I had been taking activis levothyroxine 100mg for several years with no problems, pharmacist changed brand to teva and not only did I feel unwell I developed terrible post nasal drip and nearly had my tonsils removed due to constant tonsillitis. Swapped back to activis and after a few months everything went back to normal. Suddenly in the last few months all the horrible symptoms have returned. I then saw the accord branding on my medication. I wonder if accord use different fillers and they don’t agree with me. Has anybody else experienced similar? Any help greatly appreciated.
Teva and Accord brands causing adverse symtoms - Thyroid UK
Teva and Accord brands causing adverse symtoms
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Sanjita123
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There is a list somewhere of all the different brands and what is actually in them. A lot of brands out there but the product in a few brands is exactly the same (only packaging has changed). I can’t find the list but I’m sure someone will be able to link to it. It may be that regardless of the brand on the packaging, the actual tablet itself may be the same as the one that previously caused you issues.
Accord are the same tablets as previously branded Actavis. I don't think there was any change in the make up of the tablets , just a brand name change.
Helvella has a good list with all the manufacturers on it.
SeasideSusieRemembering
Sanjita123
helvella has this list of brands with links to Patient Information Leaflets for all of them which would list ingredients:
dropbox.com/s/6h3h0qi4eqwi6...
There is also this article which lists excipients of different brands:
Accord is a change of brand name but exactly the same pill with same fillers as activis and same licence number.
No it isn't, different compound for sure
Can I ask if you managed to find a brand that relieved symptoms as I currently experience problems on Accord but was okay on Activis brand.
Sorry for late post and time lapse.
Thank you
Hi, I haven't been on the Site for a long time...I take Oral Liquid levothyroxine by Teva which doesn't contain all the fillers/excipients like Accord have ....Hope this helps
Thank you. How did you manage to obtain it from your GP due to cost? Also, did you decide to not try another brand ? I was considering this before trying to obtain liquid thyroxine.
I have tried every brand/generic tablet of levothyroxine on the Market...All gave me Awful side effects including 'light headed, diahorrea after eating first meal of the day, Anxiety, a feeling of lump in the throat and lots more. I told NHS Endocrinologist and GP I would not take any more levothyroxine tablets ever. Endocrinologist said he thought I was having Reactions to fillers/excipients/ and asked my GP to put me on Liquid levothyroxine, that must be at least 2 Years ago......I don't get the side effects from Teva liquid levothyroxine but I did with the Zenvita brand
Don't forget to "yellow-card" Teva - helvella had a post about this the other day ...
I was on actavis (now accord), I 'think' ingredients are same, albeit accord are smaller than original actavis.
If you get prescription from Boots Chemist same tabs are called Almus but they have actavis on the foil blister pack whereas accord don't - blister pack says 'accord'??
The last six inner blister packs of Almus levothyroxine I have recently received have all said "Accord".
Quite possibly, we will see old and new alongside each other for a while yet. But they are a-changing.
The Accord company appears to me to be very much based on the old UK bit of Actavis that makes generic medicines for the UK (and possibly some exports). I suspect that Accord is a similar size to that bit of Acatavis. 
I have found Actavis and Almus to be 'same quality', 'same side effects',
But Accord 'supposedley same' to give me feeling of 'lump in throat', lethargy (extra), diahorreah. Hence, whatever the leaflets say, I reckon the compounds are different...i.e. greater ammounts of a or all excipients in 'Accord'.! 'Strange but true' for me.
I recall a Pharmacist telling me last year (when meds had foreign writing on instead of the usual English - Ganfort eye drops was a Classic example).
The Ganfort with 'foreign writing' had been exported/imported etc and made eyes very very sore. In contrast, Ganfort with English writing did not make eyes sore at all......
The Pharmacist told me 'privately' that many 'drugs' are exported/imported etc and Do contain different excipients (should be against the law obviously). 
I noticed from list of Accord that 50mcg levo contains 39.95 lactose and 100mcg levo contains 54.90 lactose.
Only mentioning this as there is a huge %age in 50mcg compared to 100mcg, which 'could possibly mean' - an 'extreme amount of other excipients in 50mcg compared to 100mcg'.. I got this from the drop box SS put on above..
