Starting levothyroxine- which brand?: Hi, I have... - Thyroid UK

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Starting levothyroxine- which brand?

RuthNelson profile image
12 Replies

Hi,

I have been asked by the end to start on 75mcg Levothyroxine today.

I am gluten free and have reactive hypoglycaemia so avoid sugar/ carbs; is there a particular brand of Levothyroxine that might be good for me?

I also take a bunch of supplements; Vit D, B complex, selenium, magnesium, iron; do they all need to be taken away from the Levothyroxine?

And I understand that it can’t be taken with food, but could it be taken with a decaf tea…? Not sure that I could be awake for very long without tea!

Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

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RuthNelson
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helvella profile image
helvellaAdministratorThyroid UK

Pretty much all UK medicines are officially gluten-free.

The calorific value of an entire levothyroxine tablet is a small fraction of a calorie. Like a quarter of a calorie at most.

Look at Appendix E Excipients in my UK medicines document.

There are only two 75 microgram levothyroxine products - Teva and Crescent. (Assuming your prescription is written for one tablet.) Crescent is brand new in the last few days to the UK market so likely not easy to find.

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. There is now a specific world desiccated thyroid document.

I highly recommend viewing on a computer screen, or a decent sized tablet, rather than a phone. Even I find it less than satisfactory trying to view them on my phone.

helvella - Thyroid Hormone Medicines - UK

The UK document contains up-to-date versions of the Summary Matrixes for levothyroxine tablets, oral solutions and also liothyronine available in the UK. Includes descriptions of tablet markings which allow identification. Latest updates include all declared ingredients for all UK products and links to Patient Information Leaflets, etc. PLUS how to write prescriptions in Appendix F.

dropbox.com/s/bo2jzxucgp9hl...

helvella - World Desiccated Thyroid

Contains details of all known desiccated thyroid products including information about several products not considered to be Natural Desiccated Thyroid (NDT/Desiccated Thyroid Extract/DTE).

dropbox.com/scl/fi/gx6dmz5i...

helvella - Thyroid Hormone Medicines - RotW

Contains details of all levothyroxine, liothyronine and combination products - excluding desiccated thyroid products. Details available vary by country and manufacturer.

dropbox.com/s/dliou4fszbegw...

The link below takes you to a blog page which has direct links to the documents from Dropbox and QR codes to make it easy to access from phones. You will have to scroll down or up to find the link to the document you want.

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

RuthNelson profile image
RuthNelson in reply to helvella

Thanks very much, helvella, and does Teva sound like it would be ok for me?

helvella profile image
helvellaAdministratorThyroid UK in reply to RuthNelson

The problem with Teva is that it splits people.

Some find it is the best levothyroxine they have ever taken. Others find it intolerable. Suspicions fall on mannitol but that is not proved. And there is no way of predicting - that we know of.

RuthNelson profile image
RuthNelson in reply to helvella

Ah! Will see how I go then!

Jaydee1507 profile image
Jaydee1507Administrator

Absolutely everything needs to be taken away from Levo. Its an extremely fussy hormone and likes to be taken by itself with water only. Many people find taking it at bedtime works well for them for this reason then they can wake up and have a cuppa straight away.

Its hard to know which brand might be best for you as we are all different. It might be an idea to try a few brands and see what works best for yourself. You can then get GP to write the brand name in the first line of your prescription.

The main lactose free brands available currently are Teva - available in several dose sizes. It contains mannitol which upsets some people but others find it the best thing ever. Very marmite brand but it might work for you.

The other is Vencamil but only available on 100mcg dose size currently. More sizes should be available later in the year.

RuthNelson profile image
RuthNelson

Thanks very much, Jaydee; I currently take magnesium in a hot chocolate at night; how long would I need to leave after having this drink?

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator in reply to RuthNelson

Take magnesium 4 hours before Levo

Hot chocolate 2 hours before

Jaydee1507 profile image
Jaydee1507Administrator in reply to RuthNelson

Either way it looks like you have a compromise to make. Levo just doesnt absorb well if taken with anything other than water.

For magnesium you could use one of the topical sprays which many people find beneficial. As this avoids the oral route you can use that right up until bed time.

Move hot chocolate to 2hrs before sleep time.

Take Levo sleep time.

RuthNelson profile image
RuthNelson

thank you all, looks like taking it in the morning might be the best time for me, otherwise bang goes the magnesium hot chocolate as a bedtime drink; reluctant to stop this as it has really helped my sleep and anxiety.

And I can eat an hour after taking Levo in the morning?

Jaydee1507 profile image
Jaydee1507Administrator in reply to RuthNelson

Yes and have your cuppa.

N5girl profile image
N5girl

I have a dairy intolerance and I have been taking 25mcg Wochardt tablets and have not found that they have made my gastro symptoms any worse.

I take them when I first wake up (about 5am at the moment) but it does allow me to get out of bed and have a cuppa immediately. My Endo was v against nighttime dosing because she said it can be difficult to stick with the regime of water only for the required period of time before bed.

The tablets are so tiny that having to take a few at a time is fine. You just need to make sure the doctor specifies the brand on your prescription.

My Endo suggested avoiding Teva because of the manitol as others have suggested here.

RuthNelson profile image
RuthNelson

thank you; chemist has said they will be ordering in Crescent for me, so hopefully I’ll avoid Teva.

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