Could it be Teva T3 causing my problem?

[Agapanthus]

I have been T3 monotherapy for a very long time (about 12 years) via the NHS - unusual to have managed to keep it for so long. I take 50 mcg split into 20/20/10. Mostly I was on the Mercury Pharma brand, and my GP in Cornwall agreed to put on the prescription 'MP only'. I had tried Teva in the past and felt worse, and even Yellow carded them, to no avail (ie they tested the tabs and said they were fine).

A year ago I moved to a different part of the country, and by a miracle managed to hold on to my T3 monotherapy without a fight. At the time I was feeling dreadful and put it down to total exhaustion from 2 and half years of constant stress. I discovered around this time in mid 2022 that MP make seemed to have stopped being made, so I had to take what I was given by the local pharmacy. I was also using up my MP tablets for some months first. I was given Teva again, and asked if I could have Morningside instead as I knew I was OK on that too.

However although I got Morningside sometimes, for the past 3 months or so it's been Teva again. I have a small back supply now of both Teva and Morningside, but I note that Teva dates are poor, so I tend to use that first. I slowly improved my health over the winter, and spring, and have had a good summer so far, but am now feeling dreadful, especially in the morning, with wobbly legs, brain fog and horrible fatigue. This tends to improve somewhat in the day. I have tried to take some extra tabs with the Teva to see if that helps but no obvious difference and am reluctant to increase by very much.

Having done a few weeks on Teva, I am now planning to swap to Morningside to see if my health improves again. If it does then I guess I will need to tackle the GP to ask them to specify on the prescription, as I don't think the pharmacy will help otherwise (they just go for whatever they can get hold of, or is cheapest). Unfortunately I have not met my GP, and I don't know how helpful they will be, but if this goes on I will end up back as I have been for years, with my label of ME/CFS firmly attached. This summer, I have gone from being able to do very little, to digging an allotment for 10 hrs a week!

Anecdotally I have heard of others on Teva who have also had issues, but I guess if you are new to T3 you may not be able to make comparisons, and have a bigger reaction if on T3 monotherapy.

Incidentally, I did do an adrenal test about 6 months ago, but the results of part of it were so alarming, that I had to check the result out with the GP, and ended up not trusting the result of it at all. I had IgA with it and the result on that was sky high, and yet my GP blood test was below normal which was in line with my previous result with GP. The adrenal test showed high cortisol throughout, whereas my previous results had always been low (though some years back it's true). I have no real symptoms of having high cortisol so I don't believe the result was accurate, especially as I couldn't manage to produce the amount of saliva they requested on 2 of the tests.

[beh1]

I still get Mercury (Advanz) liothyronine on prescription-so I guess they’re still in production! Check with your new pharmacy and mention the name Advanz.

[Agapanthus in reply to beh1]

Interesting beh1 re MP - Advanz! I actually now think that the Morningside is better as it is sealed, but it's good to know that there is another alternative still around, to the dreaded Teva. Maybe if I get the GP to put 'NOT Teva' at least it will solve the problem I am having with the Teva.

[helvella]

A new product should be available soon - Strides liothyronine tablets.

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

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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.

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[Agapanthus in reply to helvella]

Hello helvella. Interesting to hear that there is to be another Liothyronine on the market.

However, I am perfectly happy with Morningside now if I can persuade my GP to mark the prescription appropriately as either NO Teva' or 'Morningside only'. If not then I am stumped, as some of the symptoms feel like brain injury at the moment and I can't go on like this. I have been weeping with depression which seems triggered by the Teva T3. I stopped it today after the first dose, and feel fine again now I am using Morningside.

I found a post on here from 5 years ago, when someone else asked the same question about Teva T3 and there was a torrent of replies with others (including me) who had adverse symptoms. Also one on Teva T4 with similar issues. My thoughts are that it must be the fillers they are using causing this problem.

[helvella in reply to Agapanthus]

It was partly to forewarn you (and everyone else) in case you get offered Strides liothyronine and that flummoxed you!

[Agapanthus in reply to helvella]

Thanks helvella - it IS useful to know this. I think that Boots, and probably most pharmacies get a delivery of the cheapest unfortunately, as I suspect that Teva usually is the cheapest on offer.

