I am serious. Why does it take so much effort to get a script for a real and debilitating condition? Why don't doctors believe us? Why can't they imagine that even with the TSH in the "normal" range we can still tell the difference? We need help. We are begging for help.
Are thyroid meds cocaine or something? - Thyroid UK
Are thyroid meds cocaine or something?
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AGGIE75
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It would probably be easier to get cocaine than T3 out of most doctors.
It’s a piece of cake to get Adderall from my psychiatrist. And if it worked like Thiroyd-S, I would be getting Adderall instead of trying to get Thiroyd-S. But it does not work the same LOL. Surprise!
Few years back, I tried to get LDN for fatigue, no chance and I'd taken a leaflet on it to him. It was like I'd asked for ??? - GP even snitched to a refering consultant... 
LDN is a Drug, very hard to get and if they give it its low dose 🤷♀️
Naltrexone is used to treat addictions - LOW DOSE Naltrexone is a much smaller amount. As for it being a drug, apart from an ongoing vertigo medication, I refuse all of their drugs which they seem willing to 'push' at any opportunity. 
LDN is used ‘off label’ as a treatment for the symptoms of many conditions including Crohn’s disease, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and Ulcerative Colitis – conditions with an autoimmune origin, or potential autoimmune origin.
It is believed that by inhibiting endorphins, the body reacts by producing more. This increase in endorphins reduces pain and increases a sense of wellbeing. Once the LDN has been processed by the body, the elevated endorphins produced as a result can now act together with the receptors and assist in regulating cell growth and immunity. Some people have improved - so it's worth a shot.
There is another source but I chose to ask GP, since they seem unable to offer much else than serious opioids - which, as drugs - certainly can harm patients.
Several patients - always women I think - have been told that the reason they want more thyroid meds is because thyroid hormones act like cocaine or heroin or speed. There are various doctors who truly seem to believe this completely, and have also told women they only want more thyroid hormones because it helps them to get through their housework quicker.
The sexism and misogyny in these beliefs is enough to make me want to vomit.
You might find this page of interest (written from a US perspective but attitudes are similar to those some patients meet in the UK) :
stopthethyroidmadness.com/g...
(I must admit I find the site owner's comments annoying.)
Oh wow. I didn't think of the good ole misogyny, but it makes total sense.
in reply to AGGIE75
There's a documentary on Amazon Prime that talks about the first woman who was 'cured' of hypothyroidism with NDT. Her Dr said something like 'it was a great success because she could complete the housework again'.
I feel like that sort of set the tone for thyroid disease treatment...!
What about a doctor who tells the patient that:
TSH is too low. T3 is too high' and T4 too low.
Patient: "yes doctor T3 will be high because that's what I take".
Doctor: "T3 converts to T4".
Patient: No doctor - that's not correct!
Re NDT - which has been in use since 1892 so its safety is well-proven. It has now been withdrawn due to the False Statements made in order to do so.
Despite one of TUK's Advisers sending the following to the BTA and then sent a reminder every year for three years - he never got a response at all. They cannot argue with science:-
drlowe.com/thyroidscience/C...
in reply to shaws
🤦🏻♀️ it's so frustrating. I just wish I knew what they gained from it. What did the medical profession achieve by claiming it harmful? Was it enough to justify keeping thousands of people unwell? 🙄
NDT is the very first thyroid hormone replacement. It was introduced in 1892 - no blood tests then. It was given to patients due to their clinical symptoms alone and if they improved they stayed on it.
We used to die an awful death but NDT saved lives from 1892 onwards and still does today (some people might not benefit but its always worth a trial). Uunfortunately due to an Association (which we would expect to be very knowledgeable but aren't) has now withdrawn NDT through False Statements about it. Probably thought they could cut costs whilst ignoring that many patients have to have 'extra prescriptions' to try to resolve disabling symptoms.
So we've had NDT withdrawn and T3 too. It's well seen that the majority who make these decisions seem to know little about dysfunctional thyroid glands, but have the authority to withdraw hormones that have been shown to be beneficial.
NDT = natural dessicated thyroid hormones is made from animals' thyroid glands so contain the whole lot of hormones a healthy thyroid gland would. It would be called a grandfathered replacement long before blood tests were introduced.
One of Thyroiduk's Advisers wrote to the Association and requested a response for three years before his accidental death. They never did respond.
drlowe.com/thyroidscience/C...
