Abbots Synthroid

[NadeNud]

Hi

Is Abbot's Synthyroid just another form of levothyroxine T4 sodium?

I've seen some online and wondered if it is a suitable substitute and subject to controlled dosage regulations?

Many thanks

[LouiseRoberts]

Seems to just be another make of levothyroxine.

Louise

[Clutter in reply to LouiseRoberts]

Lol, you're a marketing dept's nightmare, Louise

[Clutter]

Nade, it's America's top selling brand of Levothyroxine, maybe better than some generics, if you believe the marketing, but it's still Levothyroxine.

[helvella Administrator]

Note sure what you mean by "controlled dosage regulations"?

Some in the USA seem to think Synthroid is somehow "better" than some other USA products. Others think precisely the opposite. Possibly the best regarded USA levothyroxine is now Unithroid which is also sold as the "generic" Lannett levothyroxine.

Many USA levothyroxine products contain colouring agents. (Usually only the 50 microgram dosage is uncoloured). This has been a problem for some. It can mean that you could only take some dosages, in the extreme, 50 microgram only.

Inactive Ingredients

Acacia, confectioner's sugar (contains com starch), lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate,

povidone, and talc.

The following are the color additives by tablet strength:

Strength Color additive(s)

(mcg)

25 FD&C Yellow No. 6 Aluminum Lake*

50 none

75 FD&C Red No. 40 Aluminum Lake, FD&C Blue No. 2 Lake

88 FD&C Blue No. 1 Aluminum Lake, FD&C Yellow No. 6 Lake* D&C Yellow No. 10 Aluminum Lake

100 D&C Yellow No. 10 Aluminum Lake, FD&C Yellow No. 6 Aluminum Lake*

112 D&C Red No. 27 & 30 Aluminum Lake

125 FD&C Yellow No. 6 Aluminum Lake* FD&C Red No. 40 Lake, FD&C Blue No. 1 Aluminum Lake

137 FD&C Blue No. 1 Aluminum Lake

150 FD&C Blue No. 2 Aluminum Lake

175 FD&C Blue No. 1 Aluminum Lake, D&C Red No. 27 & 30 Aluminum Lake

200 FD&C Red No. 40 Aluminum Lake

300 D&C Yellow No. 10 Aluminum Lake, FD&C Yellow No. 6 Aluminum Lake*, FD&C Blue No. 1 Aluminum Lake

synthroid.com/

Here's a thought. If I wanted to produce counterfeit levothyroxine, I would make fake Synthroid. The only reason to choose to fake another make would seem to be that Synthroid can afford the best lawyers and investigators.

I included that point because your post mentions "Abbott" - the real stuff was transferred to a company called AbbVie some time ago. Raises my suspicions but is no proof.

Rod

[NadeNud in reply to helvella]

Hi

Here's the link:

<link>

It lists the manufacturers there. Does that seem ok?

Thanks

[helvella Administrator in reply to NadeNud]

No - it most certainly does NOT.

Any reputable company would be very clear about manufacturers and brand names.

They head the page "Generic Synthroid" - a classic means-little-to-nothing term. Why not honestly say "Levothyroxine"?

The website is actually strongly related to Russia!

I wouldn't trust that site for a sugar cube let alone a medicine, I am sorry to say.

I had to remove the link from your post as it is a most untrustworthy site and it would be wrong to leave people to go there. (If they would supply the UK without prescription, then the link would also contravene our guidelines.)

Rod

[NadeNud in reply to helvella]

Many thanks for your replies

[siskin in reply to helvella]

Wow. I thought aluminium is toxic.

[helvella Administrator in reply to siskin]

About aluminium:

Aluminium is the third most abundant element (after oxygen and silicon), and the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust. It makes up about 8% by weight of the Earth's solid surface.

That makes it very hard to avoid aluminium compounds. And mostly we don't seem to be much affected by them. But there are some issues which are covered briefly here:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alumi...

Rod

[humanbean]

Do a web search for "history of Synthroid". It amazes me that it is the most popular levothyroxine in the USA based on some of the articles and pages I've read about it.

[helvella Administrator in reply to humanbean]

I suggest it probably also has the highest marketing budget of any thyroid medicine on the planet. The clearly try to push doctors into prescribing, have fancy offers for patients starting on Synthroid, pump out messages implying that if anyone prescribes or takes any other make, they won't do nearly as well,...

They ensure that the inflated price covers all the expensive marketing and still returns a huge profit.

[RedApple Administrator in reply to humanbean]

Just goes to prove how effective 'clever marketing' can be