I have been meaning to post about this, but was busy with trying to take a final for my class. Last week, I found out that Levoxyl (which is another name brand on levothyroxine sodium) , was being recalled. Of course I went into major panic mode. Synthroid, has a tendency to upset my stomach, and I felt better on Levoxyl. Unfortunately, when you don't have a thyroid it's not like you can just say.. Oh it's okay I just won't take my medication. So, I called my doctor, and they have switched me over to Synthroid, oh Joy! I just hope it doesn't upset my stomach.
Anyways, regardless of all that, I just wanted to get this information out to everyone. If you take Levoxyl, be prepared for them to switch you to either a generic or to Synthroid. Also, I had some friends ask me questions about Levoxl, because apparently there is some confusion. So let me see if I can explain this a little bit:
Levothyroxine Sodium is the main ingredient in thyroid medication it is T4. T4, is what your thyroid naturally produces, so Levothyroxine Sodium is the synthetic form. When it comes to thyroid medication (in particular if you are hypothyroid) there are many kinds: there is both the genetic and name brand. Some of my friends were confused because they take generic and assumed that Levoxyl was generic. It is not a generic!!!!!! Name brands include: Eltroxin, Euthyrox, Letrox, Levaxin, L-thyroxine, Thyrax, and Thyrax Duotab in Europe; Thyrox in South Asia; Eutirox, Levoxyl, Synthroid, and Tirosint in North and South America, Thyrolar in Bangladesh.
*If it is generic your bottle will typically say: Levothyroxine Sodium substituted for (and it will specifiy which one it's subsitututed for: ex: Synthroid)
So what's the big deal between the brands and generic and b/w the different brands?
Well Levoxyl was know to have less fillers then Synthroid
Synthroid contains lactose, and never stated if there were gluten free. Levoxyl was lactose and gluten free! This could be very important for many people!
I have heard that Triosint which is one of the newer ones, has the least amount of fillers so it may be worth a try if, you have problems with the fillers.
Generic brands I have heard are often not consistent with their dosaging, because different manufacturers produce it, and often the dosage isn't necessairly consistent. That is one of the selling points of Synthroid, is that they dosage is always consistent since it's the same manufacturer.
So what do you do, if you are on Levoxyl and that what works?? Well, you just hope and pray that Synthroid will be okay! Levoxyl may not be back on the shelves until 2014! My plan is to try the Synthroid again, and if it messes up my stomach, then I will inquire about Triosint. Sadly, I would rather deal with an upset stomach , then the possibility of going in to a coma or die, due to lack of thyroid hormone.
Here is the information on the recall, in case anyone hasn't seen this!
http://www.endo-society.org/advocacy/insider/2013/LEVOXYL_Recalled_Due_to_Odor_Likely_Unavailable_Until_2014.cfm
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I literally read this title while popping my Levothyroxine pill in my mouth for the day. But my generic doesn't say it is a generic for anything in particular! So... I'm just going to hope I'm okay!
ReplyDeleteI am not sure what they are going to do if, it's a generic for Levoxyl, since its not Levoxyl itself I am wondering
ReplyDeleteIf they will leave it or take it off the shelves too. However when I took synthroid generic it was a round pill , when I took Levoxyl Generic it was a elongated pill. But I also don't know if it was just because it was different manufacturers. In general the name brand Synthroid is round, and the Levoxyl was in the shape of a thyroid (butterfly). FYI: it was always in really small letters on the bottle or maybe on the info sheet. I guess the best thing to do would be to call your pharmacy and ask them if the one you are taking is okay! So that if you need to switch the generic , you can do it before your prescription is up !
I have a feeling though you will probably be okay , I would be more concerned if you were taking the name brand Levoxyl itself :)
ReplyDeleteI'm in the same boat with Levoxyl and just got switched to the generic which I started this weekend. In the past I haven't done as well on the generic and find it strange that my endo didn't even talk to me about what would make the most sense if I can't take Levoxyl. Kind of scary! I'll give this a few weeks and see how it goes--maybe it will be fine? Fingers crossed....
ReplyDeleteDue to the recall, I was switched to Synthroid 88 MCG. I ended up having panic attack type symptoms so my endocrinologist lowered the dose to 75. Well, it's been about 3 weeks on the lower dose, and I feel miserable. My heart constantly feels like it's working too hard. I had an EKG done, and it came back clear. I've had sleepless nights for the first time ever. I had no idea that Levoxyl was so great for my body until now as Synthroid just isn't cutting it. I hope you haven't been dealing with the upset stomach too much since you switched over. Thanks for your postings :).
ReplyDeleteGeez, I just noticed I had replied to this and I guess it never posted. I am still on Synthroid, and I guess it's been okay. Funny thing is lately, my stomach has been acting up. I don't know if it's because of my lack of watching what I am eating , the synthroid or both. I hope you have been doing better with the Synthroid. I do wish they would bring Levoxyl back, as I have noticed that my hair is falling out more on the Synthroid.
DeleteThank you for your valuable post. Your post is really impressive.
ReplyDeleteYou blog is very informative with your all quality contents.
kimera
You're welcome!!!! Thank you for checking out my blog and for saying that it is informative. That was my intenet when I started it, just to provide information and also share my struggles. I have a couple of articles I am in the process of reading and hope to post about them soon.
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