Following a recent post of mine, I have final results on this issue
Having been on Actavis/Workhart Levothyroxine for 20+ years, but the reintroduction of Teva to the market resulted in me starting Teva medication recently.
After a few days I started to itch all over so switched back to my usual brand. After a few days the symptoms went away.
I then switched back to Teva to double confirm if it was the cause: It was
My Chemist has now updated my records to Teva Allergy, so I should be fine now.
I will also raise a "yellow card".
Just posting this as a warning/info for anyone else who suffers same reaction with Teva.
Written by
DavyB
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I get the itching to a much lesser degree on actavis , but when I used wockhart it became very bad and stopped md sleeping (not good at the best of times)
Just goes to show how different we can be affected.
Glad you have put message across to your pharmacy and reported it
There are several varied fillers in thyroid meds. If you find one that suits you then get it put on your prescription do you aren't given anything you may react to. Different. Rand could also be slight different in the level of active ingredient so another reason to get the same brand each time.
DavyB, thanks for your post - exactly the same thing has just happened to me! I have been on Actavis for a long time, but my last prescription was Teva. After just a couple of days, my legs became dry and unbearably itchy, keeping me awake for hours. I also developed a streaming runny nose and my lips have started to tingle and blister round the edges.
I have had these symptoms before at various times over my years of taking levothyroxine - I now realise that it must have been whenever I was given Teva!
Thanks for the info. Then maybe I'm allergic to more brands of levothyroxine too. What I can say is that I'm definitely allergic to the new formulation of Teva
The "old" Teva 25 microgram tablet was actually the Mercury Pharma 25 microgram tablet repackaged. That is, it was a different formulation to their 50 and 100 microgram tablets.
Both the Mercury Pharma levothyroxine products (including Eltroxin branded) and the "new" Teva contain acacia powder. Although we have little hard evidence, this has been suspected by quite a few people to be a problem.
It's a minefield. I've started writing down the ingredients of the various types I get, to compare. Acacia does seem an unusual ingredient. The Actavis tablets have a shorter list of ingredients that seem more 'normal' overall!
Acacia is actually a common ingredient of levothyroxine! It is used in the Mercury Pharma levothyroxine tablets (including Eltroxin which is identical to their levothyroxine) and the USA market leader, Synthroid. As well as Teva.
We regularly have posts from people who cannot tolerate some of the levothyroxine products.
We often advise people to discuss with their pharmacy and ensure they consistently get the make(s) they do tolerate. It is unacceptable for people to have to play Russian roulette with their vital medicines.
I was amazed at this. Within a day r two of switching to TEVA I became unwell and had several horrible new symptoms. I went to ask pharmacist to f the change of mess could be to blame..he said no, so I asked for my thyroid to be rechecked...they said my tsh was fine..so have been ill for almost three more baths since, each time I collected my mess I was asked if everything was ok with my medicine which was a new practice. Today I note that we are back to my old brand of meds .Alamus..so will see if that helps me at all?
Many people here find different makes have different effects.
When I started, I was determined to be happy whatever I got. Within a few months I had suffered problems with "old" Teva (that is, before it was withdrawn in 2013). From then on, I realised I was kidding myself. Each make is different. What is fine for one person, isn't for another.
Always keep control over which make you get. Don't let it be at the whim of the pharmacists or their suppliers.
Thank you for confirming my thoughts, I've only been on levothyroxine for about 6 months and when I collected my last prescription I noticed my tablets were larger in size than normal after reading the box I noticed it said new formulation which didn't concern me greatly. But almost immediately my skin became incredibly dry, constantly hot and terribly itchy I didn't realise the connection at first but skipped a few days tablets and things cooled down a bit , I've since been to my pharmacy and asked not to be given Teva brand again, so I'm hopeful that things will be back to normal soon . But thanks for your post you've reassured me it's not just me having these symptoms.
Hi there I had bad side effects with Teva I have been searching for a chemist who stocks almus ,activists ect unable to find one just wondering if you could tell me what chemist you use thanks
Mitchmust, Almus is usually stocked in Boots. Any pharmacy should be able to supply you with Actavis, but you may have to trawl around several until you find one that actually wants to be helpful in obtaining it for you and potentially retain your future custom.
It might help if you gave some idea which part of the UK you are in.
Boots own Almus. In my experience, Boots are very likely to stock Almus and then have another make (Mercury Pharma in my local branch) for 25 microgram tablets.
Celesio own Lloyds and Northstar. In my experience, Lloyds (and now Sainsbury pharmacies which have been taken over by Lloyds) are very likely to stock Northstar and then have another make (Wockhardt in my local branch) for 25 microgram tablets.
Appreciate this is an old post but as those experiencing problems with Teva for the first time will hopefully come across this discussion (as I just have) I think it's worth adding my two penn'orth.
After a number of years on a variety of levothyroxine brands I have recently been moved to TEVA 100mcg (plus 25mcg Mercury.) I can't say any brand has fully alleviated my thyroid symptoms but I have at least been able to tolerate them. Since transferring to Teva however, 2-3 weeks ago, I have experienced hives/bad itching on my shoulders/upper arms. I don't ever suffer from skin reactions and have not made any other changes in my life...new washing powder, etc. I can only deduce therefore that the itching is being caused by a reaction to the Teva.
I'll speak to my pharmacist and try to get moved to another brand and will see if things improve. I'll also post an update here but will hold off on any criticism of Teva until I know for sure that it is causing my problem!
yes thats the one do they still supply it, as its the 25mg teva that i am having problems with they gave me teva in the last couple of months i noticed they were a bigger tablets but thought nothing of it till i saw all the bad reviews ,will change back to previous meds thanks for advice,.
Hi, I hope you are hanging on in there.. I too have recently been taking Teva 75mg and the itching is unbearable, not sure what to do? my GP has prescribed me antihistamine but, am now thinking it could be the Teva.. Any advice please
I was given Teva recently too and the reaction was extreme. My eyes, mouth, nose, ears (everything) became extremely dry, I got frequent and long lasting ocular migraines and could barely think straight. I stopped and started taking Teva 3 times (for 5 days, 3 days and one day) and the symptoms appeared faster each time.
It is likely that I have Sjogens and this could be the cause of such extreme reactions but i will certainly avoid Teva at all costs.
Since Teva have introduced Mannitol as an ingredient in their tablets, after taking them successfully for months, I am now unable to take them as this ingredient gives me terrible side effects. Light headiness, sleeplessness, heart palpitations, depression.
Are they planning on replacing mannitol with anything as I have been reading alot of reviews that include symptoms very similar to mine
The formulation of Teva was completely changed when it returned to the UK market in, if I remember correctly, around 2016/17.
This formulation has not later added mannitol - it has always had mannitol.
The previous formulation (which was owned by Teva after multiple acquisitions) contained lactose and dextrin. That was withdrawn in about 2013 from the market after being shown to be unable to deliver the claimed potency of levothyroxine.
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