Liothyronine Medication

[kerrylouisa1966]

Hi

I wonder if anybody has the same problem as I have. I have been taking Liothyronine made by Mercury Pharma for many years along with Levothyroxine and my symptoms have stabilised. However the Pharmacy recently swapped me to Morningside and I began to feel extremely tired with unexplained weigh gain with a few days of taking the new table. My following prescription again gave me yet another brand by Tevn and again I don't feel as well as I did on the Mercury tablets.

Has anybody else experienced anything like this and any ideas how I can get back to my original make of liothyronine?

Any advise / help appreciated. Many thanks.

Kerry

[RedApple Administrator]

kerrylouisa1966,

It is quite common for people to do well on one brand and not so well on another. Now that you know which brand works best for you, tell the pharmacy that they must fill your prescription only with that brand.

When you collect your tablets, check before you leave the shop that they have given you the ones you want. If they are the wrong ones, don't accept them. If they say they haven't got the brand you want, ask for your prescription back so that you can take it to another pharmacy who can supply the ones you want.

[phronsias in reply to RedApple]

Hello

I think you might find my post of interest.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[kerrylouisa1966 in reply to phronsias]

Thank you I have read your blog as well, I think given I now have 2 different tablets I'll swap to the Teva ones as they don't seem to give me the afternoon tiredness that Morningside do. Also interesting to see symptoms of nausea which I didn't associate with the change of tablet but maybe it is? Thanks again for your replies very helpful.

Kerry

[beh1]

I had the same problem, and my local pharmacy refused to order Mercury as they said it cost them too much. (Some deal they had with the manufacturers?) Went to Boots and they order Mercury in for me.

[kerrylouisa1966 in reply to beh1]

Thank you very much for your response, it is much appreciated. I will go back to Boots and see if they can source Mercury for me.

Kerry

[fortunata]

Hi Kerry. I found exactly the

Same thing when my MP Lio was swapped

for Teva. I felt so ill on it.

When I asked my pharmacist to make sure I was only given MP, she starchily told me it was very expensive and I should think myself lucky I was getting it.

I got a list of all the different types of Lio prescribed in Britain (from this site!) and took it to my pharmacist. There were pennies difference between each brand.

Then I went to my doc who contacted them and told them I must only be given MP.

I’ve learned that you have to kick up a fuss in this game!

[kerrylouisa1966 in reply to fortunata]

Thanks, I'll put my armour on and get into Boots . If no luck I'll go back to the doctors. Glad you got it sorted and thanks again for your reply.

Kerry

[Pascha1]

bnf.nice.org.uk/drug/liothy...

[kerrylouisa1966 in reply to Pascha1]

Thanks for responding.

Kerry

[Pascha1]

I get Mercury Pharma written on my prescription as I was allergic to Morningside, I refused to have Teva afte4 the Levo made me so unwell, the BNF say you should have a blood test after brand change after 2 months, so what the pharmacy are saving pennies as will cost nhs more to keep having blood tests so don’t let them Get away with a cheaper brand as it’s not saving NHS money and risks your health !

[kerrylouisa1966 in reply to Pascha1]

That is very interesting about the blood test as nobody has said anything and I've now had 3 different tablets in the space of six months :-(. No blood test has been recommended though. Hope you got yours sorted.

Thanks for responding.

Kerry

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Many patients find brand of Levothyroxine or Liothyronine are not interchangeable

Teva Levothyroxine or Liothyronine is not tolerated at all by many many patients. Though for lactose intolerant people it's only Uk tablet option

healthunlocked.com/search/p...

Different brands are not bio equivalent and it can take months to recover from brand change

As there is virtually no price difference between the 3 brands, your pharmacist was incorrect and out of order to make such a comment

[kerrylouisa1966 in reply to SlowDragon]

To be fair I haven't as yet been back to the chemist to ask them to change so that is the first thing I will do. I was put off as I mailed the doctor about the issues and they just simply replied that all tablets were the same so though it was just me. I am glad in a way (although it i sad that we are all suffering) that it is not just me so they will be my next point of call if I can't get them swapped at Boots. Thanks again for responding.

Kerry

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to kerrylouisa1966]

You may find large pharmacy chains unhelpful

Small independent pharmacies can order in brand you require. Large chains are tied to certain suppliers

See final paragraph- print out and take to GP

academic.oup.com/jcem/artic...

ALWAYS get same brand of Levothyroxine or Liothyronine at each prescription

Otherwise you need bloods retested each time

[fortunata in reply to SlowDragon]

I made sure I told her the brands differed by only pennies. 😂

[sandywandy1]

I was told by My pharmacy that Mercury Pharma no longer available as they had merged with another company now called Adco. Ordered this- packaging same as mercury pharma and tablets seem to be the same. Expire 2/19 so may be old MP stock, but worth discussing with your pharmacist.

