Mercury Pharma levo, anyone having trouble getting hold of it?

[MidnightBlue]

It seems to be impossible to get hold of it. Does anyone know why? I asked one of the many pharmacies I trawled today and the lady said activis is probably cheaper at the moment, but I am a bit worried in case there is a supply issue. I keep having this problem, is anyone else having trouble?

[helvella Administrator]

That seems an unlikely basis. Although it might influence what pharmacies get, the market is pretty much a two horse race. Neither company could supply the whole market were the other to disappear (or even have temporary but serious issues).

When Teva was withdrawn from the market, the MHRA had to put in some effort to maintain supplies. In fact, they allowed Teva to stay on the market while supplies were built-up. That was when there were three horses.

The Department of Health were supposed to be doing something about making supply issues more visible...

[MidnightBlue in reply to helvella]

Interesting, thank you. it is becoming a real hassle trying to get it each time, I have to go to so many chemists. This is about the fourth time in a row now, so I am wondering if there is a reason.

[Weeble1]

I couldn't get mine last week. Had to have activis. The pharmacist said he didn't know when he would be getting them in again.

[gilly68]

It might be an idea to use a pharmacy that does a pick up service from your GP .They can then order in advance the particular brand you require. This is what I do and only once in the past year have I been given activis instead of mercury pharma , hope this helps

[MidnightBlue in reply to gilly68]

I did use the electronic service, but the pharmacy eventually said they could never be sure when they would have Mercury Pharma. They seem unable or unwilling to order them specially.

[gilly68 in reply to MidnightBlue]

Ask your GP to put brand on your prescription, this way you will only get mercury pharma. They are available but have to be specifically ordered and take time to come in. Boots are the worst for supplying to patient as they own one of the biggest suppliers to pharmacies in UK so they look for the cheapest to supply which is not always suitable for the patient.

[MidnightBlue in reply to gilly68]

I will do next time I see my GP, I think it is the only way. Just remembered it was the pharmacist in superdrug who phoned her suppliers, boots just said they didn't have it.

[helvella Administrator in reply to gilly68]

Don't miss that Celesio own Lloyds and AAH (who are the largest distributors in the UK). And Lloyds are buying Sainsbury pharmacies...

💊 We have the largest community pharmacy network in the UK

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💊 Our LloydsPharmacy brand is the number one pharmacy of choice for health advice

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celesio.co.uk/

[foreversummer]

Yes, today for the first time my dispensing surgery was unable to supply Mercury Pharma Levo. They say that they cannot get it from either of their suppliers at present (they only have two suppliers), but they are going to contact them to try to find out why. I'll let you know. I have to phone on Tuesday afternoon and if they still haven't got it she told me I should ring around local chemists.

Luckily I have a stash so I am OK for now. I'm feeling very well at present so am not going to rock the boat. I had problems with Actavist before.

Foreversummer

[MidnightBlue in reply to foreversummer]

Please do lets know if you find anything out. This keeps happening, last time the lady at Boots phoned both of her suppliers and could not get it from either. Thanks

[foreversummer in reply to MidnightBlue]

I certainly will. As I say, never had a problem before so hopefully its temporary.

Forversummer

[foreversummer in reply to MidnightBlue]

Pleased to say my surgery phoned me yesterday evening to say they have managed to get Mercury Pharma levo so it is out there. Hope you find yours soon MidnightBlue and everyone else who needs it.

Foreversummer

[MidnightBlue in reply to foreversummer]

I eventually found a chemist that had it, thank goodness. It is still a puzzle why it is so hard to get! Thanks for updating me, glad you got some.

[foreversummer in reply to MidnightBlue]

Bit of a twist on this. I have collected mine this morning and it is MercuryPharma but it is called Eltroxin. I'm hoping it is the same. I will start a new post.

[helvella Administrator in reply to foreversummer]

It is exactly the same. It has exactly the same Product Licence (PL) number.

See here:

medicines.org.uk/emc/search

You can read the Patient Information Leaflets for all UK levothyroxine products and check for yourself.

[Ronnah]

Yes I am having issues getting the mercury pharma too. It is the brand that has given vitality. I did very poorly on actavis. I live in Uganda and I seem to have picked the last bits of the brand. Do you live in the UK? I hope it isn't being phased out of production

[helvella Administrator in reply to Ronnah]

There have been some supply issues - especially earlier in the year.

The company changed name/ownership (now Concordia). And at more or less the same time the actual tablets changes to have different letters/numbers on them. I wonder if that has affected the supply chain for you?

Certainly not out of production.