The FDA does this every few years–because Big Pharma whines and complains. Big Pharma poobahs grind their teeth at night just thinking about Armour because it works, to the benefit of hypothyroid patients everywhere, and it shows up just how lame Big Pharma’s thyroid meds are.

Consequently, Big Pharma works tirelessly to get Armour thyroid outlawed, killed, buried, whatever it takes to get it gone. They have med schools and doctors marching to their beat. While they’ve made a lot of headway with the FDA, Armour’s not dead yet.

But for the interim, the FDA’s shenanigans have made Armour unavailable. So are hypothyroid patients switching to Synthroid or other Big Pharma offerings? Not on a bet! Once a patient experiences the benefits of a natural, bio-available thyroid medication like Armour, they’re not going anywhere.

Instead, many are substituting “compounded” thyroid for Armour. The compounded version is put together by pharmacies and, if done right, works just like Armour.

The tricky part is “if done right.” Some players in the game focus more on the money than on patient well-being. They want to sell into the compounded market, but their products are cheap knock-offs, not at all comparable to the real thing.

For instance, Walgreens sells a compounded thyroid medication that’s guaranteed not to work–although somehow that detail never gets mentioned.

Why doesn’t Walgreens compound thyroid work? Their formula is thyroid hormone plus lactose in a gelatin capsule. Simple enough, but the lactose in the capsule prevents your body from absorbing the thyroid hormone that’s in the same capsule. It’s a self-defeating medicine! You can take it all day long, and it never gets into your cells to do its job.

You may get the side effects of raised blood pressure and elevated pulse, but benefits? No.

So all compounded thyroid meds are not born equal–and they certainly don’t work equally. But a good one is a Godsend.

So, first off, you have to find a compounding pharmacy. Most cities have at least one. If you can’t find one where you live, go online. Or let me tell you about a compounding pharmacy I found: Pharmacist Trey Walters at Seven Lakes Prescription Shoppe in North Carolina, 910-963-7467. They ship throughout the U.S. (As is my custom, I have no financial arrangement with Seven Lakes to motivate me.)

Once you find one, ask a lot of questions. Good compounding pharmacists welcome questions. And they’re happy to give you the answers. They actually think their job is to help you. Imagine that!

But avoid Walgreens. Their compounded thyroid is bad stuff. They’re hoping you won’t find out.

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