eltroxin

[mandy72]

any good?

thats what dr had prescribed me

hubby is just having his 4th trip to get prescription as it keep mysteriously dissapearing

receptionist is just getting one printed and signed for me

[helen0701]

Eltroxin is a brand of levothyroxine not sure if you can even get it now x

[mandy72 in reply to helen0701]

no you cant

[Moggie]

If he manages to get it let us know and we'll all be there.

Unbelievable really that your hubby's GP doesn't even know that eltroxin in no longer available as it has been totally off the market for three months or more and chemists have had trouble getting it for nearer six months.

Moggie x

[mandy72 in reply to Moggie]

was my dr that said a while ago that had something else he could try me on.........didnt get it instead they sent home levothyroxine

[HarmonyAngel]

Either ask the Pharmacist if they stock Levothyroxine by Mercury Pharma or better still ask your GP to change what your prescription says from; Eltroxin to "Levothyroxine by Mercury Pharma Brand Only" & that way then if someone else has to collect your prescription or you have it delivered then you know you should be getting the correct prescription. My GP has done this because otherwise you'll just be given whatever is the cheapest that week, maybe even a mix of brands which is no good if like many of us you're sensitive to certain ingredients. (Just in case you're not aware, Eltroxin & Levo by MP are *exactly* the same product & company).

All the best

HarmonyAngel xXx

[mandy72 in reply to HarmonyAngel]

i cant do anything now until monday but dr said she was going to ask endo if i could have something else and then get back to me

but if eltroxin is levo wouldnt i have the same problems?

and do they do it in 50mcg?

[HarmonyAngel]

A problem in obtaining it? No you shouldn't have providing your GP writes "Levothyroxine by Mercury Pharma Brand Only" on your prescription ~ this brand is *exactly* the same as Eltroxin it's just that Goldshield who used to make Eltroxin sold out to Mercury Pharma. I was on Eltroxin & not only did my usual Pharmacist double check everything but I also double checked the patient info sheet ingredients. Depending on how many patient's your GP had on Eltroxin, they should be aware of the change by now. The MP Levo comes in 25mcg, 50mcg & 100mcg doses.

I hope that helps?

[mandy72 in reply to HarmonyAngel]

thankyou ill wait for dr to call and see if she had any luck with endo and then ask to the prescription to be redone.............ill give it a go and hope it improves things. Now i have a date for endo could i phone and ask if i could get seen sooner as im feeling really ill and my dr isnt very supportive?

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to HarmonyAngel]

Goldshield did NOT sell out to Mercury Pharma.

Goldshield renamed themselves Mercury Pharma.

The company which owned Mercury Pharma also owned Amdipharm (I am not sure of exact ownership details and timescales). We are currently seeing an ongoing exercise in merging the two under the AmCo umbrella.

The Patient Information Leaflets and Summary of Product Characteristics sheets for Mercury Pharma Eltroxin and Mercury Pharma Levothyroxine differ in that at 50 and 100 micrograms, the Marketing Authorisation (formerly called product license) have different numbers. (The 25 mcg tablets have exactly the same number.) That allows for there to be a subtle difference though Mercury Pharma have repeatedly claimed there is no difference.

For many patients, I suggest coming to a friendly arrangement with their pharmacy to only supply one product rather than getting prescriptions endorsed as you suggest. My reasoning is that a decent pharmacy will do so happily and without difficulty. And if at some future point something changes in the marketplace you can agree to a change without having to get the prescription re-issued.

For example, if next year the current Mercury Pharma products get repackaged as AmCo and all the paperwork relates to AmCo, then a pharmacy may not interpret that as "Mercury Pharma Brand Only".

In the years of thyroid experience I have seen, there have been far too many changes to products, packaging, availability, etc. I simply do not trust that any highly specific prescription will continue to be dispensible continuously on the longer term.

Rod

[HarmonyAngel in reply to helvella]

Please accept my sincerest apologies for giving incorrect information, it was most definitely NOT intentional!! I said "sold out" because that's what 3 different pharmacies (2 local small chains & Boots) have told me.

As for whether to have "MP or XYZ brand only" on your prescription or not, yes most pharmacist's will do their upmost to help & give you what you prefer & to start with I had an agreement with my usual pharmacy with a note on my records but then on one occasion whoever dispensed my prescription either didn't look at my notes or they chose to ignore them as they sent an assortment of the other brands out that had to be returned then at my next prescription the new afternoon/evening pharmacist said "Does it have to be MP as we've none in stock but have plenty of the other brands". So for me that's why it's easier to have it printed on my prescription. If in the future the name should change again then I'll cross that bridge then.

