"Proloid Please"
Find a Conversation
| Sat, 09-29-2007 - 6:55pm |
I am writing this letter to provide details of my sister's health situation. She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and had her complete thyroid removed in 1989. Since that time she has experienced problems with the thyroid replacement therapies perscribed to her. Eventually she tried a replacement called "Proloid" manufactured by Parke/Davis,PfizerWarner/Lambert. She immediately responded to Proloid and was doing great during the time she was taking this replacement. We did not know, however, that this drug was in the process of being discontinued in it's manufacture. We have exhausted all avenues to obtain any remaining supply of Proloid that we could in order to maintain her health. Subsequently, she has tried every remaining therapy on the market both synthetic and natural variaties. These include Synthroid, Levothyroxine and Armour to name just a few.
All therapies with the exception of "Proloid" have produced very serious side effects with her. The main active ingrediant of Proloid is "Lyophilized Porcine Thyroglobulin". It is not to be confused with "dessicated or raw natural thyroid compounds". Apparently the process of lyophilizing the whole thyroid gland seems to be what made "Proloid" different from other therapies. My sisters health has deteriorated very badly as a result of not being able to find a thyroid replacement therapy that her body accepts. We do not feel that she is experiencing an allergic reaction to these other drugs, but for some reason her body is not accepting or absorbing them. These reactions are quite severe and include extreme head pain and pressure, muscle weakness and fatigue, nausea, loss of balance, dizziness, inability to concentrate, hair loss, weight gain etc....... These symptoms are always present whether she is on or off the drugs. However, when she takes a thyroid compound she will experience these symptoms even stronger. She is dying with the drugs...............and she is dying without them.
Thyroid replacement therapies are distiquished into three catagories:
1. Synthetic (eg. Synthroid, Levothyroxin)
2. Dessicated Thyroid ( eg. Armour )
3. Porcine Thyroglobulin (eg. Proloid)
Only Proloid made up the third catagory of therapies available. Now that choice no longer exists as an alternative for patients to try. It is a fact that not all people are able to absorb the same medication in the same way, thus more choices need to be made available to meet the needs of different individuals.
Perhaps the answer to many of the problems relating to thyroid medications would be eleviated by the return of an "old" but reliable therapy called Proloid.
We should be contacting the drug company Parke/Davis and Pfizer and demand a return of the drug "Proloid" to the market.

Hi coastie_gal,
Thank you for sharing what has been happening with your sister.
I am actually at a loss as to what Proloid is as I have never heard of it before and I have been on thymeds for over 11 years now.