pct say no armour

[ritz]

i have been taking armour for nearly 3 years now and been able to function pretty well, full time work and most symptoms gone. i previously had 4 years on levo and became so ill that i thought i would have to stop work which would have meant losing my house.

i got armour on a prescription from my gp who was converted to it when she saw the change in me.

i went to see my gp last friday, she was obviously not happy at the news she had for me which was that the local pct had told them that they were no longer allowed to prescribe armour to anyone at all under any circumstances !!!! they are not interested in the fact that i will die without it

What do i do now?

[Hidden]

No idea if you can appeal somehow, although if the PCT says no-one can have it any more it is unlikely to be successful, no harm in trying though

Unfortunatly the options seem to be when this happens, to switch to Levo only, go private or buy your own. Its so unfair that so many of us have to go down this road

[nobodysdriving]

write to your MP?

is the GP willing to issue a private prescription in the interim while you sort out this battle?

[Clarebear]

Oh sorry to hear this I am in a similar postion to you - my GP started prescribing it when he saw how much better I was, but I do fear the PCT stopping him. How much longer have we got the PCTs for? Maybe once the GPs are the budget holders you won't have this problem?

[Hidden]

How can they stop you taking a medication which is working for you just because they decide to?

I can understand them refusing to fund new prescriptions, but when you have been on the medication for 3 years, it makes no sense...... Definitely write to your MP.... aren't PCT's finishing soon, to be replaced by something else?

[ritz]

this is one of the things that is being proposed to replace pcts personalhealthbudgets.dh.go...

i have already written to my mp but he is dr dan poulter so not much help expected there

ipswich hospital where i live has a poor reputation as far as treating thyroid problems goes

[Glynisrose]

Contact PALS and ask them for help.

[ritz in reply to Glynisrose]

PALS? is that an organization or do you mean my mates?

[Hidden]

This is probably all to do with the NHS shake up - read more here:

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/NHS_In...

Louise

xx

[Jackie]

Hi I have always been allergic to Levo, tried 4 brands originally, so I have had armour, private script for many years. I have T3 on a GP script but I am told armour never prescribed! Mind you, told that about lots of things that NICE and PCT say I should have but always the answer is NO.It is a common problem now, same as when a consultant recommends something, too much power!

Jackie

[akcoop]

Which PCT is it I wonder and why the change now?

Possibly what Rosee45 noted about PCTs moving to a different structure and being divided into smaller regions.

I'm in Norfolk and got a flat no to prescription for a trial with supported and supervised by my GP.

Wonder if there is a uniform national clampdown??

Local MP is certainly first port of call.

Shame that Avaaz petition didn't get more response - if we could word it better and direct it at specific MPs like Health Secretary and get it promoted all across UK then we might be in with a chance - needs thousands of signatures not hundreds. Personally I don't think that last petition was worded particularly strongly - the whole situation re thyroid health and prescribing is an absolute scandal. It's the same depressing story over and over again.

[akcoop in reply to akcoop]

P.S. I signed the AVAAZ petition and promoted it the best I could to all my friends and aquaintances. Didn't mean to be negative about the petition, was just my feeling on the wording. I was very sad it didn't receive much wider support.

[RedApple in reply to akcoop]

Which petition are you referring to? If it's this one, then it's only recently started!

avaaz.org/en/petition/Bette...

It has been known how to treat hypothyroidism by replacing the missing hormone for around 120 years, but we cannot diagnose or indeed treat it properly because of the over reliance on a laboratory blood test and lack of knowledge by doctors of the complicated nature of the disease. They are not trained to treat it properly. An objective investigation into the nature of the disease and its treatment needs to be undertaken.

[akcoop in reply to RedApple]

OK, well it seems it's been up a while and I've shown it to friends and got them to sign - I wasn't the only one who expressed the same sentiments about wording and number of signatures.

Apologies, as a bloke I find the sexism issue irrelevant even if I'm in a minority, men can be just as oppressed and abused by systems like this as women - which refers to the OTHER part of the text on the web page and not the paragraph above which I'm happy to agree with.

Maybe I'm being sexist? Very sorry if I'm wrong, perhaps it's entirely correct and I'm wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

Best wishes, Andy

[RedApple in reply to akcoop]

No Andy, you don't need to apologise. You are entitled to your opinion. As it happens, I am female and I agree that those words are likely upsetting quite a few people and may be partly, if not wholly to blame for the lack of signatures.

That said, Thyroid UK launched their own well-worded petition to the UK government in 2011-2012 and despite all our efforts (and we tried very hard), it still only achieved something just over 5,000 signatures. And there were no 'questionable' sentiments expressed in that petition.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/campai...

It seems as if plenty of people are willing to moan about the treatment of thyroid disorders, but many, many less will actually help to bring about change. Even when all they are asked to do is sign an e-petition.

[Glynisrose]

Patient Advice and Liason Service.

[ritz in reply to Glynisrose]

ah thanks

[Heloise]

That is just evil. I'm taking Armour after being on Synthroid and I would do anything to keep on it. Do they also refuse adding T3 if they force you back on thyroxine. Ask if they will at the very least do that since your body is used to this.

[ritz]

i cant take either levo or t3, levo gives me terribly high uncontrollable bp and t3 has started to give me af so i have had to stop taking it