Which make of T3 ?

[AliF]

Can anyone tell from the markings on my T3 tablets who the manufacturer is ? They came in an unmarked white pot. One side just has a line down the middle. The other has GS then underneath 058. The label on the pot says liothyronine sodium ( tri-iodothyronine) 20 micrograms tablets. I think they are Mercury pharma. They do seem to be giving me a lot of heartburn/chest pressure. Wondering if there is an alternative or if anyone knows of a way to keep the pain at bay. I have some Omeprazole which people have advised against on here. I also have Apercap tablets and of course Gaviscon but it is problematic taking the tablets on an empty stomach. Levo does the same thing to me sometimes but not as bad.

[jimh111]

It should have a PIL (patient information leaflet). Try seeing if you can peel off the label as there may be a small leaflet underneath.

[AliF in reply to jimh111]

Ah yes — it is well disguised though! Mercury pharma. And a folded up leaflet with tiny writing I can hardly read ! Are there any alternatives that might be gentler on my stomach ?

[jimh111 in reply to AliF]

Mercury are the licence holder, the tablets are made by Custom Pharmaceuticals, an ultra low cost manufacturer. You can see this near the very end of the PIL.

[AliF in reply to jimh111]

Thanks Jimh111

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

From my records:

GS

058 | White Biconvex 5mm Liothyronine sodium 20 micrograms Mercury Pharma (formerly Tertroxin) Concordia International UK

Patient Information Leaflet available here:

medicines.org.uk/emc/produc...

You should always get a Patient Information Leaflet - no matter that you might have been on the same medicine for ten years and have read it every time you collected a new prescription. It is a requirement that the pharmacy provides a copy - but you might have to ask for it. Demand one.

[AliF in reply to helvella]

Jimh111 is right. Leaflet secreted underneath the label. Thanks for the link though - easier to read than the tiny writing on the leaflet! Are there alternatives ? I’ve been taking this for 8 days and the heartburn is pretty unbearable. I may have to stop if it doesn’t improve which would be a shame because i’ve fought so hard and for so long to try some T3.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to AliF]

Which T3 were you on before? Was it Morningside Healthcare?

Assuming it's NHS prescription

Morningside seems about 25% stronger than Mercury Pharma (to me at least)

Ask for new prescription and return it on Monday to Pharmacist

[AliF in reply to SlowDragon]

Only been on T3 for just over a week so only tried this one. It is NHS prescription. I am splitting the dose 2x5 Mcg so 2 lots of heartburn. If Morningside is stronger I would decrease the dose ? And is it gentler on the tummy? Not sure I can get the prescription changed before I go on my hols on Wednesday. Might have to stop and wait until I get back if it doesn’t settle down.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Sorry should have read your previous posts

I would suspect the problem is that you also changed to Teva Levothyroxine, and its not the T3 causing the problem

Can you get new prescription for original brand of Levothyroxine on Monday

Masses of people react really badly to Teva.

healthunlocked.com/search/t...

Suggest you carry on with Mercury Pharma T3, but watch out when get new prescription. Best to stick on same one every time. They are not bio equivalent. Different brands work differently and give different results in individual patients

[AliF in reply to SlowDragon]

I haven’t taken the TEVA thyroxine. I’ve been using up the 25g Mercury and taking 3 of them. Plus the heartburn comes on after the second dose of T3 especially. Another symptom to add to my ever growing list of symptoms — suspect some are caused by the tablets not by the Hashimotos

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to AliF]

Heartburn is usually due to low stomach acid. I guess you realise that

Masses of posts about low stomach acid on here

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/hypochl...

scdlifestyle.com/2012/03/3-...

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

If T3 makes you feel sleepy, (it does for lots of us, but not all) you could try taking 2nd dose at bedtime

Guessing that T3 has perhaps suppressed your TSH and, in effect, made you more hypo by shutting down your own thyroid completely

If it becomes unbearable, perhaps try just one x 5mcg, for few weeks, rather than cutting it completely

[AliF in reply to SlowDragon]

Thanks Slowdragon. I’ll have a read through the links. Don’t think it’s making me sleepy although I do think I am sleeping better. Interesting RE TSH and hypo. If that is the case seems little point in my taking it. Haven’t noticed a dramatic improvement so far - just more aches and pains!

