Which medication

[Poppy03]

I am going to see my GP on Friday and will be asking him if he can prescribe me the natural/dessciated thyroid on a named patient basis. I hope to put it to him that I am not asking for an increase in my medication just a different one. I am currently on 50 Thyroixine and 20 T3. How do I know which one to ask him for? I see there are different ones.

Thank you.

[lm713]

Hi,

You can't get the same proportions with NDT exactly. NDT is approximately 20% T3, while your current combination is 29% T3.

If you work on the basis that T3 is 4 times as potent as T4 - your current dose is equivalent to 130mcg T4. 1 grain of NDT is eq. to 74mcg. 1 3/4 grains is almost eq. to 130mcg, but maybe you can just try 2 grains for easier dosage.

Note: even at 2 grains your T3 dose would be less than your current T3 dose.

[shaws Administrator]

If you are lucky enough to be prescribed NDT the following link may be helpful.

stopthethyroidmadness.com/m...

[Poppy03 in reply to shaws]

Well I am surprised at how good my gp was. Long story short, I gave him some printed information from this website, said that all my tests ruled out anything else and I would like to try the natural thyroid. He admited he didn't know enough about it but asked if he could read through the information and come to a decision. He also said that if it is off the normal treatment it will have to go through the board to be agreed so I said would it be easier if I got referred to a private endo to which he agreed that whatever the endo said he would happily go with and would provide all the backup I needed. He also wrote out a prescription for branded T4 to try in the meantime as I won't be able to see the private endo until the new year.

He asked if he could keep the information as he would like to read up on it. Can't fault my GPs in all this, it was the ridiculous endo that has caused all the problems.

[shaws Administrator in reply to shaws]

I am very happy for you that you have a sympathetic GP and someone who is willing to vary medication according to the patients' needs. I have attached another link and after the names of the NDT's you will see that GP's can use a Green Prescription to give to the pharmacy(ies) listed.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/pages/...

I know it is difficult to find a like-minded endocrinologist. I hope you are lucky.