Choice of NDT, available to the UK?

[PositiveSurvival]

Hi,

Is there a list of all the different brands of NDT that can be sourced either in, or to the UK?

My wife used to be on Nutri Thyroid (from Nutri Advance)- but they have been out of stock for a few months now. So she was recommended to use Metavive I (Natural Health Choice Ltd)- which she doesnt seem to be really getting on with (unless other issues are compolicating it).

So I'm just trying ot ascertain what here options are in terms of available NDT.

And is there really much of a difference between them? ie Can you respond well to one brand, but react adversly to another?

Many thanks

[Rapunzel]

Hi

There's a list here

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/treatm...

If you want to get NDT from abroad without a prescription, you'd need to put up a new post - but you have had some fab information on earlier posts about what your first steps should be; Metavive has an indeterminate amount of active hormone which the manufacturers can't quantify as it would then not be available for sale here in the UK. That said, I wouldn't try it.

I would say your next best thing on a cost basis is to try a Thai NDT but can't help there - I medicate with Nature Throid, an American NDT and so you have to factor in that the royal mail catch it more often than not and will increase the cost with the customs and handling charges, then there's the continuing fall of the £ agin the $... big pile of steaming poo, but I would guess you're already aware of that. Good luck. Good man

[PositiveSurvival in reply to Rapunzel]

Many thanks indeed. Yes, working throught the other great info and moving forward. Blue Horzon "Plus 11" tests ordered today. Just waiting for Genova to get back in touch re the Adrenal Stress test kit.

On the lkink you posted (I've just had a quick look), it says that NDT "can" be prescribed on the NHS. I'm assuming it's a real battle to get your GP to do so. If after the full Thyoid Panel test results come back (subject to them showing a real problem)- would that neccessarily carry much wait with a GP in terms of prescription?

Many thanks

[Rapunzel in reply to PositiveSurvival]

Likely none at all see here re the likelihood of those on liothyronine, another alternative, being shoddily treated nhscc.org/latest-news/400m-...

If a GP knows about NDT at all 😂 it's likely to be Armour, the most expensive of the lot. There are others but I very much doubt that you would be able to get them on prescription at this stage in the sadistic game being played out between medics and their patients. It's a scandal of the highest order for the many thousands of (mostly) women thyroidies who do not have the means or the support to self medicate 👿

[Clutter in reply to PositiveSurvival]

IDN101,

NutriThyroid and Metavive are not NDT. They are supplements. If they contain any active T4 &/or T3 the amounts are likely to be negligible. NDT contains 38mcg T4 and 9mcg T3 which is why it is prescription only in the UK.

NDT isn't licensed for UK use so it is very rarely prescribed on the NHS. GPs can prescribe it on a named patient basis but few GPs are willing to assume the personal liability of prescribing an unlicensed drug and, as doctors are only taught to use Levothyroxine, most won't have heard of NDT.

If your wife's GP isn't prepared to act on abnormal private blood tests the GP should NHS blood tests. Protocol is to ignore the first abnormal TSH test and retest 2-3 months later to rule out non-thyroidal illness such as a virus elevating TSH. If your wife is diagnosed hypothyroid she will be prescribed Levothyroxine.

[PositiveSurvival in reply to Clutter]

Many thanks for this- VERY useful info. So is Levothyroxine a syntheitc man-made replacement?

So what exactly is in NutriThyroid / Metavive (neglible T3 and T4 aside) that is supposed to help?

And wpuld Levothyroxine be preferable / more benecial (in general) than Nutri / Metavive?

Thanks once again

[Clutter in reply to PositiveSurvival]

IDN101,

If you look up the ingredients of NutriThyroid and Metavive you'll see the list of vitamins and minerals which may be helping. If they are not synthetic I would like to know what they claim the natural ingredients to be.

If your wife needs thyroid replacement she will be better off taking Levothyroxine which is synthetically manufactured than supplements. Levothyroxine works well for 85% of patients when optimally dosed. You won't find them on fora such as this because they're well and getting on with life.

Natural dessicate thyroid uses T4 and T3 from pig thyroids. That is the only natural ingredient. The other fillers are synthetic.

[PositiveSurvival in reply to Clutter]

Many thanks,

So at the risk of over-simplyfiying this.....

Levo is synthetic, so let's say it's approx 80%ish as good at realt T3 / T4

Tru NDT is the optimum solution as it's 100% T3 / T4

....which leaves the Nutri / Metevive type products in a no-mans land, as we dont really know what T3/T4 they contain?

Obviously don't quote me on numbers, percentages, etc- just trying to understand the bigger picture.

Many thanks once again

[Clutter in reply to PositiveSurvival]

IDN101,

No.

Levothyroxine is 100% T4. T4 converts in the body to T3.

NDT is T4 and T3 4:1 ratio. The T4 and T3 are derived from pig thyroid but that doesn't make it superior to synthetic T4 in Levothyroxine.

The optimum solution is the one which works best. For some that will be Levothyroxine and for others NDT.

NutriThyroid and Metavive are supplements which contain negligible, if any, T3 &/or T4. For mild thyroid dysfunction there may be enough T3/T4 in the supplements to improve symptoms.

[PositiveSurvival in reply to Clutter]

Many many thanks for your reply. I'll learnt more in 1 day in this community than in the years that my wife has been suffering with this.

So if the body converts T4 to T3, why do we need NDT? Is this if there is a problem and the body is "not" converting it? Then we need NDT to introduce the T3 that the body "should" be making my itself?

[Clutter in reply to PositiveSurvival]

IDN101,

Some people are good converters and do well on T4 only but others are poor converters and need the addition of T3 via Liothyronine (synthetic T3) or via NDT which has T4 and T3.

[Hidden in reply to PositiveSurvival]

For those of us without a thyroid gland at all (mine was surgically removed to save my life) Levothyroxine is usually incapable of giving us good health.

NDT did return me to some degree of good health when I abandoned the levo 3 years ago. Not perfect but a darned sight better than before.

[JS33 in reply to PositiveSurvival]

Thai NDT works for me and is not very costly .