Teva levothyroxine

[foxglove]

What are the adverse side effects that patients experience from Teva levothyroxine?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

foxglove

Members have had different reactions, have a look through some of the Related Posts (to the right of the page on a PC) or do a search to see how members have been affected. You may or may not have the same reactions.

[foxglove in reply to SeasideSusie]

Have had a look at the related posts, the problem I have is that my medical practice pharmacy say Teva is the only brand they can get. I am elderly and have circulation problems as well and really don't feel up to "trekking" round the different pharmacies and of course convenient to get scripts dispensed where prescribed Also other pharmacies may in turn also have problems.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to foxglove]

Have you tried Teva? If you have and it's causing you problems then you'll need to find a way to get another brand. If you haven't tried it you don't know whether or not you will have any adverse reactions to it, some people find that Teva suits them very well and prefer that brand.

[foxglove in reply to SeasideSusie]

Yes I've tried Teva and just don't feel "right" Sorry to be so vague but I've lots of problems besides thyroid so maybe Teva not the baddie

[fuchsia-pink in reply to foxglove]

Once you are sure the culprit is Teva, it's worth "yellow-card"-ing it - and getting the GP to put "not Teva" on the prescription. And tell your pharmacy that you NEED a different brand

I'm lucky - have an excellent pharmacy - but if you drop the repeat prescription into the pharmacy rather than the GP, that gives them several days to source some non-Teva levo for you. And always check it's not Teva before you leave the pharmacy because they may still sneak Teva into the paper bag and then refuse to replace it x

[Hidden in reply to fuchsia-pink]

Also Teva is being served up in Accord(?) or Actavis (sorry can’t remember) boxes at the moment too

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Hidden]

I do not recognise that story at all.

[fuchsia-pink in reply to Hidden]

It's in Northstar 25 mcg boxes - the other Northstar boxes are Accord/Actavis x

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to fuchsia-pink]

Ah! Yes. I was going down the "at the moment" path and not catching what was meant.

As you say - exactly - and permanently. (At least as permanent as anything like this is!)

[Hidden in reply to fuchsia-pink]

Yes that’s it. I’ve been stung a couple of times and just checked the box and not what was inside.

[randomlil in reply to fuchsia-pink]

I was given the Northstar (Teva) 25mcg a week and a half ago plus my usual Almus (Accord) 100mcg. I take 137.5 daily so two or one of the 25’s on alternate days. After taking two Teva I felt dizzy when getting out of bed next morning. After five days had spinning room symptom when lying in bed and turning head to the right, together with random dizzy spells the previous days. Also suffered from lack of concentration and slight ‘brain fog’. I have stopped taking them three days ago and split my 100’s after talking to GP. Today no dizziness and feel almost back to normal.

[fuchsia-pink in reply to randomlil]

Deffo "yellow card" it then, and ask the GP for a "no Teva prescription x

[randomlil in reply to fuchsia-pink]

GP added “no Teva” to my prescription but somehow I was given more of the 25mcg about 4 months later. I decided to take some as a test and I had no repeat of the vertigo so I have had the “no Teva” removed from my notes. Decided not to yellow card.

After my COVID booster mid October 2021 I had first hives for several months, then the vertigo for a few weeks, then palpitations for several months all of which have now gone away. Overlapping with these symptoms - from Jan 2022 had an extensive rash which was gradually getting worse, diagnosed as fungal infection. This has cleared up in the past few weeks with treatment. Hmmm….

I have never ever suffered from any of these before. I have no health problems at all apart from long-standing hypothyroidism.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Many people find Levothyroxine brands are not interchangeable.

Many patients do NOT get on well with Teva brand of Levothyroxine.

Teva poll

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

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

But for some people (usually if lactose intolerant, Teva is by far the best option)

Teva, Aristo and Glenmark are the only lactose free tablets

Most easily available (and often most easily tolerated) are Mercury Pharma or Accord

Accord is also boxed as Almus via Boots, and Northstar 50mcg and 100mcg via Lloyds ....but beware 25mcg Northstar is Teva

List of different brands available in U.K.

thyroiduk.org/medications-f...

