New Armour Thyroid And Synthroid Contain Gluten!

[Angelnoir1111]

I have celiac disease and a sulfite allergy and have been on Thyroid medication for 15 yrs and was fine until my pharmacy gave me the generic Levoxyl (synthroid) a year and a half ago and I was also on Armour which has just been changed to a new formula. I started getting very very sick with celiac symptoms and had no idea why since I had been on these medications for so long. I stopped eating everything and my heart and lungs started becoming affected along with my liver and I knew I was getting gluten in something. I was taken off of my thyroid meds and my celiac symptoms went away but my thyroid was messed up so I went back on my thyroid meds and got my celiac symptoms back. I finally found information on hidden gluten in meds and here you go... Open Original Shared Link

Ive checked levoxyl and my compounded sustained release T3 and those are fine.

I hope this will help those of you who can't figure out where your gluten is coming from!

[Traveller]

Are you sure that those products contain gluten? I've used Armour consistently for two years without problems, and the Armour web site says their product is gluten-free.

Open Original Shared Link

[T.H.]

Armour web site says their product is gluten-free.

It's possible that the new change in formula has upped the gluten levels, even if they are still below the 20ppm threshold. So some who are more sensitive might have an issue.

However, the synthroid used to be listed as gluten free on www.glutenfreedrugs.com, and is now listed as 'can no longer guarantee gluten-free status'

So could be either, but the synthroid would worry me more, actually.

[beefree11]

It's possible that the new change in formula has upped the gluten levels, even if they are still below the 20ppm threshold. So some who are more sensitive might have an issue.

However, the synthroid used to be listed as gluten free on www.glutenfreedrugs.com, and is now listed as 'can no longer guarantee gluten-free status'

So could be either, but the synthroid would worry me more, actually.

Good to know.

[psawyer]

"Can not guarantee gluten-free status" is generally a disclaimer given for legal reasons. It does not mean that the product contains gluten.

Any guarantee requires testing to back it up, and for cost reasons it is rarely done. If testing is done, there will be a qualifier applied, such as "tested to verify less than 20 ppm gluten." And again, less than 20 ppm can and often does mean 0 ppm. They can only guarantee what the test will cover.

[Angelnoir1111]

Are you sure that those products contain gluten? I've used Armour consistently for two years without problems, and the Armour web site says their product is gluten-free.

Open Original Shared Link

Actually, I just found out that what the pharmacies have been passing off as the "new Armour" is actually NP Thyroid and not made by the same company at all so

Armour made by Forest is still okay but NP Thyroid made by Acella DOES contain gluten. The 60mg tablets have an AP on one side of them and 330 on the other side and Real Armour only has an A stamped on it. Yes Synthroid does contain gluten now.

[mamaw]

Are you sure about the synthroid?I was under the understanding that the 50mcg does not contain gluten ? (Abbott Pharmancy)

My insurance had me change to generic synthroid & I've been sick for two months with a swollen mouth , dry cracked lips,& a skin eruption on my forearm.....I just got back the synthroid from Abbott. I honestly think synthroid is crap & I'm in the process of going to natural forms. I hear ERFA is the best. Amour & nature-roid has been re-formulated & I hear it does not work like the old ones did. For me being thyroidless from RAI is scary....

blessings

mamaw

[cahill]

I have celiac disease and a sulfite allergy and have been on Thyroid medication for 15 yrs and was fine until my pharmacy gave me the generic Levoxyl (synthroid) a year and a half ago and I was also on Armour which has just been changed to a new formula. I started getting very very sick with celiac symptoms and had no idea why since I had been on these medications for so long. I stopped eating everything and my heart and lungs started becoming affected along with my liver and I knew I was getting gluten in something. I was taken off of my thyroid meds and my celiac symptoms went away but my thyroid was messed up so I went back on my thyroid meds and got my celiac symptoms back. I finally found information on hidden gluten in meds and here you go... Open Original Shared Link

Ive checked levoxyl and my compounded sustained release T3 and those are fine.

I hope this will help those of you who can't figure out where your gluten is coming from!

OK I am confused my understand was that GENERIC synthyroid contains gluten but NAME BRAND Synthyroid is gluten free,,, can someone clarify this for me???

I take name brand Synthyroid daily

[mamaw]

I just went to a gluten-free drug site & no synthroid is guarenteed to be gluten-free.... & I also found out Diovan can not be guarenteed gluten-free either.URRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH.....diovan hct is gluten-free!

Probably why I'm having a sore tongue& lips........ Chill -----your doctor is not in my insurance plan! But thanks for the name! I'm getting off of synthyroid....

blessings

mamaw

[cahill]

I just went to a gluten-free drug site & no synthroid is guarenteed to be gluten-free.... & I also found out Diovan can not be guarenteed gluten-free either.URRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH.....diovan hct is gluten-free!

