Levo Teva 25mcg and mercurypharma 50mcg??

[Littlemiss_shopper]

Hi everyone, just wanted a bit of advice, I’ve just picked up my prescription of levo (75mcg daily) and noticed that the 25mcg tablets are different as they are the Teva brand and the 50mcg ones are the mercurypharma brand. I’ve been on mercurypharma ones since I started taking levo back in June 2017, is this the norm or should both be from the same brand??

Thanks in advance

X

[EbonyEvans]

Hello,

They don’t need to be the same brand. It just depends on how you get on with them. If you keep mixing and matching then if a problem arises you won’t know which is causing the problem. Easier to request and stick to the brand that suits you. How do you feel? Which brand has worked in the past.

Teva have re branded to make theirs lactose free - a lot of people have complained about it (T3) and have not gotten on well with it. Just an FYI. Your pharmacist might have run out of MP, but they may also have a contract with one brand and some pharmacies go for the cheapest brand.

[Clutter]

Littlemiss_shopper,

It's better if they are the same brand but that's not always possible. My pharmacist won't take back prescription meds which have left the pharmacy but you can ask your pharmacist whether they can obtain Mercury Pharma and exchange the Teva.

[Greybeard]

I felt a little off when I was on that combination. In general it is better to find a brand that suits you and stick with it. The different manufacturers use different fillers and solvents in the production process, some people are sensitive to them others arent. You could try asking pharmacy to swap them for your usual brand. Its always best to check before you leave the pharmacy.

[Littlemiss_shopper]

Thank you all, yes I will check in future before leaving the pharmacy (good idea!) and I’ll request mercurypharma as that’s what I’ve been on so far, thanks again, much appreciated x

[Nanaedake in reply to Littlemiss_shopper]

If MP don't do a 25 mcg tablet you can alternate with 100mcg one day and then 50 the next so that you can stick to MP. If your pharmacy won't supply the same brand on a regular basis and are tied into a supplier contract then ring around and find an independent pharmacy who are not tied into one contract. Check before you take your prescription there that they can supply the formulation you want.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

It seems very difficult at moment to get 25mcg Mercury Pharma

I am struggling to even get 50mcgs

But very many patients do need to stick on the same brand. If you get on ok with Mercury Pharma it is probably not a good idea to mix in Teva

If you search Teva on here you can see some have had terrible issues with it. But we are all different

Some prefer it. It's the only lactose free Levothyroxine

[silverfox7]

I'm not on Levo now but was for a good 25 years. I was always advised to stick with the same brand re fillers being consistent bit also potency being the same. There is a tolerance with thyroid meds so basically they have to be manufactured within a range, before 2009 it was wider than now but basically you don't want to be switching brandesas some can be more potent than others. Having said that in my attempt to save the NHS a little money I decided that instead of getting all my meds of MP in 25's I would get some MP 100's. It soon became apparent that 1x 100 was not the same as 4x 25! So the different levels were not consistent through out the rangesof that brand so may accurate to use the same tablets but use a pill cutter to get the different doses.