levothyroxine tastes like sugar pills?

[789polly]

I am on 75mg of levothyroxine and the brand my chemist supplies to me is wockhardt. I really dont think they do much for me . i take 3x25mg every morning. I decided to chew them a few mornings and was surprised they just taste like sugar pills! Is this normal? could they be counterfeit?

[helvella Administrator]

Wockhardt are very sweet.

(Mercury Pharma are a bit salty.)

Read the Patient Information Leaflet or the Summary of Product Characteristics:

6.1 List of excipients

Lactose

Sucrose fine powder

Maize starch

Magnesium stearate

medicines.org.uk/emc/produc...

The first two ingredients are sugars so no surprise they are sweet!

[RedApple Administrator]

789polly, In my experience, yes this is normal for Wockhardt brand levo, they are very sweet tasting.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

75mcg levothyroxine is only one dose up from starter dose

Perhaps you need dose increase

When were thyroid and vitamin levels last tested?

How long have you been on 75mcg?

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies

Ask GP to test vitamin levels and thyroid antibodies if not been tested yet

You may need to get full Thyroid testing privately as NHS refuses to test TG antibodies if TPO antibodies are negative

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .

Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).

This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

Is this how you do your tests?

Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

For thyroid including antibodies and vitamins

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have special offers, Medichecks usually have offers on Thursdays, Blue Horizon its more random

The aim of Levothyroxine is to increase the dose slowly in 25mcg steps upwards until TSH is under 2 (many need TSH significantly under one) and most important is that FT4 is in top third of range and FT3 at least half way through range

NHS guidelines on Levothyroxine including that most patients eventually need somewhere between 100mcg and 200mcg Levothyroxine.

nhs.uk/medicines/levothyrox...

Also what foods to avoid (eg recommended to avoid calcium rich foods at least four hours from taking Levo)

All four vitamins need to be regularly tested and frequently need supplementing to maintain optimal levels

Even if we don’t start at full dose, it’s likely need to increase slowly up to full dose.

NICE guidelines

nice.org.uk/guidance/ng145/...

1.3.6

Consider starting levothyroxine at a dosage of 1.6 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day (rounded to the nearest 25 micrograms) for adults under 65 with primary hypothyroidism and no history of cardiovascular disease.

BMJ also clear on dose required

bmj.com/content/368/bmj.m41

Post re how to push for dose increase in levothyroxine

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu....

[789polly in reply to SlowDragon]

Thanks SlowDragon . was on 100mg for years. and on my last test the doctor reduced it. I will go back and see GP after this coronavirus is over

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to 789polly]

Suggest you get full thyroid and vitamin testing privately now ....DIY finger prick test via Medichecks or Blue Horizon

Or at least test vitamin D

vitamindtest.org.uk

[greygoose]

Very much doubt anyone would bother to counterfeit levo, there's not much profit in it.

[MaleHypo67]

I was thinking the exact same thing. I take Euyothyoxine and I noticed it's sweet. I scanned the website dot box that is supposed to take you to the site and it didn't work. I don't agree with the person that said there's no money in counterfeit Levo. It's now the most prescribed drug in America.

[helvella Administrator in reply to MaleHypo67]

Afraid I don't recognise the name Euyothyoxine. Was there a typo in that?

Also, I don't know what you mean by the "website dot box"!

The cost of levothyroxine in the UK is around about one pound per 28 tablets. I think that the cost and effort of making believable counterfeit product and then managing to get it into the supply chains means it is unlikely to be worth doing.

That would be different in countries where levothyroxine is more expensive.

Most levothyroxine tablets weight something like 100 milligrams. A 100 microgram tablet would contain just 0.1% of the active ingredient. The dominant flavour will be the other ingredients. Most contain one sugar or another - lactose, sucrose, mannitol (a sugar alcohol), etc. - that is why most are sweet tasting.

You can get details of most USA medicines here: dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/