T3 Liothyronine in 5mcg Tablets???

[ClaireandBosch]

Hi All,

Is anyone aware of Liothyronine (T3) being available in the UK in 5mcg tablets? I thought they only came in 20mcg but my GP (as advised my private end) has assured me they will be 5mcg and not need splitting.

After much chasing and fighting by GP and me I have a prescription to collect tomorrow.

I have highly positive TPOab, low T3 on treatment and am very symptomatic without treatment so choice was stop all treatment and let my TSH rise to make body produce more T3, or drop from 125mcg T4 to 100mcg T4 and add 5mcg T3 ... had to giggle when GP said I she knew which I would choose but at £250 for 100 tablets that I had better not lose any of the T3!!

Claire

[polly3]

Yes I have 100 of them from my doc.

[Daffers123 in reply to polly3]

Can you please tell me what brand they are ? this is what I need too

Thanjs

Andrea

[polly3 in reply to Daffers123]

No idea, based on rod's response, mine have a M printed on them and were specially made so pharmacy told me. Sorry.

[polly3 in reply to Daffers123]

OK, thanks to rod,mine come from sigmapharm laboratories, it wasn't an m printed on them but Greek letter s (sigma). Hope this helps.

[Daffers123 in reply to polly3]

Thanks Polly now I can tell endo and see if I can get some

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

Claire,

5 microgram tablets (or possibly capsules) can be obtained in the UK. Realistically there are two possibilities:

Special imports of 5 mcg liothyronine, most likely one of makes available in the USA (e.g. Pfizer/King Cytomel, Perrigo, Mylan and a couple of others).

Specially manufactured products from a "specials" laboratory of which there are a few in the UK.

Neither will be licenced in the UK. Both will be horribly expensive. Both might require you to order and wait for delivery.

If they are specially manufactured, check before handing in your prescription, and again upon delivery, that they have a long enough shelf-life. Many specials are automatically given a 28-day shelf-life because no-one is in a position to claim any longer life. If you are provided with 100 tablets and take one a day, they will be very much out-of-date by the time you get even halfway through.

For clarity, here is no UK-licenced 5 microgram liothyronine product.

[polly3 in reply to helvella]

Interesting. Mine come in little brown bottles. This lot were specially made and have a big M on them, they taste sweeter and not as big as the last lot of 5 MCG NHS gave me.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to polly3]

Some USA liothyronine tablets are pictured here:

drugs.com/imprints.php?acti...

(Some are different dosages!)

M could stand for Martindales? A specials medicines manufacturer (among other things).

[polly3 in reply to helvella]

Thanks rod! What I thought was an m is a Greek letter s (sigma). So mine are from sigmapharm laboratories.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to polly3]

Hooray! It is most excellent when something actually makes sense, isn't it?

(Mind,, that means they weren't specially made for you - whatever was claimed.)

[polly3 in reply to helvella]

Heehee, isn't it! Laugh further........doc told me to reduce by 5mcg from 25mcg......my little brown bottle says one twice a day = 10mcg! Shame I can't drink lol! Thanks for the info.

[wightmouse]

Hi Claireandbosch

Yes I have been taking 5mcg paddock liothyronine for a couple of years they are from the US. I have just noticed my new prescription is Perrigo 5mcg, I think they have taken over Paddock?

I get mine from Boots pharmacist, if I took the prescription in myself I would have to wait 4 days for them.

I always put in my repeat prescription 2 weeks before my meds are due to run out. So far have not had any probs.

My latest 5mcg tablets have a shelf life till Feb 2016.

Good Luck with your T3 I hope you see an improvement in your health soon. x

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to wightmouse]

On 20 January 2011, the firm [Perrigo] announced that it would acquire Paddock Laboratories Inc., with the deal expected to close in fiscal 2012.

From Wiki.

[Valeriu in reply to wightmouse]

Hi; Does an NHS Doctor / GP give the prescription or do you obtain it from a Naturopath ? I may well need to start taking T3 as I've reverse T3 at present. Am normally Hypothyroid but temporarily Hyper / had to lower the NDT / NP ; Thanks a lot

[wightmouse in reply to Valeriu]

This is a very old post so things have changed slightly. My prescription is from NHS GP. The 5mcg liothyronine is now Sigma Pharma brand as Perrigo brand is now unavailable since it was sold to another company.

From next week I will be using the 20mcg tablets licenced in the UK as my new GP was unwilling to prescribe the 5mcg ones because unlicensed/cost. As I was worried he was going to stop it altogether I said I was willing to try it again.

I have no idea if a naturopath can prescribe these. If they have the necessary license to prescribe m maybe? A private endocrinologist can prescribe but they cost hundreds of pounds.

As you are taking NDT that has t3 in it already. Your free t3 at 5.15 was good. Actually better than mine. I can't take too much because of my insomnia.

[Parbrook]

Yes.

Bottles of 100 tablets manufactured by Perrigo (until recently they were branded Paddock Labs).

My local Boots have no problem getting them for my NHS prescription, but they take a few days to arrive.

[ClaireandBosch]

Thank you all.

I might try Boots before relinquishing the prescription to my small, local pharmacy just in case they take a long while obtaining them. I guess that explains why the cost is a lot more than I had heard previously.

Really hoping these help with brain fog (heterozygous DI02), ankle pain and 3pm napping (maybe if I am really lucky some weight loss too).

Claire

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to ClaireandBosch]

There are only a few licensed special medicines importers.

Most pharmacies use the same importers - so it might make little or no difference whether you go to Boots or a small local pharmacy. However, it is possible that Boots do some of their own importing. Any pharmacists around to clarify?

[Treepie]

Boots is American owned so that may be correct.

[Hidden]

Yes, boots issued them to me last week for my prescription