Two different brands of thyroxine to make up 75mcg ?

[henrythewasp]

Over the past few weeks i have started on 75mcg of thyroxine after an increase from 50.i was quite unwell for a couple of days after the increase bad head,sore throat,lack of energy and feeling as tired as i was when first diagnosed however,my my sore throat etc has gone now and just very tired,i looked at my thyroxine med boxes and noticed they were by two different manufacturers,the 50 mcg out of the two is not my normal brand so could this be the reason? My chemist says its not and i should go get a blood test,i am not due one yet though,i was feeling great.

[Moggie]

Have a look at this link from the main thyroiduk website regarding different brands.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/treatm...

and here is the extract that might interest you

However, thyroid patients often find that there is a very distinct difference between the various 'generics'. Everyone is different, and what suits one patient does not necessarily suit another. Also, swapping between the various brands on a regular basis makes some patients very unwell.

Moggie x

[Moggie]

p.s. I was having trouble tolerating my levo and my endo wrote to my GP stating " the patient must stay on the same brand continuously" - which just goes to show that the endo's know different levo brands can effect you.

Moggie x

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

There are several ways of getting a 75 microgram dose:

Three 25 mcg tablets from Wockhardt or Mercury Pharma.

One 50 mcg from Actavis or Mercury Pharma and one 25 mcg from Wockhardt or Mercury Pharma.

So it is probably more likely that you will get two makes than only one - at least sometimes!

It would be far better if people could always stick to the make they find is OK for them. Unfortunately supply problems and changes to the products on the market mean that it is not often possible to achieve that long-term.

In my view it is best to come to an arrangement with your pharmacy over which ones are OK. Then, if there is a supply problem and a change cannot be avoided, it can be done by agreement between you and your pharmacist - without needing a new prescription.

Rod

[henrythewasp in reply to helvella]

I have now arranged this myself with my local chemist.

[valerie]

Bear in mind that 75mcgs is a tricky dosage for some people as it is more or less the point when the pituitary decides that as there is quite a bit of T4 in circulation that it is going to stop stimulating the thyroid so although you may be taking more medication, you may have less hormones being produced by the thyroid so in fact you have the same amount of T4, or even less, in circulation than you had when you were on 50mcgrs. It is now thought that, in many cases, if there is no underlying cardiac problems etc. that many people can start therapy with a 100mcgs dose.