If that's the case the 100mcg 'may have more actual levo compared to excipients than the 50mcg', doubt we'll ever know....
A bit of arithmetic shows:
The 50 microgram tablet is 0.125% levothyroxine / lactose.
The 100 microgram tablet is 0.182% levothyroxine / lactose.
(Hope I have got that right! )
Afraid, I do not have anything that would weigh a tablet so as to be able to work out the percentage of all whole tablet. However, I suspect the other ingredients will be in fairly small quantities compared against the lactose. Further, I expect the mix will be in similar, if not identical, proportions for all the products in a range.
The proportion of levothyroxine to all excipients is incredibly small in ALL levothyroxine products.
(Just corrected as I made a mistake in my calculation. )
My calculation comes to almost 90% of lactose in 50mcg and almost 55% of lactose in 100mcg.
This could be comparable 'in theory' for the 50mcg to possibly have nearly 90% of all excipients compared possibly to 100mcg having almost 55% excipients.
Hence, would make sense that by taking 100mcg one received a lot more of the 'actual levo'!!
A minefield!
Need a correlation and if that's positive a multiple regression analysis
I have no idea how you are working that out!
A 50 microgram tablet has 50 micrograms of levothyroxine. And it has 39.95 milligrams of lactose - that is, 39950 micrograms. 50 / 39950 is 0.001252 - as a percentage that is 0.125%.
We do not know the weight of the tablet so cannot know the percentage of lactose!
(Just corrected as I made a mistake in my calculations. )
SlowDragonAdministrator
Another member a couple of dats ago said they had reacted to change from Activis to Accord.....even though they are officially exactly the same ...but if size of tablets are different, they must have slightly different ingredients or percentage of ingredients
If the tablets change size, yes, the excipients must have changed in quantity. (The Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) quantity is so small for levothyroxine and liothyronine, we'd never notice any difference regarding that.)
However, any such change must be made after applying to the MHRA to allow the change.
My current Almus (Accord) 100 microgram tablets are 6.12 mm diameter and 3.2 mm thick.
I didn't notice a change in size but even if I thought there had been a change, I'd want to measure them to be sure.
Has anyone got any Actavis branded levothyroxine and a reasonably accurate measuring tool? Or any 50 microgram Almus-branded levothyroxine?
I do and they are exactly the same size as accord.
Much appreciated.
I shall think about adding dimensions to my medicines documents!
But, actavis are 'rounder' and easy to cut in half, the accord are hard and difficult to cut in half?
Mine are 50mcg, and Almus and Accord are different!! Almus are better so I will now change pharmacy to Boots
Well I compared both and there was no difference, I halve the 50s and I've not had any problem with crumbling.
Almus from Boots are Accord, that's what I get.
I have nothing to measure them in mm but Accord are visibly 'deeper' than actavis. Also, accord crumbles when cut in half, actavis doesn't crumble??
I just replied to Bantam12
I have reported Almus for crumbling. The MHRA sent the details on to Almus, who sent the details on to Accord. Their Quality Control have been told there is an issue. I have had several phone calls already and they do appear to be taking it seriously. (And every individual has been very pleasant. Which always helps.)
Please consider filling in a Yellow Card (if you have not already done so). I am pretty convinced there is a batch issue - rather than an Almus versus Accord issue.
As you are very knowledgeable on thyroid issues would you mind reading my new post on 'LDN and Hashimoto's'.
Only asking because if something sounds 'too good to be true, then it normally is 'too good to be true'.
Apologies for going 'off subject'.
Just a pain in the butt that I cannot sit at Computer just yet......Would all be so so much easier (spine fractures prevent that just now)!!
Since Actavis has changed to accord I’m feeling really unwell but every one saying they are the same but I feel really unwell
I SO SO AGREE. THEY ARE COMPOUNDED DIFFERENTLY REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE LEAFLET SAYS AND I'VE BEEN getting lousy groin/stomach probs on top of loads of other symptoms. Can I ask what your symptoms are to see if we have any comparisons 
Muscle cramps groin weakness no energy full body ache
Absolutely same with me!! A living nightmare! Today I found out results of x ray on my knees - osteoarthritis on top of shoulder, arm, leg pains, neck etc etc exhaustive list....groin weakness or pain or both tamina xx sending hugs
P.S. I rang GP AGAIN today and finally they have sent a prescription for liquid levo to pharmacy for me to try! It will be ready to collect tomorrow.
