London Endocrinologist: Would anyone who has seen... - Thyroid UK

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London Endocrinologist

SimonA87•

8 years ago•4 Replies

Would anyone who has seen a private endocrinologist in London be able to answer some questions for me?

Here they are:

1. How much did the appointment cost?

2. What was the maximum time allowed for the appointment?

3. If the endo also worked for the NHS, did they offer to take you on as an NHS patient?

4. Do you have any tips for someone on their first appointment?

Thanks again

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SimonA87

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4 Replies

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TupennyRush8 years ago

Hi there

I saw a London endo privately who works both in the NHS and privately. it was a couple of years ago. the appointment cost around 500 quid for the first visit including all of the blood tests that he wanted which I did before the appointment so he had the results. this included hormone and vitamin levels as well as tsh/ft3 and ft4.

The appointment lasted around 30 mins but I didn't feel rushed and we covered everything on my list. he prescribed ndt for me (I have the Dio2 gene abnormality that indicates treatment with t3 is required as I don't convert t4 to t3 well)

He states that in his experience around 10 per cent of hypothyroid patients don't do well on t4 alone and that he's seen good results with ndt which is why he is happy to prescribe it. However he also said that had I seen him as an NHS patient he would not be able to prescribe ndt because it was not supported by the NHS.

So, I didn't ask about converting from a private to NHS patient. I suspect that this would not be possible as I live outside the London area and so probably wouldn't be able to get to see him on the NHS.

I had one follow up appointment (where my dose was upped) and then the majority of my advice from him has been via email which is free. I now get my ndt on private prescription from my GP (who is very good, made me see an NHS endo who 'signed off' that the ndt was OK - after a long lecture on why ndt is bad but the private endo that I saw is extremely respected in the field and her qualifications were much less than his so I think she didn't feel she could countermand his letter albeit that she felt the need to whinge a bit)

Hopefully that helps. Rates may have gone up a bit since. For me it was the best money I've spent health wise as the ndt (which I have been taking for just over two years) made a huge difference to my well being. I am now seeing a complementary therapist and embarked upon a gut healing journey as the two symptoms I was still struggling with (losing weight and hair loss) both seemed to not be going. I gained around 5 stones because it took so long to be diagnosed and lost 1.5 stones of it then stalled, I lost all the hair at the side of my head and it thinned on top, this had thickened back up on top but the sides not so much. That was on ndt with metformin from Feb this year. Complementary lass has put me on the Paleo elimination diet, vitamin supplements, digestive enzymes and a few other bits and pieces and I've lost over a stone since September. But, I do not think this would have worked so well if I hadn't have sorted out my thyroid meds first plus taken the time to let my body heal from the years of lack of treatment (6.5 years from attending docs with first symptoms to diagnosis)

Hope that helps. Good luck