I don't know the cost of NDT but maybe the Association was looking at the cost alone and took the opportunity. I do wish all of these doctors who make these decisions have their thyroid gland removed too, so they could experience some of the clinical symptoms many who are hypo suffer and have to put up with due to 'experts' having no actual knowledge or experience of symptoms'.
Trouble is that it’s not just male doctors and endos who are the problem - female doctors and endos don’t seem to be any better which is disappointing to say the least.
I think doctors think women want their thyroid treated as a quick and easy way to lose weight - I get the feeling a lot of doctors still think along the lines of “eat less and move more” - which as we all know isn’t what is needed.
Sadly, for Females to succeed in that misogynist world, they have little choice other than to behave as the dominant force... simply to be accepted. Dreadful.
Ah yes, I’m a rude, a shark, A bitch, all those things, to get things done at my job. But I got over that years ago. It was either me or them, but work had to get done, and I chose work
After all - are we not 'complainers' (in their eyes) when we visit the doctor more often about our disabling symptoms that their heart drops when we appear in the surgery.
They don't understand that our 'heart also drops' as we leave the surgery, yet again without any sympathy and without a 'trial of options to levothyroxine'. Feeling very unwell and FT4 and FT3 untested.
Maybe we have a prescription for anti-depressants.
The options have been removed (one due to False Statements made by those who are supposed to be the 'experts) i.e NDT, T3 (few are now offered T4/T3 combination).
It appears that to get T3 prescribed or added to T4 you have to have a consultation with an Endocrinologist which is like reaching for the moon. If you do consult, there's no guarantee that you'll get the prescription you desire.
Misogynist Medicine is Top 21st Century-Style and Remains The Order of The Day. 🧟♂️
Every Other Illness You May Get, Comes Under That Same Banner. 👺
They Are Disgusting - TAPS [a doctors term!]. Never, Ever, Give Up Or Give In. 🤡🤠
With Whatever We Have Left Of Ourselves, Challenge Them... Every Time. 👀 😎
Know Your Stuff - Put It In Writing. 👀 😎
NEVER Whine or Cry [whatever it takes] - that simply confirms their bias. 😅
Stay Safe and Well xox
TAPS? They are...?
Thick As Pigs S - that term was, apparently, used in patient notes - docs were then asked to clean up their act. Forgotten other ones... a medical person told me in a social context.
I have stopped reading her site because of the comments.
It is not as if it is expensive either and it is one the cheapest drugs you can buy.
I swear some doctors just think we want it to lose weight. If it effected mainly men their attitude would be different. It's disgusting. They don't even take all the blood tests needed to diagnose it properly in most cases including mine.
We are forced to get our own labs and meds to simply exist! Heaven knows what will happen when we lose our marbles or income. I'm only able to contribute to society by working because I have read extensively and joined this excellent site doing my own research and treatment.
Thank you everyone, especially administrators for their tireless advice.
😀xx
Oh god, I’m in the same position. I’m completely disabled without treatment. Kind of going through that right now. I’m about 30% functional on 30mg Armour. I had a few Thiroyd-S left, I used to take 5 a day before they stopped shipping and I went the medical route again to try and get treatment, and I just now popped three Thiroyd-S because I need to go to work right now. I’ve already taken my Armour and at my prescribed dose it’s a drop in a bucket.
Right now I need to survive til the 8th, when I made a new appt with Endo. But I do not have high hopes, although this is the first doctor in my 40 years, who actually did prescribed an actual thyroid med.
manly men ( bodybuilder, athletes, actors, fitness models ) consume more t3 than any other group they just all buy it on the blackmarket
Are you sure it’s not Testosterone (known as T) as opposed to T3?
t3 is the number one blackmarket cutting drug along with clenbuterol. most of them are on testosterone too as am I
Oh, wow, I had no idea. It all makes sense now. But how much do they cut? Do they take huge doses? My weight change between not taking NDT and taking NDT is 5lbs (just the bloat, not fat loss or gain).
My Endo is amazed I take 75mcg at bedtime, he can't believe it doesn't keep me awake, I have a slow and steady pulse during sleep. I have never felt a boost or shot of energy with t3 not even on 150mcg. I am no longer crippled with pain or sleeping 18 hours a day but energetic.... Absolutely not.
