Hi new to this forum had underactive thyroid 10 years and same brand thyroxine but now pharmacy gave me teva .after few days started feeling unwell high anxiety restless asked doc she said teva not the cause as all brands exactly same but reluctantly tested thyroid results tsh 12 t4 15 was called by doctor and told to increase from 75 to 100 as throid struggling but again said anxiety nothing todo with the change to teva have found a boots chemist and got actavis instead hope that helps anyone else felt anxious with teva?and how long will these horrid symptoms last?
Thanks all
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Katy14
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All brands of levothyroxine are not the same. I believe recently Teva has given some members problems.
If you look on the top right hand column you will see references to Teva which may be helpful and others who have had experience with it will also respond.
Doctors know little about hypothryoidism, levothyroxine etc so we have to read, learn and ask questions if we can improve our health and get back to normal.
All blood tests for thyroid hormones have to be at the very earliest, fasting (you can drink water) and allow a gap of 24 hours between last dose of levo and the test and take afterwards.
Always get a print-out of your results with the ranges for your own records and post if you have a query.
Also make sure B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate are tested - all should be optimum, (i.e. B12 about 900 to 1000) not somewhere in the range.
I'd take Teva to the chemist and ask for your previous brand or another if he doesn't have it. You can also fill in a Yellow Card about your reaction.
Hello there, I had a poop time when I was given Treva so I went to the pharmacy and they have put a note on my file not to give it to me. Took about a month ish for things to straighten out a bit. Don’t be afraid to state your case. It’s your life.
Hello there, I don’t think it will help you to know my symptoms as from what I have read they are varying but......if it helps, I started feeling nauseous and couldn’t keep food down , dizziness, joints hurting. And even less sleep than I was.
Hi, this is my first time on here. I have read about so many people suffering with different symptoms since taking Levothyroxine, manufactured by TEVA Pharmaceuticals. I have an underactive thyroid, which i've had for about 16 years, and I have felt really poorly since my chemist started supplying me with Levothyroxine by TEVA. Depression, hair falling out (badly), brittle nails, weight gain (21lb), brain fog (really bad), itching (mainly torso, and down below), I have scratched myself so sore. Also insomnia (sometimes not going to bed until 6 or 7 in the morning), then after 4 hours sleep, wanting to sleep everytime I sat down, head sweating (to the point that my hair was getting soaking wet), constipation, headaches, dry skin. Acne, muscle cramps, and spasms, shaking, and chronic fatigue. These are some of the symptoms I can remember, I thought I was going mad, Everytime I went to the doctors, I just got fobbed off, after doing repeat bloods. My doctor will only test my TSH, and even though I have said that it doesn't give true result on the thyroid function, he said he didn't agree with that. Going back to TEVA. I found out that TEVA was taken off of themarket by the government in 2012 because their medication was not up to a good standard. and with a new formulation, it came back onto the market with the governments permission in October 2016, maybe just before. Which is when I started to feel unwell, and put weight on. Over last weekend I found an old packet of 50mcg Levothyroxine, which ran out in 2015, which was probably when I was changed from 150mcg, to 125mcg. On the packet I noticed that they had been supplied by Mercury Pharmaceuticals, and that led me to find out what happened to Mercury Pharmaceuticals. I found out that they were taken over by a company called AMCo Pharmaceuticals, and they were taken over by a company called Concordia International, who have 4 other companies under their umberella, one of which is Mercury, who make a Levothyroxine called Eltroxin/ I was also being supplied 25mcg of Levothyroxine by a company called WockHardt. I then decided to look at the ingredients in all of these manufacturers, and found that the new formula from TEVA, contain 5 extra ingredients that none of the others have, (fillers I believe they're called). I stopped taking them immediately, and spoke to my doctor on Monday, and told him of my findings, and that I was not taking anymore medication from TEVA, as I felt it was those that had made me feel so ill. I asked for Eltroxin, which he has given me, but I haven't tried them yet. I have not taken any Levothyroxine for 5 days now, and I am already feeling the benefits of not taking TEVA Levothyroxine. My depression is lifting, I have more energy, the itching has great subsided, my fatigue is much better, and they are just a few of the symptoms I have noticed have changed. So sorry this is a bit long winded, but I really hope it has helped anyone feeling like I have been.
