Making your own thyroid replacement hormone pills

Hello! I have been a member since I believe the inception of ATS but never really post, I'm a lurker! With everything going on, I have some real concerns.
About 7 years ago I had to have a complete thyroidectomy, only left with my parathyroid glands. I need hormone replacements to stay alive and have my body function properly. I even asked my endocrinologist for a supply to stock up in case of an emergency and he laughed it off and said I can get Synthroid or Cytomel even in 3rd world countries (he obviously doesn't belong to ATS). My insurance only lets me buy one month at a time, but I would gladly drop cash to stock up on my own, however, I need prescription to get these pills in the U.S. I have looked on international sites, I just don't know what is legit or not.

I know you can make your own thyroid pills by grinding up pig thyroid, but alas WHAT DO YOU KNOW? No one will sell you a pig thyroid. I know I could dry it out, grind it, measure it and put into capsules. I don't know how long they would last, nor if I should keep the cold, frozen or room temperature. All I know is I have 0 stockpiled and when the SHTF I am beyond screwed. Can anyone help me?

a reply to: diana
I have purchased the little blue pills from India a couple of times and they work AMAZING and know others who have gotten different medications from overseas and all have been as they should! I have also acquired medications from Mexico and Jamaica while traveling there. Good luck!!

a reply to: diana

Thyroid meds are specifically, carefully dosed to make sure your hormone levels are balanced.

Unless you are a chemist I wouldn't mess wth that Doctor prescribed dose.

Periodically the doctors will take blood, test for those hormone levels and that balance, altering the dose as needed.

Do it your self hormone meds could unbalance your blood chemistry, give rise to all kinds of conditions that (over time) lead to more diseases, that require more treatment and medication. The bodies endocrine system is complex, missing a thyroid gland pretty much guarantees a life time prescription.

Unless you move somewhere health care (and meds) are less costly, you are $tuck.

Beside my experience with hypothyroid condition in my mom, I am not an expert either. Just relating what little I have learned. I wouldn't advise taking others advice off the internet either.

a reply to: diana


Call a local slaughter house.

Do not tell them what you are doing with it, but ask if you can buy a thyroid, or just buy the whole hog head/neck. A lot of people make head cheese and ask to include the thyroid.

Every time you miss a dose (we all do) just put it in separate pill bottle... thyroid piggy bank.

Don't know why you can't get 90 day prescription. I do, even at my local pharmacy. I have never used mail order but I would suspect 90 day prescriptions would be standard there.

I was told by my Dr. that they are viable for 1 year after purchase but that is probably just a standard response. If TSHTF I wouldn't hesitate to use Levothyroxin that is older than 1 year.

I asked my Dr. for an additional supply and he just recommended that I fill it at a different pharmacy. He wrote me a 2nd script for 90 with 3 refills. Levothyroxin is a $4 script at Wall-Mart. $10 for a 90 day supply.

PS: I don't have a thyroid either.

a reply to: CharlesT

Thank you. Yes I see my endocrinologist in December. I will ask then for a Sowetan script. I obviously won't be self dosing myself unless we are in a dire situation (to the others that have commented) I just want to know how to make it for when there are no other resources. I also never miss a pill. With having no thyroid I can feel the effects quite soon so the piggy bank, although sounds awesome, won't work for me ;(

a reply to: Dogwooddoors

Can you PM me as to what site you used?
I would really appreciate any help

a reply to: diana

Im pretty adventurous with my body when it comes to "fixing" things. I can pull my own tooth out and its broken roots with a pair of pliers and a set of tweezers, but even I wouldnt try to make my own hormone pills.

Try throwing the clerk some cash. I know people who bought controlled substances from shady pharmacy clerks.

or try a drug dealer. They know pharmacists sometimes or compounding lab employees that can get just about anything.

if all else fails, try a one time trip to Mexico. You can just tell a pharmacist there your dilemma and they will just charge you a little more for the trouble.

originally posted by: diana
a reply to: CharlesT

Thank you. Yes I see my endocrinologist in December. I will ask then for a Sowetan script. I obviously won't be self dosing myself unless we are in a dire situation (to the others that have commented) I just want to know how to make it for when there are no other resources. I also never miss a pill. With having no thyroid I can feel the effects quite soon so the piggy bank, although sounds awesome, won't work for me ;(

I am long past seeing my endocrinologist. I have blood test every year through my primary Dr. and he adjusts my script strength and writes my prescriptions.

I work at a pharmacy. I have seen that unless it's a controlled substance, we can fill scripts as soon as the insurance will pay for it. In practice what happens is you get ahead of your 30 days. My husband tells me to stop filling his heart med because he's got more than enough. I say I will keep filling them as soon as I can and the insurance will pay for it, because it may come to a situation where he can't get it, and it's good to have extra.
So what people will do is call and ask us if they can fill something. If it's too early, we tell them the soonest insurance will pay for it, and I will schedule it to fill that day. So try that with your pharmacy.
Also, if your doctor poo poos the idea that you may need to have some stocked up, just remind him of the recent disasters (think Puerto Rico) where people are unable to get the meds they need. Incidentally, the facility that manufactures Sandoz brand Levothyroxine was destroyed in Puerto Rico, so now we are experiencing a shortage. Yes, we can order another brand, but because all the pharmacies are doing that, there are limits on how much we can order at one time.
Good luck, and good on you for thinking ahead. I'm amazed at how many people don't.