Prescription Advice

I've been reading through older posts on here and have come across people saying they kind of reorder their levothyroxine more often than they need as such to increase their dose a little themselves.

Is this possible? My TSH was 2.2 (full results on previous post) and I'm preparing for a battle this week with my GP for an increase from 75mcg.

It seems I'm only prescribed 28 days of meds at a time and can order after 20 or 21 days? Is it possible I can just give myself a little increase of maybe an extra 25mcg a couple times a week 🤔 and trial this before I go down the private route if I run into a brick wall with my GP. Or will they see I'm ordering too many eventually. Never had anything on repeat prescription before so all new to me. Thanks

[humanbean]

If your surgery is on the ball they will notice if you keep ordering a little bit early. Mine denied my repeat prescription request when I tried this, but I know some people do manage to create a "cushion" of "spare" Levo.

[Delgor]

I believe surgeries are all different in the way that repeat prescriptions are prescribed. I have to order mine online and I'm prescribed for 2 months at a time and can't order willy nilly as they are very strict and actually state when I can order again. However, I'm not on levothyroxine and source my NDT privately and perhaps it is different for thyroid medication.

[TSH110]

I lost a prescription once, requested another to replace it then found the old one, so I got a stash that way. It was at a pharmacy, and paper prescriptions.

[Tide]

If you ever go to France on holiday the pharmacy will give you levo over the counter if you say you’ve run out of your prescription. Costs about 2€. Of course if you are sensitive to different brands you might struggle. I’ve had to do it twice when I’ve stayed there longer than expected but I leave it to others to advise re self-medicating x

[Knip]

Personally, I think self dosing is inadvisable. In the extreme, too much or too little Thyroxine could lead to a heart attack. I can understand why people are tempted to do this but I would steer clear of it. Most surgeries would pick up on a drug being ordered too soon anyway. I know it's hard getting hold of GPs at present and getting them to listen to us re our dosage of Thyroxine is even harder which doesn't help in cases like yours. Take care, God Bless.

[tattybogle]

getting enough 'extra' to tweak your doses slightly (by fair means or foul !) once you are officially prescribed something very close to the right amount for you .... it's a tactic that does have it's place ....... but the potential problem with self medicating a dose that the GP doesn't know about , at such an early point in your treatment , is that it can be counter productive ... GP sees bloods and is then even more unwilling to increase prescription , or even reduces prescription..... meaning you are even further away from where you want to be. Also ... You will really struggle to collect enough extra to make much difference if you are still on 75mcg with TSH 2 ish.. once your dose is correct you might actually need to be on 100mcg every day or even 125mcg every day , or even more ... for which you definitely need a prescription.

At the moment, assuming Thursdays GP test comes back with TSH about 2 ish , similar to medichecks one ..... then you have lot's of written evidence to push a reluctant/over cautious GP for an official increase to 100mcg .......it's much better to use that evidence now while it's relevant. .... and save any adventures into getting 'a bit extra on the side' for a time when you have no written evidence to shove under their nose .

[Hidden in reply to tattybogle]

Yes totally agree. Was just crossing my mind as something to try if next week fails but I can see where it could make it more difficult with getting an official increase.I actually spoke to a different GP today who was a lot better and has requested Vitamin D testing on Thurs too. He is the only one who has actually asked how I feel and said he thinks I need an increase without dismissing me on my levels so I'm going to request to speak to him next week once results back. Hopefully won't be so much of a battle to get to 100mcg poss more. Fingers crossed

[Timetraveler67 in reply to Hidden]

I hope you get your increase with the Dr who genuinely seems to care how you feel. I purposely put in for my repeat of levo a week before it was due just to test the waters as I’m trying to build a little stash, I got it no problem so I’m planning on doing it every time now and if they ever say anything I’ll say I got mixed up. Like I say I’m not planning on self medicating but want to build a little stash just encase. I wish you well and all the best with getting your increase dose x

[Lulu2607]

Hi, like some others on here I think you should be wary of self medicating as your Dr needs to know what meds you're on. I'm sure at a TSH of 2.2 your Dr will be sympathetic to an increase if you're still having symptoms. Today I asked for increase from 75/100 alternating to 100 due to the return of some symptoms and it was agreed even though my TSH is 1.4 at the moment. He just said OK, if you're having symptoms still and he'll arrange blood tests in 6 weeks to check the TSH, T4 etc. Hope you get an enlightened Dr.

[nellie237]

I think that's virtually impossible with only a 28day repeat. I've accumulated extra boxes when my dose has been changed, but my surgery put everything on 56days.

Incidentally, I asked my GP to let me know dosage changes dates re one of my heart meds. He didn't have the time to do it, so printed off the whole history for that particular med. It had %'s noted against each prescription ie 98% ....78% etc depending on how early or late I'd put in the repeat. Obviously my Surgery's go to when something isn't working is 'Patient Compliance'.