Change in levothyroxine brand

[Starmen]

I have not posted for sometime.I usually have my levothyroxine in wockhardt brand as I have found I tolerate this..

My endo and GP agree and it is on my notes and also on pharmacy notes. However when I have collected my prescription tonight teva has been dispensed and 1 box of Mercurypharma. I have had a bad reaction to teva in the past . I will return them tomorrow however the question I have is Mercury pharma the same as wockhardt?

I think I have had it before without a problem. I don't know if there is a problem with the suppliers regarding wockhardt ? I take 100mcg thyroxine on 5 days and 125 on 2 days wockhardt is dispensed in 25mcg tablets easy for me to manage the dosing.

Thanks in advance .

[helvella Administrator]

No - Mercury Pharma is not the same as Wockhardt. Basically, if the PL number is not the same, the product is not the same. And the PL number is always on the outside of the card packaging.

There have been problems with Wockhardt supply.

My UK medicines document has more details.

helvella's medicines documents (UK) can be found here:

helvella - Thyroid Hormone Medicines

helvella has created, and tries to maintain, documents containing details of all thyroid hormone medicines licensed 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 liothyronine available in the UK. Includes injectables and descriptions of tablet markings which allow identification. Latest updates include all declared ingredients for all UK-licensed products and links to Patient Information Leaflets, Dictionary of Medicines and Devices (dm+d), British National Formulary, NHS Drug Tariff, etc. PLUS how to write prescriptions in Appendix F.

Also includes links for anti-thyroid medicines (but not product details).

📄 dropbox.com/s/bo2jzxucgp9hl...

helvella - Excipients

Details of excipients are in my Excipients document. This includes all excipients identified in UK-licensed thyroid hormone medicines.

📄 dropbox.com/scl/fi/tud6r8f5...

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

If the last updated date of a copy your have downloaded isn’t very recent, please download a new copy!

Last updated 17/10/2024

[Starmen in reply to helvella]

Thank you for the swift response. It makes me very nervous as I was so ill last time I took teva

[helvella Administrator in reply to Starmen]

Impossible to be sure but you might find it worth having a read of a blog I wrote:

helvella - Teva versus the rest

A discussion of the issues surrounding Teva levothyroxine.

Last updated 03/11/2024

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

[Starmen in reply to helvella]

Thanks for this. It was teva in the past that made me ill. My endo even said whe.n some of her patients were swopped to teva they had problems

[coppeen in reply to Starmen]

The same thing happened to me last time I got my prescription I had to try quite a few pharmacies to get my normal brand and I'm dreading what will happen today when I go to collect it again. I believe Teva and Mercury are the same.

[helvella Administrator in reply to coppeen]

Teva and Mercury Pharma are absolutely NOT the same.

For one example, Teva contains mannitol whereas Mercury Pharma contains lactose.

Have a look at my UK medicines document - link up thread.

Quite often, I post links to my medicines documents, especially the UK one.

Sometimes, I post a screenshot of a page or two from a document.

The main reason I very much prefer to post a link is that you can follow the link and get the latest version of the document. I might have updated it five minutes ago, or five days, or five weeks. Regardless, you will get the latest and most up-to-date version that is available. And you can re-visit the link and check for updates whenever you like.

If I take screenshot and post that, you only see what was in the document at that moment. It is simply unfeasible to go back and update the screenshots I have previously posted.

I usually only post screenshots of my documents when someone has problems accessing my documents. Or, occasionally, to emphasise some bit of information.

[coppeen in reply to helvella]

Oh thank you that is a relief to know

[Starmen in reply to helvella]

I went to my pharmacy today to hand back the Teva apparently the staff had made a mistake dispensing the wrong brand yesterday. The pharmacist is supposed to check...she was not in today however the staff showed me where it is clearly states on my notes not to dispense Teva. They had Wockhardt in stock ! I gave them a list of alternatives without mannitol and acacia powder thanks to your post yesterday Helvella.

Thank you to everyone who responded to me yesterday.

[helvella Administrator in reply to Starmen]

Very pleased to read that the issue is resolved for you.

[deb25426]

I absolutely refuse Teva brand, it doesn’t work for me. It’s on my pharmacy notes. I explained to them if they couldn’t provide me with another brand I will take my regular prescriptions somewhere else x

[M066Y in reply to deb25426]

same here. The only one that works for me is mercury pharma

[deb25426 in reply to M066Y]

I’m ok with most of the others.. just Teva x