Is Mayne Pharma Liothyronine better than Sigma Pharma?

[termsofendearment]

My doctor put me on Liothyronine several months ago. The pharmacy gave me Sigma Pharma but my doctor told me that is a dud and that I should be on the Mayne Pharma because it is more potent and works better. At first I felt better on Sigma but I have gotten worse again. Can anyone tell me if Mayne Pharma works better for low thyroid?

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

I don't understand why your doctor didn't prescribe Mayne Pharma by name if the difference is so important?

We see a whole range of opinions on whether one make is stronger than another. And some people find one make works better for them than another. Being a UK forum, we don't have very many members on either of those makes, but there are a few. Hopefully, some of those will respond soon.

[termsofendearment in reply to helvella]

thank you for replying. He did provide Mayne Pharma but the pharmacy I went to screwed up so I have to refill I'm taking it somewhere else where they will give me the right one.

[shaws Administrator in reply to termsofendearment]

Prescribe isn't the same as provide. GP has to actually state the make i.e. Mayne Pharma on the actual prescription. Pharmacist must source the one stated.

[McPammy]

I was on Sigma 5mcg and I didn’t do well on it. I was then prescribed Mayne Pharma 5mcg and did do much better on it. For me Mayne Pharma is far better but why That is I really don’t know. Maybe as Mayne Pharma is manufactured in Germany although owned by a US company or to do with fillers.

[shaws Administrator in reply to McPammy]

I think sometimes the fillers/binders can affect us a lot, i.e. if the company decide to replace one we may find we don't feel so well and wonder why.

[jgelliss in reply to shaws]

Fillers make a tremendous difference . Sigma has corn starch as one of the fillers and many are sensitive to it .

[termsofendearment in reply to McPammy]

Thank you so much!

[silverfox7]

Whilst I agree with your doctor making a suggestion in that it may well give him more confidence in prescribing something he is more familiar with but it’s not quite as simple as that!

All the medication contains a selection of fillers which may well change slightly between brands. These fillers help keep the medication stable and bulk it up to a small tablet size. But it’s also a bit of a lottery aswe can be allergic to one or more of the fillers in the tablet we have suggested. So look out for that happening and if you suspect that may be an issue then take an antihistamine one hour before your thyroid meds and see if it stops the issue. If it does that brand is not for you so ask to try another. Because there can be an overlap in the selection you may have to change more than once so just be aware that can happen.

Next it’s a case of getting your chosen medication to chill your needs so the dose has to be Taylor’s to what dose is best for you ON YOUR CHOSEN BRAND. sorry about the caps but best way to bring that to your attention. All brands can vary slightly in potency as each strength tablet can vary from each other so best again staying with same brand and strength of medication. The tolerance can vary from brand to brand so for instance a 100 mcg dose could on one brand be 102 and on a different brand 98 so stick to the brand you have no problems with fillers then juggle the dosage to get the right amount for you. It may mean taking difference amounts alternately if one a bit too much and the other a bit low. I also found when taking Mercury Pharma as it’s now called that 100 mcg wasn’t the same as 4x 25 but then remembered many years ago the pharmacist insisted I only had a dose made up of 25 mcg to get round that. So fine tuning can take time but well worth the effort if needed.

[termsofendearment in reply to silverfox7]

thank u so much for your explanation

[silverfox7 in reply to termsofendearment]

You’re welcome!

[Rweir39]

Hello!

10 months later and, I'm having an issue with my liothyronine manufacturer change so, I was wondering what was your outcome?

I was on sigmapharm. Did well on it. Had to use another pharmacy and, they used Mayne Pharma.

1 dosage and my heart was racing. Took a 2nd dosage the following day and same thing!

I'm so upset because I just paid for a 90 day supply and, now I'll need to buy another.

At first I thought it was all in my head but, I don't think so anymore ugh.

Please let me know how you managed if you can. Thank you!

[HashiSux in reply to Rweir39]

I have the same problem as you when using Mayne Pharma. In addition to the racing heart, I was hit with a severe migraine; I also tried a second dosage with the same result. I concluded that I was having a reaction to the inactive ingredient talc. After more research, I found and began using the SigmaPharm product which uses cornstarch and haven't had the problem since.

I had a hard time finding a pharmacy that carried SigmaPharm but ended up at Costco (not sure if they exist in the UK). My contingency plan was to use a compounding pharmacy if I wasn't able to get the SigmaPharm product from my regular pharmacy. And to avoid a future recurrence with the Mayne Pharma product, I had all of my pharmacies and doctors add notes to my medical records stating I was allergic to Mayne Pharma and talc-based fillers in general.

I later learned that talc being used in dietary supplements, cosmetics and medicine may be contaminated with asbestos, is allowed to contain up to 10 ppm of lead AND 2% aluminum in the US. And the use of talc isn't really regulated like one may assume given those contaminates. They occasionally self test and basically operate on the honor system. To put this in perspective, a 500 mg tablet may contain 1% - 10% talc, as an example. Assuming the maximum amount of talc (10%) and the maximum amount of lead allowed in talc (10 ppm), the tablet could potentially contain up to 0.5 mcg of LEAD. Although that amount may not be deemed as harmful by the US regulating agencies, it's right at the limit allowed in the state of California before a product requires a warning label for pregnant women.

As a side note, be on the lookout for supplement, cosmetic and medicine manufactures using tapioca and cassava as alternative inactive ingredients. If you're sensitive to toxins and/or have severe allergies, you may want to avoid these ingredients as well. Both have been found to have a high occurrence of mycotoxin contamination, possible trace amounts of cyanide; and cassava has been shown to absorb harmful chemicals from the soil, such as arsenic and cadmium all of which may impair THYROID and nerve function.

Hope this helps and apologies for being long-winded.

[Rweir39 in reply to HashiSux]

Thank you! Great information