Levothyroxine manufacturer’s

[Redporti]

The last prescription I had of 50mcg of Levothyroxine was made by Actavis. How important is it that my next prescription is Actavis? When I started I was on 25mcg by Wockhardt.

[helvella Administrator]

It is difficult to answer that in just a few words. It rather depends...

Some people can fairly readily swap makes without much of an issue. Others are from slightly to severely intolerant of (some) other makes.

I try always to stick to the same make(s) even though I am fairly tolerant of all but Teva. (I actually take Actavis (or Almus or Northstar) 100 microrgam plus Mercury Pharma 25 microgram.)

Below is a list of what is available in the UK. Be careful of the re-packaged products and check before you leave the counter.

UK Levothyroxine Tablets

Last updated 05/02/2020.

This is a list of currently marketed levothyroxine tablets in the UK.

🔹 Accord – formerly Actavis (manufacturer)

50

100

🔸 Almus (brand owned by Walgreen Boots Alliance – Boots and Alliance distributor)

50 – This is repackaged Accord – formerly Actavis.

100 – This is repackaged Accord – formerly Actavis.

🔹 Mercury Pharma (manufacturer – part of Advanz) includes both “Levothyroxine” and “Eltroxin” which are identical.

25

50

100

🔹 Teva (manufacturer)

12.5

25

50

75

100

🔸 Northstar (brand owned by McKesson – Lloyds pharmacy and AAH distributor)

25 – This is repackaged Teva. ❗

50 – This is repackaged Accord - formerly Actavis. ❗

100 – This is repackaged Accord - formerly Actavis. ❗

🔹 Wockhardt (manufacturer)

25

🔹 – identifies manufacturers.

🔸 – identifies repackaged products.

❗ – Take particular note of the actual product which varies by dosage.

Numbers refer to tablet dosages in micrograms.

[Redporti in reply to helvella]

What is it about Teva that doesn’t agree with you? I’m going up to 75mcg so Teva looks like the only one that does that dose.

[helvella Administrator in reply to Redporti]

I don't know what it is - just that even with a tiny part of my dose being Teva, my stomach felt distinctly uncomfortable. (12.5 micrograms of 112.5 micrograms total dose.)

The widespread suspicion is that it is due to the mannitol (used in Teva instead of the lactose in every other UK make).

But, having said that, some people find Teva the best they have ever taken.

You could get 50 + 25 prescribed!

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Redporti]

Teva contains mannitol. This may be cause of upset

Same thing happened in France when french levothyroxine had lactose replaced by mannitol

bmj.com/content/360/bmj.k71...

Teva poll

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[MissGrace in reply to Redporti]

Hi there! You don’t have to use Teva to go to 75mcg. You can use a tablet splitter. I’m on 75 some days and I only take Activas and use a splitter to divide a 50mcg tablet into 2x25mcg. Might be an idea so you can avoid Teva? Good luck! 🤸🏿‍♀️🥛

[Hookie01 in reply to MissGrace]

Hi, I keep trying to split my 50mcg of activias but they always crumble. I'm even using a hospital cutter. Can I ask what you use please? Thanks.

[bantam12 in reply to Hookie01]

I split my Activis 50 in half and have done for years, they easily snap in half just using my thumb nails as you would with any tablets, never had any crumbling problems.

[Ellie-Louise in reply to bantam12]

I split mine with my nails too, very easy to do. They are not hard tablets.

[MissGrace in reply to Hookie01]

I use a cutter I got from Boots - it’s the same as the one below. I have the odd crumbling incident, but I’m getting quite good at it now. I know some people in here use a craft knife. 🤸🏿‍♀️🥛

amazon.co.uk/Safe-Sound-Pla...

[blondpalomino in reply to Redporti]

Hi Redporti,

I take 75mcg in 3 x 25mcg by Wockhart. They tried to change me to 1 x 75mcg Teva, but it didn't agree with me like most people!

[Redporti]

Thank you so much for the info.

[Redporti]

I thank you all for your reply’s. I think I will stick with Actavis 50mcg & cut them up to make up the 75mcg. I’ll just need to get the GP to add more tablets to my prescription.