armor thyroid storage temperature?

[Sendkeys]

Does anyone know if it is a good idea to keep armor thyroid in the
fridge for long term storage? anywhere from 6 months to year or two??

Thanks

[mike]

Here is the official info from the producer of Armour Thyroid - Forest
Pharmaceuticals Inc.:
http://www.armourthyroid.com/armourthyroid_pi.pdf

"...at ROOM temperature, 59-86F (+15-+30C) in capped bottles"

[Cavaliers]

Hi Sendkeys,

There was a discussion about this topic a while ago you could do a Google
search for all comments.
I believe people agree that some potency is lost over the long term if not
kept in fridge. I don't know what the shelf life is generally. Pharmacists
don't appear to keep desiccated thyroid in the 'fridge.
You can also read a long and amusing article about expiry dates re-printed
with permission from Red Flags at:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/460159

See here: http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic3/armourthyroid_ids.htm at the
bottom: "Tablets should be stored at controlled room temperature, 59°-86° F
(15°-30° C), in capped bottles or unbroken plastic strip packing."

Also, I read recently at Thyroid Australia see here for further comments
http://www.thyroid.org.au/ regarding advice for patients storing synthetic
t4.
"The Therapeutic Goods Administration has imposed new requirements for the
storage of thyroxine. The two Australian brands, Oroxine and Eutroxsig, now
have a shelf life of 18 months (up from 12 months), "but must be
refrigerated.

"The formulations are unchanged.

"The tablets can be kept unrefrigerated for up to a month without affecting
the shelf life. ..."

Kindest regards,

Diana

"Sendkeys" <send...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1115748983.8...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...

[Kevin G. Rhoads]

>Does anyone know if it is a good idea to keep armor thyroid in the
>fridge for long term storage?

Armour will last a full year (at least) at room temperature. The manufacturer's
recommendations say to NOT frig. it, but that is probably because they tested for
storage at room temp. and they are required by law to recommend the same conditions
that it was tested under. Like film and batteries, frig. storage will extend lifetime
PROVIDED that exposure to humidity and condensation is AVOIDED. Armour should
store even longer under freezing, but the physical condition of the tablets may
be damaged since they are not totally dry to start. HOWEVER most modern frig/freezers
do this anti-frosting thing, where the freezer compartment is periodically HEATED
before being returned to freezing temperatures. The presumption is that the cycling
is fast, so frozen foods will stay frozen through the cycles (probably true in the
bulk, but the surfaces of those foods are prone to more and more rapid freezer burn).
HOWEVER small bottles of medication will NOT stay frozen through such cycling and
will be exposed, briefly, to higher temperatures.

SO -- cool dry romm temp is adequate for a year.
Dry refrigerator storage, while not recommended by the manufacturer, will extend potentshelf life.
FREEZING is problematic unless you KNOW you have a NON "Frost Free" freezer.

If you want to know the technicalities of this, check out Arrhenius (?sp) and energy barriers
to chemical reactions. The gradual potency decay of thyroid meds in storage is a temperature
activated reaction with a lower than normal energy barrier. Lowering the temperature reduces
the amount of random energy to "push" the reaction. BUT temp appears in an exponent, so small
temp changes can have large effects. Look for "Reaction kinetics" in "physical chemistry".
(I'm just an electrical engineer, probably didn't even spell "Arrhenius" properly.)