I have been on Mercury Pharma Levo since I had my thyroid removed 3 years ago and I have done so well on it. A few months ago my pharmacist changed brands without telling me. I had to take 100 mcg in MP and 25mcg in Wockhart. After a few weeks I became so itchy and didn't feel right (more sleepy, less concentration). I went back to the same pharmacist and she no longer has MP or Wockhart now and she told me there are no plans to go back to them. Therefore, I have been calling up loads of local pharmacies to see if there is a branch that stocks MP brand in 100's and 25's - there isn't, so for another 3 months I have to remain itchy, feel uncomfortable and struggle to stay focused while that other pharmacist tries to order everything in MP....
My pharmacist and GP office isn't too concerned to help as they don't really believe a change in brand would have an effect. I believe it does.
Is anyone else experiencing this type of dismissal from their pharmacist or doctor? If you have had to change brands, have you been OK with the sudden change?
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Sara_Jane
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Obviously, what we want is a proper consideration of the issue. Just after launch is surely the best time to make it clear there is an issue with Teva noew formulation levothyroxine?
If there is anyone on the planet who does not accept that different makes can have an impact, they should read the report from the MHRA in the wake of the Teva levothyroxine scandal of a few years ago. It is quite clear that an ingredient change was the cause - despite there being the expected quantity of levothyroxine in each tablet:
Hi, I had problems with brand too. Mine was loss of taste/smell. Bad skin. Now on eltroxin, which for the moment seems to work fine (when I can get it), have to order in specifically from one pharmacy
ianessex, I wouldn't get your hopes up. Eltroxin is simply a brand name that MercuryPharma are still using sometimes for reasons unknown to us! However I think you'll find that the tablets inside the box are exactly the same as their unbranded MercuryPharma levo.
@Wilsleighmummy, I wonder if you could help us out here and tell us what the ingredients of your Eltroxin tablets are please? The details should be on the patient information leaflet inside the box.
Thanks,, I used to be on eltroxin and did fine on it,, changed to mp when forced to and it was terrible. I was merely wondering how the person above is managing to obtain it.
When my Endo 17 years ago prescribed Eltroxin for me, he explained, that the ingredients are the same as Levothroxine, but the manufacturing process are different!!!
That is why is more expensive....
I don't know how true it is, but Eltroxine definetely worked for me....no side effects...
Ocsi, things have changed a lot since then. The ingredients and manufacturing of Eltroxin in the UK are not the same as they were then. Eltroxin is now the same as the ones in the MercuryPharma boxes.
The old Eltroxin formualtion was discontinued several years ago. It's very frustrating that pharmaceutical companies can use the same brand name even when the tablets are different.
It's important to remember that the name on the box is just that, a name on a box. The real issue is who is making the tablets and what ingredients are they putting in. That information will be on the PIL inside the box.
Trouble is, we have no way of knowing whether these are actually completely identical. For example, we get magnesium stearate from several sources, some animal, some vegetable. But this list doesn't tell us which or even whether it has changed.
As helvella says, the ingredients list looks the same. Trouble is, we don't know everything just from the ingredients list. They may for example, have changed not only the ingredient source, but the proportions too. And there's the 'manufacturing process' itself. Who knows how that might have changed.
What we do know, is that many, many people who were previously entirely happy on Goldshield Eltroxin, did not have the same good results on the MercuryPharma Eltroxin. Nor for that matter, do they have good results on the tablets with MercuryPharma on the box. So something has most definitely changed but the pharma company doesn't tell us about it
I was on Eltroxine for 17 years with no problems, after they stopped making it, supply it in the UK I have all sorts of side effects from Levothroxine....
They are talking rubbish. The reason they do not stock them, is all down to money again. They go for the cheaper brands but the cheaper brands can have a knock on affect on your dose too because of the less affective components.
I always go to a leading chemist beginning with B**** (I don't suppose we can name or advertise it) for my prescriptions now. They do not always get it right, but better than most chemists.
When I was pregnant the first time, we had moved areas and I started itching really badly. At the time they said it was hormonal and down to the changes in pregnancy, but I do believe it was because I was given a cheaper brand from what I was used to.
My Endo who later prescribed the controversial T3 to me, also confirmed about the brands too. These dr's think they can fob us off with cheap crap, because we do not pay for our medication. It all boils down to darn money (I could swear) and not quality.
Hope you can get the medication sorted and the itching under control, it is so frustrating.
There is absolutely no reason to partially obscure your reference to Boots (Walgreens Boots Alliance). It is not an advert (spam). It is not defamatory. It is simply reporting your experience.
Jollydolly, there is no difference in the price of levothyroxine tablets in the UK any more. It used to be that the Eltroxin brand did cost more, but that is no longer the case. Plus, the tablets inside the box with Eltroxin on the outside, are the same as the tablets inside the box that says MercuryPharma on the outside. So if someone has a problem with the MercuryPharma tablets, they will not solve that problem by having Eltroxin tabelts because they're the same thing.
I am just going on the information I was told about the then Goldshield brand, which at the time was supposed to be the superior brand. I was also told by my then Endo that less expensive brands, would be less effective. But we are talking 18 years ago. I have been on thyroxine since birth. The only brand available when I was a child, was Goldshield or whatever it is called now.
The company Goldshield was bought, renamed Mercury Pharma, bought again but still branding as Mercury Pharma.
Goldshield owned several makes including Forley Generics and Eltroxin. There was always huge confusion about whether their various products were the same as each other - or not. ALL the 25 microgram tablets had the same Product Licence (PL) so should have been the self-same product. (Actually the old Teva levothyroxine in 25 microgram tablet ONLY was also this product.) The 50 and 100 products differed.
We also used to have APS, Norcross, Ivax, and several others...
I know Jollydolly, but sorry to say endos knew little about such things then (not that they know any more now). There actually was nothing superior about what was then the official brand (Eltroxin), except of course the superior price.
The same was true then as it is now, which is that some formulas suit some people, and other formulas suit other people. The name on the box signifies nothing in terms of what works for any given individual.
I had a similar problem with Mercury pharma so now when I hand in my prescription at the pharmacy in sainsburys and I always ask if they have actavis and wockhardt. If they don't have the right brands they offer to order them in for the next day or so.
Ask your GP to write on the prescription "Mercury Pharma please"
It happenned to me as well...if they don't have it in stock they will order it...takes a few days sometimes....go to a different Pharmacy who is more helpful!
Have you tried the internet for the exact brand that you want? They usually want a prescription faxed to them, but you have that so it shouldn't be difficult. If you can still get the one you know works it is worth the effort of an international search.
When Forest Pharma sold out to Mylan I had the same problem. I tried many different brands (complicated by a stupid Endo) and suffered for two years before I gave up on Levo and switched to NDT - and I am never going back.
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