ERRA question

[Alycat01]

Good afternoon. I have recently been put on Symthroid for Hyperthyroidism . In doing research i wouid rather be taking ERFA . I have gone to two pharmacy’s and they said the company they use to get it from is no longer in operation. I have been told I may be able to order it online . I don’t even know where to start with ordering anything like this on line . I live in Canada so I am not sure if that makes a difference .

[Jazzw]

Welcome to the forum Alycat01. 🙂

If you’ve only recently been diagnosed with hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), you’re probably still on a starter dose. It’s probably way too soon to be thinking about moving to Erfa.

How much Synthroid have you been prescribed? And how long have you been taking it?

Why do you think Erfa might be better?

Lastly, we are a UK-based forum so may struggle to assist with sourcing medication in Canada—though we do have members all over the world.

[Rosebud1955]

hi Alycat: I live in Canada and take Erfa. You don’t need to order on line because it’s available via prescription from pharmacies in Canada. My endocrinologist prescribes mine with no issues. I live in Toronto

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Thyroid support in Canada

thyroidpatients.ca/home/

You need to give Levo a chance

How much have you started on

Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after each increase

Is your hypothyroidism autoimmune

both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested at least once to see if your hypothyroidism is autoimmune

Very important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 at least once year minimum

About 90% of primary hypothyroidism is autoimmune thyroid disease, usually diagnosed by high TPO and/or high TG thyroid antibodies

Autoimmune thyroid disease with goitre is Hashimoto’s

Autoimmune thyroid disease without goitre is Ord’s thyroiditis.

Both are autoimmune and generally called Hashimoto’s.

Significant minority of Hashimoto’s patients only have high TG antibodies (thyroglobulin)

Low vitamin levels are extremely common when hypothyroid, especially with autoimmune thyroid disease

Also essential to test and maintain GOOD vitamin D, folate, B12 and ferritin

Have these been tested yet

The dose levothyroxine is typically slowly increased over 6-12 months

Guidelines of dose Levo by weight

approx how much do you weigh in kilo

Even if we frequently start on only 50mcg, most people need to increase levothyroxine dose slowly upwards in 25mcg steps (retesting 6-8 weeks after each increase) until eventually on, or somewhere near full replacement dose (typically 1.6mcg levothyroxine per kilo of your weight per day)

cks.nice.org.uk/topics/hypo...

bnf.nice.org.uk/drugs/levot...

nhs.uk/medicines/levothyrox...

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

The optimal daily dose in overt hypothyroidism is 1·5–1·8 μg per kg of bodyweight, rounded to the nearest 25 μg. In younger patients with no substantial comorbidities