The active substance is levothyroxine sodium 1 tablet contains 100 microgram of levothyroxine sodium. - The other ingredient(s) are maize starch, maize starch, pregelatinised, microcrystalline cellulose, silica, colloidal anhydrous, magnesium stearate.
Extra ingredients in this make -: Pregelatinised, Microcrytalline Cellulose, Silica, Colloidal
"Pregelatinised" isn't an ingredient, it is a description, as in "pregelatinised maize starch".
Abstract
Pregelatinised maize starch was prepared from evaporating to dryness 8%w/v of maize starch mucilage and pulverising it. Its physicochemical properties were compared with maize starch powder. Its higher and tapped densities resulted in lower Carr's index. Its higher particle flow rate lower angle of reponse could render it a better candidate in capsule filling and tablet compression. The later properties could allow more uniform dose distribution by weight and lower power consumption for compression. Its higher intraparticulate porosity and more amorphous disruption by the gelatinisation could cause dose form faster disentegration and therefore enhanced faster dissolution for faster drug bioavailability.
Thank you Helvella, there are still other ingredients in Teva, that are not in any other make. I'm on day 6 with no medication taken at all. and i'm still itching like crazy, and having to take anti histamines, morning, and night time. I have never felt so ill, so confused, so depressed, and so fat. I cannot wait to feel normal again, and just hope it doesn't take too long.
I don't know which product your list covers! This official list does not include "pregelatinised maize starch", nor colloidal anhydrous silica. But it does contain mannitol (E421), sodium citrate and acacia!
By the way, the name for ingredients other than the active ingredients is "excipient". The word "filler" only applies to those ingredients that are there for that purpose - not things that act as disintegrants, pH control, etc.
The actual Patient Information Leaflet, which are in the packs of 25, and 100 micrograms, which I have an actual copy of, reads-:
What Levothyroxine tablets contain-: The active ingredient is Levothyroxine Sodium, 12.5. 25. 50, 75. 100 Micrograms. The other ingredients are maize starch, mannitol (E421), microcrystalline cellulose, sodium critate. acacia, and magnesium stearate. You seem to be missing microcrystalline cellulose from your list Helvella.
All I know is, that something in those pills, have made me feel extremely ill, make my hair fall out, and gained me 21lb in weight, as well all the other things that I have already mentioned in previous posts. You may find the following link useful, it discusses microcrystalline cellulose, what it is, and what it does to our body.
So sorry, just re-read your reply to my post, apologies, I didn't see that you had already mentioned microcrystalline cellulose, being one of TEVA Levothyroxine's ingredients. These were my other findings when I looked at TEVA ingredients, and they do not have that in any of them.
What Levothyroxine Tablets contain: - The active substance is anhydrous levothyroxine sodium. Each tablet contains 25 micrograms of anhydrous levothyroxine sodium. - The other ingredients are sodium citrate, lactose, maize starch, acacia powder and magnesium stearate.
LEVOTHYROXINE (MERCURY PHARMACEUTICAL)
As well as Levothyroxine Sodium, the tablets also contain Sodium Citrate, Lactose monohydrate, Maize Starch, Acacia Powder and Magnesium Stearate.
WOCKHARDT UK LTD 25mcg only
Lactose, Sucrose fine powder, Maize starch, Magnesium stearate.
Doesn’t have the following ingredients that the others have-: Sodium Citerate, Aracia Powder.
I completely agree with you that the HPRA site's information is as you posted. However, that is categorically different to Teva in the UK.
The date of the HPRA document is April 2016. That was before Teva introduced their New Formula into the UK (October 2016).
I am interested to know if Teva have changed the product in Ireland? Or is it still different to the UK? Indeed, have they changed the product even more widely?
The HPRA document lists a whole raft of other European countries in which that formulation is sold.
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