A major drug maker does not even know what is in its drug.
A major drugmaker may be adding a new ingredient to their thyroid medication that will make many patients sicker. What is behind this ignorant or thoughtless move? Two Action Alerts!
Hypothyroid patients, take note: your medicine might now include gluten as an ingredient. A representative from Pfizer has said that the source of the starch in Cytomel cannot be verified and could come from corn, potato, or wheat.
Pfizer does not seem to know or care that this is not just a problem for those with general gluten sensitivity or, worse, Chrohn’s Disease. It may also make thyroid conditions worse, even much worse, totally defeating the purpose of the drug in the first place.
Cytomel contains the T3 thyroid hormone, one of five hormones produced by the thyroid (the others are T1, T2, T4, and calcitonin). Most thyroid medications for hypothyroid patients (those who cannot produce enough thyroid hormone) contain the T4 hormone, which the body is supposed to convert into T3. But not everyone can convert T4, and some must take the T3 hormone instead. Since Cytomel is the only mass-marketed T3 medication, if it is tainted with gluten, many patients (even if they understand the problem) will have nowhere to turn—especially if compounded T3 is eliminated, which is exactly what the FDA and drug companies seem to want. More on this below.
Why is gluten a problem, particularly for hypothyroid patients? The cause of hypothyroidism for 90% of people is Hashimoto’s disease, where the body’s own immune system attacks the thyroid. Many patients are unaware that they have Hashimoto’s, however, because conventional doctors don’t test for it. Why? Because there is no drug to treat it, thus they don’t think it can be treated. They too don’t “get it.” With proper nutrition and a strict gluten-free diet, as well as addressing underlying causes such as toxic exposures, it can be completely reversed. We have seen this because an ANH-USA staffer had Hashimoto’s disease and was able to cure it with this approach. (See our companion article in this issue.)
Doctors are finding that those with Hashimoto’s disease benefit greatly from a gluten-free diet, likely because gluten triggers the autoimmunity that is the root cause of their hypothyroidism. If a hypothyroid patient with Hashimoto’s takes a pill that contains gluten, the autoimmunity that flares up as a result could cause systemic inflammation and additional problems with autoimmunity.
That this critically important connection is lost on pharmaceutical companies making thyroid medications is not that surprising, but no less concerning for patients who will become sick taking these drugs. This is one more instance of the conventional medical paradigm focusing on treating symptoms while taking no interest in the root cause of disease. We hate to say this, but curing patients once and for all is not profitable medicine.
There are, of course, alternatives to pharmaceutical drugs for treating hypothyroidism. Compounding pharmacies can make customized, natural medicines that give hypothyroid patients the hormones they need. Unfortunately, as we’ve been reporting for some months, the FDA has been passing draconian regulations on the compounding industry, severely limiting the natural medicines they can produce. We’ve seen natural medicines rejected from the Bulk Drug list, and delivery systems such as time-release medicines nominated to the “Difficult to Compound” list (not to mention the bioidentical hormones such as estriol and progesterone that have also been targeted for extinction so that drug companies can have a monopoly). We’ve also recently reported that new FDA guidances are making it even harder for traditional compounding pharmacies to do business—and without compounding pharmacies, there can be no compounded thyroid medicine.
These restrictions make the inclusion of gluten in thyroid drugs even more concerning. If the FDA eliminates access to compounded thyroid medicines, the only alternative will be the gluten-containing drug. We believe that this is by design. The goal of the FDA’s war on natural medicine is to eliminate competition for drugs—even if those drugs will make people sicker.
Action Alert! Tell the FDA to maintain access to compounded thyroid treatments and other natural medicines. Please send your message immediately.
Action Alert! Write to Pfizer and tell them to remove gluten from their thyroid medication. Please send your message immediately.
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I got glutened by Cytomel. I have full body neuralgia. I was so sick and in so much pain (like a full-body migraine, plus the migraine) until we figured out what it was. I called Pfizer and they confirmed it was probably wheat.
This is insane that pharmaceutical companies could do this knowing how many people have celiac!
How many celiacs are either hypothyroid or hyperthyroid, y’mean?
I got hypothyroidism from lipitor and I have celiac. Oh, and once I quit the lipitor the hypothyroidism went away. Caused a lot of other problems too
My mother was born mildly hypothyroid, I’m slightly hyper-. It complicated our relationship considerably…and the same genetic quirk causes it! (Also caused Mother to have to use animal thyroid extract, not synthetic, while she was on the supplement.)
