UK alternatives to Levothyrixine

[JaniceJ7]

A friend's daughter (in her 30s) is hypothyroid. She was prescribed levo a few years ago but only took it for a month. She reacted badly to it, became aggressive, felt she could kill someone or herself so stopped taking it. GP said there wasn't anything else she could take and virtually left her to it. She has pernicious anemia and is getting B12 injections (not often enough). She has really heavy periods, is exhausted, brain fog - all hypo symptoms so has eventually gone back to doctor for new bloods this week.

I have offered various suggestions over the years but don't think she wants to do it on her own. Are there other brands of levo (liquid levo?) available in UK that GP could prescribe? Or any other suggestions?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Janice

ThyroidUK has produced this document which lists all thyroid hormone replacement available

thyroiduk.org/tuk/treatment...

Her GP could have tried different brands of tablets, they contain fillers and the fillers in one brand may not have suited her but another brand might.

As she has PA, have her other nutrients been tested? Chances are there are low levels or deficiencies with others - in particular ferritin and Vit D. Presumably folate has been checked along with the B12. Does she take a B Complex to keep all the B vitamins balanced, as she's having B12 injections?

[JaniceJ7 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you, SeasideSusie, I'll send this link and advice to her mum. Trouble is, I'm giving advice through her mum so don't know all details. I have advised her to join this site but we all know how exhausted you can feel and how much effort it takes to do anything more than the basics every day.

[MaisieGray]

Liquid levothyroxine is available but more expensive - 28 X 100mcg tablets = £1.11 compared with 20 X 100mcg equiv doses = £164.93. Rather than causing suicide ideation, in fact high dose Levo has been used to resolve it in certain circumstance; but of course with any drug, never say never. However, whether it was the Levo or something else entirely that was causing her reactions, she should of course, have been investigated further. But until she has the results of the latest test, it's difficult to comment with any accuracy.

[humanbean]

Really heavy periods is often an effect of low iron. It rapidly becomes a vicious circle - low iron causes heavy periods which then cause even worse low iron.

Improving iron levels often reduces how heavy periods are.

It isn't often mentioned, but when iron is low it can affect my mood quite drastically, and I assume I'm not unique.

It is vital though that iron is tested properly before supplementing. Doctors will often just test ferritin (iron stores) or haemoglobin to check for anaemia. But iron can be low without the patient necessarily being anaemic, and fixing a deficiency can improve well being a lot.

So, it might be best to test it privately with a finger-prick test :

medichecks.com/iron-tests/i...

If ferritin is high and serum iron is low, or ferritin is low and serum iron is high, then supplementing is a bad idea. Iron supplementing isn't straightforward and it isn't safe to do without knowing test results and testing regularly. It can be poisonous if it is done under the wrong circumstances.

[JaniceJ7]

Thank you all. I'll pass this on.