is according to the company that produces it. Consequently, it has been difficult to get a hold of lately. Rumor has it that it may no longer be manufactured. This is very troubling to me. There are hundreds of thousands of people who take this on a daily basis. How can they just stop manufacturing something so basic?! I have heard stories that the FDA is considering not approving new lots of it. The buzz about the 'net is that there is "evidence" that it is not as consistent as the synthetic version. That to me sounds very political.

When I did a Google search, I found many complaints from the people who have had to switch to Levothyroxine--that they are not doing as well, their hair is falling out...all kinds of horror stories. I'm really nervous about making the switch.

It was suggested to me to find a compounding pharmacy to make it up the T3-T4 combination for me in the same ratios as Armour Thyroid, and I did do that. But theirs is a synthetic mixture while mine was natural and produced from a pig's thyroid.

Anyhoo, that is how this stands. I have about 2 month's worth of the real deal left before I have to switch to the compounded synthetic version. I swear if this jacks with my weight loss efforts, I'll really be upset!