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to AliF]

Might be worth trying taking 2nd dose early evening or bedtime as an experiment

[AliF in reply to SlowDragon]

Yes - suppose all trial and error. So many possible combinations are daunting and I am not very patient. Meanwhile I am trying to deal with all sorts of aches and pains which vary. So far today the heartburn is not too bad - but my headache, tinnitus and dizziness are unbearable. Thank you for trying to help. Suggestions are very much appreciated.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to AliF]

Have you had vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 tested? What were results and are you supplementing

Tinnitus and dizziness is very often low B12 - extremely common when hypo

A good vitamin B complex daily. Sometimes sublingual B12 as well. Important to test first before supplementing

Do you have Hashimoto's?

Are you on strictly gluten free diet ?

[AliF in reply to SlowDragon]

Thanks SlowDragon. Yes have had all those tested recently and SeasideSusie and others said they were ok apart from Ferritin is low and folate could be higher so I am trying to get that up a bit with diet - fillet steak occasionally, watercress and spinach, bit of liquorice and some Bombay mix ! Not the highest in iron but every little helps. Wish I liked liver ! I do take a sub lingual b12 tablet a few days a week as a sustaining dose. I also take selenium. When the blood test was done I had stopped all of the supplements for a few weeks.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to AliF]

Suggest you take good vitamin B complex daily (but stop a week before any blood tests) one with folate in, not folic acid. That helps all the b vitamins. You may still need sublingual B12 as well

[tinkerbell22]

I've found I react badly to all UK levothyroxine so I had to start buying mine online (e.g. US brand names). It was through this way that I managed to buy some T3 as well. So none of my meds are prescription any more.

[StitchFairy in reply to tinkerbell22]

That's interesting about your intolerance to UK levo brands, I feel similarly. May I ask which US brand you find works for you?

[tinkerbell22 in reply to StitchFairy]

Hi StitchFairy, I'm sorry to hear you've experienced this too! I'm So glad I discovered it was a UK manufacturing issue for me as I felt So awful on UK ones. I actually take Synthroid, I know it gets some bad press, but it got my test results for TSH and T4 where they should be, without horrific side effects so for me that was a temporary win. Better than UK meds lol. I still am not well, but I'm working on root causes. Have you found a non-uk one that works for you?

[StitchFairy in reply to tinkerbell22]

The only non UK one I've tried is Unipharma and that wasn't too great. I'd love to try Tirosint but the price is astronomical!

[tinkerbell22 in reply to StitchFairy]

Yeah prices are crazy aren't they, especially as in the UK we don't even have to pay for prescriptions... So it's tempting to just take what we're given for free rather than shell out for expensive alternatives! But it's well worth trying different ones. I wish they did trial packs! So we could just buy a few tablets cheaply and test out if they're right for us, without having to buy a whole big pack...

What happened with Unipharma? Is that a US one? Synthroid makes me more tired than UK levo did, but at least I'm not going nuts on it and tiny bits of T3 give me a lift.

[StitchFairy in reply to tinkerbell22]

UniPharma is Greek. It makes me swell up until I feel as if I'll burst out of my skin! Yes a trial pack of every US brand would be great. Trouble is, getting the right dose is crucial too. 100mcg might work for one brand, but in another you might do better on say 88mcg, or 112mcg in another. It's not just about the blood test numbers... oh how I wish it could be that easy.

[tinkerbell22 in reply to StitchFairy]

Oh absolutely I agree! Ahhh yes I remember now about it being Greek. That's a horrible reaction! Poor you! Which are you on now?

[AliF in reply to tinkerbell22]

When you say “react badly” what were the symptoms of your bad reaction ?

