Non availability of the brand of Levothyroxine 50mcg I have been using.

[Ponmo]

Hi, I have been on a particular brand of Levothyroxine for 3 years on a daily dosage of 150mcg. I have some 100mcg with me, but the 50mcg have been scarce to find. I am informed dividing the 100mcg may be inaccurate. Please what can I do? Thanks for your response.

[RedApple Administrator]

Ponmo, Are you in the UK? If so, please say which 50mcg brand of levo you're having difficulty obtaining.

[Ponmo in reply to RedApple]

I am in Nigeria. I use the brand Mercury Pharma Group Limited, UK.

[RedApple Administrator in reply to Ponmo]

' I am informed dividing the 100mcg may be inaccurate. '

This may be true to a certain extent as it's impossible to accurately split each and every tablet, and it's impossible to know how evenly the active ingredient is distributed within each individual tablet. But if you split a 100mcg tablet into two (I am assuming the tablet has a divide line scored on it), you can take one half today, and the second half tomorrow. So any tiny discrepancy in your dose will even out over the two days. I do this myself with a different dose and brand of levothyroxine. It's a case of 'needs must'.

[Ponmo in reply to RedApple]

Thanks, will try this.

[helvella Administrator]

In case it makes you feel any better, we in the UK often have shortages of specific companies' products, sometimes specific dosages!

Just yesterday, someone was saying they couldn't get 25 microrgam Mercury Pharma levothyroxine.