Hi , I’m currently taking 200 mcg levothyroxine and been absolutely fine for just over a year , my normal levo brand that is dispensed have normally been Northstar . My latest prescription has been changed to Aristo I’ve been taking them just over a week and the last three days I just feel like my body is completely shutting down in the afternoon , I’m fine in the morning but my goodness I feel poorly later in the day no energy and body aches , headaches , joints and muscles are so sore . It maybe just a coincidence but I can’t help but think it’s something to do with this change in prescription. I don’t think it can be a virus as I feel fine in the mornings. Has anyone else had a similar experience with Aristo . I’ve been looking in the forum and it seems many people seem to get on with it … any advice is welcome . Many thanks
Aristo Levothyroxine : Hi , I’m currently taking... - Thyroid UK
Aristo Levothyroxine
Request new prescription and ensure you get Northstar - which is Accord brand. Also available in Boots as Almus
Many people find different brands are not interchangeable
Aristo is lactose free.
Thanks Slow Dragon as always , obviously if you’re lactose intolerant they may suit you , but would the lack of lactose be a problem to be someone who isn’t then ? Why would lactose be included in levo or not ? Just curious.
I think the issue can be that when they take the lactose out they put mannitol in and a lot of people don't get on with that.
First thing tomorrow ring GP and ask for a replacement prescription asap as you are feeling very unwell on this different brand. If you always use the same pharmacy go in there and tell them what's happened and see if they will give you a few of your normal brand ahead of your script being delivered and ask them to put it on file that you always want the same brand. Check prescription bag before you walk away from the counter every time. If it's wrong you can hand it straight back and ask for a replacement. If you walk away they will refuse you if you go back.
Thanks so much for your advice . Never knew about this mannitol I’ve got some old 50mcg Northstar so I’ll just take them short term . I can’t believe a different brand can make you so poorly again you’d just think levo was levo . Oh well obviously not . Many thanks for taking the time to advise .
Many of us find they are not interchangeable for one filler or another. Teva is a huge NoNo! for me. I yellow carded it. I was on it for a week and had a massive nose bleed, I mean massive, over an hour standing over the sink with it running down the plug. I was terrified. I don't have nose bleeds. No doctor believed me that it was the change of brand. But I know it was. Teva has Mannitol in it. So avoid that one! I have it on the pharmacy records now, no Teva. I seem to tolerate Almus, Mercury Pharma and Wockhard well enough.
Oh my goodness sounds horrendous! Poor you … I honestly can’t believe how terrible Aristo has made me feel , just imagine if you’d just been diagnosed hypo and given the wrong levo , some poor people must think their going mad ! At least I’m lucky enough to know what being well feels like again enough to know that something wasn’t right .
I think our instinct works very well when something unusual happens within our body.
Just like GPs and Endos believe that levothyroxine suits every hypothyroid patient which, on this site, we are fully aware this isn't true.
Not sure Aristo does contain mannitol (I know the lactose-free Teva does though ...) - Thyroid UK site shows:
Product Name Levothyroxine (Aristo) - 100mcg Tablets (Lactose Free)
Email info@aristo-pharma.de
Ingredients
Anhydrous levothyroxine sodium, microcrystalline cellulose, maize starch, heavy magnesium oxide, sodium starch glycolate type A, magnesium stearate
If you know you don't get on with mnnitol, be careful with Northstar - the 25 mcg are Teva in a Northstar box - so lactose free but with mannitol - the 50 and 100 are Accord/ Almus
But do a "yellow card" report on the Aristo as it's not suiting you x
Many thanks for your reply , I’m having problems with Aristo Levo so I guess as I’m ok with Northstar and Teva that mannitol isn’t the issue .
Northstar 50mcg and 100mcg are Accord brand
(But Northstar 25mcg is Teva)
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.
New guidelines from Government for GP if you find it difficult/impossible to change brands
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
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).
Northstar 50mcg and 100mcg are Accord brand
(But Northstar 25mcg is Teva)
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.
New guidelines from Government for GP if you find it difficult/impossible to change brands
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
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).
