helga taylor

Thank you Katie for writing your story. I was diagnosed in 2016 at the time pharma companies had hiked the price of T3 and it was added to the NHSE Policy "items not routinely prescribed in primary care" because of cost. T4 did not make me well, restore my ability to work fully or allow me to exercise. I eventually found an endocrinologist who worked with me and saw a transformation in my health stats when T3 was added. I tire of the gaslighting thyroid patients experience. T3 is not right for all patients but neither is T4 monotherapy. In the past I have had to lie to doctors about where I live to obtain T3 prescriptions because of the NHS T3 postcode lottery. That meant I did not have day to day access to a GP for care if I needed it. Luckily I didnt. When I moved again into an ICB that prescribed T3 I had my medical records illegally accessed (I dissent on sharing because I have seen blanket T3 deprescribing) and an NHS endocrinologist who had never met me or access to my full medical notes tried to deprescribe me. I fought back and have kept my NHS T3 but it remains a constant stress that T3 will be removed and I will be pushed to private sources. My GP admits he knows nothing about thyroid treatments and allows my private endocrinologist to monitor me. I pay for that and private blood tests. It is not equitable that a drug the NHSE recognises as a legitimate treatment is subject to postcode prescribing and patients are not able to have the confidence they will not be dismissed when they ask for alternative treatments to be considered. T3 now costs NHS about £25 to £50 a month for most T3 patients. It is not expensive compared to many treatments available in the NHS. It is certainly a small price to pay for patients to get back to work and have a quality of life.