Comments on: Armour Thyroid Dropped by Medicare http://www.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare Metabolism, weight loss, diabetes, thyroid and more. Join the experts! Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:39:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Margo Failing http://www.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare#comment-10483 Margo Failing Mon, 17 Oct 2011 02:31:37 +0000 http://blog.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare/#comment-10483 I still take Armour and with my new Humana Rx Plan, that started Jan. 2011, it was covered! Amazed me when I first discovered it.....made me glad. So all this year I only had to pay the high tier amount. A couple months ago I received notification from Humana that they felt Armour could pose a threat to older folks health and to seek an alternative from my doctor (of course it's always the synthetic which I had adverse affects when I tried it back when Armour was hard to get).....their comment erked me but I didn't do anything about it...Now I just received notice that Armour will not be covered by Medicare in 2012. This upsets me again.....it's Medicare that causes the insurance plans to drop coverage so I will again get on the phone and complain....I've done it so many times and just get a run around. I was sorry to read, Sammi, about your Mother's difficulties, and, you, Sara. Thanks, Dr. G. Pepper for believing in Armour and helping us with his knowledge. I still take Armour and with my new Humana Rx Plan, that started Jan. 2011, it was covered! Amazed me when I first discovered it…..made me glad. So all this year
I only had to pay the high tier amount. A couple months ago I received notification from Humana that they felt Armour could pose a threat to older folks health and to seek an alternative from my doctor (of course it’s always the synthetic which I had adverse affects when I tried it back when Armour was hard to get)…..their comment erked me but I didn’t do anything about it…Now I just received notice that Armour will not be covered by Medicare in 2012. This upsets me again…..it’s Medicare that causes the insurance plans to drop coverage so I will again get on the phone and complain….I’ve done it so many times and just get a run around.
I was sorry to read, Sammi, about your Mother’s difficulties, and, you, Sara. Thanks, Dr. G. Pepper for believing in Armour and helping us with his knowledge.

]]> By: Dr. G. Pepper http://www.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare#comment-10465 Dr. G. Pepper Sun, 16 Oct 2011 16:22:04 +0000 http://blog.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare/#comment-10465 Sara Thanks for sharing your fascinating story with metabolism.com. I would reassure you that almost all my patients on Armour are pleased with the new formulation. I always leave room for individual variation so there are no guarantees. I am unimpressed with people reporting problems with the new formulation because I haven't ever seen anyone in my own practice with the types of problems some internet writers have claimed. Absorption is good without chewing the pills but it is highly advised not tot take Armour within at least an hour or two of eating or with other medications to achieve good absorption. Dr. P. these comments are for educational purposes only. Ask your own doctor for help with your prescription meds. Sara

Thanks for sharing your fascinating story with metabolism.com. I would reassure you that almost all my patients on Armour are pleased with the new formulation. I always leave room for individual variation so there are no guarantees. I am unimpressed with people reporting problems with the new formulation because I haven’t ever seen anyone in my own practice with the types of problems some internet writers have claimed. Absorption is good without chewing the pills but it is highly advised not tot take Armour within at least an hour or two of eating or with other medications to achieve good absorption.

Dr. P.

these comments are for educational purposes only. Ask your own doctor for help with your prescription meds.