Our bodies do let us know what suits it or not, even to chocolate for instance. Many enjoy a bar of chocolate but for some it can have a bad effect.
Hi Shaw’s many thanks for your reply , I cant believe after all these years of feeling well again that we really are walking such a fine line and when we fall off it hits you so hard . It’s shocked me if I’m honest .
Yes it would shock as we get used to being symptom-free and having normal health again.
It's as if we have to be 'detectives' to try to solve why we feel unwell again.
Hopefully, we can find a reason but not if our preference for certain thyroid hormones is withdrawn altogether and there's no alternative for it.
The BTA etc don't really seem to put patients at the forefront as they've withdrawn NDTs - despite its safety proven from 1892 and given without blood tests at all. As it contains all of the hormones a healthy thyroid gland would have why have they removed it?????????.
Also T3s - have to be prescribed by Endocrinologists. Surely that - in itself - will cause more money to be taken from the NHS i.e. more appointments hoping that endo will prescribe (probably will not).
They have no identical hormone replacement to NDTs.
It's well seen that due to the fact that more females develop thyroid gland problems, we're dismissed.
Endos daren't prescribe T3s to hypo patients as they will probably be reprimanded as everything is down to cost.
Our old-fashioned doctors needed no blood tests at all. They were fully well aware of how to diagnose one of the commonest autoimmune conditions and people were given a 'trial' to see if it improved health.
I have read a 'Last Testament' from a woman who could no longer continue life at all and she left it for the Coroner to read. Probably hoping that it might help to change attitudes/hormones. How very sad and pitiful that a human being has to take such a decision.
Whilst I completely agree with your sentiments I can’t” like” a reply with such a sad outcome …. Poor lady . I realise that I am lucky and that Levo suits me (unless it’s Aristo !)but my heart goes out to the poor people who can’t get the meds they need for a normal life , T3 , NDT and such like ,you basically have to enter a murky world to get the medication you need from overseas , and I guess hand on heart don’t really know what your actually paying for but just praying it’s going to be from a reputable source and make you feel well again . Whilst I know that we should get subsidised meds on the NHS surely there should be a governed route where medication can be purchased from wherever in the world we want as long as we have a prescription, and let everyone be their best selves and not end up like the poor lady in your reply . I’ve felt terrible again for just three days to the point I couldn’t function properly luckily with the help of kind souls like yourself on this forum I am able to find a way forward again.I just feel so awfully sorry for the people out there who never get the opportunity to live life to it’s fullest again . Let’s pray one day we have someone in a position of power who suffers from one of our conditions and actually has an appetite to change this poverty of thyroid medication.
The same thing happened to me. I normally get Accord/Northstar but 2 months ago the pharmacy couldn't get 100mcg Northstar so gave me Aristo. ( I can't take Teva and I don't get on well with Mercury Pharma either.)Like you, I didn't feel well at all and stopped them after a week.
I was able to take 2 of my 50mcg Northstar in place of one 100 mcg. Why didn't the pharmacy just double up on the 50mcg instead of giving me a different brand?? It's not rocket science
😂😡.
Thanks for sharing your experience, it’s so comforting to know that you’re not the only one who has experienced this … I can’t believe we spend years researching these forums to put the right medication and vitamins and supplements into our bodies and just a simple change of levothyroxine brand can have such a devastating affect on how you feel. Talk about walking a tightrope!
Yes. I had Artiso for 2 months and felt like i was hypho one day and hyper the next. I was on 100mg. Back on my normal ones now and seem to be settling down again. But really sore neck and tingling toes still. Got hosp app next week.
Unbelievable I’ve got a sore neck and my toes feel so bruised like I’ve been wearing shoes 2 sizes too small . How strange ! Oh well back on an old supply of 50mcg Northstar now hope to feel better soon .
Apparently feet can also be affected by hypo:-
I don't know anything about your brand of T4. But I can suggest trying to split your T4 . I split my T4 .I don't get the peaks and valleys like I used to get when I dosed once a day. And the afternoon slumps are gone. It's a bit bothersome but worth it.Best wishes.
