I have lived in the United States my entire life.
And there are other countries I have felt were similar to my own as far as being modern, forward-thinking, and intelligent. The United Kingdom is one.
But there is one area in the UK that is as close to the Dark Ages as it gets: the treatment of all forms and degrees of hypothyroidism.
Because of the British Thyroid Association (BTA) and the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) ‘guidance’ on the Diagnosis and Management of Primary Hypothyroidism, most UK doctors refuse to prescribe any form of T3, whether adding synthetic T3 to one’s T4, or using natural desiccated thyroid, either because they have fallen in line like ducks in a row, or they fear for their job.
Why? Because “overwhelming evidence supports the use of Thyroxine (T4) alone in the treatment of hypothyroidism, and we do not recommend the prescribing of additional Triiodothyronine (T3) in any presently available formulation, including natural thyroid extract, as it is inconsistent with normal physiology, has not been scientifically proven to be of any benefit to patients, and may be harmful”.
Anybody puking yet??
And, says thyroid patient advocate Sheila Turner of TPA-UK, “never has the RCP, BTA produced any of the ‘overwhelming evidence’ they claim as supporting the use of T4-only, even though they have been asked to do so on numerous occasions. Overwhelming evidence supports the use of synthetic T4/T3 and natural thyroid extract.”
And don’t think it won’t happen where YOU live. Stupidity can abound.
What to do about it?? Answer a short questionnaire, created by Sheila and TPA-UK, which is for those with symptoms of hypothyroidism when treated with T4-only, who then tried a T3 thyroid hormone product with success. “The results of this questionnaire will enable us to create the first ‘World-wide Register of Counterexamples to Levothyroxine (T4) – only therapy'”, underscores Sheila. “The objective is to draw attention to the dire need for an urgent re-examination of the existing protocol for the diagnosis and management of the symptoms of hypothyroidism.”
Don’t wait until stupidity and narrow-mindedness comes to where you live, as it also has in the country of Columbia, where Cynomel (T3) was retired more than 10 years now. Give this a voice NOW to head it off at the pass.
P.S. While you are at it, sign up with Dr. Skinner’s World Thyroid Register.
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10 Responses to “The dark ages in the United Kingdom–don’t think it might not happen where YOU live!”
ger her
…do/can they self-treat then as a result of this situation? or, is it illegal?
Gillian Broughton
I live in the UK and they do live in the dark ages regarding a lot of treatments and testing such as Pituatry testing , Thyroid tesing is not worth the paper its wriitten on , CFS/ME which effects the hormones as well as various multi- systems are treated with graded exercise therapy and cognitive beavioural therapy ( what an insult and negegence to 250,000 + people here in the UK suffering from CFS/ME ) .
I am forced to self medicate on Cytomel T3 which as been a life saver for me , my GP refuses to prescribe this life saving drug , and i am forced to have to purchase this myself . The NHS for now maybe a free service , but i can tell you its not that usefull if you have an Endocrine,CFS/ME , Neuroimmune disorder as very little doctors are trained in these areas . Thousands are left on the scrap heap. !!!
Eva
Tonia Collins, stop spreading political propaganda. I’m living in a country with state run healthcare and we don’t see the stupidity seen in the UK, and I don’t think we will either since we have scientists here working with American scientists on this precise subject. I have one of them as my specialist. The UK is something completely different. They are rather special in Europe because they always go about things in strange ways. It’s an extremely conservative country (I know, I’ve lived there) and it plays a huge role in why this is happening. BTW, it’s not state run healthcare which decides what medications are allowed an not. It’s the equivalent to FDA. Yes! The US has it! We all have! It is basically a sound idea, to protect people from harmful and untested drugs, but get the wrong people there and this will happen.
Amypea
Doctors become scared by patients who have bad reactions to regular cytomel. I ended up in the ER twice from regular cytomel. As soon as my doctor figured out that the problem was a sensitivity to it, he prescribed sustained released T3 and the cardiac reactions stopped. He also prescribed a beta blocker. I think doctors get scared away from bad reactions when these reactions are entirely treatable by modifying the compound or prescribing an additional medication.
Amypea
T3 saved my life. I take sustained released T3 in a quantity of 560mcg per day to treat resistance to thyroid hormone. I cannot imagine not having access to this life saving medication.
Carlal
I spent years on T-4 alone and was miserable to say the least. I talked a holistic dr into it and she gave me the minimal Armour (t3/t4 combined) did well for a while but learned I needed almost twice that amount. Now, no mood swings, no pain, no swelling, i sleep better…what’s with these drs wanting to get rid of it?
Tonia Collins
Up until recently there was one key difference in the the U.S. and the U.K. It’s called state run healthcare and yes, stupidity DOES abound…because we now have it- We will very likely encounter this very problem because in state run healthcare the “accepted” treatment often becomes the ONLY treatment..and seeking a doctor outside of the universal healthcare system is so expensive most people simply can’t do it.
I will certainly fill out the questionnaire and I hope this turns out to be enough, but I think it is very smart to be prepared for the day when we have to seek alternatives- where will we obtain this “forbidden” med? How will we obtain it? Will we do what we need to in order to support doctors who go against the state?
Tonia Collins
This is one of the biggest problems with state run healthcare (Hello Americans….we NOW have it)- the “accepted” treatment becomes the ONLY one allowed and/or covered- you can expect the situation to get worse sadly.
Theresa
I’m not holding my breath. Just when I think someone in the medical establishment might be getting a clue, they do or say something so illogical or ignorant, that I just want to give up! I agree with Janie, stupidity does abound!
Johann Mitchell
Thank you so much for this information! I’ve been feeling the need for this for a while without quite knowing what it was that I needed!
I’m so tired of hearing about all the proven information about T4 only drugs, and nobody who has ever talked about this “proven information” has ever been able to tell me anything about this proof, or what was actually proven.
I really hope that, with this registry, we can get together a large enough body of proof for the help that NDT provides to finally get the establishment to listen!