I just saw a private endo in London and he was ABSOLUTELY amazing in listening to all of my needs and talked about potentially prescribing me T3 . But he has given me a barrage of blood tests and thyroid imaging that I have to do first and then I have to see him again in 2 weeks. Don't get me wrong I'm so excited but my debit card is screaming bloody murder and the process has just started.
Does anyone have any experience of the average price for these things?
Any help would be needed before I start counting up my pennies.
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Freedonfgter1993
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My husband’s initial blood tests for various antibodies, thyroid levels and diabetes came up to £800 and the thyroid ultrasound £300. Luckily, the insurance covers most of it as it is really expensive. Maybe as reception for a price list so you know what to expect.
Thank you so much for the info. I am going to go ask for prices at the lab tomorrow just to get an idea. I'm praying it's not £1100 because I am self-paying. Otherwise I will check Medichecks or Blue Horizon because those seem to be pretty affordable.
Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have money off offers.
All thyroid tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting and don't take Levo in the 24 hours prior to test, and T3 12 hours prior to test, delay and take straight after. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, GP will be unaware)
Consultations usually around £150-£200 per visit (London might be higher)
Thank you for the info! That's super helpful. I am going to go ask for prices at the lab tomorrow just to get an idea and because of the number of tests, if it's a lot I will use Medichecks or Blue Horizon. I need FT3, FT4, TSH, TPo and TG thyroid antibodies, rT3 and all the vits. (D, folate, ferritin, B12) I also need insulin and hormone profiling done so it's a LOT.
Could you possibly email me their details I’m in desperate need of a good recommendation. Tamsinnatasha78@icloud.com awful all this isn’t it. My eyebrows are falling out!
Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have money off offers.
All thyroid tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting and don't take Levo in the 24 hours prior to test, and T3 12 hours prior to test, delay and take straight after. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, GP will be unaware)
If antibodies are high this is Hashimoto's, (also known by medics here in UK more commonly as autoimmune thyroid disease). About 90% of all hypothyroidism in Uk is due to Hashimoto's
Email Thyroid UK for list of recommended thyroid specialists, some are T3 friendly
I called them this morning to ask and they quoted about £1100. I almost fell out of my chair. I am going to get as much as I can tested on the NHS and then do medichecks Thyroid UltraVit rT3.
My private doctor sent me back to the nhs surgery with a written request for blood tests. I always wondered why, now I understand. He monitored my blood tests every month after, also through my local nhs doctor. Just made appointments with the nurse that takes blood, asked for my results, took a picture and emailed them to the private doctor.
I remember the prof saying that I should keep them safe!!! They did test everything and actually found out that I have quite a few autoimmunes..so, in a way, it was the best thing I did. Get as much as you can done on the NHS.
Hi I went to see a private Consultant (Rheumatologist) who also worked for the NHS. I had the consultation private but then requested he add me to his NHS list that way all the test I needed were done in the NHS. It did take a little longer but if you go back to your GP and explain that you have had a private appointment and the tests were recommended there’s no reason why your doctor can’t order the blood tests and the scan. In the interim you should be getting some form of treatment?
I know private blood testing can be expensive. Could you go to your GP with the list from your consultant and ask them to do them ? I know they probably won’t be able to do all of them like a rt3, but any way of keeping the cost down helps.
You may well have done this already, however, the first thing to do would be to advise your endo you will be arranging your own blood tests through Blue Horizon, Medichecks and make sure he is on board with that from a clinical perspective in terms of approved labs etc. These companies say they use the same labs as the NHS etc, but I'm not 100% convinced.
Avoid the DIY finger prick kit and pay the extra to get the blood drawn at a private hospital.
The DIY kits are ok for a ball-park overview, however, most doctors / specialists would balk at diagnosing and recommending treatment due to clinical reliabilty of the results gained from such a small sample and risk of sample contamination.
I bought a finger prick test kit from Medichecks for a non-thyroid issue, showed the results to my GP and she had the NHS repeat them a fortnight later, some results were similar, others were noticeably different - ones that you would expect to be reasonably stable over 2 weeks.
If the endo did indeed want the results re-checking at a fully approved, verifiable lab, then having your blood drawn by a qualified nurse and sent to a lab via Blue Horizons or Medichecks would give him much better justification to instruct the NHS to repeat the tests.
I've used both Medichecks and Blue Horizon for a few years and while Blue Horizon are more expensive, my gut feel is that these people are most likely to be the ones using the NHS labs - the style of their reports and tone of feedback from their retained GP is more clinical than Medichecks, who seem more commercially focused.
Blue Horizon also trade under privatebloodtests.co.uk and sometimes offer different / cheaper tests than their main site. So check all 3!
Hi there - When I went to a private Endo, when we got to the sharp end of the appointment, he asked who was paying (Me). He then told me he would email my GP next day to order up a raft of bloods (there were lots and lots, including many non-thyroid autoimmune conditions. I just had to call my doc to ascertain the paperwork was ready for me to have the tests done.
From there, I took the results back to him, so I had all of that for "only" his consultation fees.
At that point, my TSH hadn't reached diagnostic levels, but I left with a strategy and any blood panels done since have had most of the tests rerun as a routine measure. This last time my TSH rose and my GP leapt on the opportunity to prescribe.
It does seem that they all dance to their own tunes.
Hi Freedonfgter, you have excellent advice above. I would like to add two small things. The initial tests to get to your exact dose can get a bit expensive but once you have your optimal dose you only have to "keep an eye on things" via a blood test perhaps once a year, if that. For maintenance you can use your medichecks or Horizon. The cost of maintenance is minimal compared to the first year and you will feel well.
The other thing is to learn as much as you can about your thyroid condition, this site is a gold mine for that. Then you can fine tune your dosage yourself as your levels go up or down AND you feel better or worse.
This was my personal experience, and believe me I have been desperate for the right doctor. You seem to be lucky that that phase has been bypassed, you seem to have hit on a good one. I got through 5 docs before I got one who could understand logic. I still do my own blood tests though, I do not wait for their TSH and T4 tests - well, I do them just to humor them.
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Otherwise I will check Medichecks or Blue Horizon because those seem to be pretty affordable. 
Thank you for telling me, I'll look into it!
I am going to get as much as I can tested on the NHS and then do medichecks Thyroid UltraVit rT3. 
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