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Difference between 0.75mcg and 0.75mg of levothyroxine
My mail order pharmacy sent me 0.75mg of levothyroxine instead of the 0.75mcg which is the correct dosage, I have taken almost the entire bottle, I need a refill this how I noticed the dosage was wrong. Is there a big difference between mcg and mg? Could this be harmful?
My guess is that the error was a typo on your script. Commercially made levo (not from a compounding pharmacy) does not come in tablets anywhere near as large as 0.75 mg. The highest dose I know of levo coming in is 200 mcg (0.2 mg) tablets.
If you had been taking that large a dose, you'd have felt it long before taking an entire bottle.
However, I think it's worth pointing out to the pharmacy. They should be made aware of their mistake so they can correct it.
If you had been taking that large a dose, you'd have felt it long before taking an entire bottle.
However, I think it's worth pointing out to the pharmacy. They should be made aware of their mistake so they can correct it.
0.75mcg is not the same as 0.75mg. 1 microgram (mcg) = 0.001 milligrams (mg). 75 mcg = 0.075 mg.
Excerpts from Institute For Safe Medical Practices - Medication errors associated with levothyroxine products...
"Some of the errors involved dispensing and administering an incorrect dose of levothyroxine, most often a 10-fold overdose after a decimal point had been misinterpreted. Abbreviations used during the prescribing process have also played a role. In one case, a prescription for SYNTHROID (levothyroxine) "QD" was misinterpreted as "QID." In another case, the abbreviations "mcg" and "mg" were confused with each other and a patient who had been taking Synthroid 25 mcg orally each day received a fatal IV dose of Synthroid 25 mg prior to surgery."
"To reduce the risk of an error, prescribers should print all orders for Lanoxin and levothyroxine and include the purpose for each drug on all prescriptions. Both the mg dose and the mcg conversion should be listed in all levothyroxine orders and on product labels, such as "levothyroxine 100 mcg (0.1 mg)" or "Synthroid 0.1 mg (100 mcg)."
Excerpts from Institute For Safe Medical Practices - Medication errors associated with levothyroxine products...
"Some of the errors involved dispensing and administering an incorrect dose of levothyroxine, most often a 10-fold overdose after a decimal point had been misinterpreted. Abbreviations used during the prescribing process have also played a role. In one case, a prescription for SYNTHROID (levothyroxine) "QD" was misinterpreted as "QID." In another case, the abbreviations "mcg" and "mg" were confused with each other and a patient who had been taking Synthroid 25 mcg orally each day received a fatal IV dose of Synthroid 25 mg prior to surgery."
"To reduce the risk of an error, prescribers should print all orders for Lanoxin and levothyroxine and include the purpose for each drug on all prescriptions. Both the mg dose and the mcg conversion should be listed in all levothyroxine orders and on product labels, such as "levothyroxine 100 mcg (0.1 mg)" or "Synthroid 0.1 mg (100 mcg)."
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