I’m currently on a dose of 75/100 mcg (50 mcg Actavis and 25mcg Wockhardt levothyroxin). The last couple of times I’ve gone to collect my prescription I’ve been given Teva, which I’ve refused (it doesn’t agree with me) and then shopped around to find someone who will dispense the brands I’m used to. In the past the pharmacist has simply ordered in the brands I want but when I asked them to do this the other day the pharmacist said they are no longer allowed to specify a particular brand in their order. I managed to track down some Actavis 50 and I’ll just cut them to make up my dose. But I’m shocked to learn that we have to just take what we’re given when many of us have had problems with the fillers in different brands. Have others had this problem? I live in London and it’s exhausting trailing round chemists to find someone who has my brands in stock - Teva seem to have cornered the market.
Teva levothyroxine: I’m currently on a dose of 7... - Thyroid UK
Teva levothyroxine
You will find that Lloyds often have Northstar and Boots often have Almus (both are repackaged Actavis). These two name-only brands are owned by Lloyds and Boots respectively (or some part of each of the empires).
Phoning saves a lot of trailing!
I’ve noticed that Boots have started supplying Teva for my 25mg dose. Not taken any yet as I have some Mercury left from previous prescriptions I’m using up first. 100mg still Mercury so don’t know why they have changed the brand unless of course it’s cheaper.
Can you ask your GP to name the brand on your prescription if he knows Teva doesn't agree with you. One of my inhalers was changed from the named brand to another brand (due to cost) and it caused me problems and after discussing it with the Advanced Nurse Practioner, who agreed it could be the new brand that was the trigger, I have had my previous brand named on the prescription and this is dispensed every time now.
I say (to the GP/pharmacy) that taking Teva products gives me ‘unacceptable side effects’. That seems to get their attention.
That's what I always say when I go to fill a prescription and they are very helpful when checking the brands they have and apologetic when they can't help.
Can I ask what side effects
Ear ache, temperature... both symptoms of sinusitis.
Didn’t realise they were symptoms of thyroid problems
No... I was reporting the side effects of taking Teva.
That’s what I meant, didn’t know it was a side effect of Teva....I have continual sinus problems no matter what thyroxine I take.
Are you taking Teva? If so I would seriously consider that it was connected with this levo product.
Even though I have written on my Levothyroxine prescription that it must be Mercury Pharma brand, I have found local pharmacies will not honour this. They will only give what's on the shelf
This means many many patients are having to trawl around, trying to find understanding, helpful and (often independent) pharmacy
.mercury pharma poisons me..we are all different I've stuck with Activas or wokhurt I've had no side effects from these
Does this have anything to do with Teva adding mannitol to the drug...? I recently read the same thing was happening to Euthyrox and contacted the manufacturer (Merck) this week to find out if it was true. The sales rep confirmed it was, and that they switched from some other inactive ingredient to mannitol to make it "absorb better and become more bio-identical". This sales rep claimed it would in no way affect the efficacy of the drug...however, I have read enough about Teva's product to have my doubts.
thecat68, This link to a news item a year ago on the Thyroid UK website about Merck Euthyrox might be of interest thyroiduk.org/tuk/newspage....
It seems a reasonable question, a reasonable suggestion, but it is all too easy to make assumptions. I would still be wary about making mannitol the definite and proved cause of the difference.
The sales rep who said "become more bio-identical" is plain and simple making it up.
If it does absorb better, then direct substitution should not be allowed because that implies an effective change in dose.
I have read so many complaints about Teva's reformulated product that I'd hesitate to take the reformulated Euthyrox (provided I have to stay on Euthyrox, that is...I'm still hoping to be able to go back on NDT at some point, after I sort some things out). But I have been looking into alternatives if it turns out I do best on thyroxine after all, and there is also L-Thyroxine by Takeda (called Levaxin in the Nordic countries) which does not seem to contain mannitol. The Merck sales rep told me the reformulated version of Euthyrox is not yet available in all European countries, including the Nordic countries, but will be as of mid-2020.
Well, I don't like Teva levothyroxine at all. But we do see some people who seem to prefer it!
I liked Henning L-thyroxin when I had it available.
Me too but can't get it now. Pharmacist said it was from Germany and it cost more
I used to use Teva until they reformulated it, I felt like my head was full of socks the first week that I tried it and I had a massive headache (which I still don’t get) the entire two weeks that I took it added to the whole feeling worse rather than feeling better after taking it. Now I have specific brands named on my prescription and I found a local independent pharmacist who goes above and beyond to ensure that they hold it in stock for me. If you have a decent independent pharmacy somewhere near you, make friends with the staff in there as they can be literal live savers in a crunch and will usually do more to ensure you get exactly what your prescription says. It might be a bit of a pain (I had to wait nearly 2 weeks for my MercuryPharma and Actavis prescription this time round as my pharmacy was having problems getting it in) but they got them instead of fobbing me off with something else.
