I need to source non prescription NDT & looking at all options in case my normal Thyroid S no longer becomes available.
I've read descriptions of Bovine based NDT on Stopthemadness website and wonder if it is as successful in treating hypothyroidism as Porcine based NDT?
Please, can anyone shed any light on this !!
Thanks 😊
Bovine products would be expected to have a higher proportion of T4 than porcine products.
Oh, thank you! That's not so good, it's T3 I'm more concerned about. Thank you for that information.
My doctor told me about this NZ site. He thinks it would be just as good as pork, but different doses. You can find the corresponding doses if you inquire via 'contact' at thyroidsupplements.com/. Note that this product is not sold as medical, therefore script not required.
I have looked at this as a possible replacement for my now discontinued Thiroyd, but they state on their site that as this is not sold as a medication, they do not test their product for how much T4 or T3 it contains. It could vary wildly from batch to batch. That is an issue you would need to consider carefully, and decide if it is worth blindly treating their dose on symptoms etc, rather than knowing how much to take compared to what you are currently needing. Personally, for my own situation, my doctor says I am already unstable enough without trying a "possibly" unreliable replacement.
To be fair they can’t. There equivalent of the gmc would close them down.
It’s the same with Metavive in the UK.
I have not used this company myself but friends have transferred successfully onto Metavive from ndt.
Is Metavive Porcine based & does it contain T3 & T4? Also, can you obtain it without a prescription?
There is a porcine metavive and it is a glandular supplement so not a prescription med
Thank you for that info! Would Metavive be classed as an NDT?
No, it is a glandular supplement
Oh... Forgive me, I'm not up on all this? How does it differ from NDT?
Does it contain T4/T3? I am only interested in medication which gives me both.
It is not possible to say how much, if any, thyroid hormone a glandular supplement contains. If it had a declared hormone content it would not be a food supplement and could not be sold without a prescription.
Thank you so much for letting me know this. I cannot risk that, I am the most stable now since using Thyroid S & I don't want to go back to pre Thyroid S times. Looks like other options need further research, although non prescription options are getting scarse.
If it were sold as a medication, you would need a script. For some reason I thought you did not have one. For me it seems clear that the NZ source is avoiding putting itself in that category for obvious reasons, but that does not mean that their product need be poor. My interaction with them elicited that the did 'focus on getting the milligram amount of thyroid in each capsule as close as possible which helps with consistency.' I also elicited that feedback from people using this supplement was that a dose of Thyrovanz (NZ) often needs to be slightly higher, around 75mg per grain, compared to pork thyroid. I'm assuming that there would not be much variation across bovine thyroids, especially sourced en masse. Your comments are reasonable, but I guess I am also not too impressed with the synthetic mainstream alternatives which, whilst apparently meeting 'rigorous' pharmaceutical standards, fail (a) to meet the needs of many hypothyroid sufferers and (b) continue to be prescribed by doctors, despite this. Also, my own doctor has other patients who have tried the product and found it useful.
Because a label can’t say the mg/T4 & resultant mg/T3 doesn’t mean it’s not present or consistent per capsule or that in fact T4 / T3 exists.
The method of manufacturing which includes blending and testing to ensure consistent weight for weight concentration is similar is no different to prescription NDT alternatives and their manufacturing process.
The difference is the label. Similar quality ingredients are being used.
I am afraid that it is different to the prescription desiccated thyroid products.
They can weigh and blend thyroid powders to their hearts content, but if they do not assay T4 and T3 content, and then do their blending based on the results from that, they cannot know it has consistent potency. It is this assaying and blending which achievs a consistent product for the desiccated thyroid products.
They might know that they put an extremely accurately weighed amount of thyroid powder in.
Just to make it slightly more difficult, one of the reasons for choosing pigs as the source for desiccated thyroid is that pigs have a very much more consistent level of thyroid hormones. Cattle vary much more through the year and by season. This helped to ensure a consistent product in the days before T4 and T3 assays were available and used.
This is just hearsay. There has been no scientific analysis to prove porcine thyroid has more consistent levels of thyroid hormone compared to bovine. A lot of people wouldn’t even know the difference between what a thymus gland and thyroid gland looked like to know they are testing the right material.
They know it has consistent potency because the do the lab assays (testing) for each batch of ingredients and then use weight proportioning to control process variation in commercial production.
Thank you! I have heard that Bovine is predominantly T4 & I need T3 even more so as I don't convert very well. I will look into your information, appreciate that.
Heard? There’s no truth in heard. Beef Thyroids are taken from grass fed beef 2-3 yrs or younger. T4 & T3 hormone is present in young animals. Evidenced by feedback from the testing of people taking such supplements.
Thank you!
MapleMoose did not say that there is only T4. Nor do I say that. Just that the ratio of T4:T3 is typically higher in bovine sources that porcine.
Bovine thyroid extracts have ratios of 9:1 (T4/T3) and porcine 6.6:1.3 There are a lot of extracts out there and unfortunately, there are many variations on the T4/T3 ratio as well.
Astridnova
My doctor told me about this NZ site.
Just to be clear, that is not a NZ site, it is a US site, they are selling Thyrovanz which is made from the thyroid glands of New Zealand cattle.
This has been quite a discussion. There is a lot of good information and opinion here, I think. 
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