Re: Nutri-med natural thyroid versus Armour

January 28, 2004

I've read them too.

I'll let you decide.

My thyroid was killed off by RAI in 1990. I was tested every 2 weeks for

the next 6 months to verify that my thyroid was no longer putting out

hormone. I was then put on synthetic T4... over the next ten years, while

on T4 only meds and under the care of doctors my health continued to

decline and I steadily gained weight.

Then I ran out of insurance and was without meds (or on very very little

for the next 3 years..) during that time I got even WORSE.. back on

crutches for months at a time. Bowels not working, the whole myriad of

symptoms.

Then I went hunting for any thyroid I could find. All I could find,

without prescription, at the time was Nutri-Meds. A friend loaned me the

money to buy a bottle.

In just months... No more crutches to walk, sleeping better, digesting

food better, less depressed, heart rate and respiration coming up (I was

down to 5 beats per minute and 10 breaths per minute) just one thing

right after the other improving as I gradually increased my dose from 1/4

tablet all the way up to 2 tablets. Taken in 5 to 6 doses per day.

I've talked with their people on the phone and I've read their literature

online.

They want to provide products to those people that really, really need it

but don't have insurance and can't afford the doc and the labs. They have

to label their product as a supplement, to do any more than that, like to

list potency or do comparisons, puts them under FDA ruling, which would

take the product off the market and require them to sell by prescription

only.

If the stuff doesn't have anything in it..... did all my improvements

happen because it's just a really great placebo? That I'm really really

gullible?

I got an opportunity to get Generic Natural Thyroid out of Mexico,

prescription grade, at a much better price, through a friend that visits

there. I'd been using that since last July.... I had to play around with

it because it is a bit more potent than Nutri-Meds but got it all

adjusted and was on my merry way as my body continued to heal and to

improve.... Well, I got a bit stupid and increased my dosage a bit higher

than I should have and ignored the symptoms of hyper... by the time the

symptoms were pronounced I was getting to be in pretty rough shape... I

had to back down on the generic for a while and allow by body to purge

itself of the extra T4...

Then my generic bottle was empty and I decided that before I opened a new

one this would be a good time to go finish up the Nutri-meds that I had

left..... I was about a week into using those at 1 tab per day when my

hypo symptoms were coming back (By hypo... extreme fatigue.. most notably

I started dosing off in the afternoon...I'd just nod off while typing...

and then couldn't sleep at night... and I started getting foot and joint

pain again.), showing that I'd finally purged the excess T4 from my body,

and starting increasing the Nutri-Meds again.... I'm now holding just

fine... back on two tabs of Nutri-Meds in 5 doses per day....

So... if it's no good... if there is nothing in it.... How come I got

better on it the year that I took it?

If it's no good... How come I'm quite stable with good basals on it

now... after 3 weeks of using it... after having gone through a hyper

phase when I increased my dosage too high... then going through hypo when

I allowed my body to purge the excess T4 and now I'm back in my sweet

spot and feeling great?

The gal that I talked to on the phone uses it... and works for the

company... if it was no good... why would she use it?

Why do we get these claims saying that it's no good? Might it have

anything to do with the fact that it just might be a product that allows

a percentage of the population that is financially challenged or without

insurance or simply fed up with REALLY crummy care to have an optional

source for a product that actually works? We are taking money away from

the medical industry if we are buying without paying a doctor to give us

a permission slip (prescription) to buy the medication that we already

know we need AND can dose more accurately than 90 % of the docs.

The only problem that I see is that because of the laws the way they are.

They have to be labeled as a supplement and so on -in a way that keeps

them outside the regulation of the FDA... or they'd have to be sold by

prescription only.

Am I involved with their company in any way? Nope. Do I get a kick back

from them in any way? Nope. If the source for the Mexican thyroid source

stops will I be devastated? Yep.... because it's a lot cheaper, but NOT

because Nutri-Meds is an inferior product. It's just got less bang in a

tab than a Generic which, I'm told has a bit less bang per tablet than

Armour.

.... just my two cents.... and it's time for my next dose.... 5 times per

day keeps me in my sweet spot...I have a very sensitive system and no

thyroid function. So my best results are obtained, for now, with

multi-dosing. I hope, that one day, when my body has recovered from a

decade of mistreatment by doctors, and then years without much in the way

of meds at all - that I can reduce the frequency of dosing... but even if

my body has suffered too much damage and I always have to multi-dose...

small price to pay to have a life again.

Oh... one last thing... the label on Nutri-Meds:

Thyroid

Whole Desiccated Glandular Concentrate

Other Ingredients:

Dicalcium Phosphate, Magnesium Sterate (Natural Tableting Agent)

130 mg

The label on the Generic - Time Cab Labs

Thyroid Tablets, USP

130 mg

Each Tablet contains:

Levothyroxine ... 76 mcg

Liothyronine ... 18 mcg

and from the package insert:

Thyroid Tablets, USP, micro-coated, easy to swallow with a reduced odor,

for oral use are natural preparations derived from porcine thyroid glands

(T3 liothyronine is approximately four times as potent as T4

levothyroxine on a microgram for microgram basis.) They provide 38 mcg

levothyroxine (T4) and 9 mcg liothyronine (T3) for each 65 mg of the

labeled content of thyroid.

