I have never posted on here before but here goes....!!!! I have recently seen an endo who has prescribed me a T3 / T4 combo to treat my somewhat wobbly hypothyroidism. He wrote to my GP asking him to prescribe this for me (after I had paid for the first months worth from the chemist at £218) and the GP has refused as "it is not in the formulary". I now know that I have to source the T3 from somewhere else but am really scared that buying from the Internet could be dodgy. So I wondered if you knowledgable people could please offer me some advice before my 14 remaining tablets at approx £8 each run out!!!
Well the doc is a liar because it most definitely is in the national formulary..... Specifically, it is in the december 2015 edition.. And has been in all the previous editions..... Its listed as Liothyronine... Here is the link to the bnf.
Suggest you write a note to your doctor, and copy it to the head of practice. Say you felt better on the months worth of t3 you have been taking and you look forward to regaining full health on t3. now that your endo has decided it is what you need. Say you were dissapointed that the doctor felt unable to prescribe it due to it not being listed in the bnf, but say you double checked this information and are pleased to be able to confirm that it is actually listed, (as liothyronine), there are no restrictions upon a doctor prescribing it, so you will be by to collect a prescription.... Next monday.
You never know, it might work...... Worth printing off the page from the bnf, be sure to send a copy to head of practice so your doc doesnt just throw your letter away.
Buying off the net is fairly easy and legal, you can even buy over the counter in some countries. Greece? ... There is no great profit in it as its not horribly expensive. The pharmacy makes money from your repeat business, so they have no interest in providing you with duff medicine or killing you.
You can tell the doc you are prepared to buy your own , name some scary sounding country and that might scare him into prescribing,,,, ( it did mine ) but keep this threat up your sleeve as a last resort..... For now, best to kindly point out his error in not believing it was in the bnf.
I get my t3 from.<pharmacy name> online, I live in New Zealand three months supply cost roughly 70 American dollars. Been using this for over three years.
[ Edited by admin to remove pharmacy name. Please read our guidelines. ]
Please could you pm the website name L I'm just about to place an order with an online pharmacy but becuase it looks like it's for body builders I wanted to check which sites other people have tried successfully thanks
Hi I buy over the counter in greece I bought enough to last 18 months aprox , I go on cheap package deal and it works out cheaper plus I get a lovely holiday but good luck at your doctor as galathea suggest s
what part of greece did you go to? is it possible to buy in any part of greece? i am able to get in france where i live but not all parts of france will supply over the counter and never more than one box/month at a time, it is worth going for a week to stock up but would hate to get there an it not be available xx
I have been prescribed T3 by my GP for the last 3 years on the suggestion of my endocrinologist, and this would not have happened for me (and many others on this forum) if the drug Liothyronine was not in the formulary. Sadly I understand that some CCGs are now creating difficulties for GPs prescribing T3 due to the cost, but that is an entirely different issue.
I hope you can get a different answer from your GP over this problem.
Its available on the National Health Service so long as you are in the UK system and your GP needs reporting to his supervisory body. What is the formilary? I know some endos don't like trying things which are "outside" the norm and I am lucky to have recently seen an endo at a hospital which isn't my local who is open to trying the T3/T4 combo. I have been on this for a month and already feel better. Good luck?
The Bnf. British national formulary is the list of medicines and their prices, which doctors are allowed to prescribe in the uk, with no special conditions.
Worth having a link to it so you can fend off any bull**** the doctors cone up with.
G
Thank you all so much for your help, I am going to go to the head of the practice next week to demand answers. The worse thing is our village pharmacist has told me that there are other people in our village getting T3 on the NHS. Enough to make your blood boil!!!! K x
This makes me so mad. The endo is supposed to be more knowledgeable over a GP. Probably have to source an intergrative GP who knows whats what about hypothyroidism and how to treat it.
Me too please, I need another source of T3 since my Endo is constantly trying to lower my dose and making me ill. Can you pm me your source? I should be most grateful.
Whoever signs a prescription is responsible for it. It would be ridiculous if a doctor was forced to sign a prescription for a particular medicine if they know the patient will suffer from it. (Think, the GP may know of a sensitivity or bad reaction which would be obvious grounds for refusal. But the endocrinologist might not know or have noticed.) Also, some aspects of the case may have changed between the specialist appointment and the GP being asked to prescribe.
At the same time, it is a major issue if the GP refuses on arbitrary grounds such as cost or not being able to find it in the British National Formulary - or their computer system.
My view is that if the GP intends to refuse, they should contact the specialist and discuss with them. Get it argued out before the patient suffers a refusal.
As a qualified doctor, yes, an endocrinologist can do so.
The funding of that prescription is a big part of the problem. Your GP is supposed to get the money to fund your medicines. The endo doesn't have the funding.
Another problem is that the endo is unlikely to be set up to handle lots of repeat prescriptions coming in - whereas that is a major part of the GP's role.
I have to go to hospitals for various things and every time i need a medication, the specialist i have seen has written a note to my doc, suggesting that they prescribe. Whatever is needed..
The doc is under no obligation, as far as i can tell, to foot the bill and prescribe the medication. So the doc can refer you to a specialist and then refuse to act on the prescribing advice of the specialist..... Either the doc, or the specialist is superflous here......
My own experience has been on the lucky side - have not needed very much medicine and have not had much problem getting them prescribed.
The one significant issue was a singe-dose unit (SDU) form of eye drop. Specialist wanted me to have at least three a day. GP only prescribed a single pack of 30. So a 10-day supply. Mentioned because this looked such a clear-cut cost-based decision.
My Endo writes my T3 prescriptions & they are dispensed through the hospital pharmacy.
My GP is supportive & willing to prescribe T3 but has his hands tied by local CCG. He has appealed on my behalf for meds to be reinstated but meanwhile I have to drive a 130 mile round trip to collect meds ! ! ..
It's terrible what you have to do I had my first endo appoitment just before Christmas the fatigue is awfull some days he's run bloods I go back in 2 weeks he said he might want to try an tweek my dose first but if I still feel bad he's going to give me a trial of t3 see if that helps
Can u please send me the online suppliers too. Thank u
My endo said that he would have to "kindly request" that my GP continue the prescription of T3, but warned me that most GPs do not believe in anything other than T4. This was apparent when my GP told me that thyroxine is all most patients require and therefore it was "difficult to justify" a prescription of T3 for me
Mad but it wouldn't get him anywhere with me by this time I'd been hyper for 6 weeks only slightly but I go slightly either way an I get awful palps so I'd had to have private bloods done because it wasn't showing in the God of all tests the tsh
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