Levo brands

[Shirleygirlie]

I am on a mixture of aristo and teva.Teva is relativly new to me ,and l have been experiencing horrendous joint pain .....could this be a coincidence ?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Shirleygirlie

Teva is a brand that many members have experienced adverse reactions when taking it, although some members do well on it. Teva contains mannitol instead of lactose and this is thought to be the culprit. If the start of your joint pain coincides with you starting Teva then there is a high probability that the Teva is the cause.

You could stop the Teva and make up the dose you need with the other brand you've been OK with and if the joint pain stops then you'll have your answer.

A search brings up lots of previous posts about Teva Levothyroxine:

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Assuming you find it is the Teva upsetting you , put in yellow card

yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/

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

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

Aristo (currently 100mcg only) is lactose free and mannitol free. May 

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

Mercury Pharma make 25mcg, 50mcg and 100mcg tablets 

Accord only make 50mcg and 100mcg tablets 

Accord is also boxed as Almus via Boots, and Northstar 50mcg and 100mcg via Lloyds ....but Accord  doesn’t make 25mcg tablets

beware 25mcg Northstar is Teva

List of different brands available in U.K.

thyroiduk.org/if-you-are-hy...

Posts that mention Teva

healthunlocked.com/search/p...

Teva poll

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

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.

Government guidelines for GP in support of patients if you find it difficult/impossible to change brands 

gov.uk/drug-safety-update/l...

If a patient reports persistent symptoms when switching between different levothyroxine tablet formulations, consider consistently prescribing a specific product known to be well tolerated by the patient. 

Many members have note added to all future prescriptions “No Teva”

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).

Netherlands (and Germany?) guidelines are for thyroid patients to always get same brand levothyroxine at each prescription 

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...