Pharmacist moving thyroxine Brand every month

[Filicatlasy]

I get my Thyroxine delivered along with my other medication every month, for the past 6 months there has been no consistency in the brand, so I seem to be on a cycle of mercury Pharma, Teva, Aristo and another one. My TSH which is all I can get my GP to test for constantly fluctuating and I feel awful. How do you get your GP to prescribe a consistent brand and get the pharmacy to stick to it.

[Buddy195 Administrator]

I filled in a yellow card with the brands that caused me adverse symptoms and asked GP to write the brand/s that suited me best on my prescription (eg ‘No Teva. Almus or Accord only’).

[Filicatlasy in reply to Buddy195]

I have tried that but it hasn’t worked, my GP is never convinced that any symptoms are due to just one thing. This is the problem with having Multiple Autoimmune. You can’t get treatment for your cells attacking themselves but if your medication causes a problem then they say but this could just be a flare up. I am so frustrated.

[Buddy195 Administrator in reply to Filicatlasy]

All I can suggest is try a more sympathetic GP. Also worth shopping around pharmacists to find one who stocks the brand that suits you best.

[Filicatlasy in reply to Buddy195]

That’s not easy in Scotland where you need to live in your GP catchment area and our is covered by one health centre. I will look for a solution, my pharmacy delivers all 16 of my various medications on a monthly basis. I will find out if it is possible to have just my thyroxine filled by a separate pharmacy. As a disabled person in a wheelchair who is mainly housebound this lack of support by GPS and Pharmacies is woeful.

[Wua13262348 in reply to Filicatlasy]

I'm in Scotland and have my thyroxine brand named as "only" on my prescription. If your G.P. surgery has a pharmacist on their premises who reviews medications prescribed, you could speak to him or her about this. It is difficult to speak to G.P .s. If no pharmacist is employed by your G.P., you could have a word with the Practice manager about it. Independent pharmacies tend to be best to get a consistent brand if named on your prescription. If you have a "RIGHT PHARMACY" in your locality , they are independent and will also pick up your paper prescriptions from the G.P. surgery and deliver your prescription medications to your home. If in the Glasgow area, Dickson's Chemist would also be a possibility.

[helvella Administrator]

Technically how to write prescriptions is in my medicines document. How to get your doctor to do so is another matter!

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 injectables and 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...