]]> By: Sara http://www.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare#comment-10456 Sara Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:06:31 +0000 http://blog.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare/#comment-10456 Thank you for your informative site & great articles! I came across this one about Armour today after doing a Google search to find out why I couldn't find it listed on the medicare site while inputting my meds. I'm fairly new to Armour and I'm so thankful that after having Hashimoto's for 28 years I finally found a health care provider (a nurse practioner!) who listened and felt it was worth a try for me. I have struggled with the usual thyroid replacements for so long, even been on the maximum doses of Synthroid PLUS Cytomel and never been symptom free, yet even I didn't realize how symptomatic I had been all this time until I tried the Armour (5 grains). I was diagnosed at age 20 but several doctors missed it even though I had a strong female family history of it and by the time it was caught I had an extremely high antibody titer (highest the dr had ever seen). I'm now 48 and have a cluster of other autoimmune conditions, including Multiple Sclerosis, "possible Lupus", generalized weakened connective tissue condition, Lipedema, and others. I often wonder if the years of stress on my body from being misdiagnosed and severely under treated took a toll on me in other ways, who knows. All I know is I've been a mess and doctors blamed many of my worsening symptoms on the MS (& others) over the years, but I'm now feeling better than I have in years just since taking the Armour (about 3 months). I'm even feeling mentally clear enough to face going back to school at this ripening age, many productive years were unnecessarily wasted while being told there was nothing that could be done! My only concern is that I read that Armour reformulated their product and I'm wondering (since I have malabsorption problems and needed increases before) if the new form will affect how I absorb the Armour and since I'm at the high of 5 grains (300mg I think) have you ever seen higher doses if necessary? I've read that some people chew them up to get it to absorb better, is that okay to do? Thanks a bunch! Thank you for your informative site & great articles! I came across this one about Armour today after doing a Google search to find out why I couldn’t find it listed on the medicare site while inputting my meds. I’m fairly new to Armour and I’m so thankful that after having Hashimoto’s for 28 years I finally found a health care provider (a nurse practioner!) who listened and felt it was worth a try for me. I have struggled with the usual thyroid replacements for so long, even been on the maximum doses of Synthroid PLUS Cytomel and never been symptom free, yet even I didn’t realize how symptomatic I had been all this time until I tried the Armour (5 grains). I was diagnosed at age 20 but several doctors missed it even though I had a strong female family history of it and by the time it was caught I had an extremely high antibody titer (highest the dr had ever seen). I’m now 48 and have a cluster of other autoimmune conditions, including Multiple Sclerosis, “possible Lupus”, generalized weakened connective tissue condition, Lipedema, and others. I often wonder if the years of stress on my body from being misdiagnosed and severely under treated took a toll on me in other ways, who knows. All I know is I’ve been a mess and doctors blamed many of my worsening symptoms on the MS (& others) over the years, but I’m now feeling better than I have in years just since taking the Armour (about 3 months). I’m even feeling mentally clear enough to face going back to school at this ripening age, many productive years were unnecessarily wasted while being told there was nothing that could be done!

My only concern is that I read that Armour reformulated their product and I’m wondering (since I have malabsorption problems and needed increases before) if the new form will affect how I absorb the Armour and since I’m at the high of 5 grains (300mg I think) have you ever seen higher doses if necessary? I’ve read that some people chew them up to get it to absorb better, is that okay to do? Thanks a bunch!

