NDT from Germany or Denmark

[HattieLouise22]

Hi all, After a disastrous health meltdown on levothyroxine I've been very happy on Armour NDT for several years - except now I can't afford it. Can anyone explain how to get comparable NDT medication within the EU? How good are they and what kind of cost? Do I need a prescription and if so how do I get one? I'm thinking of Germany or Denmark but are the Netherlands and Belgium also possible? How about Greece where I have family? I would even travel there to buy NDT, that would be much cheaper than buying Armour these days! It's so depressing always facing the huge barriers to access for a simple medication that keeps me well. Thank you for any help you can offer.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

There are some fragments of information about desiccated thyroid within Germany and Denmark in my rest of the world document.

Never heard of anyone getting desiccated thyroid in Greece - but my inability to read Greek might be part of that!

You would need to contact the companies to find out about their prescription requirements.

helvella's medicines documents (UK and Rest of the World) can be found here:

helvella - Thyroid Hormone Medicines

helvella has created, and tries to maintain, documents containing details of all thyroid hormone medicines in the UK and, in less detail, many others around the world.

This link takes you to a page which has direct links to the documents from Dropbox and Google Drive, and QR codes to make it easy to access from phones.

helvella.blogspot.com/p/hel...

[RedApple Administrator in reply to helvella]

helvella 'Never heard of anyone getting desiccated thyroid in Greece '

There is a website offering to sell you Armour and the Thai NDT brand Thyroid-s without prescription, run by an unscrupulous supplier we think is based in Greece. Beware! If you order from them, you may or may not receive what you paid for.

HattieLouise22 If anyone messages you with sources for any desiccated thyroid products, you are advised to first check with an admin to see if we have any feedback on the supplier.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to RedApple]

Ah! Yes - was (possibly understandably) forgetting them. My mind was focussed on actually going to Greece to buy some.

[HattieLouise22 in reply to RedApple]

Yes I have been contacted by someone who seems to have anything I could possibly need 😂 Think I won't be going that route...

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to HattieLouise22]

Could you send a private message to an admin identifying who told you?

[HattieLouise22 in reply to helvella]

Yes I'll try.

[Brightness14]

How much are you taking and how were you buying it before. If you are getting a Private Prescription in the UK the cheapest Armour is from Canada, this may help. I am just starting on Armour I had been on Thyroid s for seven years but it's been reformulated and now doesn't work. I had some Armour which I ordered during lockdown. I used to take 2.25 grains of THyroid s which was perfect for me. I am on 1.5 grains of Armour so far it's so expensive so I am trailing adding some Levo as a top up at night. There is a Belgium Doctor in Brussels who prescribes NDT but it would be expensive, I think.

[HattieLouise22 in reply to Brightness14]

Thanks for your reply Brightness. I was taking 2 grains of Armour and doing fine. But the cost of it was becoming impossible - private blood tests, doctor 'consultation' and an additional cost to write the actual prescription and the Armour alone was over £400! So I tried to cut down on the Armour by taking half the dose and adding in T3 which I bought very cheaply over the counter in Greece. Problem is I'm struggling to get back in balance and I really would like to go back to NDT only. I've found a company called Bioiberica in Spain who are making NDT on a commercial basis but the unanswered question is, who are they selling it to? That's what I'm trying to find out.

[HattieLouise22 in reply to HattieLouise22]

Sorry I should have said, I was buying through a popular UK based private practice.

[pennyannie in reply to HattieLouise22]

I've a feeling @Helvella may have more on this company Bioberica

helvella

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to HattieLouise22]

A reply I made in December on a thread that is over a year old:

In case anyone is interested, I found this reply by Bioiberica to someone who contacted them:

Unfortunately we only sell our NDT to companies located in Germany, Netherlands and Denmark.

We would like to be of help but we are not aware of any pharmacy in Portugal or Spain who is currently selling our NDT compound.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu....

