Hi everyoneThankyou for letting me join the group 😀
Has anyone had side effects from TEVA manufacturers when taking levothyroxine such as : sticky cough, throat tightening, feeling very hot and heavy upper arms. I'm wondering if I should ask for a different brand 🤔 I take 75 to 200 my daily thankyou, plus I have increased raised colestrol levels now ☺️
welcome to the forum
Are you based in U.K.?
Yes many, many people react badly to Teva brand
Which other brands have you had previously
How much levothyroxine are you currently taking
Request new prescription and try different brand
Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after any brand change in levothyroxine
Many people find Levothyroxine brands are not interchangeable.
Most easily available (and often most easily tolerated) are Mercury Pharma or Accord
Mercury Pharma make 25mcg, 50mcg and 100mcg tablets
Mercury Pharma also boxed as Eltroxin. Both often listed by company name on pharmacy database - Advanz
Accord only make 50mcg and 100mcg tablets
Accord is also boxed as Almus via Boots
Teva contains mannitol as a filler instead of lactose, which seems to be possible cause of problems. Mannitol seems to upset many people, it changes gut biome
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.
Wockhardt is very well tolerated, but only available in 25mcg tablets. Some people remain on Wockhardt, taking their daily dose as a number of tablets
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.
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).
Thankyou so so much for all this information. The doctors pharmacist is calling me Friday as I can't get to see my doctor 😫...I'm going to mention all this information. The problem started at Christmas when they gave me teva statins and I was on the teva throxeyn it seemed the two have caused a problem I can not tolerate the statins at the moment or my throxeyn I did read today about these fillers in the teva tablets and wondered if they are causing a blocked feeling throat and coughing it's not a virus or infection..😀 ...I'm in the UK normally on 75 mgs but the throyid latest test has just gone to 2.14 thankyou very much 😀 👍
TSH is too high
Are you taking levothyroxine on its own on empty stomach and nothing but water for at least an hour after
75mcg is only one step up from starter dose
How long have you been left on just 75mcg levothyroxine
You’re ready for next dose increase in levothyroxine to 100mcg
Was test done early morning and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
What was Ft4 result?
on levothyroxine TSH should always be below 2
Approx how much do you weigh in kilo
Statins NOT recommended for hypothyroid patients
nhs.uk/conditions/statins/c...
If you have an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism), treatment may be delayed until this problem is treated. This is because having an underactive thyroid can lead to an increased cholesterol level, and treating hypothyroidism may cause your cholesterol level to decrease, without the need for statins. Statins are also more likely to cause muscle damage in people with an underactive thyroid.
Thankyou once again.I always take first thing in the morning with water and give myself an hour before anything to eat.
My recent blood test was done at 10 am so I had taken my dose as usual in the morning before hand.
4 months ago was my last test. Normally the Dr said every three months. I've been on
75 for 4 months now.
The statins before I stopped them for three months they put me on them because of heart history in our family ...the cholesterol has only gone up in recent months.
Results are 2.14 serum I guess I need to get it broken down.
Have had a fluid feeling in my head and bad headaches but when the dose increases it improves and tinnitus reduces.
Quite heavy at the moment but loosing weight on and off when the dose is right working hard to achieving loosing weight. Hardly eat much and the weight stays on. Bought a good book based on under active throyid meals. Thankyou 🌻 very much so helpful
My recent blood test was done at 10 am so I had taken my dose as usual in the morning before hand.
So TSH would have been even higher if tested around 9am
Falsely high Ft4 result (if GP tested) as you took levothyroxine before blood test
You need vitamin and antibodies tested too
Get retested, early morning and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
List of private testing options and money off codes
thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...
Medichecks Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins
medichecks.com/products/adv...
Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes antibodies, cortisol and vitamins
bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...
If you can get GP to test vitamins then cheapest option for just TSH, FT4 and FT3
£29 (via NHS private service ) and 10% off down to £26.10 if go on thyroid uk for code
thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...
