Safety Information

Drugs with thyroid hormone activity, alone or together with other therapeutic agents, have been used for the treatment of obesity. In euthyroid patients, doses within the range of daily hormonal requirements are ineffective for weight reduction. Larger doses may produce serious or even life-threatening manifestations of toxicity, particularly when given in association with sympathomimetic amines such as those used for their anorectic effects.

Thyroid hormones should be used with caution in patients with angina pectoris or the elderly, in whom there is a greater likelihood of occult cardiac disease. In these patients, therapy should be initiated with low doses, i.e., 15-30 mg Amour Thyroid. The development of chest pain or other exacerbation of cardiovascular symptoms will require a decrease in dosage. Thyroid hormone may increase symptoms of diabetes mellitus, diabetes insipidus, or cortical insufficiency. Appropriate adjustments of the various therapeutic measures directed at these concomitant endocrine diseases are required. Dosages of oral anticoagulants should be adjusted in thyroid-treated patients on the basis of frequent prothrombin time determinations. Caution should be used in infants where excessive doses of thyroid hormone preparations may produce craniosynostosis.