Is it Levothyroxine that helped ? Kind regards
No levo made me very ill. I am on t3 only, I am much better but nowhere near how I was before my thyroid was removed. I had pages of symptoms all gone except the last 3 stubborn ones. Joint pain, anxiety and fatigue x
Thank you. i felt horrible for ages , but last 12 months or so I feel a bit better with much less joint pain than in many years . Did quite lots of candida detox and I feel that was possibly culprit for heavy legs and joint pain.
Levo is bad for me too. lately with detox I have some relief and fall asleep easier, not cold as before, less brain fog..
Recently I had Ayurveda treatment and the lady, doctor, told me that she will try to help and it might work to improve thyroid for good.
Kind regards 🌟
I, too, found that levo didn't work for me. It only gave me more clinical symptoms.
“If you take this medication when you don’t need it you’re going to have heart palpitations and anxiety.” *pops Armour at night, sleeps tightly.* Works like sleep meds for me
It is a pity that those who make the decisions of what we, hypo patients, should take but they obviously haven't hypothyroidism and I wouldn't expect other 'experts in another particular field' to make False Statements about a product which has been used, safely and has proven it saved lives from 1892 onwards. With regards to hypo - it is replacements such as Armour or other NDTs.
They removed NDTs and are not keen on T3/T4 combinations. They haven't suffered - know no clinical symptoms - but will prescribe 'other' to try to relieve clinical symptoms i.e. tablets for pain relief and depression etc etc. but not optimum thyroid hormones.
They ignore scientific evidence that a T4/T3 combination may relieve all symptoms.
Yep when I asked my dr could we at least trial some medication a year after being told I had thyroid antibodies in the 1000s she said “well the trouble is some people use it like Red Bull to give them a pick me up!” When I relayed back to her 8 months later that I was far from that- she said “well you do have four children and are menopausal so I think it’s just life”. Thank goodness for this forum and people who listen and understand.
I wonder this but then I think 'well, I'm so useless at remembering and explaining my symptoms that it's no wonder they find it hard to comprehend'. That doesn't mean they shouldn't try! And when you put us all together certain symptoms are common... and just because it's hard to comprehend, doesn't mean it isn't real! Lol. Just saying I find my own symptoms baffling, random and terrible. To be fair I've had v g docs who've said 'yes there's a good chance that will improve if you get your T3 up'.
As I often say on here, if I had a doc who had no sympathy and treated me like a malingerer I'd move surgeries or Endo or pay for private - as I believe we can all get well or at least better. It's heartbreaking to read people's stories where they suffer for years and years.
Before blood tests were invented (make pots of money for Big Pharma) we were diagnosed upon clinical symptoms alone and given a trial of 'Natural Dessicated Thyroid' hormones.NDT contains all of the hormones a healthy gland would produce.
Levo is T4 alone (supposed to convert to T3).
Extract from following link:-
"Levothyroxine was first made in 1927. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Levothyroxine is available as a generic medication. Levothyroxine was the third-most commonly prescribed medication in the United States in 2017, with more than 101 million prescriptions."
However Mrs Clinton does not take levo.
That is another thing: trying to explain the symptoms, and frankly, when I am in that lethargic depressed state, I can't explain them, because I feel like my brain isn't firing and I don't care. I just want to close my eyes. My voice is low and my speech is slurred. I'm embarrassed to say things that will sound stupid and hypochondriac.
the top uk thyroid surgeon now retired who removed mine told me that many women become "addicted to t3" due to their "desire to be skinny". I imagine that opinion was shared with all those he trained.
Kind of curious now what taking thyroid meds does in genders, maybe with sex hormones, etc. There could be a way to start grass roots spinning this if there is any (underutilized) benefit in men and if there is any data.
Stupid man - its well seen he has no knowledge of the suffering many hypo patients have - nor the impetus to help them restore their health if they're not improving on levo.
sadly his replacement who operated on my children has a similar view and constantly warns me not to put my kids on NDT.
At one time (from 1892) we were given (no blood tests then) a trial of NDT due to our clinical symptoms alone and if we were helped and symptoms began to be relieved we stayed upon it. Before 1892 we just died due to a dysfunctional thyroid gland.
The option of having no 'replacement thyroid hormones' at all would have caused a very awful death.
