They say T3 is bad for us! MHRA website shows numbers of yellow card reports Levothyroxine (T4) = 669 versus Liothyronine (T3) = 24

[T4_malcontent]

Please have a look at the following reports and show them to the next doctor that says T3 cannot be prescribed because it is bad for you!!

T3 Liothyronine - mhra.gov.uk/home/groups/pub... (only 24 reports and 94 reactions)

T4 Levothyroxine - mhra.gov.uk/home/groups/pub... ( a massive 669 reports and 2243 reactions, including 12 fatalities!!!!!!) Now that is bad for you!!

If you are experiencing any problems or side effects with T4 you can complete a yellow card:

The link below takes you to the relevant page of the MHRA website where you can complete an online form, or download a paper form to make your report

mhra.gov.uk/Safetyinformati...

[SilkyJ]

Under the T4, it also includes Armour. That doesn't make sense!

[T4_malcontent in reply to SilkyJ]

I hadn't spotted that, and agree that is both inaccurate and very confusing!

[SilkyJ]

I am sure the last batch of Mercury Pharma T3 was not right. I know I became ill on it and I have seen others on TPA also questioning it.

Silky x

[T4_malcontent in reply to SilkyJ]

I wonder if that has anything to do with the current supply problems??

[SilkyJ in reply to T4_malcontent]

I don't think so. I have been having problems with it for a couple of years and I need another brand on the NHS which isn't available. So I have put in a Yellow Card report against liothyronine. I would urge everyone to do the same because it is a travesty that we only have ONE brand available on the NHS. This is some of what I said:

"The NHS T3 does not work for me and many others. I remain hypothyroid no matter how much I take and become bedridden and totally incapacitated. I have increased it to 300 mcg with no effect. I then changed to Mexican Cynomel which I was forced to purchase myself, and it was as if a light had been turned on. I did not need as much and immediately started improving. It is the Mercury Pharma brand which is the problem. Many patients have been forced to self medicate because they cannot tolerate THIS brand of liothyronine which is the ONLY one available on the NHS. We need more choice because many cannot tolerate the fillers, and potency issues."

Silky x

[Hidden]

But how many people take Levi or most versus t3??

[T4_malcontent in reply to Hidden]

That's a fair point, you woud expect a higher number of yellow cards from a larger pool of users. The point I was trying to make was that there is little evidence from the information published about yellow cards to confirm that T3 is bad for you.

[helvella Administrator in reply to T4_malcontent]

It is a fair point - and I think the answer is that it is of the order of 80 to 1 in terms of number of tablets.

So you could probably argue a somewhat higher proportion of reports/reactions for T3. But you also have to consider that pretty much no-one who is anything but seriously ill will get T3 prescribed. Whether that is intolerant or failing properly to respond to T4, having T3 during cancer treatment, or whatever else. Quite possibly, there is also a greater tendency to report T3 issues simply because of lack of experience. A GP who sees lots of patients saying much the same might not be very keen on reporting; and a patient who thinks everyone reacts the same will also tend not to report. Further, it only relatively recently became possible for patients to put in Yellow Card reports. Perhaps patients would have put in mote T4 reports if they had been able?

Very, very difficult to come up with a definite answer but with the attitude we have sometimes heard of regarding T3, we might have expected a hugely larger number of reports/reactions re T3 rather than a level that results in discussion.

Rod

[helvella Administrator]

The liothyronine document only identifies Tertroxin - the brand name under which Goldshield then sold Liothyronine. Does this imply that there have been NO Adverse Drug Reaction reports for generic Liothyronine? (Although the self-same product with only changed packaging, this implies no ADRs since the name changed.)

Rod

[T4_malcontent in reply to helvella]

Possibly. This is certainly the only page for Liothyronine, so if there were other reports (about different brand names) they would have to appear on this sheet.

[katemary]

I'm taking T3 and only T3 and have been for 10 years now. I had thyroid cancer and my thyroid gland was removed 10 years ago. The report doesn't state how long people were on the drug before any of these symptoms arose? I assume to be attributed solely to the drug they have to have started within a certain time frame?

In the ten years I've been on the drug I have developed glaucoma - but that is a condition that is in my family anyway and recently developed acid reflux. But both of those started long after I'd started taking T3 and are conditions that many people suffer from who aren't taking any thyroid medications at all. I've put them down to age, stress at work (and recent poorer diet due to that stress) and approaching the menopause. Other than that I think I've been fairly normal. I would imagine for any drug there will be some people who will react, but that doesn't mean they all will and even if smaller numbers are on T3 it still seems to be a very small number of reactions

[T4_malcontent in reply to katemary]

Thank you for posting information about your own experience with T3.

I agree the numbers reported are small. It seems to me that T3 being bad for us, is just another excuse not to prescribe it.

[kizziemaria]

I am one of the above who reported actavis levo for horrendous side effects.

[Redditch]

I have just started on T3 and have great results in mental acuity, physical stamina and weight loss 2 weeks and I've lost 5lbs and am feeling good.. apart from the itching, nausea and diarrhoea... my batch is BN80631 of Goldshield Liothyronine Sodium 20 mcg.

Have I got the last of the batch that made people sick? It's damned good stuff apart from that!