Monitor My Health also now offer thyroid and vitamin testing, plus cholesterol and HBA1C for £65
(But Doesn’t include thyroid antibodies)
monitormyhealth.org.uk/full...
10% off code here
thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...
Only do private testing early Monday or Tuesday morning.
Watch out for postal strikes, probably want to pay for guaranteed 24 hours delivery
Thankyou for all this advice the doctors don't tell you what to do. I will get retested. Have a good day 😊 👍
approximately how much do you weigh
Guidelines on dose levothyroxine by weight
pathlabs.rlbuht.nhs.uk/tft_...
Guiding Treatment with Thyroxine:
In the majority of patients 50-100 μg thyroxine can be used as the starting dose. Alterations in dose are achieved by using 25-50 μg increments and adequacy of the new dose can be confirmed by repeat measurement of TSH after 2-3 months.
The majority of patients will be clinically euthyroid with a ‘normal’ TSH and having thyroxine replacement in the range 75-150 μg/day (1.6ug/Kg on average).
The recommended approach is to titrate thyroxine therapy against the TSH concentration whilst assessing clinical well-being. The target is a serum TSH within the reference range.
……The primary target of thyroxine replacement therapy is to make the patient feel well and to achieve a serum TSH that is within the reference range. The corresponding FT4 will be within or slightly above its reference range.
The minimum period to achieve stable concentrations after a change in dose of thyroxine is two months and thyroid function tests should not normally be requested before this period has elapsed.
Comprehensive list of references for needing LOW TSH on levothyroxine
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu....
TSH should be under 2 as an absolute maximum when on levothyroxine
gponline.com/endocrinology-...
NHS England Liothyronine guidelines July 2019
sps.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploa...
Page 9
Test for Deficiency of any of the following: Vitamin B12, Folate, Vitamin D, Iron
See page 13
1. Where symptoms of hypothyroidism persist despite optimal dosage with levothyroxine. (TSH 0.4-1.5mU/L)
Graph showing median TSH in healthy population is 1-1.5
web.archive.org/web/2004060...
Thankyou I feel as if I have so more much more knowledge from everyone's information very kind everyone . I'll report back once I've got this sorted and pills changed maybe ..I'm hopefull now that things might start to change for me thankyou 🙏 ☺️
Like you I cannot tolerate Teva brand levothyroxine, I always understood it was the mannitol used as a filler that caused me to struggle.
However I am also unable to take Atorvastatin (Teva) or Simvastatin (Merk). in fact I can only tolerate Rosuvastatin. No mannitol in the statins I was assured it was something else. More than one GP/ pharmacist has assured me intolerance of different statin brands is very common. I believe this is the case with me, I also take Losartan and it’s often Teva brand I get with zero side effects. Over the years I have often had other Teva products with no issue.
You may struggle if you started the statin and levo at the same time to identify which causes the problems. I luckily discovered the statin problem sone year# after the levo. Good luck
There is a specific genetic variant which particularly affects Simvastatin, and some other statins, and their effects on our bodies.
SLCO1B1 rs4149056
Effects of SLCO1B1 Genetic Variant on Metabolite Profile in Participants on Simvastatin Treatment.
Welcome to the group. It helps people to see where you're at if you complete your profile.
Teva can be an issue for many people. If you think it isn;t suiting you ask your GP to write on your prescription NOT TEVA brand.
Some of your symptoms sound like you might be under replaced. Do you have your most recent blood results? You are legally entitled to a copy of them. Ask at GP reception. Come back here and post the results with ranges - numbers in brackets.
Thankyou so much for your help..I will do that. I'm uk 😀
Follow this link and download my medicines document. It lists all UK thyroid medicines so you can see what is potentially available.
Yes it dried me out like a prune. Dry Skin, dry hair, dry cough, dry eyes and crippling constipation. Fine within a week of stopping it, coughwise and constipation, skin took longer. Back on Mercury Pharma so far but who knows when new pharmacist is found for local pharmacy. Probably back to the fight again!
T3 affects of different manufacturers
Brands of medication
Quotas from drug manufacturers
Brands of medication
Symptoms of medication 