[helvella Administrator in reply to sandywandy1]

Your pharmacy appears to be mis-informed. (Or ignorant, sometimes difficult to tell the difference.)

Several years ago Mercury Pharma was merged in with Amdipharm - and then was acquired by Concordia.

concordiarxinternational.co...

But there was no re-branding. The liothyronine product is still produced and put into packaging that shows "Mercury Pharma".

[Babette in reply to sandywandy1]

Thank you. The last time I picked up my liothyronine the pharmacist said they couldn't order replacements. That might explain why.

[kerrylouisa1966 in reply to sandywandy1]

That is useful to know, hope you got yours sorted out and thanks all for responding.

Kerry

[t3tracy]

I was on mercury and they gave me teva liothyronine. I have noticed the difference in symptoms. I went to the pharmacy to ask for mercury again and the said to me I can't have it as every time they order it they have to pay an extra £5 on the prescription. I haven't been well on it so now have gone back to my tiremol that I purchased from Turkey. Its so frustrating when you start to get better then they move the goal posts. Think I will try and go to another chemist with the prescription. Just so annoyingly. 😡

[kerrylouisa1966 in reply to t3tracy]

Oh no that is awful that you have had to source yourself. I will try at Boots and see what happens. I hope you get yourself sorted out. It is very frustrating.

Kerry

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to t3tracy]

Always pick up paper prescription and only hand over once you know they have brand you need

Independent pharmacies are often more helpful

[Cezza]

I am currently going through exactly the same thing been extremely stable on mercury pharma for 5 years then pharmacy said out of stock uk so put me on morningside months later same thing out of stock so was given Teva all hell broke lose as it turned my body upside down & inside out found out I’m allergic so pharmacy said that’s all they have go & find it yourself with the help from this site I changed pharmacy & now on another brand thyrobon Germany one I have just had bloods & my results say it all I’m out of range & back to the consultant I go on Tuesday how much money is that all going to waste I feel your pain hang in there xx

[kerrylouisa1966 in reply to Cezza]

I really hope you get it sorted out, you wouldn't think it would be so difficult to get a constant source of the same tablet :-(.

Good Luck.

Kerry

[katherine107]

i was given morningside a few months ago and felt ill on it. asked boots to change back to mercury pharma and they did with no problem. i am thinking of moving soon away and am very worried i wont be allowed it somewhere else

[kerrylouisa1966 in reply to katherine107]

That is good to know I will try this myself and see how I get on. Good luck with the move and sourcing the tablets, I hope it goes well for you.

Kerry

[Wilesdengirl]

I had the same problem. I told my doctor and he now states Mercury brand on my prescription

[kerrylouisa1966 in reply to Wilesdengirl]

Many thanks I will try that if Boots can't exchange or guarantee them for me in future.

Kerry

[Missd66]

I wasn't doing well at all on MP and was about to request a different brand when out of the blue my next prescription contained Teva Lio. (I'm one of the odd folk who do get on with it lol!) I felt a huge improvement in less than a couple of days and decided I'd like to stick with it but next trip to the pharmacy it was back to MP - previous change had been a supply issue. I said I'd like Teva from now on and was told I could only have it if the GP stated 'Must be Teva' on my prescription due to the cost (but as someone else mentioned,there's actually little difference between cost of brands and if it works... what's the problem?!). If you find a brand that suits you, stick to your guns! It may be useful if you can get your GP add your specific brand to your prescription ... I wrote a note to mine explaining how much better I felt after changing to the new brand. So much easier than trying to find a pharmacy with the right one in stock and my pharmacy now have a note on their system too. Good luck!

[kerrylouisa1966 in reply to Missd66]

Thank you for replying, I am glad you got yourself sorted out. I am ready for the battle head

Kerry

[Missd66 in reply to kerrylouisa1966]

You'd think with such an expensive drug, that it would be common sense to give the patient the brand that actually makes them feel better 😂x

[kerrylouisa1966 in reply to Missd66]

You would have thought so wouldn't you, it shouldn't be this difficult

Kerry

[kerrylouisa1966]

Hi Everyone. Just to give you an update. Boots have been brilliant and they have managed to source the Mercury Pharma tablets for me and I have them in my hand now .

However not sure if any of you have been told, but when I asked my doctor for a prescription to actually get the tablets he told me that the Government had written to doctors to advise them that the liothyronine in general is very likely to be withdrawn completely from the UK market so we won't be able to get it any more, regardless of make.

Has anybody else heard this and also does anybody buy their own medication and if so how much does it cost? I am quite worried about this to be honest.

Many thanks

Kerry