Thyroid meds...

[babylonsister]

I never knew I had a 'problem', but then I did. Also had a cholesterol and blood pressure prob when I had a doctor.

Got a divorce, lost some weight, lost my insurance. I feel good, am not on anything, but am a bit worried about this thyroid thing. I was taking levothyroxin, was told I'd need some form of this for the rest of my life. Does anyone know why?

W/O insurance, it chaps me to have to pay lotsa $ to a doc to get a generic drug/script I could easily afford. I think it's like $9/3 months?

I'm not asking for medical advice, just wondering if there's a way to get this stuff w/o jumping through hoops financially, or even if I need to.

Thanks!

[Celebration]

1. you'll probably need blood levels done

Can you try to find a doctor that will give you a yearly prescription, so you don't have to keep paying? If you don't want to go to the doctor there are labs where you can pay out of pocket to get blood work done, without a prescription. You can order thryoid tests and look at your levels and see if they are in reference ranges, etc. Then you can decide whether you need to go to a doctor or not to get the medicine. Sometimes doctors say you need something for life, but then, something happens and you don't. Impossible to say without the blood work.

[Sgent]

2. A few ideas

Try a community health center for sliding fee scale docs / labs. Your existing doc may be willing to work with you to an extent, but I don't think many doctors are going to write it for more than a year w/o bloodwork and seeing you.

[kdmorris]

3. If you've been put on thyroid meds, then your thyroid is likely not working

so, you take the replacement hormone for the rest of your life.

I second what others have said... try to get a yearly prescription (this will only be after they get your dosage correct) and see if you can go to a lower income clinic.

I have not found any way of getting thyroid meds w/o seeing a doctor at least 1X a year, but I would think you would need to (I'm not a doctor, so this is just my opinion). When I remember how I felt before I got the replacement thyroid hormones, it's enough to convince me that I need it for the rest of my life.

[Chemisse]

4. What they said. You have to get the annual blood-drawing or they won't give you a script.

And if you needed it once, you will need it forever. The thyroid gland doesn't improve its functioning; in fact it should worsen slightly over the years.

[mzteris]

5. Not taking it

Made me very depressed and a bit -er- unstable. I wouldn't advise stopping.