Change of brand

[JennyWrenn4]

For some time now I have been taking Levothyroxine but since changing pharmacies I have been offered the options of changing to either Synthroid or Eltroxin. Because I haven't felt much better on the Levo I have chosen to change to Eltroxin and am now wondering if I have done the right thing. Does anyone have any ideas on this or different effects depending on the brands?

I would really appreciate your input and thank you in advance

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

Could you, please, confirm exactly what you mean by Synthroid and Eltroxin? I know it seems totally obvious, but let me check my understanding:

I think that Synthroid in New Zealand is manufactured under licence (or, possibly, under contract) from AbbVie by Mylan in Canada and exported to NZ.

I think that Eltroxin in New Zealand is manufactured by Aspen in Germany and exported to NZ.

Also, you wrote "changing to", which rather suggests you were on a different make before! What was that? And do you have to change? Do you want to change?

We won't get far discussing the pluses and minuses unless we are clear where we are!

[cein]

Sorry its taken so long to respond I have only just seen the email ...

Everyone responds differently to different brands so I can only comment on my own experience.

I don't get on with the Eltroxin brand they prescribe here in the UK.

After coming to the UK from S Africa I became very ill and only after meeting a moderator who was on a thyroid panel , a visit to an Endo and lots of reading did the reason come to light.

I thought my Eltroxin was the same one / Brand I had taken for the last 30+ years and manufactured by Glaxo Smith Kline in Canada ( after all why would I worry its a registered brand right ? ) It turned out it wasn't the same as a licence had been issued to another company in EU and it was being manufactured by Goldshield .. they couldn't get the recipe correct and they sold the licence on to Mercury Pharma.

helvella .. is the best one to ask about manufacturers / brands / licences etc ;

I went through all of the brands here in UK that were offered to me on perscription before I found one I could tolerate.

I now take Wockhardt ...

I don't know where you are but an extended family member lives in New Zealand and at the time I was researching Eltroxin New Zealand stopped importing it from the manufacturer they were importing it from at that time as too many people were getting ill.

regards Cein

Hope this helps you