]]> By: sammi http://www.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare#comment-10383 sammi Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:29:49 +0000 http://blog.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare/#comment-10383 Thanks for telling people about the benefits of armour. My mother is gone now but I wish we had known about it. She had to switch from dessicated to synthroid when the dessicated was no longer offerred but did poorly with synthroid for the rest of her life. iEither t3 or t4 blood levels wout be abnormal- she could never get both to be normalat the same time no matter the dose and the unregulated thyroid made her sick every day. interestingly, when she first developed hypothyroidism in her early 50s 6 years after radioactive iodine for hyperthyroidism, they tried synthroid, she seemed to get worse, and a thyroid docat downstare med center in brooklyn said u need the natural, and switched her to dessicated. she did pretty good on that one. also interestingly, when she was on synthroid, an very old internrst tried an unusual approach tapezol along with the synthroid. i'm not sure which thyroid hormone tapezol supresses-but that seemed to help .if she couldn't convert t4 to t3 i'm not sure why that would be of help. After that doctor died though, noone else would give a script for tapezol. and no doc ever suggested t3 by itself despite my mother's contunually being sick. if it was now, u can be sure I would have gotten it for her, but 9+ years ago these kinds of web searches were not as successful . i've also always suspected that her development of other endocrine issues, including type 2 diabetes (even tho she was not fat) and the (probable) small cell carcinoma that killed her were due to a poorly controlled thyroid. Thanks for telling people about the benefits of armour. My mother is gone now but I wish we had known about it. She had to switch from dessicated to synthroid when the dessicated was no longer offerred but did poorly with synthroid for the rest of her life. iEither t3 or t4 blood levels wout be abnormal- she could never get both to be normalat the same time no matter the dose and the unregulated thyroid made her sick every day. interestingly, when she first developed hypothyroidism in her early 50s 6 years after radioactive iodine for hyperthyroidism, they tried synthroid, she seemed to get worse, and a thyroid docat downstare med center in brooklyn said u need the natural, and switched her to dessicated. she did pretty good on that one. also interestingly, when she was on synthroid, an very old internrst tried an unusual approach tapezol along with the synthroid. i’m not sure which thyroid hormone tapezol supresses-but that seemed to help .if she couldn’t convert t4 to t3 i’m not sure why that would be of help. After that doctor died though, noone else would give a script for tapezol. and no doc ever suggested t3 by itself despite my mother’s contunually being sick. if it was now, u can be sure I would have gotten it for her, but 9+ years ago these kinds of web searches were not as successful . i’ve also always suspected that her development of other endocrine issues, including type 2 diabetes (even tho she was not fat) and the (probable) small cell carcinoma that killed her were due to a poorly controlled thyroid.

]]> By: Janet http://www.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare#comment-8946 Janet Tue, 07 Jun 2011 03:53:33 +0000 http://blog.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare/#comment-8946 I just went to the drug store and paid for my Rx. The Pharmacist told me that the doctor could call and tell the insurance company that I could not take the other drug on the list and that way they should cover it. Also that he could back bill for about a week. I hope this works out for me. I just went to the drug store and paid for my Rx. The Pharmacist told me that the doctor could call and tell the insurance company that I could not take the other drug on the list and that way they should cover it. Also that he could back bill for about a week. I hope this works out for me.

]]> By: Janet http://www.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare#comment-8943 Janet Tue, 07 Jun 2011 01:45:03 +0000 http://blog.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare/#comment-8943 I've been able to get Armour Thyroid covered by Part D up until last week. The last time I got it covered was 4/28/11. Now I'm checking Medicare.gov and it's not listed anymore. They are going to end up losing money because people will have more health problems switching to another drug. I can't pay for dental work, but I'm going to pay for Armour Thyroid. I’ve been able to get Armour Thyroid covered by Part D up until last week. The last time I got it covered was 4/28/11. Now I’m checking Medicare.gov and it’s not listed anymore. They are going to end up losing money because people will have more health problems switching to another drug. I can’t pay for dental work, but I’m going to pay for Armour Thyroid.

]]> By: Dr. G. Pepper http://www.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare#comment-8786 Dr. G. Pepper Thu, 12 May 2011 18:09:11 +0000 http://blog.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare/#comment-8786 Hi Tammy I am not a pediatrician but it would seem logical to me that children could be more susceptible than adults to signs and symptoms of thyroid hormone deficiency. The symptoms you describe in your daughter could represent many different issues including thyroid hormone related, but also could be within the normal variation of childhood. In adults Armour thyroid has impressed me with its ability to improve the types of symptoms that are most resistant to treatment, fatigue and mental "fogginess" being among these. I couldn't guess what thyroid hormone preparations your medicaid program approves but the good news is that since the shortage has ended, Armour thyroid is freely available and not that expensive. Best of luck to you and your daughter. (These comments are for educational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice or a medical relationship) Dr. G. Pepper Hi Tammy

I am not a pediatrician but it would seem logical to me that children could be more susceptible than adults to signs and symptoms of thyroid hormone deficiency. The symptoms you describe in your daughter could represent many different issues including thyroid hormone related, but also could be within the normal variation of childhood. In adults Armour thyroid has impressed me with its ability to improve the types of symptoms that are most resistant to treatment, fatigue and mental “fogginess” being among these. I couldn’t guess what thyroid hormone preparations your medicaid program approves but the good news is that since the shortage has ended, Armour thyroid is freely available and not that expensive.

