Which Levothyroxine & Liothyronine brands can be prescribed in the UK in addition to Eltroxin?

[Clutter]

I'm surgically hypothyroid post ThyCa. I unilaterally stopped taking Mercury Pharma generic Levo in Sept, substituting with Mercury Pharma Liothyronine which I stopped taking 4th November.

The result is amazing. I feel the best I've been since thyroiditis onset late 2010. So many debilitating and distressing symptoms have disappeared or diminished.

I emailed endos saying I think the meds are poisoning me and requested they authorise my GP to trial other brands in the 3 months prior to our next consultation.

I have been asked to book an appointment with my GP to review my meds & discuss low VitD. I'll have to tackle the ghastly automated tel system at 6am to stand a chance of getting an appt.

Eltroxin has the same active ingredient and fillers as generic Levo so I'm not sure if that will be any better. I don't KNOW that I'm sensitive to acacia but its a starting point. Besides, the very last thing I need is anything which aids weight loss. I've gained 0.6kg since stopping levo.

Actavis doesn't contain sodium citrate or acacia powder so maybe worth trying. Other suggestions are welcomed.

Mercury Pharma Liothyronine contains acacia powder. I don't know if that is the problem but would like to know if there is an alternative T3 available?

Google hasn't been much help. Hoping you guys can.

[Hidden]

Helpful info....

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

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

L

x

[helvella Administrator in reply to Hidden]

Eltroxin is currently unavailable:

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/news.html

(Search for "eltroxin" on that link.)

Technically, doctors can prescribe almost anything. Very few patients get any unlicensed levothyroxine or liothyronine product prescribed. Aside from anything else, the cost is much higher.

Rod

[Clutter in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Louise, I'd already bookmarked those links. You'll be pleased to know they were top of google search too

[Hidden in reply to Clutter]

xx

[helvella Administrator]

There are plenty of people who do fine on levothyroxine. There are quite a number of people who do better on levothyroxine than on desiccated thyroid.

Rod

[Clutter in reply to helvella]

Yup, my sister post RAI for Graves is thriving on 100mcg Levothyroxine.

[RedApple]

Whilst desiccated thyroid products can in theory be prescribed on NHS, the reality for most who try to go down that route, is that finding a doctor to commit to prescribing these 'unlicensed medicines' is immensely difficult.

[Jmsho]

I have been using levothyroxine by Wockhardt for several years , not perfect but feel kind of OK mostly; but with my last prescription I was given some Mercury pharma tablets in a Wockhardt box. They look very similar and I did not notice that I was taking a different brand.

A week later feeling so tired and non functioning I checked the tablets more carefully after looking at the internet at various chat rooms on hypothyroid problems to see if I could work out why I suddenly felt so unwell. When I asked the pharmacist she was not at all surprised that a change in the make of tablet might affect me and had not herself noticed that she had given me a different make amongst my usual brand. She advised me to ask my GP to specify the make on the prescription if a return to the usual brand got rid of the problem (which it did). Have not done this yet but am about to. Do not know about T3 meds but with levothyroxine the make surely made a difference between feeling well or not for me.

[RedApple in reply to Jmsho]

I was given some Mercury pharma tablets in a Wockhardt box.

Jmsho, Really? Are you absolutely sure? If so, I'm amazed. Wockhardt and MPharma are two distinct brands from different manufacturers. If you had said that you received MPharma tablets in an Almus, Lloyds or other pharmacy own label box, that would be different and not unusual.

The only way I can see that the genuine Wockhardt box could contain MPharma tablets is if

1) Someone (pharmacist?) swopped them over, or

2) There has has been some sort of agreement (with the MHRA perhaps?) for Wockhardt to make this substitution.

If I were you, I would be investigating this issue with both of the manufacturers directly.

The last time I had the Wockhardt tablets (which only come in the 25mcg dose). they were visibly quite different to MPharma tablets, and have a distinctly different taste. Wockhardt taste very sweet to me, whereas MPharma tend more towards the salty tasting. But maybe I notice this more because I always chew my tablets before swallowing.

[Jmsho in reply to RedApple]

Yep, it was the pharmacist, they often take the pills out of the box and cut up the dispensing packs to give the correct no of pills.

In fact I had two different types of Mercury tabs in one Wockhardt box, one small amount that were bigger and saltier than the other, but the others were smaller and tasted the same as the Wockhardts.

These were the ones that I took and I did not spot that they were different until I looked closely a week later, and I had to show the pharmacist the small logo on the dispensing foil pack to show her that they were different, as she at first thought that they were Wockhardt brand.

So I assume they were muddled up at the dispensing end of the chain…...

[sandywandy1]

I take Activis brand of thyroxine which the GP named on my prescription as I find I feel better with this than on other brands. Sometimes the pharmacist has to order them, but with the name Activis on the prescription getting the brand I prefer is much easier. I also take liothyronine from Mercury Pharma which I understand is the only UK supplier of T3 available on the NHS, but have found it has had low potency problems on occasion- if this happens I now know switch to a new batch and when I get my next prescription tell the pharmacy the batch number/s that I do not want. I have kept a few pots in reserve since the shortage last year which gives me a little flexibility. S

[Jubes]

I have to take mercury pharma generic Levothyroxine after Eltroxin went off supply again. The only way I've found now to address variation in potency of between 90%. And 110 is to take the 6 boxes of three months supply keep them in the fridge and take one from a different box each day. when I read how quickly they can degrade if they are affected by heat I didn't want to take any chances, but hey whatever we say about our disease have you noticed how many times the patient is wrong!

[helvella Administrator in reply to Jubes]

The officially required potency range is 90 to 105%.

The problem with storage in refrigerator is that each time you take the pack out, it possibly gets some condensation on it. Blister packs might be moderately resistant (not really sure as to how resistant) but any pots of loose tablets can be a problem. Even modest changes in moisture can affect levothyroxine.

Rod

[Jubes]

Yes 105, they are in blister and in the door, it seems to be ok so far but I'm waiting..

[Clutter]

Sadly the review was not in response to my request to the endos but to ADs which previous GP in practice had prescribed & this new GP, who I did not like (Sam, I am) thought the dose was high.

My vitD is <10 so I'm on 40000u ProD3 for 7 days followed by 2000 a day for 3 months & follow up blood test.  Folate was low 1.9 and 5mg daily to be taken.  Didn't say for how long but PiL suggests 4 mths.  B12 is normal - 363 but in range.  Not if the serum test is inaccurate and 80% bloody inactive, says I, promptly apologising for swearing.  Tried to press the point that hypothyroidism requires top of the range to feel good. 

She struggled to read my bp, asked if I smoke & whether I ate a good diet - QoF tick box!

Explained how impossible it is to eat well when you can just about garner enough energy to microwave food because you're too ill to stand more than 10 mins because your meds are poisoning you.  Watched her eyes glaze over, this is endo stuff fgs!  Ordered TFTs and told me we were done!  Aren't TFTs endo territory?

Hey, keep me waiting 40mins and toss me out after 10!  Silly me, it was HER review.  I must have looked as shocked as I felt because she backtracked a little but I told her it was a waste of both our time if  she wasn't going to make time to listen to the issues I was concerned about and left.

Told me to ask Reception for the print out of results.  They were shocked she wouldn't do it and have to mail it to me cos their printer was SNAFU. 

Ain't it a pain when patients stop being passive recipients of doctoring by numbers?

Thanks for your responses and the opportunity to vent ♥

Just noticed acacia is in ProD3. Have to hope that isn't what has been making me so unwell :/