on a trip and forgot my thyroid medication

[maryg1947]

I'm in Glasgow for two weeks from the USA and I forgot my levothyroxine. Any advice how to proceed? I am on 88 micrograms made by Mylan (see image). I have been on this brand for years without a problem, but don't do as well on other brands, though in a pinch ...

Thanks for any help you can give!

[Regenallotment]

Can you find a pharmacy and ask their advice? I believe they hold stocks for emergencies but doubt you will get Mylan.

Do you have travel insurance? Including health cover? Ring them and ask advice too.

Can you ring your health insurance in US and ask them if they have any UK/Europe connections?

We have an NHS medical helpline call 111 from any UK phone, they can have a GP call you back who could issue a prescription.

Roseway labs in London rosewaylabs.com/ have a pharmacist prescriber who can issue a private prescription and post/mail you meds.

They may well be a private pharmacy like this in Scotland. I don’t know.

Hope you get hold of some soon 🌱

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Regenallotment]

I have no idea how 111 service handles non-UK patients!

[Regenallotment in reply to helvella]

yep but the website said call so worth a try 🌱

[Regenallotment]

nhs.uk/nhs-services/prescri...

[Regenallotment]

This pharmacy is open until 11am in Glasgow today, it’s one of the larger chains in the UK. That doesn’t mean they have more range though, the larger ones often only stock a few brands.

Pharmacy open in Glasgow

[TiggerMe in reply to Regenallotment]

If no good try Dickson's they are an excellent independent Glasgow group and often more capable than the big chains but you'll need to wait till tomorrow... 🤗 dicksonchemist.co.uk/new/br...

They do private prescriptions too

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

That's not good.

First, you will not get Mylan in the UK. My UK document contains information about all the approved UK levothyroxine products.

Second, you will only get 12.5 (unlikely and only in one make), 25, 50, 75 (one make) and 100 microgram tablets. You might have to alternate day dose (75/100) or split tablets - though splitting is officially deprecated.

Third, all UK levothyroxine tablets are uncoloured - white. And almost universally in blister packaging.

A pharmacy is allowed to dispense an emergency supply of most medicines. But they might feel two weeks is pushing it and therefore require you to get a formal prescription.

In the first instance, I would visit pharmacies, explain and ask for help.

You will be charged. A prescription will itself have a cost but I have no idea how much. Most levothyroxine tablets in the UK are extremely cheap (up to £1.88 for 28 - except 12.5 and 75 which are a bit more). But the pharmacy will make some sort of dispensing fee.

Is there any mileage in getting someone to send sufficient tablets in an envelope (so it gets treated as a letter) using some sort of express delivery? It is perfectly legal to do so. Best to include a prescription or at least something to make it easy for customs to see what it is if they happen to open it.

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.

The UK document contains up-to-date versions of the Summary Matrix for tablets, oral solutions and liothyronine available in the UK.

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

[maryg1947 in reply to helvella]

Thanks for all these details! I will try going to a nearby pharmacy and seeing if they can help without a doctor visit. I have a copy of my prescription from Kaiser in the US.

[bantam12]

My sister came over from USA and left her thyroxine on the plane, she got an appt with my local GP who gave her a prescription for enough to cover her stay.

[maryg1947 in reply to bantam12]

thanks! sounds like a very similar situation

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to maryg1947]

That’s what I’d do - I ran out of my pills a few years ago - back then it was blood pressure and HRT but I made an appointment with my sister’s doctor and got a prescription on the spot. I live in the south of England and to my surprise and delight I was given a three month supply - in the south of England I only ever get enough for 28 days.

Good luck and enjoy your holiday

[maryg1947 in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Thank you! I'm hopeful now that I can find a way.

[HealthStarDust in reply to maryg1947]

Echo all this. If you are fortunate enough to have family here, many GPs will see a family member in these situations.

[maryg1947]

Hi, All! Thanks for all your suggestions. I went out to breakfast with a group of women close to my age, and lo and behold one of them had an unused bottle of 100mcg levothyroxine. Problem solved!

[RedApple Administrator in reply to maryg1947]

Glad your problem was sorted, although technically, passing prescription meds over to someone else is breaking the law here in the UK.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to maryg1947]

Out of interest, what make did you get given?

And did you find it noticeably different to Amneal? (Aside from the slightly higher dose, of course!)

[maryg1947 in reply to helvella]

They are Accord 100 mcg in a blister pack-- I haven't taken one yet (I will run out of my own supply on Saturday--I always carry some in my purse just in case)

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to maryg1947]

I'm just interested because we don't get many international product changes!