Self medicating

[nickiboop]

Like many people on here I am self medicating. Im on thyroid s and its great, however hubby and other people think Im taking a huge risk

How do I explain this to them?

[humanbean]

This is based on my own experience - yours may be different...

You have a choice...

a) Do what the doctor wants and live a life that is simply existing, being in constant pain, unable to think, while you wait to die in abject misery.

b) Take a risk (but only a small one since you've done your homework first!), self-medicate, alleviate the pain, get back the ability to think and to remember, and have a life worth living.

[galathea]

Well what exactly do they think you are at risk of? Get them to spell it out then you can allay their fears.

G x

[sip1 in reply to galathea]

I'm thinking they probably don't know what the risks are, unless they too have done their homework. Just an automatic reaction I should imagine! The nurse at my doctors surgery made a face when I told her I self medicated - a sort of 'ooooh really?' grimace face. I've stopped caring what other people think nowdays - it's my life, and like humanbean said, without NDT I was existing, not living. I'm not going to exist just to keep the medical profession happy - just so they can put a ME label on me, when I don't have it. Stuff that!

[silverfox7]

I haven't self medicated as such but family were concerned that I changed my dose of Levo depending on my temperature and how I felt. Just explain that when you are over medicated you would get different symptoms which you know would be foolish to ignore. May be tell them what they are. Anything you are open about can help take away the fear factor.

If you are taking T3 then explain that it isn't in the system for very long so again you can stop that before it has chance to do any damage.

[nickiboop]

I think my husband's issue is that

1 I cannot prove what's in it, as he said they could have cut it with speed or anything !?! Yes I have more energy but I'm not exactly at Tigger levels!

2 why do I trust people on the Internet but not the doctor who spent years learning about this . maybe because he's repeatedly Said he is not an expert and you lovely Internet people are expert's due to living it

Anyway going to keep on taking the meds and work off how I feel ☺

[Joeyis7 in reply to nickiboop]

Why not buy books ( made of real paper) many of which are written by doctors? Your relatives might trust these better. 'Your Thyroid and How To Keep It Healthy' by Dr B Peatfield.

'Diagnosis and Management of Hypothyroidism' by Dr G Skinner

'tears Behind Closed Doors' by Diana Holmes ( by a sufferer but it's endorsed by doctors).

Some people feel books have more authority than websites. In a way it is true, because anyone can say anything on a website. Medical books have to cite their credentials and research papers.

Good luck!

Joeyis7

[BexyLS in reply to Joeyis7]

This is definitely a good idea

[Cariad123 in reply to Joeyis7]

Many years ago went to see Dr Barry Peatfield in Purley , wonderful man l was so ill he prescribed NDT and cortosol and l was able to function again took basil temp every morning to moniter , if you can acess the book read it

[Hidden in reply to nickiboop]

What about all those people who trusted Dr Harold Shipman? In all professions there are those who are good, bad, and indifferent, and GPs are no different. Likewise, there are foreward thinkers and those who follow the party line, those who think outside the box and those hog bound by rules and regulations. There are those who care more about doing what it takes to make their patients well, and those chasing lab numbers. And the bottom line is that they are human and sometimes just simply get it wrong and make poor decisions. They may be the professional but patients are the experts in their health.

[galathea in reply to nickiboop]

If you took the meds you bought on the net, and they didnT work, you would soon know about it as yo would feel hypo.....

If the people supplying the meds wanted to kill you, it wouldn't be good for their repeat business.

The way the people on the net make their money, is by repeat buying and reccomendation. Supplying dodgy meds just isn't going to do it for them is it?

How fast would the word spread if a supplier was giving out fake meds? Tell the family to apply some logic. Grrrrrrr

G. :-).

[TSH110 in reply to nickiboop]

If you follow the link below and scroll down to ThyroidS there is a list of what is in it:

stopthethyroidmadness.com/a...

I can't see there is much to get worked up about there. Would your family chose to suffer ill health when they had the option of medicine that worked for them? I doubt it very much, so why are they guilt tripping you over it? It is your life, your body and your descision what you take for your condition. No one would get me off ThyroidS for levothyroxine - it may have saved my life but it did not make me better. ThyroidS would have done both of course.

Good for you - you are being both proactive and sensible in optimising your health and well being!

It is a pity the NHS does not offer us a real choice of treatments we would all obtain bespoke and optimal results if only they woke up and listened to us and stopped seeing us as just a TSH number walking into the surgery/hospital.

At least you can itemise the ingredients to your family now, perhaps that will allay their unwarranted fears of ThyroidS and they can see the other formulations of NDT for comparison! It has never given anyone mad cow disease either according to STTM.

[Hidden]

We have to take responsibity for our own health. Explain once why you are doing what you are doing , and the science underpinning your decision, but beyond that refuse to be drawn into a discussion about it.

[Hypopotamus]

I had the same sort of comments made to me when I told friends that as a last resort, I was having to buy Thyroid-S from Thailand.

I think that many people still believe that once you leave Europe, you have a world of backward countries where crime and wickedness are the norm. Of course Thailand is one of the well-known for other types of drugs so it has a bad reputation in many people's eyes.

