All About Thyroid Drugs

Thyrotropin alfa/Thyrogen

Thyrogen is a special thyroid hormone replacement drug for thyroid cancer patients who are going to undergo a thyroid scan or thyroglobulin test. Typically, these patients have had to go off levothyroxine and become profoundly hypothyroid in order for the tests to be accurate. Thyrogen allows for accurate testing in most cases, without the symptoms of hypothyroidism.

Antithyroid Drugs

There are two types of antithyroid drug, methimazole (brand name, Tapazole), and propylthiouracil, which is a generic drug only, no brandnames are sold in the U.S. Antithyroid drugs are used for the treatment of an overactive thyroid / hyperthyroidism. The conventional wisdom is that these drugs should only be used for finite periods of time, after which, if the hyperthyroidism has not gone into remission, other treatments such as radioactive iodine should be pursued. Some alternative doctors, however, have maintained patients for years on antithyroid drugs with no adverse effects.