This is just a heads-up in case anyone else takes Armour thyroid pills, which are the "natural" ones made from pig thyroids instead of the synthetic versions.

Forest Pharmaceuticals is retooling their manufacturing process so they are currently not producing 2-, 3-, 4-, or 5-grain pills at all. They are making .25-, .5-, 1-, and 1.5-grain pills but I don't think they are producing enough to cover the market. I have been having problems for months getting my pills and this is why. The new supply should start up in "late 2008" so I think we can expect a few more months of short supply.

Meanwhile, if you take Armour, you could try replacing Armour with synthetic pills by making sure you're replacing both T4 (thyroxine) and T3 (triiodothyronine). Thyrolar has both, but it's probably better to take them separately, because then you can titrate separately, plus, generic levothyroxine is very cheap nowadays. So you would be looking for Synthroid or generic replacement, and Cytomel, which is a T3 pill. I'm not sure there is a generic for Cytomel.

I am planning to get a scrip for the synthetic pills and try them for a while. If they don't seem to work as well for me, I can go back on Armour later this year when the supply is back to normal.

You may have to see your care provider to get this straightened out. Most pharmacies seem to consider Synthroid by itself to be a generic substitute for Armour. Given that T3 makes a huge huge difference for some of us, that isn't enough. So if you can't get Armour, you may have to get a new prescription so you can get Cytomel. Or just get new prescriptions for Synthroid (and/or generic) and Cytomel both.

There are other natural thyroid meds out there like Naturthroid and Westhroid.