I've been there so have a more balanced view of the place. It's simply another country where the people have not been so regulated as we have, and still retain the right to treat themselves. Hence items like Thyroid-S are freely available there but not in Europe. It's a modernized country with production facilities the equal of the UK.

But perhaps your best line of defense is this. Ask your husband which country his car comes from. Which country does your washing machine come from? Where was his mobile phone made. Where was the TV produced? Get the drift?

[Hidden in reply to Hypopotamus]

I suspect Thai piggies may have fewer dietary additives than British piggies. I might be less keen on my thyroid S if I knew it was made in Britain, with all the stuff we inject into our food animals.

[Hypopotamus in reply to Hidden]

Good point. We need to realise that not everything from the UK is necessarily better.

[marditart]

Im all for self medicating ! The only problem I find is when the GP requests a blood test, Grr!!

[TSH110 in reply to marditart]

What do you do marditart? I have not Jumped that hurdle yet I seem so well doc has not bothered with bloods at all since I secretly switched to ThyroidS - the best decision of my life.

[marditart in reply to TSH110]

was advised to drop meds back down to gp levels to have blood test what a mare !!!!

[Clutter in reply to TSH110]

TSH110, I'd advise having the blood test for your own information. As you're self medicating GP can't cut your dose if s/he thinks TSH is too low.

[TSH110 in reply to Clutter]

Thanks Clutter. I would not refuse a blood test but it is normally TSH and T4 only I think. I feel totally normal like I was before I ever got ill so presume my levels ought to be in order.

[Clutter in reply to TSH110]

TSH, how you are feeling is far more important than what a blood test will tell you but it's handy to know what your bloods are when you feel good for future reference. FT3 is usually only done when TSH is suppressed <0.04.

[Clutter in reply to marditart]

Marditart, have the blood test for your own info. If TSH is too low for the GP's liking you may be advised to reduce your dose but as you are self medicating you can't be forced to do so.

[marditart in reply to Clutter]

Thanks for your comment, wish I was that strong always do as flippin Dr says ! Although this time reading was wrong at a pre- opp appointment I had so now injection into foot [Mortons Neuroma !} as been deferred Grrr!

Will Things ever get any better I ask myself ????

[BexyLS]

My partner was the same and he just said to trust the doctor and do what they say. But over time he has seen me do my research and talking to the lovely people on here and now knows I know more about the thyroid and treatments than my GP. Maybe get your hubby to read some of the posts here and see how knowledgeable we are and also that its regulated by Thyroid UK which have a good website and is not run by crazies! And buy some books too to show you really mean business! (even though you can get the same info on the web it is said that people trust a book more than than other form of communication). Oh yeah and now family ask me for advice on thyroid stuff and how to deal with doctors. x

[Glynisrose]

Tell him simply you know what you are doing and to mind his own business!!

[eeng]

Many of these thyroid preparations are marketed as a food supplement. Lots of people take food supplements. If it was dangerous it would be illegal. That should put their mind at rest.

[marditart in reply to eeng]

Hi ,Please could you advise of the food supplements you are Referring too ? sounds very interesting.

[eeng in reply to marditart]

If you look on amazon you will see that thyroid-s is marketed as a supplement, not a medicine. Thyro Gold is marketed as a 'dietary' product. There are several more. This means the laws on medicines don't apply to them.

[Hidden]

NDT was standard accepted treatment for HypoT before big pharma came along and synthesised T4.

[Spareribs in reply to Hidden]

Yes, sadly natural stuff has a bad name - things seem to be changing 'tho

[BeansMummy]

When I first found this site, I remember telling my husband about all these people "buying drugs" from abroad, self-medicating, dishing out advice that contradicted doctors, following odd diets - and thinking that maybe I had stumbled on some sort of New Age bunch of airy fairy weirdos.

Over time, I came to realise that there were some very good reasons that you all did this. (That's not to say that you are not all a bunch of airy fairy weirdos, of course !! ) I still struggle to get my head around the appalling lack of treatment or understanding we get from most doctors.

I just haven't been brave enough to venture as far down that route (yet), but I have become a lot more knowledgeable and assertive with doctors.

[rocketmom]

Forget other people. For your husband, ask him to read this thread. Then, ask him to spend a full month, reading this site every single day, in addition to asking him to read work from doctors such as John C. Lowe.

Speaking to your husband - I can understand why you would have trepidation. We are conditioned to trust doctors with our health care managment and for the most part, we can. But, in the UK, thyroid management is out of control. Why do you think the main sites are stopthethyroidmaddness? It's because it is maddness. Once you spend some time really learning about the atrocious engagement you are going to be enraged. It's really a crime against the people of massive proportions. Open yourself up, read everything you can. Then, you will learn that if your partner doesn't manager her thyroid, she's likely to die.

Show him, op. Good luck and thank goodness you are taking your health management into your own hands. Perhaps once your husband learns the truth he'll help you come up with an elevator pitch to help explain it.

[Spareribs]

Are you feeling better?

enough said x

(an airy fairy weirdo)

[Hypo32]

That is the reason why I will only see a certain GP at my practise - she has it. That said she only gives Thyroxine but she did test for other things and is a lot more willing to optimise my dose.