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to helvella]

That information is also available in my Vade Mecum.

helvella's Vade Mecum document is available here:

helvella - Vade Mecum for Thyroid

The term vade mecum means:

1. A referential book such as a handbook or manual.

2. A useful object, constantly carried on one’s person.

helvella.blogspot.com/p/hel...

[Litatamon in reply to Brightness14]

So Brightness, even the retry on the next batch of Thyroid S did not work for you. Was that how you felt on & labs with that batch as well? Simply curious. Or nosy. 😊

[Brightness14 in reply to Litatamon]

I had been very well on Thyroid s for over seven years 2.25 per day in two doses. My Lab results were always perfect too. FT3 6 plus.

I started on the new batch of 1000 back in Sept 2022. Within 40 days I was falling over and felt very unwell. I had a blood test which read FT3 2.76 so not good. I had noticed that the new ones were shiny, greenish and smelt different too. Anyway I had some of the old 2021 ones left so I started on them for 10 days they then ran out. By the eight day I was fine and back to my usual wallking. I then ordered two more lots of 500 from two different suppliers both 2022 lots. These never worked either. Since then I have been trying to get well again, nearly seven months now. I have just started on Armour and have found a source in Canada which is very low cost. I just need to get a UK private prescription. Longish story.

[Litatamon in reply to Brightness14]

I was hoping that the latest retry worked for you. So sorry to hear that it did not.

All the best with the Armour. Wait, it is not Erfa from Canada, it's Armour from your supplier?

[Brightness14 in reply to Litatamon]

Yes Armour from the US

[pennyannie]

There is no NDT in Greece - but there is / was a bogus website that gave the impression they sold various brands of Thai and Stateside NDT / T3 and T4 and operating out of Greece rather than a telephone box at the end of the road and some forum members have come a cropper - hence Red Apples reply further up. !!

[HattieLouise22 in reply to pennyannie]

I find it disturbing a natural product is illegal in France

[pennyannie in reply to HattieLouise22]

Ditto -

I find it disturbing that if you afford to go private you can have the choice of all 3 treatment options for hypothyroidism that are said to be available on the NHS.

I think it also depends on the skill set within the endo department - I remember when hyperthyroid and having to have regular hospital o/p visits - every 6 weeks for around an 18 month period and I only saw the same endo twice.

When I questioned ' the same one ' he said well of course, as this is just part of our rotation throughout the hospital so we get an idea where we would like to settle and then specialise.

Years later, when I saw a ' named ' endocrinologist at the same hospital she was in fact a diabetes specialists and though I say so myself, by that time, I knew more than her about Graves Disease and post RAI thyroid ablation.

It is currently a NHS post code lottery and driven more by financial constraints than medical need and with hospital trusts ( mis )- interpreting the NICE guidelines and drilling down anywhere they can to balance their books

[Brightness14]

I had a quote from the Canadian Armour source now I am trying to email them regarding the price. I think it's in Canadian dollars and not US I will find out. I will also look into the NDT in Germany too. I live in France but remember a little German from School. If it's in Canadian dollars the price would be so much cheaper too.

[Litatamon in reply to Brightness14]

Brightness, can you PM me information about your source as well, thank you.

[Brightness14 in reply to Litatamon]

I will when I find the answers OK.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Brightness14]

Remember that desiccated thyroid is illegal in France.

We have heard of it being confiscated by la douane when people have arranged for it to be sent to them.

[Brightness14 in reply to helvella]

I have been buying NDT for years I just send it to my sister in the UK and she posts it on to me here in France.

[Brightness14]

So far this morning I have emailed the Canadian source just waiting for a reply. If it's Canadian Dollars the price for 2 x 60 daily of Armour for 10 months would be around £325. Plus of course the dreaded UK private prescription. Next the German NDT watch this space!

[HattieLouise22 in reply to Brightness14]

Thanks so much! This could be super-helpful. Though as you say there is still the private prescription which is a ridiculous price when it could just be on repeat...