Is Synthroid Better Than Generic Levothyroxine?
Is Synthroid Better Than Generic Levothyroxine?
All-cause pharmacy costs, however, were significantly higher for TSH achievers than for non-achievers (adjusted mean $2601 vs. $2529, p ≤ 0.001). Hypothyroidism-related pharmacy costs were also lower for TSH achievers than for non-achievers (adjusted mean $156 vs. $163, p ≤ 0.001). All patients were ≥ 18years old on the index date, and all had at least 6 months of pre-index (baseline) and 12 months of post-index (follow-up) health plan enrollment. Patients were required to have at least 1 TSH laboratory result during the 12-month follow-up period and be persistent in their index therapy through follow-up.
ABBVIE IS COMMITTED TO
The study showed that 25% of patients did not have a normal blood level of TSH. Further, 28% were missing doses based on prescription refills, with the main reason unintentional owing primarily due to forgetfulness. Only 39% of the patients reported taking the medication at the recommended time 30 min before eating. About 7% of participants also used medications that could interfere with levothyroxine absorption and did not follow the recommended dosing instructions with regard to timing.
Personally, I have had experiences where I have written for brand-name SYNTHROID and the patients have been dispensed generic levothyroxine or even another branded levothyroxine product. It’s very important to make sure that you write “Dispense as written,” or whatever state-specific language, on the prescription when you prescribe the medication. A key issue in QoL research is what constitutes “good QoL” in a given population 16,18,19. For example, Wekking et al. (2005) compared their QoL data patients with primary hypothyroidism with normative data from a Dutch general population sample but suggested that a comparison with a control group would have been preferable 66. The definition of “good” QoL is less of an issue in double-blind, placebo-controlled RCTs that focused on changes over time with treatment or in active treatment vs. placebo groups. Levothyroxine sodium is the second-most prescribed drug in the United States, with approximately 25 million people using either Synthroid or generic levothyroxine to manage their hypothyroidism (low thyroid function).
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- Combination treatment with LT4 + LT3 does not appear to lead to better QoL.
- There are also certain vitamins and supplements that can interfere with the absorption of SYNTHROID.
- The patient needs to discontinue it for a couple days, as it’s a water-soluble vitamin, and then it won’t impact blood testing.
- It should be noted that we did not seek to determine independently whether the QoL reported for a given study group was truly “good” or “normal”; we relied on the study investigators’ statements and the results of their statistical analyses.
- This trend is especially noticeable at the start of the new year when many people commit to health-related resolutions and turn to supplements as a quick fix for improving their energy, metabolism, or overall wellness.
Pituitary Thyrotropin (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone, TSH) SuppressionSYNTHROID is indicated in adult and pediatric patients, including neonates, as an adjunct to surgery and radioiodine therapy in the management of thyrotropin-dependent well-differentiated thyroid cancer. Mistaken generic users defined as those who reported taking SYNTHROID but did not have “SYNTHROID” embossed on the pill in a national online survey conducted in 2021 of 1908 adults diagnosed with hypothyroidism and currently taking LT4 products. Overtreatment or undertreatment with levothyroxine may have negative effects on different systems throughout the human body. So, my job as a thyroid specialist in these patients is to make sure my patient is treated and gets to a point of consistency, because it is a lifelong course of medication. However, these factors have not been extensively characterized, and their specificity and selectivity remain to be determined. An alpha level of 0.05 was used to identify statistical significance.
TSH Achievers vs. Non-Achievers
- If you’ve ever had a patient ask about thyroid supplements or seen the impact of self-prescribed treatments, this episode is for you.
- All-cause pharmacy costs, however, were significantly higher for TSH achievers than for non-achievers (adjusted mean $2601 vs. $2529, p ≤ 0.001).
- Well-being and QoL do not simply equate to adequate material living standards or the absence of disease.
The patient needs to discontinue it for a couple days, as it’s a water-soluble vitamin, and then it won’t impact blood testing. If you give too much, we know there’s a famous thing called Jod-Basedow. It’s named after a German physician, synthroid bactrim where you can induce an overactive thyroid when you get exposed to too much iodine via diet or supplements. One of these, and I won’t mention the exact substance, but I’ve looked at it and it has 12,000 μg of iodine.
The statistical analyses were performed using SAS Enterprise Guide 7.1 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA, 2014). Sensitivity analyses of the primary outcome were performed using a narrower TSH range (0.4 mIU/L to 4.0 mIU/L 6) and also among a subset of patients with at least two TSH results at follow-up. These concerns were largely laid to rest in 2019 based on research published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings. According to the analysis of over 87,000 people on either Synthroid or generic levothyroxine, there were no differences in the rate of heart attack, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, or stroke in either group. I think those are common complaints we get from patients, whether you’re a primary care provider, a gynecologist — which many times acts as a primary care provider for people — or even a specialist, and of course endocrinologists. We have many of our patients come in with fatigue and weight concerns.
Comparative Safety of Synthroid and Generics
In the elderly and in patients with cardiovascular disease, SYNTHROID should be initiated at lower doses than those recommended in younger individuals or in patients without cardiac disease. Patients with coronary artery disease who are receiving SYNTHROID should be closely monitored for cardiac arrhythmias during surgical procedures. Levothyroxine is one of the ten NTI drug classes most commonly prescribed.
Patients read and see they have some of these symptoms, they see it’s on the thyroid list, and even though they’ve been told that their levels look okay, they read that the levels aren’t accurate, which is misinformation on the internet. I have these symptoms.” They want to feel better, so they try taking these substances. They will mention these symptoms and mention it’s related to the thyroid.
34-week prescription audit of 441 pharmacies (average 41 prescriptions per state) totaling 1908 new and renewed SYNTHROID prescriptions between August 1, 2020 and March 23, 2021. And, as a practicing thyroid specialist, I have extensive clinical experience with using this medication. In addition to testing TSH, sometimes it may be important to run other labs such as a free T4, in addition to the TSH, to ensure you have accurate dosing in the medication.
Levothyroxine is the most commonly used treatment in this setting. A total of 153,775 patients (34,828 in the Synthroid cohort and 118,947 in the GL cohort) were initially identified for potential study inclusion (Fig. 1). Of these, roughly half persistently followed index therapy (79,140 total; 18,694 Synthroid; 60,446 GL). After propensity score matching, the Synthroid and GL cohorts each contained 18,382 patients. To be included in the study, patients were required to have at least two distinct claims between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2017 with ICD-9/10-CM diagnosis codes for hypothyroidism (see Supplementary Material Table 1). Patients were also required to have two or more fills for either Synthroid or GL (same or multiple).