I can only 'pray' I don't have problems with it. I don't know what brand/make it will be until I collect it. I will be checking excipients Before I leave the Pharmacy!
In theory it should only contain Levo , glycerol and water. I will let you know when I have it.
Have you ever tried liquid levo?
Thyb has just filled one of these in. Are you in a position to do so?
Please consider filling in a Yellow Card (if you have not already done so). I am pretty convinced there is a batch issue - rather than an Almus versus Accord issue.
I’ve completed the yellow card helvella
Every single one helps.
You’re not alone tamina, I have been feeling progressively worse since they changed my brand to accord. As well as post nasal drip, I’m exhausted all the time, I ache all over and have terrible headaches. However it’s the PND that made me realise it could be the change in brand.
What is PND
Post Nasal Drip a feeling of 'feeling you need to constantly clear your throat or swallow, a feeling of nausea from excess mucus moving into your stomach', can cause a cough, a steady trickle of mucus from the sinuses that irritates the throat etc......can cause sinus and ear infections 'a breeding ground for germs' - I take Acidiphilus Plus probiotic (and hope for best).
My Post nasal drip made my tonsils very sore - hospital was on the verge of taking them out. I joined this group and realised it could be teva, I then changed to actavis and never experienced PND again until now when accord have taken over actavis.
Post nasal drip often indicates lactose intolerance
Were you on lactose free brand previously?
No - they all have lactose in and I have never had an intolerance to dairy products. I was really hoping this was the answer. I’m going to double check the amounts in each 👍🏻. Honestly feel like I’m going crazy with these symptoms 😕.
Lactose and gluten intolerance often only become apparent once on levothyroxine
verywellhealth.com/allergic...
thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/240...
Lactose intolerance was diagnosed in 75.9 % of the patients with HT
read.qxmd.com/read/24796930...
These findings show that lactose intolerance significantly increased the need for oral T4 in hypothyroid patients.
Would you mind reading my latest post on LDN and Hashimoto's? If it is a 'cure' why hasn't Endo/GP got any knowledge?
Never tried it.
Far more important to get on decent dose levothyroxine (and eventually T3 if required) in my opinion
Unfortunately, since I was diagnosed Hypo in 2011, regardless of TSH results GP has NEVER suggested an increase!
I did not have hypo symptoms prior to being diagnosed though.
My problems started whilst taking levo.
With Hindsight, horrid bereavement 2010, Bungalow for Sale 2011, periods ceased 2011, I truly believe I had multifactorial/multi faceted symptoms from stress and aforementioned AT THAT Time!
I had zero idea what the thyroid did nor where it was!
Only since joining this site this year in May have I had ANY Insight....
Knowing what I know now....Firstly, I would have taken recommended vits/supplements on this site for 3 Months and then had a thyroid function test...i know too well Hindsight cannot affect Today.
I had Never taken vits/supplements in my Life until May this Year....
regardless of TSH results GP has NEVER suggested an increase!
Guidelines are quite clear. Levothyroxine doesn’t “top up” failing thyroid, it replaces it.
Disastrous to be left on inadequate dose
But, I don't know exactly what to do presently.....Any thoughts welcome?
Are you still taking vits and supplements ? Have you considered it may be one of them making you feel ill, I am totally intolerant to any supplements so cannot take anything.
Same here. No problem with Actavis. Teva - lots of problems. I had tonsillitis twice within a very short space of time, I did not connect it with thyroid meds. The thyroid meds. rebranding is constant & extremely confusing.
I agree thyroid rebranding and companies taking over each other is so confusing.Chemists at one time got you the brand you needed. Now it's well this is the only stock we have and its that or nothing. Even though each script states MP fro GP. It makes no difference.
Same story here in us right now. Just got sick from Teva and am now trying Accord and still doesn't match up. Exhausted and nothing seems right about it.
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