Feeling ill

[Gemp]

Can anyone tell me how to get NDT in England without a prescription. My GP refuses to acknowledge it exists while I suffer

[Clutter]

Welcome to the forum, Gemp.

Some patients are able to get NDT prescribed on the NHS but as it isn't licensed for UK use doctors aren't obliged to prescribe it and most members of the forum using it have private prescriptions or buy online and self medicate.

If you care to post your recent thyroid results and lab ranges members will advise whether you are optimally medicated. If you have results and ranges for ferritin, vitamin D, B12 and folate post those too.

[galathea]

Its illegal for you to buy prescription meds without a prescription in the uk, but its not illegal for you to buy them from abroad and import them for your own, or your immediate households use.

G x

[Patsy74 in reply to galathea]

Quite agree and you can get over paying the import duty if you know how !!

I have already told Lyn Mynott how I have been able to do this and I am sure she will pass on the info or if she is willing she can give you my email details and so not break and guidelines etc

Pat Smith

[helvella Administrator in reply to Patsy74]

Other than rather obscure loopholes (e.g. getting it delivered to a foreign embassy in London), I believe that there is only one legal way of avoiding the VAT imposed on imports. (It is not technically "duty" which is a separate tax.) That way is to purchase in quantities which have a value less than fifteen pounds.

Any attempt to get goods sent with a false value, as a present, etc., are illegal and both the sender and potentially the recipient could find themselves in breach of the law. Obviously, a foreign sender is extremely unlikely ever to suffer any consequences. But there have been cases where a person who in some way arranged for the false value has felt the hand of the HMRC.

[Patsy74 in reply to helvella]

Mine is all above board because I have a prescription to prove my case

[helvella Administrator in reply to Patsy74]

A prescription does not remove liability to VAT.

[Megan_back in reply to helvella]

What happens if you are quite prepared to pay any duty but the delivery that should have attracted import duty is stated by the selling company as a gift so you don't get the import charge you should?

Should you just leave it as is and not pay or declare in some way?

[helvella Administrator in reply to Megan_back]

If you as the person ordering know that is going to happen, it could be construed as collusion or worse.

check that the sender fills in the customs declaration form correctly

gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abro...

If it happens on a one-off basis I'd treat it the same as any parcel that comes through without having been picked up. That is, thank your lucky stars today and never expect it to happen again. Being totally sensible, there is a level of charge which is small enough that invoking the "I want to pay what I should" could end up costing HMRC in administration costs more than the amount being discussed.

In case anyone thinks I am being a moral guardian here, that is not my motivation. I want people to understand the rules and law and where they stand. Then it is their choice to follow whatever path they choose - and the consequnces. The link above has much more information.

[Megan_back in reply to helvella]

No I don't think you are being a moral guardian.

I will admit the parcel I was thinking of I was fully expecting to have to go to the post office to pay the duty on it to collect the parcel, I had been ordering a few things overseas and paying the expected duty was so very surprised when it arrived marked as a gift and came through with no duty.

I worried then it was wrong but will admit i then did nothing as i don't really know how to go back and then declare and figured for the £2 duty fee it probably wasn't worth it

[Jaybrooke]

Over the years I've asked for T3 to be added to T4 or NDT and answer always a big fat NO! GP s doctors endos reaction to this request is a one of horror and a list of side effects ! After suffering for years I was eventually given thyroxine and I became 60/70% better but wanted to try and get to 100% if possible so now I self medicate I have been taking thyrogold for nearly 5 months now and feeling so much better I have hashimotos I still get flare ups with pain in throat jaw ear but not all the other symptoms that used to go with it and I can cope with that. I buy it on line ( dr John Lowe) no prescription needed .

[Muffy]

You could let your GP know that Hillary Clinton is taking Armour Thyroid. You never know, your GP may try to educate himself on NDT. If a prospective American President can take it, then why shouldn't you!

[Patsy74]

Get the book Your thyroid and how to keep it healthy by Dr Barry Durrant Peatfield (ISBN 978-1-90514010-7) from your local library. It has lots of information and addresses of places to get NDT or Google, Armour thyroid and get the suppliers(from America)

Once again another GP not willing to consider that some of us and there are many who cannot take the licensed stuff.

I only hope eventually thyroiduk get the break through we are all asking for . It's about time the GMA and medical schools started to train doctors properly to help patients not hinder them

Pat Smih

[Gemp]

Thank you everyone so much for your help. If found Thyroid-S online with your help. Who has taken this? Xx

[KateUK]

Morning all

What I'd like to know is why the 'British Thyroid Foundation' and 'Thyroid UK' are not educating doctors and promoting the use of NDT when it clearly is the better option Vs synthetics? The so called supporting foundations are failing each and everyone of us.

[helvella Administrator in reply to KateUK]

The BTF is intimately linked with the British Thyroid Association - the professional association of thyroid specialists. The BTF pretty much always toes the line put out by the BTA and its members. No chance of boat-rocking there.

Thyroid UK is a small charity which follows what it sees as the best ways forward. It is very hard for non-medics to influence medicine.

My view is "horses for courses" - desiccated thyroid may well be better for some people, while others do not get on with it and are best on levothyroxine, liothyronine or some combination. I really don't see any meaning to declaring one better than the others in isolation without reference to individuals.

[RedApple Administrator in reply to KateUK]

KateUK,

The so called supporting foundations are failing each and everyone of us.

You need to find out a lot more about the charity Thyroid UK - how and why it was started and what efforts the charity has and is continuing to put in to bring about change - before you make such a statement.

For example, perhaps you are not aware that this support forum exists because of Thyroid UK, and is moderated by Thyroid UK members on a purely voluntary basis? Over the years, many, many, many people have gained immense help from being here on this forum. Knowledge is power, and this forum does a huge amount to give people the knowledge they need, to have the power to make the changes in their thyroid treatment, that enables them to achieve a better quality of life.