You can ask your gp or endocrinologist to specify which brand you need. 😊
I tried that and she told me she wasn’t allowed to specify a brand. I may try again with a different GP. Thanks.
I am having trouble getting the same make on all my prescription drugs. My chemist who is extremely helpful but says he is having trouble getting some makes and has to have what they send. At the moment l am on Mercury Pharma 50mg and Teva 25mg. The amazing thing is that the Teva 25 is twice the size of the MP50 so we can guess which one has more fillers.
Isn't it because we have free prescriptions,so they get the cheapest brand in for us ? I've never had Teva.
No that's not the case. It is a product of how pharmacists are reimbursed for the work they do and the treatments they dispense. If a generic drug is dispensed that has a tariff price, they will be reimbursed at that figure irrespective of the amount the pharmacy paid for it, whether more or less. If a named non-generic drug is prescribed/dispensed there will be a different reimbursement rate. Additionally some reimbursement will be made based on the assumption that the pharmacy will have negotiated a bulk discount, irrespective of whether the pharmacy has or has not done so, or how much they actually paid to buy in the drugs from their wholesaler. It is a phenomally complex system that is quite literally edited on a monthly basis; and nothing to do with the fact that in England we are entitled to medical excemption from prescription charges.
Goodness ! I didn't realise all that ! Thanks for clarifying.
This paper reviews the problems with the introduction of the new formulation levo in France. Bottom line is that there is a big variation in individuals on how they respond to different formulations of levo and that mannitol enhances absorption so adding mannitol will definitely affect uptake and response to T4. The paper is good to show to anyone who tells us all brands are the same for everyone. Unsurprisingly the paper says we are individual in our response..
link.springer.com/article/1...
Michael
Thanks for posting that link. It is good.
Sorry ladies but I love TEVA and my blood test prove that I convert it to t3 better than any of the others. My t3 usually hovers around 4 but with TEVA my last 2 blood tests have been 5.6 and 5.9 and I feel so much better. Being selfish I hope they don’t re-re formulate with all these yellow cards.
My local pharmacy is pretty good about giving a named brand, (so far at least) though I have to remember to remind them!
I think they are used to me by now, so usually remember. However, the last time, they didn't have Mercury (which I've taken from the start) for the 25mcg tablets (I take 75/100 alternate days at the moment). As I guessed, the only other one they had available was Teva, but said I would risk it. I was impressed that they seemed willing to help me find somewhere that had a different brand though.
I took the first one yesterday, so we will see. the only difference I've noticed so far is that I woke up quite stiff this morning. But I suppose that could have other causes, such as a couple of bouts of gardening earlier in the week. The very small dose combined with the usual Mercury may not make much difference anyway.
Hopefully you will be able to get the right brands in the future. Keep phoning around.
I find that if I ask the GP to specify a particular brand (or specify some other criteria) on the first line of a prescription, the pharmacy follows it. If such info is on the second or subsequent line and the surgery uses the electronic prescription service to send it to the pharmacy, the pharmacy doesn't see the second line. I encountered that multiple times when using local pharmacies.
I recently switched to using an online pharmacy (Pharmacy2U). When they didn't have a specific brand in stock they very apologetically contacted me to ask if I would mind if they provided a different brand on this occasion, or would I prefer to wait for stock to come in. That they were so apologetic about it makes me think that they you might want to try them, in combination with the GP specifying a brand.
Hi, I am also taking 75/100 levo ( 50, 100 Actavis and 25 Wockhardt) my prescription also states this. Today when I collected my prescription I found that I had been given a mixture of Teva, Mercury Pharma and Wockhatdt, when I pointed out that it was wrong I was told that they gave me those because it was all they had available as Actavis was difficult to get at the moment. I refused to accept them and asked for my prescription back at which point they miraculously found some in a “sneaky place” as they called it!. I was happy about this but I have the feeling that I will have difficulty getting it next time as I seems there is something going on with the supply of Actavis.
Today, I had to go to three pharmacies to get 25 microgram tablets that were not Teva.
My usual pharmacy and the second one had only Teva in 25 microgram tablets.
Both first and third pharmacies had no problem with Northstar and Almus respectively (that is, repackaged Actavis) - but they are only made in 100 and 50 microgram tablets...
I had terrible headaches with Teva. Wockhardt and Mercury seem to be much more effective.
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