Ingredients/fillers in various thyroid meds

[Guest guest]

Some folks react differently to various fillers. That is why there is a difference in how your body responds when changing brands of meds. That's why it's a good idea, when changing brand, either natural or synthetic, to have your labs done again in six weeks so that you can make any adjustments that you need to.

Here's the ingredient lists that we've collected for the various natural thyroid products (I'm still trying to get an ingredient list for Thyroid-S, so if anyone has it please pass it on:

***************ARMOUR Thyroid, Forest Pharmaceuticals.

Porcine Thyroid Powder, U.S. PharmacopeiaDextrose (sugar, to make it more palatable)Microcrystalline CelluloseSodiumCalcium Stearate (stabilizer and lubricant)Opadry White (titanium dioxide, a metallic powder which imparts a very white color)

***************Naturethroid, by Western Research Labs

Contains:Porcine Thyroid Powder, U.S. PharmacopeiaMicrocrystalline CelluloseDicalcium Phosphate Sodium Starch Glycolate Magnesium Stearate Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose Stearic Acid Carnauba Wax Polyethylene Glycol

***************WESTHROID, also by Western Research Labs

Contains:Porcine Thyroid Powder, U.S. PharmaceopeiaCornstarch(from here I need to get more info)

***************Thyroid USP, made by Time Cap Labs

Porcine Thyroid Powder, U.S. PharmacopeiaMicrocrystalline CelluloseDicalcium Phosphate

Colloidal Silicon Dioxide

Sodium Starch Glycolate

Stearic Acid

Magnesium stearate

Hydroxypropl methylcellulose

...and other ingredients

***************Armour and Westhroid and Nature-Throid and Time-Cap Labs, all prescription brands are absolutely identical--they all get their Thyroid powder from the exact same place--the US Pharmacopeia. What differs between them is the binding ingredients. Westhroid uses cornstarch. Nature-Throid, Time Caps and Armour uses microcrystalline cellulose. Armour has less ingredients than the other three.

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We do have two non prescription grade natural thryoid products available in the US. One is porcine (pig) and the other is bovine (cow)

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Nutri-meds Porcine thyroid contains:Whole Desiccated Thyroid Glandular Concentrate - PorcineRaw Porcine Thyroid Tissue 130 mg. (from the same source as the thyroid powder used in the other products)Dicalcium PhosphateMagnesium Sterate

Natural vegetable color

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Bovine thyroid contains the same ingredients but the thryoid source is cows, not pigs.Microcrystalline Cellulose is what makes a product hypoallergenic. Naturethroid, Time Caps and Armour would be considered hypoallergenic.

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***************For those that are not familiar with the various fillers used in tablets:Microcrystalline Cellulose-- synthetically derived fiber base (similar to plant-derived). It is typically utilized as a filler in a tablet (to provide volume and bulk).

Opadry White -- Titanium dioxide, a metallic powder which imparts a very white colorDicalcium Phosphate - derived from a mined ore. It is typically utilized as a binder in a tablet (to hold all the ingredients during compression).Sodium Starch Glycolate - Synthetically derived starch molecule (similar to potato starch). It is typically utilized as a disintegrating agent in a tablet (to aid in proper disintegration of the tablet in the stomach).Magnesium Stearate - Derived from a vegetable source (typically palm oil). It is typically utilized as a lubricating agent in a tablet (to aid in proper compression of the tablet).Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose - Derived from a plant cellulose base (typically cotton blend or wood pulp). It is typically utilized as a granulating agent in a tablet (to provide bulk and density to the tablet for proper compression) as well as part of a clear coating solution (with PEG).Stearic Acid - Derived from a vegetable source (typically palm oil). It is typically utilized as a binder in a tablet ( to hold all the ingredients during compression).Carnauba Wax - Derived from the pores of the leaves of the Brazilian wax palm tree. It is utilized in the final stage in tablet coating (to provide a complete seal).Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) - Synthetically derived. It is utilized with Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose as part of the clear coating solution.