Teva brand T3

[buddy99]

I have read several times that Teva brand Levo was not well tolerated by quite a few people who took it. How about Teva brand Lio? Is that any better? Does anybody have any experience with that?

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Teva T3 is fine. It’s the only lactose free T3 available on NHS

Teva Levothyroxine contains mannitol instead of lactose. Mannitol changes gut biome in some people

[buddy99 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you, SlowDragon. It's so good to have you "by my side". Happy Holidays and best wishes for a happy, peaceful and, above all, healthy 2023 (and beyond).

[Lalatoot]

The biggest problem with TEVA lio is the bottle that they put it in. I could never get the *@@@**@ thing open. I changed to Morniongside in a blister pack.

[buddy99 in reply to Lalatoot]

Haha, I will ask for a massive hammer for Christmas (that should also help with splitting dose; all in one big bang)! Thanks for responding. Happy Holidays and all the best for the coming year and many after that.

[Lalatoot in reply to buddy99]

seasons greetings to you and yours too.

[HappyHealthyGirl]

Thanks for your very timely post  buddy99 !

I've just been given some Teva T3 to 'try' as the pharmacy cannot get Mercury Pharma, again, and I refused the Morningside that they dispensed because it gave me heart palpitations & I thought that I was going to have a heart attack last time! 🤯

Thanks for your reply  SlowDragon , that's very reassuring, although there are some posts from 5 years ago, where in summary, people found the Teva T3 weaker & had a return of many hypo' symptoms. 😒

Yes!!!!  Lalatoot - I cannot repeat what I shouted at that %$&@^£!!!! pot when I tried to get the lid off yesterday!! 🤪 Good to know that it's not just me! 🤣

Please post about how you get on with the Teva T3 buddy99 ....

[buddy99 in reply to HappyHealthyGirl]

I have been on 5mcgx2 per day of Teva for about half a year now and other than getting the TSH below "normal" range it has not done much for me. Or maybe I had put my expectations too high. Right now, I'm going through a bit of a slump and a lot of confusion, all of which I am hoping to straighten out in 2023. I have reached a FT3 of 68% (that's quite a bit of an increase) through the range and wonder whether I can add a bit more T3. But then I hear the warnings of heart problems and bone loss in the back of my head. Bone loss being the bigger fear because I have already been diagnosed with osteoporosis (could be due to celiac). Ramble, ramble, ramble! Anywho, that is how I'm getting on with the Teva. Enjoy the Holidays, HappyHealthyGirl, and all the best for the New year.

[HappyHealthyGirl in reply to buddy99]

Hi   buddy99

Obviously, I'm not a doctor & don't know your full health profile, but if you're still feeling low, perhaps that might be because the Teva is a bit weak, or maybe you do need a higher dose? Is your doctor/endo' any good?!?!? Might they let you try a little more? Slowly, slowly of course.

It might be worth posting your most recent test results on here, plus your current symptoms, and then perhaps some of our extremely helpful moderators/administrators could comment on them.

I take 2x 20mcg of Mercury Pharma split throughout the day, plus a teeny amount of NDT, and I've been taking that dose for around 8 years, preceded by a similar amount for a total of 15 years. I did work up to that amount very, very slowly - rapid changes have had severe negative side-effects!

With regard to the threatened osteoporosis - my personal view, based on the fact that I had early osteopenia & osteoporosis BEFORE taking any thyroid hormones!, means that I feel that it's almost the other way around, i.e. not enough thyroid hormones contributes to the bone loss. Also, there are a lot of things that we can do to promote bone health through diet and supplementation, and adequate weight-bearing exercise. I know that that can be tricky when we have little energy, or suffer from PEM, but it's something to bear in mind. Also, another observation is that there are a number of vitamins & minerals, where a deficiency has implications for both thyroid function & bone health, including: Vit' D, Magnesium & Selenium.

I am also suspicious that the threat of osteoporosis is used as a weapon to deny patients adequate T3 (T4) dosages. I've seen something that discusses that the link isn't scientifically proven, but I can't remember where just now.

With regard to the warnings re' heart problems, again from personal experience, I can say that when I did a straight swap onto Morningside (from MP) - I did get severe heart palpitations! My understanding of the reasons for that include:

- it was a straight swap - in hindsight, it should have been tapered very gradually

- Morningside T3 is probably slightly 'stronger' - so I suddenly got a much increased dose without realising it (part of the reason I think that is initially it made my brain work much better!)

- Perhaps I reacted badly to some of the constituent parts?

What I'm saying here is that the negative effect on my heart was very obvious! I knew virtually immediately - day 3., the impact wasn't hidden. If you're increasing a dose by a tiny amount, & carefully monitoring the impact on your symptoms with your doctors, you're going to know early on if you feel any changes around your heart.

Hope that my musings are of help,

Wishing you a very Happy Christmas!

And if you're in the UK, keep cosy!

