Armour thyroid medication as an ethical dilemma

[jsb63]

I've been a vegetarian over 7 months and am trying to be a vegan. I'm a 45 year-old male, 5' 6," 255 lbs., with bi-polar disorder II and hypothyroid. Medications have not as yet been much of any help for depression, and indeed often cause bad side effects. In April one doctor took me off a mood stabilizer and I was severely depressed, unable to do much of anything, including work, fantasizes about suicide, etc. A new doctor put me on a different mood stabilizer a few weeks ago and it's not very good. About all it does is keep me from being angry. It mostly makes me a deadened zombie.

Family members--well, one--thinks my problem is not bi-polar but in my thyroid. My thyroid level is supposedly stable. I am going to one of the best thyroid/endocrinology doctors in my state, and she took me off the crap generic thyroid meds and put me on name-brand Synthroid. Still, I feel terrible. Some say depression medication can cause you to put on or at least keep on weight. I've been my current weight since about 2005. Of course, my personal circumstances are lousy and I am not making enough money to support myself, but that's another story. (A know-it-all friend insists that all I need to be happy and stop worrying is a steady supply of money.)

My point is, this family member insists that I'd lose weight and feel marvelous if I could convince my thyroid doctor to put me on that Armour thyroid medication. She believes it would peel off the pounds and solve all my troubles. She can't believe I didn't ask my thyroid doctor for this medication when I was there Thursday. (One of my therapists recommended this medication as well, saying it made all the difference with his wife.)

But I'm hung up on the ethical end of this. The medication is made from pigs. I don't want to feel guilty about harming and killing pigs every time I take the medication. It was hard enough for me to finally put my money where my mouth was and quit eating meat after years of wanting to go vegetarian. I really don't know what to do.

[Clarita Osita]

Well, hopefully the doctor put you on the medication s/he thought was best for you. But it couldn't hurt to talk to the dr. about the different options out there, what they do better/worse, side effects, etc.

If it won't change the situation, there's no reason to switch to a pig-based medication. But if it will help you, that's a different story. I make an exception for necessary medications.

A lot of vegans disagree with me. I accept the concept that a person's life is not more valuable than an animal's, but to you and those around you, your life is more important than a pig's life. My life is more important to me than a pig's life, even though I can agree that a pig's life in general is not worth more than a human's life in general. I hope that makes sense.

[bluesand]

Jeez you have being through it man , I'm sorry about all the ups and downs you have had .

As for what meds are better , well I'm not qualified in that area , there could be others on the boards that might have a similar complaint that might be able to help you .


But I'm hung up on the ethical end of this. The medication is made from pigs. I don't want to feel guilty about harming and killing pigs every time I take the medication
Its a dilemma a few on the boards have , but just about all medication have a gelatin capsule around them . It sounds like your goal is to do the least amount harm to animals , which you are doing . So go ahead and take your medication , get well and no doubt you will do more to ease the suffering around you .

:hi:

[cthulhukitty]

I've been a vegetarian over 7 months and am trying to be a vegan. I'm a 45 year-old male, 5' 6," 255 lbs., with bi-polar disorder II and hypothyroid. Medications have not as yet been much of any help for depression, and indeed often cause bad side effects. In April one doctor took me off a mood stabilizer and I was severely depressed, unable to do much of anything, including work, fantasizes about suicide, etc. A new doctor put me on a different mood stabilizer a few weeks ago and it's not very good. About all it does is keep me from being angry. It mostly makes me a deadened zombie.

Family members--well, one--thinks my problem is not bi-polar but in my thyroid. My thyroid level is supposedly stable. I am going to one of the best thyroid/endocrinology doctors in my state, and she took me off the crap generic thyroid meds and put me on name-brand Synthroid. Still, I feel terrible. Some say depression medication can cause you to put on or at least keep on weight. I've been my current weight since about 2005. Of course, my personal circumstances are lousy and I am not making enough money to support myself, but that's another story. (A know-it-all friend insists that all I need to be happy and stop worrying is a steady supply of money.)

My point is, this family member insists that I'd lose weight and feel marvelous if I could convince my thyroid doctor to put me on that Armour thyroid medication. She believes it would peel off the pounds and solve all my troubles. She can't believe I didn't ask my thyroid doctor for this medication when I was there Thursday. (One of my therapists recommended this medication as well, saying it made all the difference with his wife.)

