Armour Update

For those who are interested I have done some research with the help of my functional medicine doctor, Rob Bruley in to the formula changes of Armour Thyroid. As there is quite the buzz about this at the site http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com I think it is good for all of us who take Armour Thyroid to be informed.
Forest Pharmaceutical did willingly talk to Rob Bruley, M.D. and told him there was a formula change within the last year. They did not change any of the active or inactive ingredients. What they did change was the amounts of two inactive ingredients. They decreased the amount of anhydrous dextrose and increased the amount of cellulose. Rob said that the increased amount of cellulose may have the effect of increasing the thyroid effect from a given dosage as I have had to really decrease my dosage of Armour Thyroid.
I had asked Rob about taking it sublingually as recommended at STTM, so he posed the question to them. They responded that they are asked this question frequently but they have no data to prove or disprove relative absorption of the product sublingually vs. swallowing. Therefore, they cannot endorse this route of administration. They say it was never intended to be taken sublingually. Rob also asked about gluten and they said it is gluten free (hurrah!). They also said they use no dyes because they use titanium dioxide as a lightener.
Now I conclude from all of this that one can still take it sublingually if desired, and I do most of the time. However, I also think that it is entirely possible that they tweaked the amount of anhydrous dextrose just enough to make the taste less pallatible when taken sublingually because they know people are doing it and they don’t want to be sued for misuse of the product. We are, after all, a very litigious society and they do have to cover their butts (pardon the expression).
If anything the increased cellulose should cause it to be better absorbed as the tablet will get to the stomach more intact and I know from using cellulose caplets that the cellulose disappears after just a few seconds in water, so it clearly will not last long in stomach acid.
Another issue a person could have with sublingual adminstration is a burst of T3 when you take it and a sudden drop in energy a short time later. As there are days when I don’t want to bother with taking it several times I find swallowing it and getting a slower release easier.
I hope this information is helpful and fairly presented. Please leave any questions or statements by clicking on “comments” and I would love to share what you have to say with other readers.