Safety and Side Effects
Safety
Armour Thyroid is made from desiccated porcine thyroid glands. Only USDA inspected and approved grain-fed pigs are used.
Quality Control
Armour Thyroid is made from desiccated porcine thyroid glands. The amount of thyroid hormone present in the thyroid gland may vary from animal to animal. To ensure that Armour Thyroid tablets are consistently potent from tablet to tablet and lot to lot, analytical tests are performed on the thyroid powder (raw material) and on the actual tablets (finished product) to measure actual T4 and T3 activity.
Different lots of thyroid powder are mixed together and analyzed to achieve the desired ratio of T4 to T3 in each lot of tablets. This method ensures that each strength of Armour Thyroid will be consistent with the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) official standards and specifications for desiccated thyroid lot-to-lot consistency. The ratio of T4 to T3 equals 4.22:1 (4.22 parts of T4 to one part of T3).
Possible Side Effects
The most common side effects observed with Armour Thyroid generally mimic either hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism. Adverse reactions other than those indicative of hyperthyroidism, either initially or during the maintenance phase, are rare.
Please see the Full Prescribing Information for additional details on Armour Thyroid.
Thyroid hormones, either alone or combined with other medications, should NOT be used for the treatment of obesity and should NOT be taken by patients with uncorrected adrenal cortical insufficiency, untreated thyrotoxicosis, or apparent hypersensitivity to thyroid hormones.
Armour Thyroid tablets should be used with caution in patients with cardiovascular disease. Thyroid hormone may increase symptoms of diabetes mellitus, diabetes insipidus, or adrenal insufficiency. Adjustment of treatment measures for these endocrinological diseases is necessary if thyroid hormone therapy is added. If Armour Thyroid is used in the treatment of myxedema coma, glucocorticoids should be administered. Adverse events other than those indicative of hyperthyroidism are rare and usually the result of therapeutic overdosage.
For more information about Armour Thyroid, please call the Forest Pharmaceuticals Professional Affairs Department at 1-800-678-1605,
ext. 66297.
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