Lipitor and the other statins? Yick! You’re lucky it wasn’t diabetes…and I’m glad it went away!
Btw, the “May 31 Link Log” is finally live. Sorry it was late.
I spoke to a Pfizer rep May 26, 2016. She said they “buy the most available starch: potato, corn, or wheat. [Pfizer’s] Cytomel is not and never have claimed that it is gluten free,” and that I should find another product.
I don’t get it. They tell you it’s either potato, corn or wheat, then they tell a guy who reported to Stop the Thyroid Madness that it’s only corn. I wish they’d make up their mind.
But if it’s E. Coli corn, it may cause *more* celiac-type reactions than wheat (because many non-celiacs react badly to E. Coli corn)!
But have one bad additive in bioidentical hormones or supplements, it’s front page news and off the shelves in no time.
This is sooo bad…I’m adding an action alert. This evening I’ll be posting a “May 31 Link Log” on my Blogspot. It will contain an Amazon book link. The link will be to an old diet book that just happened to contain the information that got my hypothyroid mother off the pills *even before she went gluten-free*. It may work for some Cytomel users–or quitters!–too, and serve Pfizer right.
Those with Hashimoto’s are triggered to autoimmune attacks from gluten exposure. Research written about by Datis Kharrazian further explains that autobodies which attack thyroid and its hormones may attack parts of the brain and certain neurotransmitters as well. Pfizer wants patients sick!
U know in MANY UK shops & Super-market they put the Gluten-Free products on the same shelfs as the bread sometimes even side by side !
In Ireland though I was amazed to find in even really small places shelves of gluten-free [big demand ?] products [Heinz ones ?] at much lower prices AND stuff you might actually wanna eat.
I would like to see a visible campaign for us to take back our medicine & food and ANH has the power to pioneer this. I’m talking trendy t-shirts, bumper stickers, pins, grocery bags, etc. Like the 70s hippie crusaders. There is a site I found where you can sell campaign shirts without investing up front. Once you meet a set amount of numbers of pre-orders (usually 25, I believe) the shirts are then, accessible for more orders. Teespring dotcom We need conversation starting accessories to reach the masses one person at a time.
Phizer told a patient today, May 31st, that they only use corn starch.
If Pfizer ‘didn’t know’ about the Celiac issue, they’re guilty of incompetent, incomplete research, otherwise, the case is the immoral corporate appetite for profit by any means. In any case, a human person made the final decision. That person should be held accountable for the ‘collateral damage’.
Several years ago the FDA went after Naturethroid, / Armor Thyroid due to the fact that it was never officially tested by the FDA, their excuse to intervene in a 70 year old drug that was never approved- had ZERO complaints, People were treating decades before synthetic thyroid was available….with animal based replacements.. none the less by the time it returned to market patients felt it lost its kick and effectiveness. Thank the good ol’e FDA. Making people sicker by the second !
JUST IN CASE YOU’RE INTERESTED…THE FOLLOWING WORDS LISTED IN “INATE” PRODUCTS ARE: ACASIA. WHICH IS A PLANT WHOSE GENIC MAKE UP IS SIMILAR TO “RAGWEED”!! LACTOSE IS A MILK PRODUCT CONTAINING BOTH MILK AND CASINE! THESE 2 ADDITIVES ALMOST PUT ME IN ACUTE CARE. I AM ALLERGIC TO RAGWEED AND MILK…INATE MY FOOT! (DATE 3/15 SYNTHROID)
AS TO THE NEWER COMPLAINTS OF MEDS HAVING VERY BAD TASTE AND SMELL HORRID IS DUE TO PIG THYROIDS IMPORTED FROM CHINA. PIG FARMERS IN CHINA WANTING MORE $’s, SO THEY FATTENED UP THE PIGS TO OVER A 1,000 POUNDS EACH WHICH IN TURN MADE THE PIGS SICK BUT THEY CONTINUED TO SHIP TO US. THINK OF IT THIS WAY…BAD PORK IS RANCID WHICH PRODUCES A VERY BAD TASTE AND HORRID SMELL. DOCUMENTED FROM ARTICLE ON ANIMAL HUSBANDY.
WHEN RESEARCHING LOOK IN RELATED FIELDS. HOPES THIS HELPS.