I have thyroid disease since I was in my 20;s now in my mid 60's. I had to have 3 doses of radiation to sort it and it then because underactive.
I have been on thyroxine ever since at various dosages. I was on Activis for over 25 years with only a few minor problems then they started changing the makes.
I finally got it marked as needing Activist by my GP around 4 years ago after many years struggling. It stayed on my prescription until fairly recently when I was using Boots chemist, they changed it to Almus which I believe is a cheaper version but made by the same company.
The last 4 months I have been given Mercury Pharma and have had awful problems I think this is due to the acacia powder, current make is Teva and boy do I know it's not right for me. Lots and lots of side effects including severe itching and dizzy spells. I believe this may be to do with both acacia powder and mannitol.
I also have a problem with the wockhardt ones think maybe die to arabica gum.
I can't eat jelly babies or wine gums or anything similar, I also have problems with some of the cold deserts you can buy so don't eat those I believ several of them have acacia/arabaci in them.
I feel like death warmed up so I am going to have to ring my GP agai about it all although if they ask me to go in I wont due to covid.
Anyone else had similar problems with Wockhardt, Mercury Pharma or Teva please, if so what did you do and did you report side effects anywhere else apart from GP or chemist? thanks
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zeberdee2468
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Why not go back to Actavis which was still Actavis when labled Almus, now goes under the name of Accord but it's exactly the same Actavis tablet in the pack.
They must have had hundreds, if not thousands of reports by now but it doesn't seem to have made any difference.
Ask your GP to stipulate Accord (which is Actavis) or ask the pharmacist to mark your pharmacy record that only Accord is supplied in future. Check your pharmacy bag whilst still at the counter, hand it back if it's not your preferred brand and ask for your prescription back then ring round to find a pharmacy that can supply it.
Boots Almus is the same, as is Northstar from Lloyds (apart from 25mcg Northstar which is made by Teva). They're just repackaged Actavis/Accord, they're not a cheaper version, the box will have Accord on the long side, also on the foil of the blister pack.
Once you are back on correct brand ...after minimum of 6–8 weeks....but better to wait 10-12 weeks
Get note added to all future prescriptions....Accord/Activis only
ALWAYS check the brand in the bag before leaving the pharmacy
Getting FULL Thyroid And vitamin testing
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
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)
If/when also on T3, make sure to take last third or half of daily dose 8-12 hours prior to test, even if this means adjusting time or splitting of dose day before test
Is this how you do your tests?
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins
thanks I checked back through all my blood results on my GP's system and the NHS used to check both FT3 and FT4 as well as antibodies but don't do it anymore I have noticed. I had several abnormal results at my last retest i January this year but also got an abnormal result from a different test for something else at the same time.
I am going to ring my GP as it seems to be to do with the mixers they use in it. I get my prescriptions delivered to my home
Yes, it's very disappointing that T3 and T4 blood test aren't seen as imperative for people who have Graves Disease and been through RAI thyroid ablation.
My doctor refused to sanction them unless I paid, so for £34 I found out my conversion was coming in at 1/5 ratio, and this enabled me a dose increase to 125 mcg Levothyroxine and a referral to endocrinology.
By the time I got to see an endo my TSH was then suppressed at 0.01 which gave the endo the excuse that since my TSH was suppressed I didn't qualify to have a trial of T3. I have gone on to buy my own thyroid hormone replacement and much improved, monitoring my own thyroid health.
At the time I checked out that the a blood test cost at the hospital laboratory was just under £1 for each hormone tested, but then I received a typed invoice for this service so guess that's where the excessive profit margin was gobbled up.
It's also useful to try and get your ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D monitored as if these vital vitamins and minerals are not maintained at optimal levels no thyroid hormone replacement works as effectively.
I have read on many thyroid sites that ferritin needs to be maintained at over 70 for any thyroid hormone to work and know myself that I seem really well when my ferritin is nearer to 100.
P.S. Looking back on your first post seven years ago, your ferritin looks very low there, maybe this has become an issue again.
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