What exactly does that mean because I’m on Levo Mercury pharma, & my latest prescription came back as Almus pharma.
I don’t actually see a brand name.
Now do I keep on with Mercury or will it not make a difference which pharma it comes from, do I insist in sticking to one or just go along with whatever they dish me up at the pharmacy?
PassionFruit-xxx
I don’t actually see a brand name.
Yes you do - Mercury Pharma and Almus are brand names 
The brand name is the name on the box and on the foil back of the blister pack
Accord
Almus (which is made by Accord but branded as Almus for Boots)
Mercury Pharma
Wockhardt
Teva
and others
Now do I keep on with Mercury or will it not make a difference which pharma it comes from,
Only you will know if swapping brands affects you. Some members can take any brand with no problem at all. Others find they have problems/side effects with another brand so need to stick to one brand only.
Ahh ok thanks that helps in away, I’m finding on mercury that I get heart palpitations & im shedding a bit more hair, not sure if that’s normal or whether I should try another brand, but don’t want to make things worse if you see what I mean, I don’t know whether to take the Almus ones back to drs surgery & tell them I’m not swapping, I’m not sure how they will deal with it.
You could also speak to your Dr and receptionist, ask them to put written information on Your future prescriptions, stating to only prescribe your usual prescription and inform your doctors that changing brands affects your health etc.
I had to do this, as for some unknown reason changing brands, especially Teva makes me incredibly poorly and my blood results change.
It happened again recently and the pharmacy are aware not to prescribe me Teva but kept sending me Teva. I didn’t want to make a fuss so thought I’d retry them again and unfortunately I’m poorly yet again and my bloods are sky high.
Yes I think that is what I will do, only problem at the min is that I’ve only been on Levo for 4 months, mercury pharma but to be honest, I was ok up til my retest at 3 months but since then I’ve gone downhill, I feel rubbish, hopefully seeing the doc next week to up my Levo, & I’m going to give Almus pharma ago…just hoping it might be better.
It’s so hard to judge when I’ve only been taking it for such a short time but considering I was symptom free completely before the diagnosis & now I’ve got all the hypo symptoms.
I totally understand because that’s how I was.
My blood test results were never normal until I remained on the same brand consistently for two years. That’s when I thought that changing brands and especially using Teva might be making me ill.
So I came online, here, to read that many others had the same problem and especially with the Teva brand.
I never seem to have an issue unless I change brands, but I don’t know why or I can’t remember the reason why as I still have terrible brain fog.😀
If you’ve got Hashimoto’s, I’ve read from other people that bloods can be up-and-down at times. I’ve never found out why.
However, I always remain consistently well if they don’t change my brand which is mercury pharmacy.
I would bring this up with the doctor. Even though you’ve only be taking it for a short time because you might end up like me, it might take you years to get a normal blood test and then to find out that all along It’s the brand.
You can also state that you’ve read the same information from other people too, that’s what I did and said.
Oh ok, I’m beginning to think maybe I should stick to mercury but on a higher dose, but yes I will talk to the Doctor as I’ve learned so much from being on here.
Thank you & I hope you’re feeling back to your old self soon.
You’re most welcome.
I wouldn’t know a thing if I hadn’t come on here.
Thanks and same to you too
Just adding a photo of the side of an Almus 100 microgram levothyroxine pack.
Shows the PL Holder: Accord
And the PL 0142/0105 MHRA manufacturing authorisation number (licence).
This type of information is ALWAYS on the outside of such packages - though location can, and does, vary.
That’s exactly like mine, apart from the top number mine ends in 104 but mine is 50mgs.
How do you find this brand & how long have you been on it.
It is the product usually supplied by Boots - as they own the "Almus" name and use it for many medicines.
Accord do not manufacture a 25 microgram tablet. Boots just supply another make if a 25 microgram product is required - usually Wockhardt or Advanz/Mercury Pharma.
It is possible some non-Boots pharmacies supply the same product in Almus packaging but I don't remember it happening.
I'm not on that product any longer! That was just a package I had handy. Quite a number of months ago, I changed to Aristo (which is also supplied as Vencamil). Which I prefer. Until then, I had been on Accord - whether under their own name or Almus - for years.
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...
Although convoluted, the document below tells you more of how things came to be as they are.
helvella - Levothyroxine Brands History
An overview of the various levothyroxine tablets which have been available in the UK.
helvella.blogspot.com/p/hel...
May I ask, what difference do you note in aristo?
That is difficult.
On a one-day basis, not much. But I was finding that I did not feel it was entirely consistent. I did do a yellow card report on one lot.
Once I switched to Aristo, I felt every day the same.
thank you
I forgot to point out that Aristo has neither lactose nor mannitol - substances that many feel are implicated in their issues taking levothyroxine.
I'm not knowingly intolerant of either. But I did not get on with Teva levothyroxine (which has mannitol) and I suspect that lactose has a specific interaction with levothyroxine which has not been properly identified and researched.
Yes I knew that about its fillers. That’s a very good thought about the t4 and the lactose… so much to improve 😮💨
Different brands
Switching Brands
Bio equivalence T3 brands
Changing brands of Levo
Changing thyroxine brands- Actavis to Mercury Pharma