But I'm hung up on the ethical end of this. The medication is made from pigs. I don't want to feel guilty about harming and killing pigs every time I take the medication. It was hard enough for me to finally put my money where my mouth was and quit eating meat after years of wanting to go vegetarian. I really don't know what to do.


I am also hypothyroid and I have been on Synthriod for 5 miserable years. The problem with Synthroid is that it does not replace all of the thyroid hormones just T4. I will probably have to switch to a T3+T4 medication soon because I have people who depend on me to take care of them and most days I feel awful.

I think the best bet would be to try Thyrolar (synthetic T3+T4) or take Cytomel (T3 only ) in conjunction with your Synthroid (T4 only) and if these don't work then Armour my be something you may want to try.

Yes, Armour is ethically questionable but if it ends up being the only medication that will work for you take it please. This is a list of what can happen if to someone if they don't medicate themselves: Blood pressure irregularities, Low body temperature, feeling perpetually cold, Fatigue, Depression, Memory problems, Elevated cholesterol, treatment-resistant high cholesterol, Weight gain, Infertility, Miscarriage, Stillbirth, Premature labor, Menstrual irregularities, Loss or reduction of sex drive, Muscle weakness, Constipation, Joint or muscle pain, Hair loss, Swollen hands, feet and face, Growth of thyroid nodules, increasing goiter size, Increased risk of heart disease, Increased risk of infection, Myxedema coma and death (worst case scenario).

I believe there is a definite link between your thyroid and mental health. Your thyroid can affect your adrenal levels and that can affect serotonin levels.


Here are a couple of good websites on the subject of different thyroid meds:
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/
http://thyroid.about.com/

[Neoveggie]

I say try the medication and if it works, stay on it. Meanwhile you are already helping by being vegetarian and that's more than the majority of people in this world can say.

[kworthington]

do you live in UK? or the US? only asking because I have thyroid disease and have been on medication since age 12 and have never heard of the armour med.

[kworthington]

oh yeah,for 33 years ,like you really knew my age,duh!

[jsb63]

kworthington,

I live in the US.

Armour is a meat-packing firm over a century old, but I guess it now does pharmaceuticals as well.

[Luise]

I've been taking Synthroid for 10 years with no problems whatsoever, so definitely start with synthetic and try that. The body converts T4 to its necessary amount of T3 (though maybe this doesn't apply to every individual). If you seem to be struggling on Synthroid, move to a mix like cthulhukitty said above.

I just want to point out that Armour is considered rather obsolete in the medical community and there are few doctors that still prescribe it, as there are numerous problems with it, since it's organic and uncontrolled, the biggest issue being uncertainty over dosage -- it can be dangerous for someone who needs a controlled amount, like children or someone whose weight may fluctuate/drop. Because Armour comes from a living being, and won't produce absolutely identical amounts of hormone to another, the pharmacy can only assume within a range how much thyroxin is in the medicine, which can be very risky. With synthetic variants, the doctor knows exactly how much you're taking, which will spare you numerous tests and the potential risk.

[kworthington]

jsb63,
Is this the same as armour hotdog company?
If so,that is totally gross.To be honest ,even though i have had my thyroid condition for so long ,I am still not sure what I'd do.my meds have worked for me so far.good luck!

[Luise]

jsb63,
Is this the same as armour hotdog company?
If so,that is totally gross.To be honest ,even though i have had my thyroid condition for so long ,I am still not sure what I'd do.my meds have worked for me so far.good luck!

I think the name is just a coincidence, really -- Forest Laboratories, makers of Lexapro etc, make Armour: http://www.frx.com/ But maybe they buy their pig thyroid from the meat Armour. Then again, it wouldn't surprise me if they raised pigs solely for medicine production, but I have no idea.

[jsb63]

Follow-up here--Turns out my particular doctor doesn't like to use Armour dessicated thyroid medication. She says it's not been around long enough to tell if there are any long-term negative effects. So she's just upping my Synthroid. She did tell me I have Hashimoto's Disease, though. But apparently I don't have to worry about any ethical dilemma now as it's a moot point.