I an still REALLY struggling finding the proper medication for my PTC thyroid removal.
My Endo is willing to work with me even through I'm always "in range". We switched from Levothyroxine to Synthroid. I feel worse. I have pain in my throat and sinuses which scares me. Brain fog. Depression.
I want to also thank everybody here for the wealth of data and information. This forum has been my only support, my literal "lifeline".
My Endo suggested NDT. From the readings and personal suggestion to try it since its available stateside, I'm amenible to do doing so but I have a few questions. From what I gather from my research, the pigs are treated humanely, even "well" which is awesome. However, the question and my reservation about it is: Are the pigs slaughtered solely for their thyroids? Or, are their thyroids harvested when harvesting insulin and meat?
That is the issue I've having trouble reconciling. I'm open to NDT. But, Even as an omnivore (I do eat meat, including pork. Just not often. I don't usuallt crave it.) It doesn't seem right to have an animal slaughted solely for their thyroid so I can live.
It would make sense to me (and my conscience as a sentietent being) if I knew the thyriod was harvested with the rest of the animal in "food production". It doesn't feel right to me if the pigs are slaughtered just for their thryoids.
Please don't get me wrong. I'm not tryng to start a debate or argument about ethics and or animal welfare/cruelty. Or pit meat eaters vs vegans etc. (From what I can find in the research stateside, mant vegans actually take NDT which surprised me.) Or, if you take NDT even if the pigs are slauthered solely for their thyroids. I believe in the freedom of personal choice to do what is best for your body. No judgement or hard feelings:).
I'm a simply asking for the data piece I have been unable to find. Might any one here know? Are pigs "harvested" solely for their thyroids? Or, are their thyroids "harvested" amongst other their other parts and pieces?
As always ,thank you.
Sincerely,
Audra
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Audley1013
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Desiccated thyroid started out as a by-product of ordinary pork production. The Armour company has a history as a meatpacking company - not medicine. They set up their medicinal products subsidiary to make use of what was otherwise waste - not just thyroid, but other products too.
So far as I know, that has continued throughout. I can't see "thyroid only" being viable on cost grounds alone.
I have often asked myself that very same question, especially after finding out that the manufacturers of Thai NDT get the raw material from China. I have also worried sometimes about growth hormones, antibiotics, and other drugs they feed to animals to make them grow faster...this also applies to US brands of NDT as well as supplements, since the US use hormones banned in the EU. But I am honestly not sure how much of those hormones end up in the thyroid glands...
Erfa, though, is made in Spain (despite being considered Canadian) and, I suspect, is made from EU pigs hence under EU regulations. Could be Spanish pigs - or Danish - or from somewhere else. These source countries are just my best guess.
But is it known how much antibiotics, growth hormones etc actually end up in the thyroid glands? Since most people on Thyroid-S seem happy on it I imagine it´s not a problem...and the problems reported with Armour and other US brands have been about reformulations. So I guess animal welfare would be more of a concern in some cases than the possibility of hormone and drug residues in the pigs´ thyroids glands? Most manufacturers of bovine supplements though seem to source the raw material from N Z or Argentina, even US manufacturers.
I suspect that BSE issues are one reason regarding bovine products - companies like to be able to parade the credentials of the countries they source from. And "grass-fed" seems a major headline claim.
Erfa is available by prescription only in some European countries - Belgium and the Nordic countries I know for sure. It´s been the NDT of choice of the so called Hertoghe doctors (functional/anti-aging doctors) in Belgium since Armour was reformulated about a decade ago.
It would not make economical sense to slaughter a pig just for it's thyroid - however much they charge for NDT. When an animal is slaughtered every single big of it is used. The bits humans do not eat goes to making pet foods, or products used as additives in other manufactured foods. Nothing goes to waste. I read an article not so long ago though about China buying up lots of pig farms in the USA and also buying up lots of land to produce soya beans to feed the pigs. Soy is not very good for human thyroid conditions, so I am wondering whether it affects the pig's thyroids. I am always wary of claims like free range, outdoor reared etc. They make it sound like the animals are free to roam but their meaning of the words are not our meaning of the words.
Now, that is worrying for sure...that could possibly mean that people who do everything they can to avoid soy products end up swallowing them anyway...soy is cheap from what I understand, and widely available, which could explain why they buy large amounts of it. But it´s hardly good for thyroid patients...when I buy supplements, I always look for the "no soy" label before ordering.
The only time pigs managed to get BSE was when they innoculated them with a high dose, and even then they were not really affected.
In the UK, no throat tissue, or any gut tissue is allowed in the food chain, it all gets chucked.
They would not let me scavenge the thyroid at the slaughter house from my pigs.
China had to restock the pig herd after a disease outbreak. The Chinese eat a lot of pork, and will eat every bit of it, but the thyroid gland is now going to drug use.
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