Probably why I'm having a sore tongue& lips........ Chill -----your doctor is not in my insurance plan! But thanks for the name! I'm getting off of synthyroid....

blessings

mamaw

Sorry she is not in your Insurance plan really upsets me that some times our health depends on what our insurance will or will not cover

I need suggestions for an alternative to synthyroid

[mamaw]

chill

I sent you a PM....

mamaw

[MaryJones2]

Actually, I just found out that what the pharmacies have been passing off as the "new Armour" is actually NP Thyroid and not made by the same company at all so

Armour made by Forest is still okay but NP Thyroid made by Acella DOES contain gluten. The 60mg tablets have an AP on one side of them and 330 on the other side and Real Armour only has an A stamped on it. Yes Synthroid does contain gluten now.

Where did you verify that Synthroid contains gluten? I haven't seen anything in this thread that suggests anyone has called the company to confirm.

Per Syntroid's website: Open Original Shared Link The ingredients are:

Acacia, confectioner's sugar (contains corn starch), lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate, povidone, and talc.

[MaryJones2]

Also, I don't see any gluten in NP Thyroid by Acella either:

Open Original Shared Link

Inactive Ingredients: CALCIUM STEARATE, DEXTROSE MONOHYDRATE, MALTODEXTRIN, MINERAL OIL

[Tigercat17]

Whenever someone talks about Synthroid, I always have to share my story...

I know I was getting some CC of gluten from the brand name Synthroid (Abbott) last year. I was on Synthroid for my first three months of being gluten free and I didn't get any better at all. I called the Abbott company twice & they told me the same thing - "They didn't add gluten to the Synthroid and they didn't test for gluten, but they couldn't guarantee it was gluten free." When I got my new prescription for that third month, I suddenly felt worse. I started to suspect that it was the Synthroid since that was the only new item I added to my diet. I always keep a food journal. So, I called the Abbott company again & the rep. told me that "Synthroid was not marketed as a gluten free product." That statement really made me nervous. So, I started eating nothing but natural whole foods and I was still feeling worse everyday. I was starting to not being able to eat again. I get a horrible stomach fullness when I get a lot of gluten in my system, I was losing weight again and my acid reflux wasn't going away at all. So, I weeded out all of the processed foods. I was really worried that I was never going to get better- maybe I had other food allergies or even another disease. I was so sick and I was just getting worse. After two weeks of taking the new prescription of Synthriod, I knew it couldn't be anything else but that. It had to be that since I was eating all fresh, whole foods. I really didn't want to change my thyroid hormone med, but I called my doctor & told them how I was feeling. My Endo doctor called the Abbott company also & they told him the same thing, so they switched me to Levoxyl from King Pharmaceuticals.

I did some research on the King Pharm. company before I started taking the brand name Levoxyl. When I called King Pharm. last year, they told me they do guarantee that Levoxly is gluten free when it leaves their facility. My doctor totally agreed with me to change and didn't argue at all with me when I told him that I thought I was getting some gluten from the Synthriod.

Here's the Levoxyl link:

Open Original Shared Link

I noticed a difference as soon as I stopped the Synthroid and started taking the brand name Levoxyl. After just one day my stomach fullness went away and I was able to eat again. After about a week I gained about 4 lbs! And after a month I gained about 8 lbs! Before I was really struggling with keeping my weight up. I was 96 pounds at 5'2". So I really needed to gain weight.

I know I'll never take the brand name of Synthroid ever again or any other medicines from the Abbott company. I've been sticking with the brand name Levoxly and haven't had any problems since.

I hope this helps someone!

[mamaw]

Lisa

Tigercat

did your internist from Oakland give this to you? I'm caaling to make my appt on Monday with him. I had to make sure he was under my insurance...

thanks mamaw...Maybe that will help meas well....

[Tigercat17]

Lisa

Tigercat

did your internist from Oakland give this to you? I'm caaling to make my appt on Monday with him. I had to make sure he was under my insurance...

thanks mamaw...Maybe that will help meas well....

Yes, mamaw. His name is doctor Steven Hodak, my Endo doctor at the Falk Clinic in Oakland. He really is amazing! He called the companies himself and changed me to Levoxyl from King Pharm. since I wasn't getting any better on the gluten free diet for those first three months. He really listened to me and his nurses are so understanding. They helped me so much! Good Luck! I hope he's taking new patients He's pretty popular. But if not, he has other doctors in his group that are great, too. Hopefully they'll be able to help you!

[mamaw]

Tigercat

I'm hoping he will consider a med with both T-4 & T-3..And I hope I get to see him... I need a second opinion......

thanks again

[Takala]

This is insane.

Celiac disease contributes to thyroid disease. Proven medical fact.

Manufacturers of thyroid medications are putting gluten into it, or cannot or will not guarantee its gluten status.

