Warnings

Np Thyroid

Medically Reviewed by Dr. Harshi Dhingra, M.D.

Last Reviewed: Apr 03, 2025

Warnings

NP Thyroid Risks, Warnings, and Complications

NP Thyroid can cause serious adverse reactions in some people. Check with your doctor or pharmacist about other treatment options for your thyroid disorder if you are at increased risk of serious side effects from NP Thyroid. Some of the risks of taking this medicine are described below.

NOT FOR WEIGHT LOSS: NP Thyroid is only for use by people with a nonfunctioning thyroid gland. While weight loss is one of the side effects of NP Thyroid, this medicine should not be used to achieve weight loss by people with normal thyroid function. The usual doses of NP Thyroid will not cause weight loss in people with normal thyroid status. High-dose or prolonged thyroid therapy can cause serious side effects in people with a normally functioning thyroid gland, especially if used in conjunction with other weight loss drugs.
THYROID HORMONE TOXICITY: Call your doctor without delay if you develop signs or symptoms of thyroid hormone toxicity such as palpitations or fast heartbeat, chest pain, heavy sweating, heat intolerance, or nervousness while receiving thyroid replacement therapy.
CONTRAINDICATIONS: Thyroid hormone preparations are contraindicated in people with certain concomitant endocrine diseases such as uncorrected adrenal cortical insufficiency (decreased adrenal gland function), untreated thyrotoxicosis, and hypersensitivity (allergic reactions). If thyroid hormone is administered to people with uncorrected adrenal insufficiency, it can cause a further drop in adrenal hormone levels. Your healthcare provider will check adrenal hormone levels before starting you on NP Thyroid. Tell your doctor if you develop dizziness, muscle weakness, fatigue, abdominal pain, or loss of appetite while on thyroid replacement.
INCREASED RISK OF CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE: Taking NP Thyroid can lead to heart problems, especially in older adults and those with pre-existing angina (chest pain), coronary artery disease, and other heart problems. Tell your doctor immediately or seek emergency medical care if you develop chest pain, an irregular or rapid heartbeat, or difficulty breathing while on NP Thyroid. Your doctor may lower your thyroid medicine dose.
DRUG INTERACTIONS: Thyroid-treated patients with concomitant diabetes mellitus may need to have the doses of their diabetes medications adjusted. Your doctor may need to increase the dose of your oral hypoglycemic agent (diabetes medicines) after starting NP Thyroid to maintain blood sugar control. Similarly, concomitant oral anticoagulant therapy while on thyroid hormones requires dose adjustment based on prothrombin time.

Precautions Before Starting NP Thyroid

Tell your doctor if you have ever had an allergic reaction to thyroid medication, any of the active or inactive ingredients in NP Thyroid tablets, pork, or any other drugs. Your pharmacy can give you a list of ingredients.

Give your doctor and pharmacist a complete list of your medications, including prescription drugs, non-prescription medicines, vitamins, supplements, and herbal products. This can help avoid possible drug interactions between NP Thyroid and your other medications.

Give your doctor a complete medical history. NP Thyroid may not be safe for people with certain medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, heart attack, angina (chest pain), irregular heart rhythms, high blood cholesterol, pituitary gland or adrenal gland conditions, osteoporosis (weak, brittle bones), malabsorptive disorders (poor absorption from the gut), kidney disease, or liver disease.

If you are an older adult (age 65 plus), talk to your healthcare provider about the benefits versus risks of taking NP Thyroid. There may be other safer medicines available to treat your condition.

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, could be pregnant, or are planning a pregnancy soon. Also, tell your doctor if you are nursing an infant on breast milk.

Precautions During Use of NP Thyroid

Keep all your medical and lab appointments while on NP Thyroid. Your doctor will check certain lab tests to monitor your thyroid hormone levels.

Do not substitute other brand names of desiccated thyroid extract (DTE) for NP Thyroid, as they may contain different amounts of medicine. Check the dispensed medicine every time you get your prescriptions filled and make sure you got a thyroid preparation bearing the label NP Thyroid.

If you have been prescribed cholesterol-lowering medications, for example, colestipol (Colestid) or cholestyramine (Questran), take them at least 4 hours before your thyroid medicine. Taking medicines such as cholestyramine and thyroid hormones together can affect drug absorption. Similarly, take antacids, iron supplements, iron-containing drugs, sucralfate (Carafate), or simethicone at least 4 hours away from NP Thyroid.

There is some evidence that dietary iodine interferes with the absorption of NP Thyroid. Avoid taking your thyroid medicine at the same time as iodine-rich foods (seaweed, iodized salt, cod, shrimp, milk). Similarly, a high-fiber diet can lead to decreased absorption of the medicine. Work with your doctor to adjust your diet and optimize thyroid hormone activity.

Tell all your healthcare providers and laboratory personnel you are on NP Thyroid before having any laboratory tests.

Tell your health care provider if you become pregnant while on NP Thyroid.

Note: The strong odor of thyroid tablets is normal and does not indicate spoilage.

NP Thyroid Drug Interactions

Certain medications can interact with NP Thyroid and affect how well it works. Interactions between medications can increase the risk of serious side effects. Your doctor may change the dose of your medications and/or monitor you carefully for side effects if there are known interactions between NP Thyroid and your other medicines. The following medications may have interactions with thyroid replacement therapy:

Oral anticoagulant therapy with warfarin (Jantoven, Coumadin)
Diabetes medications
Salicylate pain medications including aspirin, other aspirin-containing products, choline salicylate (Arthropan), choline magnesium trisalicylate, magnesium salicylate (Doan's), diflunisal (Dolobid), and salsalate (Argesic, Salgesic, Disalcid)
Estrogen-containing oral contraceptives
Lugol's Solution
St. John's wort

Give your doctor or pharmacist a complete list of your medications, including prescription drugs, non-prescription medicines, dietary supplements, and herbal remedies. Also, tell your healthcare provider if you smoke, drink alcohol, or use recreational drugs because some of these substances can cause serious health complications when used with prescription medicines.

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