Inactive Ingredients:

Microcrystalline cellulose, dicalcium phosphate, colloidal silicon

dioxide, sodium starch glycolate, stearic acid, magnesium stearate,

hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, and other ingredients.

So.... what do you think? Is it all in my head?

Topper ()

On Wed, 28 Jan 2004 06:50:41 -0000 " loriannsluxuries "

writes:

> Hello all...I just wanted to share this information with you all and

> see what you make of it? I found it on the web and I wonder if the

> nutri-med thyroid I just started taking actually has any hormone in

> it at all! here is what it said:

>

> NOTE: Prescription desiccated thyroid drugs are NOT the same as

> over- the-counter thyroid glandular supplements.

> Desiccated natural thyroid is available as a prescription drug for

> the management of hypothyroidism. The pharmaceutical preparation is

> standardized and contains both thyroxine and triiodothyronine.

> Thyroid extracts marketed as nutritional supplements are not allowed

> to have these hormones in them.

> The ingredients of Armour continue to include the following:

> Thyroid Powder, USP (active ingredient)

> Dextrose, Anhydrous (inactive ingredient)

> Microcrystalline Cellulose, NF (inactive ingredient)

> Sodium Starch Glycolate, NF (inactive ingredient)

> Calcium Stearate, NF (inactive ingredient)

> Opadry White (titanium dioxide used as a whitening agent - inactive

> ingredient)

>

> The difference between prescription thyroid extract and the thyroid

> extracts sold as nutritional supplements, is the latter are required

> by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be free of the known

> active thyroid hormones (thyroxine and triiodothyronine). The use of

> hormone-free thyroid preparations has not been evaluated in

> scientific studies, but some doctors believe these products may

> provide nutritional support to the thyroid gland or contain other

> compounds with possible hormonal activity.

January 28, 2004

Gentle,

I don't think it is placebo for you or Topper! lol. It is impossible to be

hypo and continue with those symptoms just for the sake of pumping up some otc

thyroid company. I am regaining hope now and I think my tiredness is from

being on my monthly cycle and also what you said about the nutrimed possibly

taking 8 tabs to get 3 grains. I am on 2 grains and have only been taking 2 tabs

of

the nutrimed..I think one grain is equal to 60 mg so then I would have to

take 5.26 tabs of nutrimed to get 2 grains of thyroid. 3grains divided by 8

nutri tabs= .38 grains per 1 tab of nutrimed. I am so thankful to learn of the

mini doses all day long too..I am going to start doing this...before I'd take my

whole dose before bedtime....I will try the other way now! Thanks so much I am

so grateful for you guys!

Blessings,

Loriann

> If Nutri meds has no active stuff in it, then I'm getting one whale

> of a placebo response !

>

> Seriously, their website says, they take the entire gland, without

> adding or removing anything or any part, and freeze-dry it.

>

> So it's just like (in a way) eating the thyroid gland. I know that

> when you eat a whole thyroid gland, you are getting active stuff. If

> what Nutri-meds says is true, there is also the active stuff in their

> dessicated supplement.

>

> BUT - many people here are saying nutri-meds are not nearly as strong

> as Armour.

>

> I have read people here saying it may be 25-30 percent weaker.

>

> On the Nutrimed site, they talk about how some patients use up to 8

> capsules per day safely under the supervision of a doctor.

>

> I read once that normally the max dose for Armour is 3 grains. So it

> got me thinking..is it possible that 8 capsules of nutri-meds is

> equal to 3 grains of Armour?

>

> I don't know, just speculation on my part.

>

> Gentle

>

January 28, 2004

If Nutri meds has no active stuff in it, then I'm getting one whale

of a placebo response !

Seriously, their website says, they take the entire gland, without

adding or removing anything or any part, and freeze-dry it.

So it's just like (in a way) eating the thyroid gland. I know that

when you eat a whole thyroid gland, you are getting active stuff. If

what Nutri-meds says is true, there is also the active stuff in their

dessicated supplement.

BUT - many people here are saying nutri-meds are not nearly as strong

as Armour.

I have read people here saying it may be 25-30 percent weaker.

On the Nutrimed site, they talk about how some patients use up to 8

capsules per day safely under the supervision of a doctor.

I read once that normally the max dose for Armour is 3 grains. So it

got me thinking..is it possible that 8 capsules of nutri-meds is

equal to 3 grains of Armour?

I don't know, just speculation on my part.

Gentle

January 28, 2004

Hi and welcome gentle! I don't believe that there is a maximum dosage for

Armour. I know that most medical professionals feel that 300 mgs or 6 grains is

enough for a person who's had their thyroid removed. But I still have my

thyroid and I am on 360 mgs daily...split into 4 doses. I am also feeling the

need to increase with this cold weather that Michigan is having. This disease

that we suffer from isn't " perfect across the board " and because we are all

unique, needing our own specific treatment we must not forget that...that is why

sooo many docs have no clue where to begin. They don't believe that each person

is different in diagnosing and treatment. You will learn so much on this

site...I am very thankful for the women that have helped me so far.

I believe that Nutri-meds is weaker...(seems I've heard women say that myself)

you have to be willing to go through trial and error..but the ladies here will

walk ya through. You seem quite informed...that is a great start!! You are on

your way to a healthy 2004!!!!!

Hugs..PattiSue