Recall of NDT products

[diogenes]

Tania Smith's latest blog announces the recall of Thryoid and WP-Thyroid because of "subpotency" ie some part of the product below spec. Just a note to alert members to this in case they have difficulty getting the medicine.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

Thank you, diogenes.

They have an article available:

thyroidpatients.ca/2020/08/...

Depressingly little proper information (not the fault of the article!).

[RedApple Administrator]

Thanks diogenes for bringing this to our attention.

'voluntarily decided to recall all unexpired lots in the marketplace'

It's really unclear as to which batches are affected. e.g. I have some with expiry 01/2022 and some with expiry 12/2022. Are all of these sub-potent? Given that the product has a declared shelf life of up to 3 years from manufacture, have RLC been producing sub-potent pills for years?

Tania Smith says 'Hmmm. I’d get my replacement ASAP if I were taking it.' thyroidpatients.ca/2020/08/...

But how does this affect people who purchase without prescription? Do these people return the product to their vendor for a full refund (postage costs!) etc? Or does 'in the market place' mean only those pots in pharmacies can be returned, not those already in personal posession?

Many more questions than answers

[Jazzw]

Well. That’s just fabulous.

I’m not prescribed this stuff. I have no means of getting any other brand right now—at least, not without a 3+ week break while I wait for it to arrive. I’ll just have to see what happens, I guess. I started a new bottle about 10 days ago. I’m a bit knackered and depressed at the moment but it’s not uncommon for me to go through spells of that and I hadn’t really thought too much of it. But now, of course...

[Daffers123 in reply to Jazzw]

Im in the same boat as you, New pot 2 weeks ago, (bought 2 ) and knackered and depressed. But how do we get our cash back or a replacement ? Sounds like another £100 down the thyroid meds drain!

Andrea

[RedApple Administrator in reply to Daffers123]

Daffers123, If you obtained without prescription, then I strongly suspect you cannot get a refund or replacement. But you could try contacting your supplier to find out

On the positive side, if the problem is only sub-potency, then you could try increasing dose by say 1/4 grain at a time until your symptoms improve.

Jazzw

[Daffers123 in reply to RedApple]

Ha ha thanks Red Apple, I'm only laughing at the fact that I hadn't worked out that I can just increase the dose.. much simpler...I'm blaming brain fog!

Thanks for your commonsense!

Andrea

[Jazzw in reply to RedApple]

I s’pose it depends on how variable the potency issues are though. Cos they haven’t suggested that, have they? There could be variability from tablet to tablet.

[RedApple Administrator in reply to Jazzw]

Good point, although I suspect (and hope) it's not as bad as individual tablets.

[RedApple Administrator in reply to Jazzw]

Jazzw, According to one reputable source of information 'some lots were found to have less than 90% (but more than 87.5%) efficacy'

[Jazzw in reply to RedApple]

Yes, I posted that last night

[RedApple Administrator in reply to Jazzw]

I saw your post after making this comment. Still useful to have it here though for anyone reading through comments on this thread.

[Jazzw in reply to RedApple]

I know, I realised that after I posted that!

LOL. It was nice to think—even for 10 seconds—that I was a reputable source of info. 😂

[nightingale-56 in reply to Jazzw]

I've just bought another bottle. I usually buy one as I start the last bottle I have in my possession. I haven't noticed any difference yet. The big problem with lack of potency is getting tested, as testing seems to be getting more and more expensive for less tests at a time. ? Do wish they'd stop keep changing the goalposts.

[RedApple Administrator in reply to nightingale-56]

Of course, we shouldn't have to pay for our own at all, but as we do, best value for basic TSH, FT4 + FT3 is currently MMH with TUK discount. thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

[nightingale-56 in reply to RedApple]

Thanks for that information RedApple . They appear to be doing more tests now, but unfortunately I cannot get enough blood for a vial and I do not think most of the tests are that useful for my son and me.

[turquoise13 in reply to RedApple]

Very interesting, thanks.

[shaws Administrator]

Thanks for posting diogenes. Just another disappointment for those who take this product.

[Tythrop]

Is one of these Armour?

[RedApple Administrator in reply to Tythrop]

No Tythrop not Armour, this is RLC's products called Nature-Throid and WP-Thyroid.

[Tythrop in reply to RedApple]

Thankyou for your reply. Phew!

[Hoxo]

I had a problem with Nature Throid and became quite unwell. Changed to Armour. Emailed RLC but never got a reply. I have several unopened bottles. The tablets cost me a lot of money and I’d like a refund!

[Hidden in reply to Hoxo]

Are you finding Armour to work better?

[Hoxo in reply to Hidden]

Much better. I also used to take 50 mcg of Levo and since I’ve stopped taking that and upped Armour dose feel even better.

[hipolion]

Me too, months ago I went into hypo after I was on nature-throid, I had to throw them in the toilet. I had to return on levo+t3 but I'm not feeling well.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to hipolion]

Hipilion

I just wanted to say that we should never dispose of any medication in the toilet, down the sink, down a drain, etc. This means that the active ingredients get into the water supply which means that everyone will then be ingesting some of that medication, whether it be hormones antibiotics, or whatever. Unwanted medication should always be taken to a pharmacy to be disposed of safely.

[hipolion in reply to SeasideSusie]

Hi, It's was a way of saying, of course I didn't throw them away, it was an adjective that expressed my dissatisfaction. In fact, I had to take medical leave to recover bcs of that sub potency, I couldn't walk anymore and my knees hurt terribly. I hope that they will recover, the old formula of Nature-Throid was the best. On the old formula I took 2,75grain on the new NT, 4 gr it wasn't enough.

[stiltzski]

That’s great. I just topped up with Nature Throid before Dr Myhill stopped being able to prescribe...Hope Springfield will just swap the old batches. I’ve had some concerns about the potency for a while, as have others (see Stop The Thyroid Madness).

[KT77]

Just great. On top of that the US supplier had their UK bank account blocked. Anyone knows why? And medichceks raised their prices. Its looking better and better for us. Does anyone have histamine issues taking ndt? Dont know if its the fillers or the actual product.

[london81]

i’ve just been on the website of supplier i use and they aren’t selling nature throid for the moment. wondering if spending over £1000 on a load of medication was worth it after all!

[lizhut]

Yes, I heard that too. It's the supplier I order from. I am also not feeling right but put it down to extra stress and demands due to Covid. But now I think about it I have all the symptoms - hair loss which I have never had before, slight weight gain, constipation, high BP, palps. Joy. I think it's worse than they're saying and has probably been going on for a while. I had just ordered some from IPC but they issued a recall. I will get a refund if I send them back (which I will), but I am sure my current batch is duff too. I've had to fork out more for Armour in the interim. It's not fun and it's not cheap but hopefully it will be resolved and we'll all be feeling more like ourselves!

Am tempted to up the dose but it's still going to be guess work. Does anyone monitor with temperature and, if so, what's the most accurate thermometer?

[nightingale-56 in reply to lizhut]

I've also just ordered Armour and hope I'll be fine on it. I think the best thermometer is by Geratherm and can be bought from Amazon.