Why Do I Get Free Prescriptions on Levothyroxine?

And this actually frustrates me a little bit.

When you have hypothyroidism and develop other health conditions, symptoms or problems, it often comes from being non-optimally treated, not from the hypothyroidism itself. So if the thyroid condition is properly treated and managed, we shouldn’t need a boat load of other medications.

It says in the document ‘Prescription Charges Review Implementing Exemption from Prescription Charges for People with Long Term Conditions’:

“As now, exemption should be for the person rather than restricted to the treatment of the condition for which he/she is exempt. Currently, patients who are exempt from prescriptions on medical grounds, receive all of their prescriptions free and not just the drugs that relate to the condition for which they are exempt. This is often regarded as unfair. However, it is frequently difficult to determine whether the patient’s current need for treatment is related or not to the index condition, or might exacerbate it. In the interests of practicality, exemption from charges on medical grounds should continue to relate to the person rather than the condition.” [1]

So it’s essentially saying that because hypothyroidism is often a lifelong condition, which can be linked to others, we get all medications for free for ease of not being completely sure which other conditions can be related back to it.

The issue of people on lifelong medication not being able to afford it has been in the media several times, so this does sound helpful.

But take for instance all the extra conditions/symptoms I developed while on the wrong medication for my hypothyroidism:

• Anxiety and Depression
• GERD/Acid Reflux
• Eczema and Dermatitis
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Debilitating Hormonal Migraines
• Leg Cramps and Spasms
• Restless Legs
• Brain Fog
• Menorrhagia (heavy periods)
• Stiff and Painful Joints and Muscles 

While it was great that I got the medication for all of the above ‘separate’ conditions for free, I’d have preferred for them to just get my thyroid medication right in the first place, and then I wouldn’t have needed all of them. And it would have also saved the NHS more money… Instead of covering up more and more problems and just treating multiplying issues. The initial cause, low thyroid hormone levels, should have been addressed from the beginning. But the NHS  and other conventional medicine services don’t tend to focus on prevention. 

Life Threatening 

Another possibility for why thyroid medication prescriptions are free, is that because your body should produce thyroid hormone naturally in order to live, but doesn’t do so adequately when you have hypothyroidism, it is life threatening in this sense due to the risk of myxoedema coma.

Outdated Information?

Another theory is that this information may simply be outdated and hasn’t been reviewed for quite some time.

Take the information on the NHS website about medical exemptions for example. It refers to hypothyroidism as myxoedema, a term used to describe severe hypothyroidism, often when it’s so developed, that patients have swelling of the skin and underlying tissue.[2]

It can also lead to coma and death.

So our thyroid condition, untreated, could possibly kill us if we go into a myxoedema coma due to the lack of thyroid hormones.

However, most people these days never reach this stage before diagnosis of course, but a lot did a hundred or more years ago.

Patients back then were described as having puffy faces with myxoedema, and once started on medication (natural desiccated thyroid was used widely back then), it went away, along with their other symptoms of hypothyroidism.

Hypothyroidism was widely referred to as ‘myxoedema’ at this time and so the use of this name on the NHS exemption list makes you question how old this information is and when it was last reviewed.

Round-Up

Still, for those who do do well on Levothyroxine, and have their medical exemption certificate, it’s very useful for them to receive their prescriptions for free. To have free medication for life for a life-long condition, is a godsend and not many other countries offer this.

It just makes you wonder why other life-long conditions such as asthma, for example, aren’t included. Asthma could kill you if left untreated too…

Who knows!

How do you feel about this? Let me know in the comments below. 

You can click on the hyperlinks in the above post to learn more and see references to information given, but more reading and references can also be found at:

References:

[1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/213884/dh_116367.pdf

[2] https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/exemption-certificates/medical-exemption-certificates