Liquid Thyroixine

[SSE106]

I visited the GP Yesterday as i cannot tolerateany brand of thyroixine, when I take them it always makes me ill, I asked her to prescribe some liquid thyroixine for me for a trial, she rejected it straight away. I spoke to the pharmacist later, he told me it is all down to the costs. terrible.

[Pig4u]

I have the same problem .I can only tolerate the Liquid which was originally recommended to me by a private G P I was seeing for some help after the death of my husband ,She told me it was easier absorbed by the body.My own GP did his very best to get it for me on the NH but was refused but told that if it was advised by an Endo then it might go on NHS prescription .i cannot take thyroxine or Armour and the liquid is better.I have now written a begging letter to my last Endo to see if he will take pity on me as at £80 a bottle I am not sure how much longer I can afford it .So good luck and get an appt. with Endo on NH and see how you go

[SSE106 in reply to Pig4u]

I am seeing a private endo in a few week's time, I will talk to him about it. thank you. funny enough the gp I saw, sending me out of her office very fast, very rude.

[Hidden]

Are you under an Endo? If so can they not prescribe it/write to your GP?

[SSE106 in reply to Hidden]

yes I am going to see an endo soon, I will then talk to him about it. thank you.

[Pink_Bear]

I am sorry to read that you are receiving such negative treatment. If you continue to be denied the medication you need you could try contacting your local Patient Advice and Liaison Service - one of their roles is to ensure the NHS listens to patients and resolves their concerns. You could also write to your MP and ask him/her to look into the situation. We need to be more vocal about such poor treatment!

[SSE106 in reply to Pink_Bear]

thank you for the advice.

[carolinep]

I have been on Levothyroxine tablets (various brands) for over 2.5 yrs, and also take T3. I felt far more ill taking T4 than I ever did before diagnosis, in fact I had to give up work. I rang my GP surgery and asked for a trial of liquid T4 and they rang back with a refusal. I asked for an appointment to discuss my medication, and this too was refused. I rang my NHS Consultant and he said that he was unable to "instruct" my GP to prescribe the liquid, but if I had no luck he may be able to prescribe it for me. I rang the GPs surgery again and just asked for an appointment but for a Dr my husband had found useful. I went through all the problems I had, and gave him information on the research I had done, and he went through the reasons for the initial refusal i.e. cost. Generic T4 tablets cost my surgery about £1.70 per month for a patient, and £46 per month per patient for the liquid. He said he would check with the Head Pharmacist at the local PCT, and a few months later said that because the surgery was not an overspent one, he was willing to prescribe the liquid for me. I am currently very slowly changing to the liquid, and after a couple of weeks, have already felt an improvement. The GP also told me that if an expensive item is requested by a patient the GP practice needs to obtain a "special licence" from the PCT (its permission basically) for this item. I think you should vigorously pursue your request, if I had let it drop when told no, then I wouldn't be feeling the benefit now. Life is too short to put up with feeling so bad. Good luck.

[SSE106 in reply to carolinep]

Thank you , this is very useful. I will not give it up. so kind of you to share your experience.

[Glynisrose]

Change your doctor, she obviously doesn't know how thyroxine works!! I never had a problem getting liquid thyroxine from my doctor (who was a pain and said my thyroid would grow back!!) I stopped it when I went on to levo tablets, it was such a pain as it only has a shelf life of 3 weeks and you are constantly up and down the doctors and chemist!!

[SSE106 in reply to Glynisrose]

Thank you for the support, your surgery probably is in a very good area. I will keep pursuing it.

[mistydog]

I may be wrong, but I had the idea that GPs are there to make sure you are healthy. If you need thyroxine but are unable to tolerate the normal meds, then ones you can tolerate SHOULD be prescribed or they are being negligent of your health, sure? Someone must know the legal side of this?

[SSE106]

Thank you for the support. I will try to talk to the endo when I see him.