Almus levo

[Sunnydevon]

Hi everyone, I’ve been taking 100mg mercury pharma and 25mg wockhart. Today I went to a boots where iam staying whilst in middle of moving to collect my prescription and they have given me 100mg almus and 25mg mercury pharma. I tried to change it whilst in there but they had no alternatives. Will it really matter? Any advice appreciated.😊

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Sunnydevon

Will it really matter?

It depends on whether you have any reaction to the change of brand, some people do, some people don't.

Almus is Actavis rebranded for Boots, Actavis is also rebranded as Northstar for Lloyds pharmacies. It's all the same, just different names on the box, but Actavis is on the foil strip.

The brand that we hear of most where people have an adverse reaction is Teva.

You will have to wait and see if you experience any adverse reaction with your new ones. If possible, and if you have enough left of your old pack, try and change just one for now rather than both. That way if you do have a reaction you will know which one caused it.

[Sunnydevon in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you seasideSusie. Unfortunately I have run out of my last prescription.

[MissGrace in reply to Sunnydevon]

My endo recommends Actavis as the best brand, then Mercury Pharma. Not sure why! However, he also advised me not to mix brands so I use a tablet cutter to get a 25mcg dose to make up to 75mcg with a 50 as Actavis don’t make a 25 tablet. He even told me to seek those brands down by going to different pharmacies until I found one or the other. Fortunately Boots was as far as I needed to go. Hope you are okay. 😁

[Sunnydevon in reply to MissGrace]

Thank you for your reply.😊

[Sunnydevon in reply to MissGrace]

Do you mean your Endo said not to mix Mercury pharma and actavis together?

[MissGrace in reply to Sunnydevon]

Yes. He likes those two brands but advises against mixing brands. 👍

[Sunnydevon in reply to MissGrace]

Do you know why?

[MissGrace in reply to Sunnydevon]

I think it’s to do with potency and reliability. They can’t be exact so it’s best not to mix.

[helvella Administrator in reply to MissGrace]

I can't for the life of me see why not mix.

When I was trying to achieve the best I could, I tried Mercury Pharma only, I tried Actavis only. And I tried half and half. Of those, half and half was the best!

What I wouldn't do is chop and change!

That is, I would not take Mercury Pharma this month, and Actavis next month.

And I wouldn't choose to take more than one make, if not needed.

(Even now, I take two different makes.)

[MissGrace in reply to helvella]

I totally agree ‘I wouldn’t choose to take more than one make, if not needed.’ If you have a tablet cutter, you can take 75mcg of Actavis. Mercury Pharma do 25, 50 and 100, so no need to mix if you are on MP either. My endo is really good. Next time I see him, I’ll ask him for more info.

[helvella Administrator in reply to MissGrace]

But I want to mix! I do better on the combination I have ended up on than on any one make!

[Sunnydevon in reply to MissGrace]

Thank you!

[Sunnydevon in reply to helvella]

Thank you for your reply. I wanted to stick to what I was taking but wasn’t collecting from my usual chemist. I now don’t know whether to ask for a new prescription. I don’t want to overthink the whole thing. It’s only the past 8 months that I really took notice of the makes of Levo on my prescription- since joining this forum.