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

[QandA in reply to SlowDragon]

Do you know if actavis is now part of Teva? I've just googled actavis to see if I could find an address for the manufacturer/supplier before going to my pharmacy for the next prescription, but on the first page is a question and answer about actavis now being part of teva.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to QandA]

Activis is now Accord

Many people are convinced that Activis tablets have changed since rebranded as Accord ...though ingredients are still same

[QandA in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you!

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to QandA]

No they are not.

As I understand, things went something like this:

In or around 1979, Cox pharma moved to Barnstaple.

In or around 1998, Cox were acquired by Alpharma.

In or around 2005, Actavis acquired Alpharma.

In or around 2015, Teva acquired a large part of Actavis but one of the conditions was that they disposed of the bit of Actavis in Barnstaple.

In or around 2017, Accord (itself a subsidiary of the Indian company Intas) acquired Actavis in Barnstaple.

More recently, Accord have rebranded former Actavis products as Accord.

You can find company details for most pharmaceutical companies on the EMC website:

medicines.org.uk/emc/compan...

[QandA in reply to helvella]

Thank you!

[An_Apple_A_Day]

hello foxglove,I also take Teva uk Levothyroxine I have just went and looked at the information leaflet that comes in the packet. There is a very long list and you says you should report any side effects. Do you have your information leaflet?

[foxglove in reply to An_Apple_A_Day]

Thanks will check

[QandA]

I was just about to ask the same question before seeing your post near the top of the page. Every time I go to my usual pharmacy the first thing they offer is Teva and keep saying they can't always guarantee to have another brand. Tried another pharmacy the other day and all they had was Teva. I avoid it from hearing that it doesn't agree with a lot of people but have never tried it and not sure I want to but it would be a lot easier as it seems to be the most stocked brand. I see it was withdrawn in 2012 and then reinstated in 2016 and wonder if people are still having problems with it since then.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to QandA]

The product which was withdrawn in 2012 was an entirely different formulation of levothyroxine.

This MHRA report was primarily addressing the issues of that recall:

Levothyroxine: a review of clinical and quality considerations

MHRA review of levothyroxine products in response to concerns about potential inconsistencies of different products.

gov.uk/government/publicati...

The "New Formulation" launched in 2016 is a completely different recipe.

The problems people had in 2012 were entirely different. Effectively, people were under-dosed.

[AlisonL]

When I have had Teva I've felt generally more hypo and foggy, which I know is a bit vague. I'm tired a lot, but it's a different level of tired when on Teva, along with more aches and pains plus mysterious skin rashes, mouth ulcers and feeling fluey. I really wanted to believe it wasn't the Teva as it's such a pain to avoid getting it, but after another prescription containing it recently I'm pretty sure it was.

[Bearo]

So many different pharmacies offer to pick up your prescription and deliver to your door you shouldn’t need to stick with the pharmacy at your surgery. But changing pharmacy would involve phoning different ones to see which brands they carry and whether they can get a preferred brand for you.

I’ve been given Teva every month for the last year. I don’t seem to have any problems with it but I thought I’d ask the pharmacy if they have other brands. They answered, “we just get what we are sent”.

I phoned another pharmacy who confirmed they have other brands, so I decided to switch to see if I would feel any different on something else. But before I switched the original pharmacy delivered my latest prescription....and it was Mercury Pharma. ......And it doesn’t feel any different.

[jsy_girl in reply to Bearo]

I was just wondering the same. Should I try another brand? I doubt I’d notice but then unless you try...

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to jsy_girl]

When I started on levothyroxine, I decided that it wouldn't make any difference which make I took. Those issues only affected some people - but not me.

I was proved wrong.

Fairly tolerant but no way will I take Teva. So I try to keep to what I have found OK.

[jsy_girl in reply to helvella]

It’s just the matter of whether what you’ve found that’s okay really is okay or could you be better. Altho curiosity killed the cat. ...Maybe at some point I’ll look into it. Ha ha.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to jsy_girl]

Fully understand - I have tried enough to feel I know. But if you have only tried A and B - all you can tell is whether A is better than B - or vice versa.