Taking 2 different levo

[barb62]

Hi I was prescribed 50 levo then it was increased to 75. So I have two pills from different drug companies is this ok?

[barb62]

Sorry that is a 50 and 25

[Hidden]

I take 100 of Mercury Pharma and 25 of Wockhardt and have no problems at all

Di

[barb62 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for replying so quickly Hylda and started on them Tuesday and am feeling pretty groggy

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to barb62]

Barb

What is your normal brand, and what is the new 25mcg brand?

[barb62 in reply to SeasideSusie]

50 is mercury pharma and the 25 say new formula teva

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to barb62]

Barb

Teva has been a source of awful side effects for a lot of members.

I would tell your GP that you have had side effects from the Teva and can you have extra 50s prescribed, even have MP named on your prescription, and make sure you check your pharmacy bag before you leave the shop and refuse Teva if it's dispensed again.

[barb62 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks I will contact them first thing

[valjo18 in reply to barb62]

I had problems with Teva. Gp prescribed 75 and Pharmacy gave me Teva 75 when I usually had 25 Wockhart and 50 Actavis. I felt unwell with the Teva and had trouble convincing Gp and Pharmacy to revert to my normal brands. Think they thought it was all in my head! Their opinion was Levo is Levo whatever brand! Just goes to show how much ignorance there is re Thyroid generally.

[barb62 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Normal brand is mp but I have only been on it for 10 weeks

[Magill69 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Hi Barb,

I recently bought a good supply of Thyrovanz's bovine whole (desiccated) thyroid capsules. They are in New Jersey. They have 25, 50, 100, and 150mg capsules. Ask others on Health Unlocked to find-out if they are suitable for you.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Barb62

You may be OK, you may not be. It's really best to stick to a brand that you know you do well on.

There are a couple of ways to take 75mcg without adding on a 25mcg tablet of a different brand and using just 50s

1) Take 100mcg one day, 50mcg the next, alternating like that will average 75mcg daily.

2) Cut a 50mcg tablet in half, take 1 and 1/2 tablets daily.

[barb62]

Thanks for this will get to cutting them up

[AMR7]

I can only take Teva but I know others cant tolerate it. I would ask your doc to prescribe only the brands u can tolerate. It might be the increased dose that's causing the problem and it just needs to settle though

[AMR7]

I can't take Activis or mercury pharma...both caused awful stomach pains. Both have lactose whereas Teva is lactose free. Watch out for side effects and record them but u would have to be using one brand at a time to know which ones causing the issue. Speak to your pharmacist, they are more knowledgeable on these drugs than doctors

[DotLeeds in reply to AMR7]

I have the opposite problem. I am fine with lactose but I am sensitive to mannitol, the sweetener used in Teva.

[Fiona8 in reply to AMR7]

You must be the only person able to stomach Teva. I found it was like a poison! Vile stuff.

[Judithdalston]

I had taken 100 mcg Mercury Pharma for 12 years, 25 mcg of the new recipe Teva added early this year and within the week felt 'odd', my pharmacist was quite happy to swop it, and record 'only Mercury' levothyroxin for all future prescriptions. He said quite a few of his patients had the same problem. Suggest stick with what you originally felt comfortable with.

[silverfox7]

It's always advisable to stick with the one brand butvinfortunately not all pharmacies clued up enough. Two reasons, one you have already found out in that filler selection could differ and could include something that your body could object to. The other is that potency could be affected. Pills are made within a tolerance of plus/minus 5%. So the brand you take could be giving you 95% and not 100 but will always be that amount. Another time you could be given another brand that is 105 so on 100mcg and extra 10%. If you are then to go onto higher doses like many do you could be looking at almost a dose change different which would be very noticeable. I used to be on MP but mine waszdisprnsed in 25's so easy for me to change amounts otherwise you can use a pill cutter or alternate doses. Remember Levo is a storage hormone so perfectly alright to do that.

I also feel consistency is important with our thyroid as well.

