Hi, I have now been changed to 75mcg of Levothyroxine. I can’t take Teva it gave me diarrhoea. My pharmacist only have 50 or 100 Accord so they want to give me 25mcg of Teva. I’m really fed up, GP will only give me 2 months prescription, every time prescription is sent to my pharmacy I get a different brand, it’s so frustrating. Any ideas how to get the same brand every month 75mcg ???
Thanks
hi there I had the very same problem last year .i take 75 mg and what I do now is take 3 25 mg as these are always in stock .our docs now only give 1 months supply which can be annoying as they are a life long tablet ..
That’s a good idea but I was hoping to just take 1 tablet a day. My pharmacy seems to have a problem getting 25mcg dose, only in Teva. Its amazing how when Endo gave me a private prescription and paying for Levo I had a choice of make but not on nhs
You could
A) get GP to increase number of 50mcg tablets per month
Cut 50mcg in half to get 25mcg using pill cutter or sharp scalpel
Assuming you prefer Accord get GP to specify brand on prescription
B) alternative 25mcg brands are available
Wockhardt - only make 25mcg
Mercury Pharma - make 25mcg, 50mcg and 100mcg
Vencamil - lactose and mannitol free
Only recently had 25mcg dose added to range
Also 75mcg Vencamil dose available
Specialist pharmacies
Many people find Levothyroxine brands are not interchangeable.
Most easily available (and often most easily tolerated) are Mercury Pharma or Accord
Mercury Pharma make 25mcg, 50mcg and 100mcg tablets
Mercury Pharma also boxed as Eltroxin. Both often listed by company name on pharmacy database - Advanz
Accord only make 50mcg and 100mcg tablets. Accord is also boxed as Almus via Boots,
Wockhardt is very well tolerated, but only available in 25mcg tablets. Some people remain on Wockhardt, taking their daily dose as a number of tablets
July 2024
Crescent levothyroxine. Dosages: 12.5, 25, 50, 75, 100
(Not yet known if all approved dosages are or will be available).
Excipients: lactose monohydrate, maize starch, croscarmellose sodium, gelatin and magnesium stearate.
Lactose free brands - currently Vencamil or Teva
Vencamil is lactose free and mannitol free. originally only available as 100mcg only, but 25mcg, 50mcg and 75mcg tablets became available Sept 2024
Prior to March 2023 Vencamil was called Aristo
Vencamil often very well tolerated/best option for many people
How to get Vencamil stocked at your local pharmacy
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
Posts discussing Vencamil
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu....
Teva makes 12.5mcg 25mcg, 50mcg, 75mcg and 100mcg
Many patients do NOT get on well with Teva brand of Levothyroxine. Many people have note added to all prescriptions saying “no Teva brand”
Teva is lactose free, but contains mannitol as a filler instead of lactose, which seems to be possible cause of problems. Mannitol seems to upset many people, it changes gut biome
Helpful post about Teva
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
Posts that mention Teva
healthunlocked.com/search/p...
Teva poll
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
Relatively new ……Hillcross brand
This is a box, rather than a brand. 50mcg and 100mcg are Accord brand….but beware 25mcg is Teva brand
Helpful post about different brands
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
List of different brands available in U.K.
thyroiduk.org/if-you-are-hy...
Once you find a brand that suits you, best to make sure to only get that one at each prescription.
Watch out for brand change when dose is increased or at repeat prescription.
Government guidelines for GP in support of patients if you find it difficult/impossible to change brands
gov.uk/drug-safety-update/l...
If a patient reports persistent symptoms when switching between different levothyroxine tablet formulations, consider consistently prescribing a specific product known to be well tolerated by the patient.
academic.oup.com/jcem/artic...
Physicians should: 1) alert patients that preparations may be switched at the pharmacy; 2) encourage patients to ask to remain on the same preparation at every pharmacy refill; and 3) make sure patients understand the need to have their TSH retested and the potential for dosing readjusted every time their LT4 preparation is switched (18).
And here
pharmacymagazine.co.uk/clin...
Discussed here too
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
Thank you, extremely useful information. Dr refused to increase 50mcg because endo recently lowered my dose from 100mcg. I will take the list with me tomorrow to my pharmacist to see if they can order any of the makes providing 75mcg dose. Many thanks
Ask for your prescription to specify the actual product. 75 microgram tablets are now available in Aristo Vencamil, and potentially Crescent, as well as Teva.
Appendix F of my UK medicine document explains how the prescription has to be written.
Obviously, this only works if you are OK on Aristo Vencamil! And if you can persuade your prescriber to do so.
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!
Blog last updated 11/11/2024 - documents are regularly updated
Having to mix levo brands.
Different brand of Levo each time
Lactose free brands of Levo
Change of Levo brand??
