Mercury Pharma Liothyronine

[130396]

has anyone heard that Mercury Pharma T3 are no longer available?

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

There have been questions over availability of all Mercury Pharma thyroid medicines for many months now.

Everyone who gets in touch with the company appears to get told all is well. But pharmacists say they can't get any.

[130396 in reply to helvella]

Thank you helvella.

What would be the best option if the pharmacy can’t obtain it please

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to 130396]

I don't take T3 so have no personal experience.

The least expensive option is Roma at £55 for 28 - but they are capsules so the prescription might need to be rewritten. If you don't get on with the capsules themselves, you can take just the powder contents in a little water.

helvella - Thyroid Hormone Medicines

I have created, and try to maintain, a document containing details of all thyroid hormone medicines in the UK and, in less detail, many others around the world. It is sectioned by UK - rest of the world, and by T4, T3, desiccated thyroid, etc.

And do keep up to date. I edit it frequently - sometimes trivially, sometimes extensively. If your copy is more than a few weeks old, please download it again. (You must download - not just view in a browser - for the Table of Contents to work.)

From Dropbox:

dropbox.com/s/wfhrlmb5983co...

From Google Drive:

drive.google.com/file/d/11z...

[130396 in reply to helvella]

thank you helvella

Capsules would be no good to me if they can’t be split as it she 15mcgs - so 3/4 of a 20mcg tablet

Thanks for your help

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to 130396]

Unfortunate - as I'm sure cost would be used to refuse the obvious approach of prescribing 5 microgram dosages (whether tablet or capsule)!

[130396 in reply to helvella]

I’ve just been told there’s about £1 difference in prescribing 30mg tablets to the Roma capsules

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Try Morningside Healthcare T3 or Teva

Both are 20mcg tablets too

Blister packed and longer use by date than MP

Mercury Pharma sometimes listed on pharmacy database as Advanz

Mercury Pharma customer care phone number 

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Do you split your dose T3 ?

Capsules can’t easily be split

[130396]

thank you very much.

No I haven’t split my dose as really it’s only for the testing.

I think I previously said that when I did split it for testing there was hardly any difference in the results

[Aurealis]

Hi 130396, your photo made me smile a blast from the past.

Mercury Pharma does seem to be more difficult to obtain but this doesn’t seem to be due to shortage, cost, manufacturing problems or official decision not to supply. However it seems that pharmacists experience difficulties ordering a particular brand of Liothyronine including Mercury Pharma which is produced by Advanz Pharma and distributed by Alliance Healthcare.

If it is important to you to have Mercury Pharma, (which it is to me) then your chances of getting it are increased if your prescription states Mercury Pharma by Advanz Pharma, but in all honesty it may still be a battle and you may have to be very assertive. If the brand is specified on your prescription and there is none available then the worst scenario is that nothing would be dispensed.

I fear that the alternative is the roulette approach to treatment where you get the cheapest to dispense at each prescription. I doubt this is cost saving, as the differences in price are very small and if you are at all sensitive to different brands this could affect your health, and in any case tests should be carried out following brand change which would counteract any savings.

[tcpace]

My better half collected a 3 month supply of Mercury T3 about 2 hours ago! She normally has Morningside (can't tolerate Teva) but the pharmacist phoned late yesterday pm to ask if she would be OK with Mercury (which she is) presumably because they were having problems sourcing Morningside. Makes you wonder what is going on.

[130396 in reply to tcpace]

thank you for your reply. That’s reassuring.