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Expert: Eric Brandt - 9/17/2009


Question
I am a 70yo male and have been taking Armour thyroid for 8 years, current dose 180 mg/day. My pharmacist tells me not only Armour, but all mfr. of natural throid are stopping its manufacture. My doctor says natural provides two kinds of thyroid "T3" and "T4", while synthetic only provides one kind. Is there going to be any source of natural thyroid? What can I do to prepare for getting synthetic throid?

Answer
Hi William,
Your doctor is correct. Synthetic thyroid hormone replacement is T4. The body converts T4 to T3 which is the active hormone. Some patients are not good convertes to T3 and require T3 supplement. There is a product called Cytomel which is T3 and you may need to use it or a combination of T4 and T3.
Thank you for using Allexperts
Sincerely,
Eric Brandt, B.Sc. Pharm

Pharmacy

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Eric Brandt

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I am a practicing pharmacist.On my drug information website, I have answered hundreds of questions to date. The articles posted on my site include Parkinson`s disease. depression, menopause, diabetes, sleep and aging, congestive heart failure, calcium channel blockers, thyroid hormone replacement therapy, ADHD, multiple sclerosis an more.

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