Armour Thyroid is a "natural" thyroid replacement medication that is available by prescription. It is made from thyroid glands of pigs and contains two different thyroid hormones. Although the drug is not FDA-approved, it meets certain consistency and potency standards. Armour Thyroid comes in tablet form and is taken once daily. Common side effects include insomnia, hair loss, and hypertension.
Armour
® Thyroid (
thyroid USP) is a prescription thyroid medication. It is considered to be a "natural" product, since it is made from thyroid glands of pigs.
Who Makes Armour Thyroid?
Armour Thyroid is manufactured by Forest Laboratories, Inc.
Is Armour Thyroid FDA-Approved?
Contrary to what is implied by many Web sites, Armour Thyroid (as well as all other thyroid USP products) has never been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, this is not necessarily as bad as it sounds. Many prescription medications have never received FDA approval. Almost always, these are old medications that were in use long before the FDA existed or before certain laws and regulations were in place. For instance, phenobarbital (Luminal
®), a prescription
seizure medication, has never received FDA approval.
Synthetic thyroid replacement medications, sold under the name
levothyroxine (
Levoxyl®,
Levothroid®,
Synthroid®, and others) were also unapproved until recently. The FDA required each of these medications to perform the necessary studies and seek approval. It is possible that the FDA may require natural thyroid products to do the same in the future. Until then, the lack of FDA approval for Armour Thyroid may be a cause for concern. For instance, the prescribing information for the drug does not meet the usual FDA standards, since it does not list the possible side effects, except for a few listed with the warnings and precautions.
Armour Thyroid contains thyroid USP, which means that the manufacturer has prepared the medication according to the formulation or "recipe" of the United States Pharmacopeia (a non-governmental organization) and that Armour Thyroid should meet certain consistency and potency standards.
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