Hi jgelliss many thanks for your reply . I’ve been on levothyroxine for over 5 years now and now .I’m on an optimal dose for me (200 mcg) and generally feel great . My problem is I was dispensed another brand of levothyroxine (Aristo)and it has knocked me for 6 ! So if I use my normal Northstar brand I hope I’ll feel better again . Many thanks for taking the time to reply .
I have problems with activas - breathlessness and aching joints feeling steadily worse and worse
but feel good with Teva , my GP at the time told me it would not be the brand and decided I had other things but my pharmacy helped me to identify the problem
I now only have Teva the aching and the weird breathless went away
I so weird how some of us can tolerate some brands that other just can’t get on with , when Levothyroxine is supposed to be the same …. It’s like not getting on with a brand of paracetamol (which I can take any and have no problem as I guess everyone can 🤔) so surely to have all these people like me and you and many others that have replied and other posts that I’ve read , there must be a problem with the regulations as all levo tablets cannot be the same can they ?
One of the huge differences is that it really makes little difference if your dose of paracetamol is up or down 20% - or any other feasible amount.
Indeed, many choose their dose on the basis of "one or two tablets" likely without even reading the dosage.
If an ingredient of one make of paracetamol reduced the amount you absorb by 25%, would you be sure to notice? I doubt I would.
Hi Hashiman,Like you, I was on 200mcg levo for about a year a few years into Hashis and feeling well, but suddenly I started to feel breathless with fatigue, headaches and generalised aches and pains. After having a SVT, a blood test showed my TSH had dived and T4 way over the top so my levo was reduced to 175. Gradually over the years my medication was reduced to 125mcg where I have been stable for about 10 years now.
I was wondering whether you had considered that 200mcg might be too much for you now, as needs change over time.
I hope you find the answer and feel better soon.
Hi Clover29 , many thanks for taking the time to reply. I only went to see the endo last week and although TSH is below normal range (0.3) my T4 was mid range ish at 15 so he was happy to keep me on 200mcg as I generally feel “normal” these days thank goodness . My problem was purely the Aristo brand of Levo dispensed by the GP surgery and since I’ve replaced with Northstar on Sunday again I literally felt better within a day or so , I still ache all over but hope this will pass soon . I’m very mindful that I am on a high dose of Levo and will keep an eye out for palpitations and hyper symptoms as you have pointed out . Once again many thanks for your input .
Hi, I'm feeling the same and it's getting worse. I haven't been paying any attention to the brand I have been using as everything has been going well. I'm going to see my pharmacist tomorrow to see if I have always been using aristo or if it changed for my last prescription.
I like you was on Northstar Levothyroxine (100mcg) and my chemist gave me Aristo 4 months ago. I have been feeling awful for the past 3 months and had to go into hospital on Sunday as I had racing heart and high blood pressure. Thought I was going to die!!! It calmed down but I have tinnitus I feel exhausted. My doctor has given me a new script for Northstar picking up today and having more blood tests. Can't believe how I'll this has made me. Lots of sympathy for you and all others with this problem hope you're ok now!
Hello casgold51 , I am sorry to hear you've been so poorly. As mentioned above, when you've had hashimoto's for so long and been feeling so well, at first you think you may have a virus etc ... but after all these years of feeling so well I guess the first thing we should all do is question what's changed ? Diet , supplements , amount of exercise , Prescription, as this is generally the route of any of my issues now . I really do feel for you as Aristo levo made me feel so poorly but luckily I got to the bottom of it in a couple of weeks. I think if i'd been on it for 4 months as you have been , I would have been very i'll indeed. Hopefully you'll be on the mend soon and back feeling your best 😊
hi, I’ve recently changed to this med aswell and having lots of pains, also had bloods done and my levels are raised to 22, so I’m now over medicating, so believe this is why I’m in pain and headaches.
I wish the pharmacy would let you know.
I too was changed from my usual Accord tablet to Aristo and I have been experiencing achy feet and lower leg aches. At nighttime the throbbing and tightness has kept me awake. I’m now back on Accord. Don’t know for sure obviously if the change of tablet manufacturer was the cause of the problem as it could be something else entirely. It’s just odd that it started after I had been changed over.
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