My Medication has changed

[Kitten-whiskers]

Hello everyone,

Has anyone noticed changes with Liquid Levothyroxine, Batch B1C37, exp 12/16 - Mercury Pharmaceuticals.

Thank you

[Flatfred]

I don't take levo anymore (on NDT now) but from my past experience Mercury Pharma are one of the most inconsistent levo's on the market with occasional batches being nigh on toxic. So....it very possibly has changed!

[Kitten-whiskers in reply to Flatfred]

Thank you Flatfred, I didn't realise they were like that. I did take it back to the pharmacy, all they could do was order me another one but that was from the same batch, so was exactly the same.

I even spoke with my GP about my concerns but it wasn't a friendly response - he said "I only write the prescription, I can't do anything" and then of course he turned it round and it was my fault for not having the normal thyroid medication.

I will speak with the pharmacy tomorrow, but If no joy I will have to stop taking it. I can't risk it

[Flatfred in reply to Kitten-whiskers]

Hi there.

I had big problems with MP levo tabs and so did many others at the time and it does seem that they make bad meds on a regular basis.

It actually made me really ill and had me in A&E 3 times with heart problems. It also caused all sorts of auto immune issues that I never had before and some of them remain. There is no doubt that some batches are toxic, not just 'stronger' or 'weaker', or a reaction to the fillers. The fillers are the same in every batch and are inert so they're not the problem. I actually contacted MP directly at the time. Their response was way over the top by trying to contact me back on numerous occasions and they also tried to get my GP to discuss my case with them, but he refused. They used to make a brand of levo under the name of Eltroxin. A bad batch of that ended up in New Zealand and made over 500 people really ill and they had to stop selling it there.

If you do a search on here you'll find stuff from a couple of years ago. It really affected a lot of us. The good news for me though was 1. discovering this forum and 2. discovering NDT. I had never felt anything like 100% on any of the brands of levo but on NDT it's the best I've felt in years.

So sorry to have banged on about it so much, but it's a measure of how angry I feel over it. I held a senior position in psychiatry working for the NHS for many years and am very aware of how much power, and money the pharmaceutical copanies have, and how corrupt they can be.

You can ask your GP to specify a specific make on your script, if you can find a make you get on with. Although my endo won't agree to scripting NDT on the NHS she does support me taking it and has told me that she does come across the occasional patient who cannot tolerate any brands of synthetic levo.

As said just now...you can ask your GP to specify a particulat make of levo if you can find one that's ok and he should do that. The problem is if that's no good either you have to go back to him....

There is no short term harm in you stopping you levo for a week or even 2 and see how you feel. You will almost certainly feel better in the short term but obviously will need something eventually.

I do hope you can find something that's at least tolerable. People without a thyroid problem have no idea just how much it can affect all aspects of our lives.

Good luck.

[Kitten-whiskers in reply to Flatfred]

Thank you very much, I feel better now, after trying to explain the situation to the pharmacy - I got the impression they thought I was either off my trolly or making a mountain out of a mole hill - but they don't understand how much these changes however small impact drastically on our lives.

I have always had a major problem tolerating Thyroid meds and this liquid was the best I could do - I am told it's only Mercury Pharma that manufacture it.

If things aren't hard enough for us without having to deal with drug companies and unhelpful doctors/specialists : <

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Flatfred]

Please don't take this as a defence of MercuryPharma, but they had NOTHING to do with the New Zealand Eltroxin problems.

The Eltroxin in much of the world used to be a product from GSK. Some years ago GSK sold off their non-north America rights to the brand Eltroxin to Aspen.

Around the same time the formulation and manufacturing location of the non-north America product changed.

Have a read:

medsafe.govt.nz/hot/MHRA%20...

Further, MercuryPharma do still sell their Eltroxin - in Ireland.

And the MercuryPharma Eltroxin was (I think only temporarily) supplied to New Zealand to help them through their GSK/Aspen Eltroxin problems.

MercuryPharma Eltroxin was a different formulation that just happened to have the same brand name.

I also feel you might not be justified in claiming the that "fillers" are not the problem. Most certainly it was one of the fillers that caused a problem with Teva levothyroxine that ended up having its licence withdrawn.

[Flatfred]

You have defended them on several occasions and seem quick to do so.....?

I dealt with them directly and have grave concerns about their practice, as my GP did at the time and as said before having worked in psychiatry for many years I've seen the power and corruption of big Pharma. As for 'fillers' they are inert, and are not ' formulated' like the medication itself. Put simply chalk is chalk (and yes I know the fillers aren't all chalk there's days it's just an e.g.) I accept that some can be allergic to fillers but that doesn't come and go....you are or are not.

Maybe it's big Pharma that's started the the thing about fillers as a red herring?

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Flatfred]

My prime motivation is to try to ensure that information is as accurate as possible.

Not one word of my response appears to me to defend MercuryPharma's activities, products, ethics, etc. You used the New Zealand Eltroxin issue as an argument against MercuryPharma. Whilst I am 100% that the manufacturers of the Eltroxin for New Zealand were culpable, as that company was not MercuryPharma it is not relevant to a case against MercuryPharma.

The actuality (so far as we know everything) is indeed evidence of the ways in which pharmaceutical companies can and do make changes purely for their financial well-being.

We see lots and lots of people getting confused (totally understandably) about the various products called Eltroxin. When they see a product called Eltroxin for sale on some internet site they need to understand that it might well not be the UK Eltroxin they might be wanting to get hold of. Or vice versa.

Many of the excipients in medicines can have profound effects. As I referred to earlier, it was the dextrin ingredient of Teva levothyroxine that substantially reduced the ability of the tablets to deliver the claimed dose - despite the tablets containing the correct amount of levothyroxine.

By the way, your starting sentence "You have defended them on several occasions and seem quick to do so.....?" clearly suggests that I have some ulterior motive for "defending" MercuryPharma. I have none. If you are saying otherwise, please put in a complaint to Thyroid UK so that they can take appropriate action as it is not acceptable for admins to have interests which conflict with their duties.