Change of tablets by health centre

[blondpalomino]

I have received a letter saying that instead of being prescribed Levothyroxine 25mcg tablets - 3 daily, I will now be getting 1 tablet of 75mcg daily.Presumably this must be to cut costs.

At the moment I take Wockhart thyroxine, which I have been taking for a number of years and find it suits me o.k.I have looked online but can't see that they make 75mcg tablets,in fact the only Brand that I have found that makes 75mcg tablets is Teva, which a lot of people seem to have a problem with. Does anyone know of any other brand?

Thanks!

[RedApple Administrator]

blondpalomino, You are correct that the only 75mcg tablet in the UK is Teva. No, this brand does not suit everyone, but some people are ok on it. Unless you try it, you won't know, and won't have any grounds on which to request a return to your previous brand if necessary.

[helvella Administrator]

25 microgram tablets have a tariff price of £1.90.

75 microgram tablets have a tariff price of £3.07.

100 microgram tablets have a tariff price of £1.09.

If they want to save more money, increasing your dose to 100 micrograms could save another 81p per pack!

As RedApple says, some people are fine on Teva. In fact, some have said it is the best of the lot for them.

[blondpalomino in reply to helvella]

Thanks both.

I am also on Liothronine,so I suppose I should be grateful they have given that back to me at the moment! I can't tolerate 100 mcg of thyroxine, it gave me palpitations and increased my blood pressure,which is how I managed to get back on the Liothyronine after a couple of months trial of thyroxine only. I am back on 75mcg of thyroxine and 20mcg liothyronine.

So I will have to give the Teva a try I suppose, then speak to my doctor if it doesn't suit me.The trouble is changing it around the last time gave me migraines,and mucked up my whole system for a few months.

[RedApple Administrator in reply to blondpalomino]

I totally understand why you'd be reluctant to even try another brand when you're happy with the way things are. No-one but those of us who walk this path can understand how much this sort of thing affects our life on a minute by minute basis. To the prescribers and bean counters, it's all about cost saving. To us it's 'quality of life' saving.

[shaws Administrator]

Ask chemist if you can get a 50mcg plus 25mcg of tablets from your preferred supplier. Once we have a hormone which we feel suits us we don't want to change.

Ask GP to then change your prescription for 25mcg plus 50mcg.

[blondpalomino in reply to shaws]

Thanks Shaws,

presumably Wockhardt make a 50? that will have to be my next step if the Teva doesn't suit.Unfortunately this has come at a time that I need to order my meds tomorrow and they have just changed the prescription to one packet of 75 mcg - some notice would have helped!

There's no way I can get to speak to my Doctor for probably a month at least, so I have no choice but to try the Teva for a month.If I get a bad reaction then I will just have to ask to speak to my doctor urgently.

Thanks for everyone's help.

[RedApple Administrator in reply to blondpalomino]

No, Wockhardt only make 25mcg, no other doses.

[blondpalomino in reply to RedApple]

Thanks RedApple!

No choice then if the Teva doesn't suit me but to go back on the 3 x 25mcg if they will let me!

[shaws Administrator in reply to blondpalomino]

They have to provide a dose which suits you with a make that makes you feel well.

There's no point in making the patient worse if they are only interested in trying to saving money. I do know that some people can take one week's dose at once.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[crimple]

You could try Actavis (available at Boots) they do 50 and 100mcg. I can't tolerate anything else so used a pill cutter to get a 25mcg dose

[blondpalomino]

Hi, thanks, but my prescription is for 1 x box of 75mcg tablets at the moment.If I could get my doctor to alter it, it would mean 1 x box 50mcg and 1 x box 25mcg.

Do Actavis do 25mcg?