Confused already.

Been trying to read through everyone's problems , and got really confused . Have you got USA results and brands as well as ours? Can you really self medicate for thyroid problems? How do you get the medicines you decide that you need? Can we do it in UK? No, we get thyroxine free on the NHS on prescription.

And are private test kits really reliable? I wanted to keep a personal check on my T4/ tsh, as my GP said we'd try to keep T4 at 25 or just below., and it seems to do its own balancing. Nice easy thing to do, no conversions or other worries, just getting the blood for the test. ouch. I can read and understand results. It will save me a taxi ride to the the hospital unless the gp needs a special test done.

Thanks from the old lady with Thyroid infection as a post Covid gift. My throat is definitely getting better. Just a ball of sandpaper now, instead of barbed wire.

[humanbean]

Have you got USA results and brands as well as ours?

In April 2021 approximately 19% of the members of this forum were from the USA (based on IP addresses).

Brands do matter, wherever people come from. It makes a difference what the excipients and fillers are in the pills, whether or not they are lactose-free, whether they contain mannitol, or acacia. UK drugs are all gluten-free but I don't know if that is true everywhere.

Some people can cope with almost any brand of thyroid hormone pills, others have more difficulty tolerating different brands and have to experiment to find something they can tolerate.

Can you really self medicate for thyroid problems?

Currently you can if you live in the UK, but it isn't easy. You have to find a reliable source outside the UK that doesn't insist on receiving a prescription. It goes without saying that not all sources on the internet are reliable or honest.

There are some people who do get prescriptions in the UK that they can send abroad to get dispensed with a brand that is unavailable in the UK (at a cost of course).

There are a small number of countries where thyroid hormones are available over the counter without prescription. People will go on holiday to these destinations to get their thyroid hormones.

There are some websites based in countries abroad that will sell thyroid hormones without prescription to people ordering from the UK. At the moment this is still legal, although the MHRA is flexing its muscles and appears to be determined to stop this - but when? Who knows..

In many countries all the above is illegal. Thyroid hormones are only available via prescription from medical professionals and nowhere else.

[greygoose]

Have you got USA results and brands as well as ours?

Not sure what you mean by that. There are American members on here, who give their results, yes. In the US, they mainly see to take Synthroid and Tirosint, which aren't available in the UK.

Can you really self medicate for thyroid problems?

When you know enough about thyroid to know what you're doing, yes you can. I do. And I think I make a better job of it than any doctor I've ever seen because I listen to me - I know my body and know what it needs.

How do you get the medicines you decide that you need?

By buying without prescription on-line.

Can we do it in UK?

Plenty of people do - more than in the US, I believe.

No, we get thyroxine free on the NHS on prescription.

Well, of course, if you buy on-line, you have to pay. But what does it matter if levo is free on the NHS if it doesn't suit you, or you doctor won't give you enough of it to make you well?

And are private test kits really reliable?

Thousands of people find they are.

I wanted to keep a personal check on my T4/ tsh, as my GP said we'd try to keep T4 at 25 or just below.,

The most important number is the FT3, because T3 is the active hormone. T4 is basically a storage hormone that doesn't do much until it is converted into T3, and not all of us do that very well. It's low T3 that causes symptoms, not the T4 or TSH.

Hope you get better soon.

[humanbean]

are private test kits really reliable?

Most people on this forum who make use of private test kits are happy with them. There are questions about reliability sometimes.

I wanted to keep a personal check on my T4/ tsh, as my GP said we'd try to keep T4 at 25 or just below., and it seems to do its own balancing. Nice easy thing to do, no conversions or other worries, just getting the blood for the test.

I don't understand your remark about conversions. Every living human has thyroid hormones. T4 is produced by the thyroid (or comes from Levo or NDT). T4 is a storage hormone, and for it to be useful in the body it must be converted into T3 which is the active hormone which every cell in the human body needs.

Some people can convert T4 to T3 well, some can't.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Thousands of members test thyroid and vitamin levels privately

Always do private testing early Monday or Tuesday morning, before 9am and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test

Test including vitamins once a year

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