[DeeD123]

Only one that I had trouble with was eltroxin. Fine it teva

[JOLLYDOLLY]

Each brand is different and you can get inferior brands. I tend to stick to the same brand which is either Mercury Pharma if I can get it or Morningside. Teva can have nasty side effects in my opinion.

Just tell you dr and also when you put your prescription in, say to the Pharmacist that you can only tolerate the brand which is suited to you as you can't tolerate other brands.

It does make a difference to the absorption and it may be a little white lie, but then Pharmacists can fob you off with whatever they have in stock. We should not have to put up with that.

Hope you get the brand that suits you best.

[Starfish123]

Ive only ever had 2 brands, MercuryPharma which is the brand I started with and then activis, I had 3 days of hell on activis and won’t touch the stuff again. At that time I had my meds dispensed at the doctors as I was too far away from a chemist, they got it changed so I receive 25mg tablets, so far I’ve only ever had MercuryPharma that way, I’m now on 150mg so I take 6 tablets a day.

[silverfox7 in reply to Starfish123]

I read that it would have been cheaper ifcivused a mixture of 100's and 25's. As I was changing over from 25's and over the years had built up a month in hand in case I couldn't get to the pharmacy or they had run out so I did a trial of all 25's against 1x100 plus 25 and I found them very different do they are the same in that all 25's are set among but 4x25 was not the same as 1x100 so went back to all 25's.

[Seabird4]

Sorry to hear you have problems with your meds and hope you resolve it soon. Over the last 30+ years I have never noted any problems with changes to the brands of tablets I have been prescribed however recently I had for months an ongoing sort of nausea feeling and stingy feeling/taste in my mouth together with other strange feelings. I noted a change in my meds as the tablets were all the same size and the brand was Teva (new formula). Although the Pharmacist was unable to tell me exactly when I changed to Teva ( 4+ months) the Pharmacist changed this no problem to MercuryPharma and noted the withdrawal of Teva on my details for next time. To my relief the nausea and sensation in mouth disappeared within 2/3 of days from changing brands.

Hope you get on OK with yours.

[dizzy864]

I've had terrible problems with MP and even worse with Teva. I've been on actavis for years and not had any problem. My pharmacist now only gives me actavis. i've not bothered to get prescription changed to actavis only.

You might be interested in doing an online search on Teva. I was shocked at what I found out about it's history.

[barb62]

Thank you all for your responses and great advise. I returned the Teva to the pharmacist this morning and he replaced them. Lets see how the next weeks goes.

[blondpalomino]

Hi barb62,

I have always had 3 x 25mcg levo in Wockhart brand.(for 17 years).Recently I was told by the Surgery that my tablets were changing to 1 x 75mcg instead (for cost reasons presumably!) Unfortunately the only brand to make 75mcg is Teva.

I thought I might have trouble with it, but thought I'd better try it anyway.Well it didn't agree with me, I felt dizzy and had diarrhoea.It has an additive of mannitol, which is a diuretic apparently, so don't know if that was the problem,I was certainly going to the loo a lot more anyway!

I spoke to the surgery,who didn't quibble about changing me back to 3 x 25mcg again, perhaps they had had other complaints.

[teacherspet]

The only brand that doesn't agree with me is Teva (I even had some issues when I was given a Teva BP medication) so I have to ask before getting my prescription dispensed. Sadly the pharmacies that I use tend to be stuck with whatever brand they are sent and aren't able to guarantee that they can order in a brand that suits me. My last prescription meant me trying 3 pharmacies - 1st had the 100mcg but no 25mcg, 2nd one, had 25mcg but only 1 pack of 100mcg and not sure they could get a second pack but 3rd one, had a choice of brands and I was able to get them there. Lucky for me here in London I have plenty of options...…………..but it is a pain and means I won't use the electronic prescription service for this very reason.

I do hope you get a solution that works for you.

[Whiterose]

Hi Barb, I would try and stick to one Brand as fillers are different with each manufacturer. I moved to Teva and feel much better since.