Help, Please with obtaining Perigo 25mg on NHS

[dizzy864]

After waiting many weeks to see a consultant endo. I went to Hull on 24th Feb. I needed to see a consultant to sign off on changing my lio from Pharma as I'd had problems with Pharma for almost 18 months. There was no consultant endo present!!!  I had to see a very new Registrar, who had no knowledge what so ever but did her best to help me.

I have been a vegetarian for over 40 years and wanted a vege friendly lio tablet.

The registrar said that I should take an Alliance Health Care gluten and lactose free tablet, which was also vege friendly. She found it online. I was very happy. She sent a fax to my gp.

My gp wrote me a prescription for this the next day. Then my problems started. I had assumed that A.H.C. was a manufacturer but they are a distributor. As the registrar had asked my gp to give me 20mg tablets, I ended up back with my usual Pharma tablet. Neither my gp nor Tesco pharmacy had heard of a lactose and gluten free lio tablet.

I got the strength corrected from 20mg to 25mg and 5mg and tried again.

I was given Sandoz 25mg tablets ( Austrian and non vegetarian ) and Perigo 5mg tablet ( U.S.A. and vegetarian)  Pharmacist told me, they could ask for vege tablets but would have to accept what came in. They probably would not know if the tablets are/are not vege. I would also get a different brand potentially every time. I would need a named brand ONLY prescription if I wanted vege and/or the same tablet every time.

It took five weeks to sort this out. I now have a prescription for Perigo ONLY in both my required strengths. My gp faxed this to Tesco a couple of weeks ago.  Last Wednesday, I telephone and was told that they had obtained Perigo in both strengths. Yesterday, on collection I found I had Sandoz again in 25mg and the correct Perigo 5mg. The pharmacist ignored the "Perigo ONLY" request and gave me Sandoz "as you had it last time". I told them that this was not acceptable.

Tesco are now trying to get hold of Perigo 25mg - they say A.H.C. only supply 5mg but they have said they will look into obtaining 25mg. The are also trying another "specials" company _ Lexon (I think). I am going to Germany early next Saturday morning and will run out whilst I'm there. Pharmacist told me to take 12 a day of the 5mg tablets but that only gives me another eight days and it is a really expensive option so doctor definitely will not be happy!

I know that Perigo 25mg is available from the <online pharmacy> but can Tesco pharmacy obtain it from there for me on the NHS? I know I can buy it from them myself with a prescription but it is really expensive and well beyond my budget.

Does anyone know where Tesco can obtain Perigo 25mg for me?

Does anyone know of any other make of vege lio that is easier to obtain? I would really prefer to have Perigo as it's strength can not legally vary as much as European lio.- it has to be + or - 5% instead of 10% here.

I would be really grateful for any help or suggestions.

Thank you in advance.

I have been a vegetarian for more than forty years, so really wanted a vegetarian lio. My local Tesco pharmacy I have, at last got my gp to give me a prescription for Perigo ONLY in 25mg and 5mg strengths.

[ Edited by admin to conform to guideline 23. ]

[Clutter]

Dizzy864,

Liothyronine isn't sourced from animals so it is suitable for vegetarians.  The link below list the ingredients of various brands of Liothyronine.

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

You can use your prescription to source Perrigo 25mcg an 5mcg from one of the online pharmacies in the link below.  Alternatively your pharmacy can register with one of the wholesale special medicines importers to obtain it for you.  It may be worth trying an alternative pharmacy to Tesco which may have it's own buying arrangement.

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

[dizzy864 in reply to Clutter]

Hi, thanks for your reply. You are quite right that liothyronine is vege friendly. That's what makes it so crazy. It is the mixers that various manufacturers use that are animal based and thus make it non vege.

I contacted USA cytomel manufacturer. They told me that sometimes their cytomel is vege and sometimes it is not. They source ingredients from different places for different batches. Some are vege and some are not. There is no way of telling which batches are vege and which are not. Even if I were not vege, I would be concerned with the consistency of the different batches.

I also contacted USA  Perigo manufacturer. They confirmed their product is vege, hence my desire to obtain it. 

Tesco contacted their supplier of Sandoz and were told it is non vege.

I am happy to have any vege lio, but it's very difficult to find out which are vege. Unfortunately, just looking at a list of ingredients is not helpful. Manufacturers include names such as, "magnesium stearate". This appears synthetic and therefore vege but it is in fact bovine. I have to obtain confirmation of it being vege from the manufacturer.

I am aware that I can use my prescription to purchase Perigo from online sellers but that would mean I would have to pay for it ( unless you know differently ). It is well beyond my budget.

Are you aware, specifically of the name and contact details of a specials medicine importer that is able to obtain Perigo 25mg for Tesco to supply to me on the NHS.  I could pass details on to Tesco

[Clutter in reply to dizzy864]

Dizzy864,

There is a list of wholesale importers of specialist medicines importers in the link I posted which you could pass on to Tesco.

[dizzy864 in reply to Clutter]

Hi, Thanks for that.

I am a little reluctant to move from Tesco. I have already moved from my local village pharmacy because they were really unhelpful. I moved three miles away to Tesco. Another move would mean six or seven miles each way of trying but think it's looking likely!

[helvella Administrator in reply to dizzy864]

Afraid that if you care, you might have to change pharmacy.

As you have a prescription, you could contact any of the official NHS online pharmacies:

nhs.uk/Service-Search/pharm...

[dizzy864 in reply to helvella]

Hi,

Thanks for that. I'm afraid I must be rather behind the times. I did not know that I could use an on line pharmacy. I've got Tesco and another pharmacy contacting me later today. 

I'll look into moving to either another pharmacy or an on line one for next time as I think it's too late for this month as I must have the lio by Friday at the latest.