Big Pharma would lose a lot of $$$$ or ££££s if we were prescribed NDTs in preference to levothyroxine. (don't forget the 'extras' we may be prescribed to relieve symptoms). Dr Lowe stated that Big Pharma in USA paid the medical professionals to prescribe levo rather than NDTs. Profits seem to come before patients' health and wellbeing. We must also take account that many hundreds, worldwide, seem to be fine on levo but my body couldn't.
One of Thyroiduk's Advisers (now deceased) wrote the following to the UK associations and despite three yearly reminders before his untimely death, they never did have the courtesy to respond.
drlowe.com/thyroidscience/C...
hypothyroidmom.com/study-re...
We should have the options of trialling different thyroid hormone replacements, as what might help one person may not suit another.
Thank goodness for Dr Gordon Skinner and Dr Barry Peatfield were of the 'old school' of training.
Why did so many patients make long journeys all over the country to consult these two doctors????
The last person who consulted Dr S 'whose life he saved' was Lorraine Cleaver
Dr John Lowe was one of the best, as shaws says above, yet he was ignored out of hand... by people like this. I'm sure I got this clip from here, but for those who may not have seen it...
Prior to Weetman is Dayan is OK.ish but start at 17.45 - 29.28 mins - it's all worth watching - to see WHAT we're up against. Dayan is... nowhere near as, he will trial but!?
The guy in Q - Weetman - was at Newcastle [which had done so well at the back end of the 19th C with NDT - sheep thyroid] but Weetman has clearly left his mark here... bit like a cloven hoof! He uses 'Healthism' re us patients; we're merely dissatisfied'. Patronising as...
youtube.com/watch?feature=y...
Very informative video, really makes me think about the benefits/harms of treatment with T3 and T4. I understand the pain of everyone in this conversation, because I myself had to survive this terrible illness of my closed person. My sister was diagnosed with thyroid cancer caused by drug use last summer. We couldn't get any treatment until we found out how to detox from cocaine safely on abbeycarefoundation.com/coc.... With great difficulty, we are trying to bring my sister's life back to normal, we almost completely managed to overcome drug addiction, but it turned out to be much more difficult to get effective treatment for the thyroid. Now we are in search of a new doctor who will prescribe treatment with T3.
My former Endo told me I was addicted to T3 and that's why I wouldn't agree to decrease my dose!
Another stupid person who has absolutely no knowledge. Another who is impotent and doesn't seem to realise that we have milions of T3 receptor cells (no T4 cells - as it is supposed to convert to T3). He also takes more notice of the 'results' rather than listen to his patient who is still complaining. Many patients have been given anti-depressants instead of a trial of T3 to their T4. I had more symptoms and far more unwell with levo than before I diagnosed myself when TSH was 100. The day before my GP phoned and reassured me that I had no problems as all blood test results were good. He didn't appear to see a TSH of 99+. Fortunately I did have blood test form and got my test next day and department phoned another GP to ask why I had two blood tests within a day. Luckily I did or I may never have been diagnosed or gone into a coma,
Myxoedema coma
In very rare cases, a severe underactive thyroid may lead to a life-threatening condition called myxoedema coma. This is where the thyroid hormone levels become very low, causing symptoms such as confusion, hypothermia and drowsiness.
Myxoedema coma requires emergency treatment in hospital. It's usually treated with thyroid hormone replacement medication given directly into a vein. In some cases, other treatments such as breathing support, antibiotics and steroid medication (corticosteroids) are also required.
p.s. this is a very rare condition these days, thankfully.
I hear you! Felt the same way since 1993, this has affected every aspect of my life. Had to leave my country to get thyroid meds, the only thing I have is my fighting spirit! Tired of arguing with doctors..I’ve had this since I was 13 years old...
13 years old is too young to have become hypothyroid. I feel sorry for you or other children who are symptomatic and I doubt they will get 'special attention' or be given a T4/T3 combination which I think is the very least they should be prescribed - and I am not medically qualified.
However if they're prescribed 'other prescriptions' for the remaining clinical symptoms I doubt they will improve their health. The aim of doctors should be that the patient has a TSH of around 1 with Free T4 and Free T3 in the upper part of the ranges. Rarely are the 'frees' tested. The 'frees' are more informative than T3 and T4 only."
I am sorry and understand your pain we are all in the same boat. Functional Drs will just bleed your money! Something needs to be done for sure!
its easier to get thyroid treatment for your cat or dog than self. good luck
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