Again I'm sorry, I was only trying to help the OP.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to HarmonyAngel]

Your experience of pharmacists giving out duff information is not, unfortunately unique.

We have seen reports of similar misinformation all too frequently. The very best pharmacists have some idea and can be very helpful, but all too many have little to no idea.

It appears that, with regard the UK only, GSK used to own the Eltroxin branding. At some point Goldshield picked it up - though I cannot seem to identify whether that was directly from GSK or via one or more other companies. Goldshield renamed themselves Mercury Pharma last year. This year the owner of both Mercury Pharma and Amdipharm has decided to merge the two operations under AmCo.

I think that the Eltroxin brand is owned by Aspen for much of the world, by GSK in north America, and is also used by a host of other companies in other countries. The brand was not protected in a large number of countries so this might well be entirely legal. In some countries more than one company uses the Eltroxin brand.

Having been around long enough to see Forley, Alpharma, APS, Teva, Ivax and CP products disappear, I am not going to get a company name put on mine!

Thank you for posting back.

Rod

[Alli1 in reply to helvella]

I would just like to add that from my own personal experience I cannot tolerate the Mercury Pharma 25mcg tablet as it gives me horrible acid reflux- I never did have that with Eltroxin which I was on for many yrs! I had some Wockhardt Levo and have found it ok on my stomach.

[HarmonyAngel]

Your GP shouldn't need permission from your Endo to prescribe Levothyroxine, something they prescribe probably daily. At the end of the day your GP should be aware of the change of name & manufacturer by now as it's not a new or sudden change.

As for your Endo appointment, yes it's always worth a call to see if they can get you in sooner & even give them a call every week in case they get a cancellation.

Unfortunately I've discovered that you have to be proactive & your own advocate when dealing with Dr's as well as doing everything you can to help yourself. Are you taking any Levothyroxine at all at the moment? You certainly shouldn't be made to wait. Have you had your Vit D, iron, ferritin etc. checked? If these aren't optimum then that won't help with how you feel. I along with thousands of other thyroid patients fully understand how ill you feel so please know that you're not alone xx

[mandy72 in reply to HarmonyAngel]

dr needs to get permission from endo before she can give me T3 yet the dr who did the scrip for eltroxin was going to give T3 but they had side affects so decided against it.....wonder if it was because they not allowed to give it. Ill call endo and keep calling as feel drs are failing me big time and are blaming all my symptons on something else yet investigating anything. Im on 50mcg levo TSH 5.2 within range so wont even consider an increase and ive never had any of the other tests and not allowed blood test until next september

[HarmonyAngel in reply to mandy72]

GP's *can* prescribe T3 though sadly too many won't without an Endo recommending it first. You shouldn't have any problems with your GP altering your Eltroxin prescription though. Do you know what your FT4 result was? A TSH of 5.2 is considered high & if you've been on 50mcg for more than 6 wks, are still feeling really ill then you need an increase.

When were you diagnosed & started on Eltroxin? If only recently then you should still be getting your bloods tested every 6-8 wks until your TSH is below 1.0. Your GP sounds useless!! Is there someone else in the practice you can see? (You don't have to stick with your named GP). If not then I would look at switching surgeries. You definitely need your Vit D, Ferritin, iron etc testing because if any are not optimum then that won't be helping you.

Did you choose your Endo off the list that Thyroid UK have? Hopefully you have a better Endo than GP!!

I'm still learning myself as I was only diagnosed in September last year. So far I'm now upto 175mcg & still nowhere near optimum. I'm on high doses of Vit D, iron & several others & they too are all very slow at coming up & are not yet optimum so I'm still having my thyroid test every 6-8 wks & my Vit D, ferritin, iron etc. every 6 months.

Anyway, good luck & I hope you manage to get to see the Endo before Xmas :o)

[mandy72 in reply to HarmonyAngel]

last blood test was august and only TSH was tested asked for another blood test last week and got told i have to wait until september next year as my levels are within rage. Ive been on levo since june and have been ill since week 2 maybe 3 and the drs will not listen ive even had a dr tell me she is on levo and has never been ill so its not the levo making me ill. Ive seen all the dr's at the surgery with the same complaints and i never get anywhere with them. The endo im going with at the moment is in swindon so hopefully its a good one. The eltroxin was prescribed yesterday so cant get a change until monday at least