i have been on Levothyroxine for nearly 20 years, for the vast majority of that time i was taking Actavis levo 150mcg daily, then around the time the company was taken over or changed it's name to Accord i started for the very first time to have very significant side effects and continued to have them until i changed to Mercury Pharma about 9 months ago to test if it was actually Actavis i was reacting to or something else, after being on MP for a couple of months the Actavis side effects seemed to dissipate although not disappear altogether. I am aware other people have reacted to Actavis around the same time as the name change although some didn't.
Apart from the fact i don't think Mercury Pharma is as strong as Actavis has anyone else noticed a difference with MP when opening a new pack, there does not seem to be the same consistency of effect as i found with Actavis, ie, i notice that every time i open a new months supply that it can affect me differently until i am about 10 days in to that particular months pack and my body is starting to get used to the slight difference, it affects me both emotionally and physically, i am just wondering if it's me or anyone else has noticed any difference when opening new packs of M Pharma ???
I never had that issue with Actavis at all, every pack seemed to be exactly the same as any previous and very consistent and i noticed no change whatsoever to how i felt after opening a new box/packet.
Any advice or comments very welcome.
Many thanks
Steve.
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SPD1
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The only problem I noticed with Actavis/Accord has been the tendency to crumble as they are popped out of the blister. A minor issue. And only happened sometimes.
However it is vital that we all appreciate what might not affect me could affect someone else - and vice versa.
Potency can indeed vary. But they are expected to target a potency of 100%. And that potency has to be maintained within range from manufacture through to the expiry date. So we can realistically expect a significantly smaller range of potency in the tablets arriving in our hands as, mostly, they have at least several months till expiry, often well over a year.
(Also need to remember that the old Teva had the right amount of levothyroxine in the tablets. But an unauthorised substitution of an ingredient meant it was not free to be absorbed in a human gut. So issues other than strict laboratory potency can have an impact.)
Hi Helvella, i appreciate the point you make about us all being different but what i struggled with was how after donkeys years being absolutely fine on Actavis/ Accord i then reacted really badly but i had been through 2 really bad incidents in the previous 18 months that i detailed in earlier posts that might have actually been the cause of the ongoing issues rather than the Actavis tablets themselves, hard to say., but as i mentioned i do remember no inconsistencies whatsoever in the way i felt at all when opening new boxes of Actavis whereas i now definitely notice a difference regularly with new MP boxes. i was just curious if anyone else was noticing the inconsistencies as much as myself.
Hi Susie, i remember you use Actavis/Accord and had no issues but unfortunately i had very significant ones after being absolutely fine on Actavis for donkeys years, it all changed for me around the name change time, it all seemed too coincidental and didn't really make any sense to me to react in the way i did after being so well on Actavis for so many years, i know others like yourself noticed no difference but i've also noticed other people post on here about differences they had experienced with it around or since the name change, bit bizarre really.
I never noticed any difference whatsoever batch after batch for all those previous years with Actavis prior to me having all the problems i experienced i definitely can tell a difference with Mercury Pharma though every time i open new boxes and that's why i was just wondering if anyone else was noticing or maybe its just me having a super sensitive system
Hopefully someone who uses MP will pop along and comment
Yes, there are a few who have definitely noticed a difference (possibly more haven't noticed any difference). Hard to know why, possibly some mysterious thing in our individual make up can cause these things.
Hi. I started getting horrible side effects when Actavis changed to accord. I didn’t notice the name change at first but definitely noticed the symptoms. I had some Mercury levo so stopped my accord and switched for a couple of weeks do Mercury. The symptoms stopped after a couple of days. I carried on with the Mercury for a few weeks then to test I wasn’t going mad, opened a new packed of accord and started taking them. Literally within a day I started reacting. Actavis was the brand I was very happy with so it was devastating to suddenly start having side effects. I rang the Gp and got him to write me a new prescription for Mercury and been on them since. I did have migraines with Aura for around two weeks after the switch but they have subsided now as a reaction to the levothyroxine
Hi, do you mind me asking what the side effects were with Actavis just so i can compare??
mine were arm tremors, leg tremors, leg weakness, muscle twitching, blurred vision, breathlessness, light headed, alarming head hair loss, mental sharpness decline, sleep issues..