Best of luck to you and your daughter.
(These comments are for educational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice or a medical relationship)

Dr. G. Pepper

]]> By: Tammy http://www.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare#comment-8780 Tammy Wed, 11 May 2011 12:42:45 +0000 http://blog.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare/#comment-8780 My daughter was diagnosed with Thyroiditis R/O - Acquired Hypothyroidism in 2007. At present she is taking a generic Levothyrosine 88 Mcg. In 2009 I mentioned to her dr. that she was very moody and her behavior at home had changed. He assured me that it had nothing to do with her thyroid condition. However; after doing some research, I noticed that the adverse reactions to the medicine she is taking includes irritability, fatigue & also relates to hyperactivity and attention deficit. I reference these specific known reactions because she has been diagnosed with a learning disability in school and has a hard time staying focused. She has an appointment with a new endocronologist in June. After finding your website and learning that there is a definite correlation to her moodiness/fatigue/lack of concentration; would it be your opinion that she would benefit to change to the Armour Thyroid medicine, if so; could you please advise what generic is accepted by medicaid (staywell-wellcare for kids) that would give the same benefits? My biggest concern is her academics and I wonder if the levothyroxine may actually accelerate her problems in retention when she was diagnosed with the learning disability in 2003. I appreciate your time and your opinion with regards to these two specific problems. Current drug and its effects and possible contributing factor to her learning disability. My daughter was diagnosed with Thyroiditis R/O – Acquired Hypothyroidism in 2007. At present she is taking a generic Levothyrosine 88 Mcg. In 2009 I mentioned to her dr. that she was very moody and her behavior at home had changed. He assured me that it had nothing to do with her thyroid condition. However; after doing some research, I noticed that the adverse reactions to the medicine she is taking includes irritability, fatigue & also relates to hyperactivity and attention deficit. I reference these specific known reactions because she has been diagnosed with a learning disability in school and has a hard time staying focused. She has an appointment with a new endocronologist in June. After finding your website and learning that there is a definite correlation to her moodiness/fatigue/lack of concentration; would it be your opinion that she would benefit to change to the Armour Thyroid medicine, if so; could you please advise what generic is accepted by medicaid (staywell-wellcare for kids) that would give the same benefits? My biggest concern is her academics and I wonder if the levothyroxine may actually accelerate her problems in retention when she was diagnosed with the learning disability in 2003. I appreciate your time and your opinion with regards to these two specific problems. Current drug and its effects and possible contributing factor to her learning disability.

]]> By: Dr. G. Pepper http://www.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare#comment-6906 Dr. G. Pepper Wed, 05 Jan 2011 19:03:33 +0000 http://blog.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare/#comment-6906 Hal Your Mom is an example of the safety and effectiveness of Armour Thyroid. Can't grasp the meaning of your last sentence. Can you explain? Dr. Pepper Hal

Your Mom is an example of the safety and effectiveness of Armour Thyroid. Can’t grasp the meaning of your last sentence. Can you explain?

Dr. Pepper

]]> By: Hal http://www.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare#comment-6902 Hal Wed, 05 Jan 2011 02:57:16 +0000 http://blog.metabolism.com/2008/03/01/armour-thyoid-dropped-by-medicare/#comment-6902 My mom is 93. She's been taking Armour Thyroid since she was 18. Is this ruling from the death panels the giggling media has been talking about? My mom is 93. She’s been taking Armour Thyroid since she was 18. Is this ruling from the death panels the giggling media has been talking about?

]]>