verywell.com/coffee-and-thy...
Each time I pick up my levo so far almost seems a different brand of levo appears.
Reading this article (sentence towards the end) made me aware that brands do not preform the same to the extent that I now need to recheck bloods if there is a new brand as dosage may need adjusting.
Forgive me for all of you who are aware of all this - but I now need to insist on a consistent brand to avoid a lot of potential angst.
This is a mad state of affairs surely?
Yes, it’s nuts!
It is one of the most commonly discussed topics here!
And one of the most quoted links is this:
thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/treatm...
Which lists the various UK - and some non-UK - thyroid hormone products.
The advice is always to take control so far as you are able. For example, getting a paper prescription and taking it round the pharmacies in order to keep consistent.
I have asked my GP to state Mercury Pharma on the repeat prescription sent to my local Tesco. The pharmacist told me it is the only way he can guarantee it and this time at collection it was all Mercury Pharma. Just to confuse them I also have a note that I do not want MP T3. It makes me look like a horribly fussy patient but we have to be to get things right for our bodies and I find the MP T3 hopeless for mine.
Which is the best brand please for the long timers here
Ie is everyone in agreement it is mercury and I will now ask for this
No. I don't agree.
I take Actavis (whether packaged as Actavis, Almus or Northstar) and UniPharma. Yes - a mix of makes.
You will find many here suspect that the acacia content of Mercury Pharma affects them negatively.
There is no best brand. There is simply the one that seems to work best for you.
What is MP T3?
I've been on MP levo forever (which the pharmacy never seem to change) and it's fine but I found their T3 useless. I was randomly given Teva T3 one day and felt so much better, noticing the difference within a few doses. I now have this on a named basis from my GP and the pharmacy have it on their system (although they still got it wrong and tried to give me yet a different brand again last time which I made them reorder and exchange. .They weren't happy but it was their expensive mistake). They can't just play around with our meds. As you say, we need what is right for us, we're all different and we are the best ones to say what suits us!!
I agree...this issue was one of the main reasons I cam off Levo altogether some years back. I found each brand differed, many causing me horrible problems and latterly even insisting on the same brand, they would either not turn up or became problematical for me with each new batch number they sent. Much less of a problem now I take NDT, even though that means having to pay through the nose for !
Everyone is an individual as to which they prefer. But once you pick one, and it seems ok, always stick on it
Pick up you actual prescription, don't get it sent electronically to just one pharmacy. Many large chain pharmacies are unhelpful and won't get brand in (even if specific brand is written on prescription). If their supplier doesn't stock it, they won't get it
Smaller independent pharmacies have the option to shop around for supplies and generally much more helpful
Different brands are not bio equivalent. They are supposed to be, but they are not. Same applies to T3
Hi Danielj1. I’m a brand new user of this forum and someone who has been Hypo for 30 years and never really been able to get back to anywhere near normal, which I believe has had huge implications for me and my family. However, I have had the opportunity to use many brands of Levothyroxine and. I personally find enormous variance in effect. For me, Goldshield ( now Mercury) became the brand which gave me the best results. Most Pharmacists were unable or unwilling to source particular brands( forget Boots and the like who buy from the cheapest supplier and cannot provide for individual requests) but it’s worth persisting and trying small independent Pharmacies, where the Pharmacist has some control and you may find someone willing to help you. I have been so lucky to eventually find someone local who is willing to go the extra mile for me and I consistently have Mercury Levo which suits me best, however I still have never returned to the energetic, interested, lively and chirpy person I was and my weight and memory have impacted every area of my life and particularly that of my children, who were robbed of the mother they should have had and although I am excited after reading about T3 on this forum, and keen to try it, their childhood is over and none of us can ever get that time back. I would say to GPs, Please believe your patient, even when you have a number on a bit of paper that doesn’t concur, many lives depend on what you do next! Hope the nugget of information in this post helps you x
That was kind of a heartbreaking post, newgrandma, and it encapsulates what I think so many of us go through. How do you quantify for GPs and the NHS decision makers “what might have been” if only we’d been able to get back to whom we were meant to be?
The only real thing is now, they say, so hug that grandbaby and keep trying to optimise your health so you can get to know him/her the way you’d like to!
Lots of love to you...
Thankyou Molliemdz.
I hope I didn't paint too gloomy a picture! I suppose reading the stories of others focussed my mind on my own journey. In the great scheme of things, I have been a very blessed and lucky person 
and yes my first grandchild is a real tonic.
I plan to follow your advice, starting with T3.
In terms of experience, I have always been baffled that when I was taking 350mcg of Levo (many years ago), I actually felt more hypo than I do now - currently taking 150mcg. If anyone can recommend the best way to access T3 or has advice on the subject, I would be very happy to receive it. Who knows? This time could be the time! Watch this space!
Lots of love to you too x
Actavis works for me. Tava makes me itch.
I read years ago when home computers were available that America suggested stivkingvto one brand as fillers can differ and aldpnpotency. Thisxwasxalso ehat I had been experiencing. Then I was allowed 3 months at a time and iboffrn got different makes. The first packet I realised something was wrong. The second packet I juggle a bit and by the last packet I was getting there but then all change again. So I went to chat to the pharmacist and she thought I had a point so asked me what brand I preferred. I explain that as each 3 months I had to change things so hadn't noticed ifconeclot was better than others but couldci have the make that she was supplied most frequently and I would juggle my dose to get it right. So she suggested Gold Shield with is now Mercury Pharma. She used to hide it for me at the back of the shelf but if she was on leave I didn't always get it so she asked me to get it named on my prescription which I did. Years later same pharmacy but different staff I picked up my prescription and took it home. When I opened it it was a different make! I took it back and they refused to swap itcas I had left the building but I got told off for not telling them. I muttered I thought I had so she said notvonly did I have to say but it needs to be on my card so I asked her to check. Very sheepishly she called over the girl who had done otcabdcshowed he my card! Did I get an apology NO! But in future I always opened the bag before I left the counter!
I too, insisted on Goldshield (I think it was the only named brand availabile then) It was by far the best.
My GP had thought me absolutely mad to suggest different brands didn't work the same. This was over 24 years ago (pre Internet!)
Goldshield was taken over (this seems to happen a lot in pharmaceutical industry) Eltroxin and then became Mercury Pharma Levothyroxine (owned by Concordia, previously owned by AMCo)
Concordia have just reintroduced Eltroxin by Mercury Pharma back again, supposedly exactly same as Levothyroxine by Mercury Pharma
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