A compounded medication is a drug that is mixed and prepared as a custom mix, specifically to meet your needs. Compounded natural desiccated thyroid is a prescription drug.

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Creating a compounded drug involves mixing various active pharmaceutical ingredients -- known as API -- with excipients.

 

To make compounded NDT, a compounding pharmacy mixes Thyroid USP -- the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) –with fillers (excipients). This mixture is then put into capsules. 
 

One of the variables in compounded NDT is the source of the API. Various compounding pharmacies get their Thyroid USP from different API manufacturers around the world. For example, some API is reportedly manufactured in China, where pharmaceutical regulations and environmental protections are lax, and product quality and purity are questionable. In some cases, API manufacturers outside the U.S. are sourcing their animals from undisclosed third countries—information not shared with patients. 

That means that you can find it challenging to learn which API your compounding pharmacy is using, where the API is being manufactured, or where the pigs are raised. 

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If you want full disclosure on the API used in compounded NDT, you do have an option. A network of compounding pharmacies in the U.S. uses API sourced from Specialty Process Labs (SPL). SPL’s Thyroid USP is the same API used to make Nature-Throid and WP Thyroid brand NDT.

All the ingredients used in the API from SPL are sourced solely within North America, and the API itself is manufactured in the United States. You can be confident that these pharmacies provide compounded prescription hypothyroid medication that never leaves a highly regulated and monitored setting.

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An Alternative to Nature-Throid® and WP Thyroid® Tablets

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Patients taking the Nature-Throid® and WP Thyroid® brands of NDT have faced difficulties getting their medication in 2020 and 2021, due to FDA interference and extended FDA recalls that have taken these drugs out of distribution.

 

Unfortunately, many patients who, out of necessity switched to Armour® or NP Thyroid®, have reported a poor response to the substitutions and difficulty managing their hypothyroidism.

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If you're a patient who feels best on Nature-Throid® or WP Thyroid® and you're not functioning well on a substitute, the API used by these other brands may be causing the problem. 

 

If you want to get an NDT with a formulation closest to Nature-Throid® or WP Thyroid®, consider getting compounded NDT that uses the same API. As noted, the API is available from Specialty Process Labs (SPL).

 

Foothills Pharmacy, a pharmacy based out of Arizona, provides high-quality compounded NDT -- using SPL’s API -- and other thyroid medications by mail-order across the U.S. For more information, see https://www.foothillspharmacy.com.

The following is a list of compounding pharmacies that use SPL’s API Thyroid USP. You'll also find a list online at https://getrealthyroid.com/find-a-thyroid-pharmacy.html.