Levothyroxine Medication: I am finding it quite... - Thyroid UK

Thyroid UK

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Levothyroxine Medication

6 Replies

I am finding it quite difficult to accept another brand of my Levothyroxine Sodium 25mcg & 50mcg (75mcg) , have 2 days supply of my Mercury Pharma and the ones they delivered today were Teva & Wockhart which I refused, what can I do as I have had Hypothyrodism for 20 years now and never missed a dose, I am 72 yrs old and panicking.

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6 Replies
SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering

Twinkle55

Ask for your prescription back and ring round other pharmacies to see if they have your preferred brand in stock. If you can't get out yourself maybe someone can go to the pharmacy for you.

If all else fails, Teva seems to be the one that many people have problems with so if you want to avoid that then just accept the Wockhardt. If you don't get on with that you'll have to contact your GP or pharmacy to tell them you've had a bad reaction and need another prescription for your preferred brand. If they tell you they can't get Mercury Pharma then contact MP yourself to see if there is a problem with supply, which I very much doubt there is.

Cockapoo profile image
Cockapoo

I had the same issue. Am on the same dosage as you. I always reorder my prescription a month in advance so have time to obtain Mercury Pharma. I had Teva once and ended up in bed for 2 days. My prescription now specifies Mercury Pharma, but some chemists still try to fob me off with another brand. One pharmacist said she’d check upstairs and found some loose which they counted and put in a bottle for me. Luckily I now have 2 local chemists I can get Mercury Pharma from (but only one of them has 25mcg so I have a separate prescription for each dosage). I feel that if I can only get one dosage at any time, then I can temporarily either halve or double up.

Sorry for the long winded reply.

Good luck. I know what a nightmare it is, but just try every chemist and 🤞you’ll find one that can help.

DotLeeds profile image
DotLeeds

Hi I had the same problem, other generics really upset my system. When our pharmacy get Mercury Pharma generic Levothyroxine they talked to my doctors and asked them to prescribe the branded version of Mercury Pharma Levothyroxine, its name is Eltroxin. Only slightly more expensive and my GP was happy to oblige.

helvella profile image
helvellaAdministratorThyroid UK in reply to DotLeeds

Mercury Pharma leothyroxine and Mercury Pharma Eltroxin have exactly the same product licence numbers and the same Patient Information Leaflets. I do not believe there is any difference whatsoever between them.

Further, the NHS Tariff prices are identical:

bnf.nice.org.uk/medicinal-f...

DotLeeds profile image
DotLeeds

Thanks, my pharmacist must have looked the tariffs up wrongly. Having the GP writing Eltroxin rather than Levothyroxine on my prescriptions had made my life so much easier. No more refusing medication or returning ones picked up for me. After years of explaining the situation to pharmacists, it is such a relief.

Thanks for your replies, but after ringing them yesterday stressing they managed to get the brands for me, and my granddaughter picked them up this morning. Will contact them 2 weeks in advance in future, which should give them enough time to get the Brands that I have been on for years now.

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