Many of these drug manufacturers are using imported base ingredients, it's going to take another outbreak along the lines of melamine tainted pet food scandal (which was an importer in the U.S. deliberately coordinating mislabeling of a "human food grade" gluten protein with the out of country Chinese processor, according to the court documents and testimony I researched, so it would be even less suspect when used in pet foods) before people wise up and demand that prescription fillers/binders of grain products be certified more carefully. Another big scandal going on recently with how certain vendors at Ali-baba, the huge wholesale site which brokers much of the raw ingredients used in medicine manufacturing, were paying for their "premium" status. The two top CEO's resigned. While the few online references to this talk about consumer goods like handbags and electronics, it is important for consumers on this side of the ocean to recognize where things come from, what they are really made of, and keep up the demand for safety regulations in quality control. SOMEBODY has to care what is in the medicines.

[mamaw]

Amen !!!! It's a shame one cannot even trust a doctor to insure what they are writng scripts for is safe for the person.The buck in the pocket is more valuable than human ife...very sad...

[4everglutenfree]

For those of you that cannot have gluten, corn, soy, casein. NatureThroid does not contain any of these. Armour also contains corn as the binder. I cannot have these. I Have been doing great since starting NatureThroid. It is amazing.

[norcal-gf]

This is unbelievable! But explains my horrible reaction when I was taking Synthroid several years ago. Since I was feeling worse my doctor increased my dose - which lead to feeling like I was having an emotion break down. (They were over medicating me!) I cold turkey stop taking Synthroid and started taking the over the counter vitamin Selenium. Works perfect for me ever since. I know this is not for everyone - but I was boarder line Hypo and didn't need to take Synthroid. Horrible stuff, and it suppresses your thyroid so you have no chance of healing.

[Lady-Alkaline]

Dear Lisa,

Your post has helped me. I was beginning to think I was crazy as I am having much difficulty with digesting anything. Something changed in me with using Armour in Nov. 2011 (I had been on it with no problems for 3 years). It was like I quit digesting foods properly. I also began to have awful symtoms: throat constricting, naseau, stomach pains, even weird symptoms of sore tongue and acid reflux or full feeling in neck and stomach.

I quit taking Armour and started to see these symptoms lessen or altogether disappear. Feeling that I needed to take a thyroid supplement I went to get the Armour compounded (maybe less allergens?)but no - again my symptoms reappeared.

Again I quit taking Armour. Also again symtoms subsided.

I decided to try Nature-throid, again weird symptoms are returning.

I too have changed my diet as you with only eating natural foods and gluten-free.

This now affirms the medicine is causing my grief.

I am going to make an appt. with my doctor and look into Levoxyl.

Many thanks for your share.

Sloan

[Gemini]

Dear Lisa,

Your post has helped me. I was beginning to think I was crazy as I am having much difficulty with digesting anything. Something changed in me with using Armour in Nov. 2011 (I had been on it with no problems for 3 years). It was like I quit digesting foods properly. I also began to have awful symtoms: throat constricting, naseau, stomach pains, even weird symptoms of sore tongue and acid reflux or full feeling in neck and stomach.

I quit taking Armour and started to see these symptoms lessen or altogether disappear. Feeling that I needed to take a thyroid supplement I went to get the Armour compounded (maybe less allergens?)but no - again my symptoms reappeared.

Again I quit taking Armour. Also again symtoms subsided.

I decided to try Nature-throid, again weird symptoms are returning.

I too have changed my diet as you with only eating natural foods and gluten-free.

This now affirms the medicine is causing my grief.

I am going to make an appt. with my doctor and look into Levoxyl.

Many thanks for your share.

Sloan

Nature-throid is completely gluten-free. I have used it for a long time, am an incredibly sensitive Celiac and I have had no weirdness with it. It is also far better to take a thyroid med with both T3 and T4 in it, as opposed to Levoxyl, which is only T4. I used Levoxyl for a while but it did not do the job for me because it's a T4 med only.

I know it's easy to become paranoid about thyroid meds when you have Celiac but I have yet to find any which contain gluten. I am in the US so only have used what's available here. As Peter said in his earlier post, the disclaimer is for liability reasons only. It in no way means there is gluten in the product. You can also have weirdness with thyroid meds if the dose is not correct. It affects your metabolism so stomach issues can erupt from an incorrect dose. I have never used Synthroid because I think it is a rip-off. There are many that work better than Synthroid and cost a fraction of what it does.

Unless you have proof that a certain med contains gluten, do not post that it does. Nature-throid is a really good thyroid med and many Celiacs use it without issue. I would hate to see this branded as a bad choice for us.

[nomogluten]

A couple of years ago when Armour was having production problems my doctor recommended compounded pig thyroid available at a local pharmacy. I started on that and noticed gluten issues - until I had the pharmacy switch from gelatin capsules to cellulose ones. I have done better, both thyroid- and gluten-wise, on compounded pig thyroid in cellulose capsules than anything else I have tried (Synthroid, levothyroxine (sp?), Armour thyroid). The major drawback is the cost - significantly higher that the other options; insurance may or may not cover, but will probably consider it a "premium" prescription which carries a higher co-pay. I started back on Armour again for the first time in a couple of years just a couple of weeks ago because of the cost differential (about $25-30 more a month), but am noticing possible gluten related issues, so, just this morning decided to go back on the compounded pig thyroid.