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  Discussion on Thyroid Medication
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Posted on Tuesday, Jun 1, 1999 - 4:36 pm:

Last fall my Vet suspected my 13 year old appendix/qtr horse to have hypothyroidism. (I use him for barrel racing.) We tested his blood over three months. Each time
his T3 & T4 leval was at 40% of the low mean.
In January he started on Thyrol-L at a 1/4
teaspoon a day. He responded almost immediately.
(Shiney Coat, energy leval back up, muscel tone improved, weight improved, ect.) We tested him at 30 days, 60 days and will be testing again next week approximately 140 days. The first two tests
placed him at the low mean (1.2) of acceptable leval. Last week I read an article in Horse Journal, that stated that Thyrol-L will be recalled in August of 2000 by the FDA, due to flucuation in strength. The article suggested changing medications. Dr.O, do you have any information, and or thoughts about Thyrol-L vs.
other medications for hypothyroidism? Also, I would enjoy hearing from anyone else about this problem. He seems to be doing excellent on the Thyrol-L however I don't want to create any other problems.

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 2, 1999 - 7:36 am:

Hello Dianne,
General poor doing with repeated thyroid assays at less than 1/2 the low normal is probably a very good indication of hypothyroidism and quite rare in horses.

I have never had a truly hypothyroid case in my practice. When I first started I used Thyro L frequently for the easy keepers prone to founder but soon realized that hypothyroidism was not a problem in these horses. There is another product out there recommended by a University Vet, but I cannot remember the name. We were debating this issue in The Farrier magazine. I will see if I can come up with it. DrO
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