[tinkerbell22 in reply to AliF]

Hi AliF, well the UK levo sent me pretty much out of my mind! Anxiety and anger through the roof... really horrific pmt / pms (mood and physical pain and tension) ... Daily migraines (I very very rarely had migraines before starting UK levo), and boils! it got worse the more I took. I paused the UK levo and instantly felt better. I went back on it again to test it for sure, and all the nasty symptoms returned. I tried all the UK brands. That's when I turned to buying my own online, non-UK.

[AliF]

That’s interesting. I often think I should stop taking everything - Levo HRT patch and now T3 for a while and see if my tinnitus headaches and aches and pains go away. And then start again. I certainly didn’t have them before and they all seemed to start at around the same time after a couple of years of being diagnosed. I know I am getting desperate to find something that helps without hindering.

[tinkerbell22 in reply to AliF]

Hi AliF, it's possible your body is reacting to something you're taking. It's not uncommon. I was appalled when I tried and tested with and without UK meds, and saw it was the meds causing these horrible problems!

It can be risky stopping meds, But it can be risky staying on meds that are causing you problems! I took the gamble and stopped my levo because I was desperate. I also noted that my mum who has Hashimoto's too has been on UK levo for many years and has had awful regular migraines and needed a hysterectomy along the way... It makes me think, is any of that related to her levo? Who knows. But I wasn't prepared to take that risk.

I had some natural thyroid at hand for when I stopped my levo, so after a few days or so of no thyroid treatment at all, I started to feel the original thyroid symptoms return, I started on a little bit of natural thyroid while I waited for the US brand to arrive (which took weeks). I didn't do well on the natural thyroid as it was too high in T3 for me, but it kept me going until my US levo arrived.

Perhaps try reducing one of the things you are taking, rather than suddenly binning everything. See if there is any improvement. I've learnt not to change more than one thing at once, or you don't know where you are with anything.

[AliF]

Good advice tbell22. I took 100 Levo on its own until about 10 days ago. Then added in T3 2x 5mcg. 3 days ago I dropped to 75 Levo. Keen to take as little as possible of Levo ( and anything else come to that ) to minimise adverse side effects. I’ll try to stick with that for a few weeks. Off on my hols next week so hoping that might help too — although i’m not sure it will be relaxing. 2 weeks travelling round China will be exhausting but at least it will be a diversion from thinking incessantly about all my troubles, what to do about them and whether I have something else as well as Hashimoto’s. It is driving me to despair and I feel there is no- one to turn to apart from the lovely kind, helpful people on here.

[tinkerbell22]

I know exactly how you feel. I am not well still but the last year or so has been an Enormous learning curve, and I'm further along with understanding myself, medications and my troubles. I don't know if I've got the answers yet for me, but I'm certainly much further along my journey than a year ago. Perhaps try to see how far you've come? Its hard to stay positive sometimes when we struggle to find our way, but looking back at our little/big achievements helps give strength to continue.

Ahh don't make any drastic changes before a big holiday like that then! You don't want to risk extra hypo symptoms and confusion. Sounds like a lovely trip though and I really hope you enjoy it

[AliF in reply to tinkerbell22]

Thanks tinkerbell22. Fingers crossed things settle down and I feel better. Think I am making some headway - slowly. 2 steps forward and 1 step backwards !

[forever_tired]

Just as a short term measure, taking omaprazole may be okay - as long as you take B12 too (unless there are other side effects I’m not aware of?)

[AliF in reply to forever_tired]

Thanks forever_tired ( #me too!!!) I have taken a few tablets but I find Apercaps are better so have taken a few of those and I think it is settling down.

[Highland49]

Hi AliF,

Did your heartburn ever go? I've not been on T3 for long (from an unmarked white pot too so will need to check!). My throat has been really burning for the last week, even though I take probiotics, enzymes and apple cider vinegar.

Plus, did you get ear ache as well?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[AliF]

Hi H 49. It did go yes. No idea if it was related to the T3. I have dizziness constantly so I do have ear problems. If you have a sore throat and earache that sounds like a viral infection to me. Incidentally I don’t think the T3 has done the trick for me. Still searching for answers.