[Lalatoot in reply to Agapanthus]

I get Morningside on NHS prescription every 2 months from Boots.

[Agapanthus in reply to Lalatoot]

Thank you Lalatoot for letting me know this. I was told by my local Boots had an amber light against Morningside, indicating that it wasn't always available - but it sounds as if you don't have a problem.

[Babette]

I take MP liothyronine. Some pharmacies have had a problem sourcing it but Asda always seems to manage it. I think they use a couple of wholesalers so have more options.

(If you do use them and find them good, please let head office know as it is fed back to the pharmacy team.)

[Agapanthus in reply to Babette]

Hi Babette. Someone else has told me that MP is now under Advanz Pharma which is maybe why Boots couldn't find it a year ago when I asked for MP. I have just been in to them and Advanz now seems easier for them than Morningside for some unknown reason. Thank you for mentioning Asda, but I don't think I have one near me, and I have to use buses. However I think there are some independent pharmacies which may be useful if Boots let me down.

[Hidden]

I did do an adrenal test about 6 months ago, but the results of part of it were so alarming, that I had to check the result out with the GP, and ended up not trusting the result of it at all. I had IgA with it and the result on that was sky high, and yet my GP blood test was below normal which was in line with my previous result with GP. The adrenal test showed high cortisol throughout, whereas my previous results had always been low (though some years back it's true).

It is common for bloods and saliva not to align, saliva is what is unbound and blood is bound.

What company did you use for your saliva? Were you doing CT3M dosing?

I have no real symptoms of having high cortisol so I don't believe the result was accurate

Do you feel your improvement as the day wears on could be linked to you feeling better as cortisol lowers?

[Agapanthus in reply to Hidden]

I used Micki at Pure Health Clinic. Given that my salivary IgA was very high, she seemed unconcerned about the result and yet if you look online a very high IgA can indicate a form of bone cancer, hence my going off to the GP and asking for blood tests to be done. I was not doing CT3M and in fact that was the reason I had the tests done because I had done it in the distant past to see if it would improve my symptoms, as I had had low adrenal function in the past (3 tests done over 4 years, but last one had been done 7 years ago).

I don't think my improvement was due to cortisol at all really. My tests done recently showed high (2 high in range, and 2 high out of range). I just don't believe the results, but obviously, I didn't go ahead with CT3M.

I now think that the the Teva T3 is the culprit for most of my symptoms, as having changed to the Morningside again, I am feeling a lot better almost instantly.

[Hidden in reply to Agapanthus]

that’s great!

[helen_m]

I've got NOT TEVA on my record too, but that didn't make any difference when I was in hospital recently!

I'm on combination lio/levo so different from you but one thing I found useful with getting good lio was changing chemists from one that was a chain to an independent one. Now, they can source lio from lots of places whereas the chain usually has to go with the cheapest.

I found TEVA brand in both lio and levo to be worse than useless. It seemed to block any benefits I'd been feeling beforehand and I ended up feeling massively underactive again. I've also yellow carded it too with MHRA and refer to that all the time. It must be in my record because that seems to make them take me seriously.

[Agapanthus in reply to helen_m]

Thank you Helen - useful to know this. I found numerous people on an old post on this about 5 years ago, so you would think they must know. So sorry to hear that they gave you Teva in hospital. I plan to hide my T3 away and take it on my own if I get taken into hospital - if I am compos mentis of course! No way will they cut my tabs up for me I'm sure.

Thank you for the independent pharmacy tip. Curiously I had the opposite problem in Newlyn where I lived previously. They refused to supply me with Mercury Pharma unless I paid an extra fee, which i feel sure is illegal. I was going to report them for it, but decided against in case it rebounded on me being a small community. I went to Boots Penzance instead where they helped me for years to get MP.

Now I feel that Morningside is better for me. I like the fact that it's sealed up and keeps it fresh, and I note that the dates are longer too. I think that there are some independents around my new place, so if Boots let me down again, I will try them out. I have just been into Boots and they have at least noted down that I am not to have Teva, so that's one hurdle jumped. Getting Morningside might be more difficult for them apparently.

Yes, as you say, the symptoms are dreadful. I just told Boots it's like being brain injured. Essentially it's being very underactive, but feels awful on so many levels. I was weeping the other day with the depression as it was so bad.