Cost of T3 meds

[KatherineM_PBC]

I was speaking to my pharmacist today and he told me T3 is £250 per 28 tablets, in comparison to around £2 per 28 for Levothyroxine......... so that might me why our NHS Doctors cannot bring themselves to prescribe it

[puncturedbicycle]

Yes, that's correct.

They also don't like testing for it or monitoring it in any way and they think it is like a heart attack in a bottle and we're all going to take too much to lose weight. It's a wonder it's prescribed for anyone.

[shaws Administrator]

Even when the price was very much lower, doctors would rarely prescribe. The guidelines of the BTA stated that only levothyroxine was the replacement of choice (theirs not the patients'). They have also made false statements about Natural Dessicated Thyroid Hormones which were the standard before the introduction of blood tests and levothyroxine. Doctors have no knowledge of any of the clinical symptoms which we suffer, even though the tests might be in the 'normal' range. To be diagnosed upon a TSH alone is ridiculous and even more so because it changes throughout the day, i.e. early a.m. and lowers throughout the day. Even worse if the BTA still state that TSH has to reach 10 before being diagnosed

Now that the price of T3 has risen astronomically for an unknown reason its a wonderful excuse to stop prescribing particularly to patients who may be very unwell on levothyroxine. Recent research has shown that some patients need T3 to be added to T4 to give them a quality of life.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

[Glynisrose]

And? Whatever makes you well. It stops you getting other drugs that are worthless to you.

[4Alexandra]

It is criminal that pone pharmaceutical company supplying the NHS can charge such an extortionist price for a drug which costs pence. As reported in the last Trust Me I'M a Doctor program on BBC. I pay €1.20 for 30 tablets in Greece. Slowly the medical profession is beginning to recognize that many patients do not convert T4 to T3 and obviously if you have had your thyroid removed this will almost certainly be necessary as is my case. But it has taken years for me to get to that point, repeatedly having my T4 reduced because of my TSH reading and then getting huge problems again. Only since I started self-medicating with T3 have I felt a real improvement. The earlier use of Armour made from animal thyroid was a more complete medication but I believe is also not able to be prescribed on the NHS. Again a relatively cheap solution.

[Treepie]

The Competition and Markets Authority may be looking at it but we will not be told unless it reaches a conclusion. Incompetence of Ministers ,civil servants and top management of NHS is to blame.It is not that they are unaware.

[JOLLYDOLLY]

I was told that the NHS was being charged £9.22 a tablet for Lithyronine which is ridiculous. I have been on it for more than ten years and never had a problem with my heart. I did have heart failure but that was because I had pneumonia and unrelated. I was told by my Ex Endo that it can cause heart attacks, but what she failed to say, it would only do that if taken in quantity over time aka several a day - most of us with a thyroid condition, only need one little 20 mcg. People who the professionals refer to are people who use thyroid medication as a slimming agent of body building stimulant and have normal function on their thyroid but are taking high doses daily.

[BadHare]

One of the Greek pharmacists I spoke to laughed, like the aliens on the Smash potato advert, that one of the €1.15 for 30 T3 tablets costs €3.

Surely somebody in Whitehall has a friend/relative at Mercury, to have agreed to such an exhortatave price.

[Hidden]

It's only dangerous to your heart if you go hyper for a long time. That's mainly down to people who purchase it to lose weight and don't monitor their levels. Thyroid patients don't ever take it for this reason and check their levels regularly. It annoys me how we are grouped into the same category of idiots who buy it purely for aesthetic reasons who have nothing wrong with their thyroids.

[JOLLYDOLLY in reply to Hidden]

I totally agree with you Katiekatie