And you feel as good now on MP as you did before with Actavis before the issues? and i assume you have noticed no difference between MP batches as you haven't mentioned.
I have been on Actavis for about 15 years with no problems. Now Accord has taken over I have a bad reaction that I get when certain brands don't agree with me. I stopped the Accord 5 days ago, and symptoms have subsided.I am still trying to resolve this with my GP.
Hi SPD1 I have been taking Activis now Accord for the past couple of years after having had a very bad experience with Teva which left me very poorly indeed. I too had been doing very well on Activis to the point where I felt almost "normal" but I have recently been getting restless legs after having been in bed for about 15/20 mins and they last for about an hour which is really getting me down as it is stopping me getting to sleep which I find hard enough to do anyway! I remember this is one of the symptoms I had when I was on Teva so I am really concerned as this seems to have started since the change to Accord. I am really suspicious that they have changed something although they say they haven't but can we take their word for it? I am going to see how I get on and if RL persists I will probably have to change brand again!!!
Hi Elsa, mine was more leg tremors and leg weakness along with a significant number of other symptoms rather than leg restlessness but of course we are all different in how we can be affected or react. Its interesting how the change from Actavis to Accord has affected some people but not others but then again i suppose that is down to an individuals system. I am also very suspicious of them saying nothing has changed as i have difficulty getting my head around being absolutely fine for many years on the product and then all of a sudden developing all sorts of issues around the time of the name change, bit too coincidental for me.
If it is only restless leg syndrome is it possible it might be something else causing it if you have no other new symptoms or side effects like you did with Teva? just a thought.
Hi SPD 1, My reaction is not to Actavis, but all other brands. I get a severe itchy rash on my upper chest, neck and the sides if my face. It looks and feels like I have been in a blast, raised red angry sore painful skin. Actavis is the only one I have been able to tolerate. And now that has been taken over I'm in despair. I know they have changed something because of the reaction above.
Hi, its rather puzzling how some people are affected and others are not but again that's down to individual systems and how sensitive they are i suppose. I switched to Mercury Pharma which i have been having slight issues with hence my original post.
I have been on Levothyroxine for about four years. The Mercury Pharma is what I started on and it continues to be effective for me. A few years ago my pharmacy gave me some Levo made by Accord and it didn't take long to start feeling like s... well you know. It is difficult to describe how I felt, just not good. I went back to the MP Levo and it didn't take long to get back to normal. Through my GP, the pharmacy has been instructed to only supply the MP product.
Some time back I started getting leg and back pains, almost debilitating. With my GP we discussed the cause might be sciatica. In the meantime my brain doctor ordered a blood test and when the results came back she immediately upped my dose of Levo my 50mcg. After a few days all leg and back pains disappeared. I was a happy guy!
Hi, sounds like you are back on track which is excellent news doesnt seem as though any or many people are noticing any inconsistencies with Mercury Pharma, maybe its me and my Mega sensitive system..
One thing I forgot to mention; It seems different manufacturers use different "fillers" in their Levothyroxine product. I suppose it could it could also mean the same manufacturer uses different fillers in different batches of the same product. However, again the MercuryPharma product seems to be the best for me.
I feel a better word than fillers is the one used in the pharmaceutical industry - excipients.
The word "fillers" seems to imply they are there to bulk up, that they do nothing positive. But many excipients have very important functions. Such as preserving, aiding disintegration, protecting from atmosphere, moisture, stomach acid, etc.
Each formulation is separately authorised and the full list of all ingredients (active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and excipients) are defined. Manufacturers cannot simply change an excipient. All batches should have the same ingredients.
(However, the old formulation of Teva levothyroxine from around 2012 did have an excipient switched without authorisation. And it caused many problems. The change was just a slightly different form of the substance.)
Of course, issues can still arise. For example, two different sources of one excipient might be slightly different. Or impurities from failing to clean all equipment and machinery to official standards.
The manufacturer might request authorisation to change an excipient. But that would not be a batch-to-batch variation.
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