@HappyHealthyGirl

[buddy99 in reply to HappyHealthyGirl]

Thank you, HappyHealthyGirl, that was very encouraging! I agree, that much of what docs tell you is some BS to scare the patient into submission, but it also stuck to me as that little annoying voice in the back of my mind. That's the gaslighting effect ("What if I'm wrong and the doc is right?"). As somebody here pointed out, osteoporosis can also spring from spending copious amounts of time in bed or on the couch because you are so hypo that you can barely stand up. And I was severely vitamin D deficient for years, possibly for decades, until I tested privately and fixed the situation (docs wouldn't test). So, yes, the osteoporosis stuff is probably totally rubbish. And I recall reading that same research paper. So, three cheers for gaslighting and its adverse effects.

I now have a nurse practioner looking after me and she is fantastic. She will totally support me in increasing my dose of T3.

Thanks again for your encouraging words ❤️

[Shaldonkoo in reply to HappyHealthyGirl]

HelloYou talk of PEM, is that something thyroid patients get? I have been told I have ME as i get PEM, but if it's a thyroid thing I can relax a bit more perhaps, knowing it's that and not ME?

Also, my endocrinologist was tallimg about bone density, and i challenged him to refer me for a bone scan. Scan was fine, so all good!!

Hope you are well

Thank you

Debs

[HappyHealthyGirl in reply to Shaldonkoo]

Hi Debs  Shaldonkoo ,

Actually, I was referring to PEM-Post Exertional Malaise, which is one of the defining diagnostic symptoms for ME/CFS. It tends to indicate some mitochondrial disfunction, i.e. you've worn your little critters out one day, and it takes them a while longer to recover than the average person.

I was diagnosed with both hypothyroidism and ME around 15 years ago. Again, I personally think that they're connected. I.e. If you're unknowingly hypothyroid & keep pushing yourself, you're going to impact the rest of your body. (For me there were a lot of other factors too.)

'ME' is a collection of symptoms and will be different for different people. Being told that you have PEM & ME may be more of a help, because it means you can investigate some of the things that will help your mitochondria, which in turn will support your thyroid & vice versa.

One word of warning: if you see an NHS ME/CFS 'specialist', do not accept any referrals for CBT or GET.

Hope that helps,

@HappyHealthyGirl

😀

[Shaldonkoo in reply to HappyHealthyGirl]

Thanks for that, that's a shame, I was hoping PEM could actually be caused by thyroid, but yes I agree there are too many of us for it to be a coincidence!!

[HappyHealthyGirl in reply to Shaldonkoo]

Well, lack of thyroid hormones does impact your mitochondria & can therefore 'cause' PEM:

naturalendocrinesolutions.c...

The only thing is that they're not exclusive, i.e.

Not everyone with ME/CFS has PEM

Not everyone with PEM is Hypothyroid

Not everyone who is Hypothyroid has ME

😜

[tattybogle in reply to Shaldonkoo]

HappyHealthyGirl / Shaldonkoo on the subject of PEM / Thyroid or ME ? .. the subject comes up on here often, as there are an awful of of us on here who have PEM and thyroid conditions , whether that means we all have ME is up for debate .. for some the issue has gone away / improved once their thyroid meds/ etc correct .... but for others it has not.

Here's a couple of older posts where it's been discussed before, (gets a bit contentious as you can imagine ~ "you can only have PEM if you've got ME" . kinda thing) .. i don't have links to any of the more recent ones, but if you put up a new post asking specifically for members with PEM to comment , you may get more recent opinions.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu... /hypothyroidism-and-hunger

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu... do-hypothyroid-people-get-post-exertional-malaise

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu... exercise-and-t3-t4

plus this one is interesting ~ 3 studies on the effects of intense exercise on thyroid hormone levels.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu.... after-a-run-ft4-ft3-go-up-from-your-normal.-but-12-hours-later-ft4-ft3-will-have-gone-down-below-your-normal-.cortisol-affected-too.

[helvella Administrator]

This attached matrix is out of date. Please go to my full documents - the UK one contains several such matrixes.

helvella's medicines documents (UK and Rest of the World) can be found here:

helvella - Thyroid Hormone Medicines

helvella has created, and tries to maintain, documents containing details of all thyroid hormone medicines in the UK and, in less detail, many others around the world.

This link takes you to a page which has direct links to the documents from Dropbox and Google Drive, and QR codes to make it easy to access from phones.

The UK document contains up-to-date versions of the Summary Matrix for tablets, oral solutions and liothyronine available in the UK.

helvella.blogspot.com/p/hel...

UK liothyronine matrix

[buddy99 in reply to helvella]

Thanks for this, helvella. Have a wonderful Holiday season and all my very best wishes for 2023.

[helvella Administrator in reply to buddy99]

And you!

[helvella Administrator]

Follow this in order to see my page on editing your own posts:

helvella - Editing HealthUnlocked Posts/Replies

You may not realise that you can edit, or delete, any posts or responses you have made here.

helvella.blogspot.com/p/hel...