Teva Levothroxine T4

[Maylonn]

Has anyone out there had a problem with heartbeat ( ectopic beats/palpatation) whilst taking Teva levothroxine? Right now, I mean!!

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Thousands of people can not tolerate Teva brand of levothyroxine

What brand were you on before?

How much levothyroxine are you currently taking?

Many patients do NOT get on well with Teva brand of Levothyroxine. Teva contains mannitol as a filler, which seems to be possible cause of problems. Teva is the only brand that makes 75mcg tablet. So if avoiding Teva for 75mcg dose ask for 25mcg to add to 50mcg or just extra 50mcg tablets to cut in half

dropbox.com/s/6h3h0qi4eqwi6...

Teva poll

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Get new prescription for levothyroxine

Request that note is added to all future prescriptions to read “no Teva”

Many people find Levothyroxine brands are not interchangeable.

Once you find a brand that suits you, best to make sure to only get that one at each prescription.

Watch out for brand change when dose is increased or at repeat prescription.

academic.oup.com/jcem/artic...

Physicians should: 1) alert patients that preparations may be switched at the pharmacy; 2) encourage patients to ask to remain on the same preparation at every pharmacy refill; and 3) make sure patients understand the need to have their TSH retested and the potential for dosing readjusted every time their LT4 preparation is switched (18).

Levothyroxine is an extremely fussy hormone and should always be taken on an empty stomach and then nothing apart from water for at least an hour after

Many people take Levothyroxine soon after waking, but it may be more convenient and perhaps more effective taken at bedtime

verywellhealth.com/best-tim...

No other medication or supplements at same as Levothyroxine, leave at least 2 hour gap.

Some like iron, calcium, magnesium, HRT, omeprazole or vitamin D should be four hours away

(Time gap doesn't apply to Vitamin D mouth spray)

If you normally take levothyroxine at bedtime/in night ...adjust timings as follows prior to blood test

If testing Monday morning, delay Saturday evening dose levothyroxine until Sunday morning. Delay Sunday evening dose levothyroxine until after blood test on Monday morning. Take Monday evening dose levothyroxine as per normal

Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after any dose change or brand change in levothyroxine

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)

If/when also on T3, make sure to take last third or quarter 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?

[Maylonn in reply to SlowDragon]

I'm on 125mcg daily. Don't know what brand I had before, but no problem ( over 30 years) of taking Levothyroxine. The trouble started in June this year after 3 weeks of taking the Teva. I had noticed that the 25mcg were the same size as the 100mcg, which was unusual. Dr did ECG's n blood tests n nothing unusual, apart from the ectopic beats, now n again. In October I was issued with Mercury Pharma 100mcg n Teva 25mcg, so I switched totally to the MP by dividing the 100. Now 3 weeks on, heartbeat is almost always OK, so, have mentioned it to GP, who wasn't that interested! How can I make sure I get the MP next time,?

[elwins in reply to Maylonn]

I have been having problems with Teva, have switched back to my previous brand much better on that, I get a 50+25 which makes up my dose of 75. I also did a yellow card report. As advised make sure the chemist puts a note on your records, I also asked the surgery to note my records no teva as well. Hope you will soon feel better

[Maylonn in reply to elwins]

Thanks for advice! Was beginning to wonder if I was the only 1 experiencing probs! Actually emailed Teva who assured me I was imagining it( basically)

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Maylonn]

As SlowDragon said, Yellow Card time:

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[elwins in reply to Maylonn]

You are definitely not imagining it, Teva are wrong in what they say.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Maylonn]

Put in yellow card in against Teva

yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk

You can have note added to ALL future prescriptions

“No Teva”

“Mercury Pharma brand only”

You may need to take prescription to different pharmacy to get brand you need, often small independent pharmacies are more helpful

[Maylonn in reply to SlowDragon]

Thanks for advice, much appreciated!! If I can locate my GP (do they still exist?) I will certainly try.

[Maylonn in reply to SlowDragon]

Thanks for good advice!

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Thousands of people can not tolerate Teva brand of levothyroxine

What brand were you on before?

How much levothyroxine are you currently taking?

Many patients do NOT get on well with Teva brand of Levothyroxine. Teva contains mannitol as a filler, which seems to be possible cause of problems. Teva is the only brand that makes 75mcg tablet. So if avoiding Teva for 75mcg dose ask for 25mcg to add to 50mcg or just extra 50mcg tablets to cut in half

dropbox.com/s/6h3h0qi4eqwi6...

Teva poll

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Get new prescription for levothyroxine

Request that note is added to all future prescriptions to read “no Teva”

Many people find Levothyroxine brands are not interchangeable.

Once you find a brand that suits you, best to make sure to only get that one at each prescription.

Watch out for brand change when dose is increased or at repeat prescription.

academic.oup.com/jcem/artic...

Physicians should: 1) alert patients that preparations may be switched at the pharmacy; 2) encourage patients to ask to remain on the same preparation at every pharmacy refill; and 3) make sure patients understand the need to have their TSH retested and the potential for dosing readjusted every time their LT4 preparation is switched (18).

Levothyroxine is an extremely fussy hormone and should always be taken on an empty stomach and then nothing apart from water for at least an hour after

Many people take Levothyroxine soon after waking, but it may be more convenient and perhaps more effective taken at bedtime

verywellhealth.com/best-tim...

No other medication or supplements at same as Levothyroxine, leave at least 2 hour gap.

Some like iron, calcium, magnesium, HRT, omeprazole or vitamin D should be four hours away

(Time gap doesn't apply to Vitamin D mouth spray)

If you normally take levothyroxine at bedtime/in night ...adjust timings as follows prior to blood test

If testing Monday morning, delay Saturday evening dose levothyroxine until Sunday morning. Delay Sunday evening dose levothyroxine until after blood test on Monday morning. Take Monday evening dose levothyroxine as per normal

Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after any dose change or brand change in levothyroxine

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)

If/when also on T3, make sure to take last third or quarter 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?