Hi Reader,

I want to share something with you today that's just been published – and I think it's one of the most important things I've come across in a long time.

It's a cost breakdown of Liothyronine (T3) across every UK brand and formulation, compiled by a member of the Thyroid UK forum. And once you see it, I think a lot of things start to make sense.

I'm going to walk you through what it shows, and then tell you what I think it means – because I think it explains something so many of us have felt but never quite been able to put into words.

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What the numbers actually show

Look at the cost for a standard 28-day prescription of 20 microgram T3 tablets.

At the cheap end, generic tablets work out at around £28 for 28 days.

At the expensive end, some brands work out at nearly £500 for the exact same amount of active hormone.

Now compare that to Levothyroxine. A standard 28-day supply typically costs the NHS around £1 to £2. Sometimes literally pennies.

So even at its cheapest, T3 costs over ten times more than T4. At its most expensive, hundreds of times more.

And here's the thing – this is actually lower than it used to be. There was a court case specifically about T3 pricing, and before that, prices were even more extreme than this.

It's worth being really clear about something here: this isn't because T3 is expensive to make. In some European countries, you can buy it over the counter for the equivalent of pennies for a pack of 100.

It's not the drug. It's what the NHS has been paying for it.

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Why I think this matters so much

I want to be really clear – I don't think this is about individual doctors.

I don't believe GPs are sitting there thinking "I won't test this because it's expensive." But I do think something much bigger has happened – and once you see the pricing, it starts to make sense.

Think about it logically. If T3 used to cost the NHS hundreds of pounds per patient, per month – and pretty much everyone with hypothyroidism would benefit from having their Free T3 checked, because so many of us aren't converting T4 to T3 properly – what would happen if Free T3 testing became routine?

Huge numbers of people would suddenly be identified as needing T3. And the NHS would be facing a bill it simply couldn't sustain at those old prices.

So here's what I believe has happened: this isn't doctors being unhelpful. It's not random. It's a system that has been shaped, from the top down, to reduce demand for a medication that was becoming financially unmanageable.

And the most effective way to reduce demand for something isn't to refuse it outright – it's to make sure it's never identified as needed in the first place.

That's why, even when a GP requests a Free T3 test, it so often gets stopped at the laboratory level. The lab sees a "normal" TSH and simply doesn't run the Free T3 test – regardless of what was actually requested. The GP can want to help. They can submit the request. And it still doesn't happen, because the block has been built in further down the chain, where individual doctors have no control over it.

If it's never tested, it's never found to be low. If it's never found to be low, nobody has to fund it.

I think there are probably other reasons too – this is a deep, layered issue, and cost is unlikely to be the whole story. But I do think it's a significant piece of the puzzle, and possibly one of the biggest reasons Free T3 testing remains so restricted. Once you start testing it properly, it opens up a whole can of worms – and I think that's exactly why it's been kept shut.

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What this actually feels like, day to day

I want to acknowledge something here, because I know how this lands when you're living it.

You go to your GP. You explain how you feel – the exhaustion, the brain fog, the weight that won't shift, the feeling that something still isn't right even though your levels are "normal." And you're told there's nothing more to do. TSH is fine. Move along.

And you're left thinking: am I making this up? Is this just me?

It isn't. And it's not just you.

When you understand that there's a structural reason why this conversation keeps getting shut down before it even starts, something shifts. The frustration doesn't go away – but the self-doubt can. You stop wondering if you're being difficult, or dramatic, or imagining things. You start to see it for what it is: a system that was never built with your wellbeing as the priority.

That doesn't fix anything overnight. But it does mean you're not fighting this alone, and you're not fighting yourself.

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You don't have to navigate this without a map

This is exactly why we created the Hypothyroid Recovery Roadmap inside the Hub.

When you're stuck in this system – being told everything's fine when you know it isn't, not knowing what to ask for, not knowing where to even start – it's incredibly disorientating. You can feel completely lost, like you're shouting into the void with nobody listening.

The Roadmap is designed to change that. It walks you through, step by step, what to understand about your results, how to prepare for appointments, what language tends to work better with doctors, and where to go next depending on where you are in your journey. It's the thing I wish someone had handed me years ago.

You don't have to figure this out from scratch, and you don't have to do it alone.

You can start a free trial and have a proper look inside – explore the Roadmap, see what's there, and get a feel for whether it's the kind of support that would help you right now.

👉 https://www.skool.com/hypothyroid/about​

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

✅ T3 costs the NHS significantly more than T4 – sometimes hundreds of times more, even after a court case reduced prices

✅ This price difference is very likely a major reason why Free T3 testing isn't routine, even though most of us with hypothyroidism would benefit from it

✅ Even when your GP wants to test Free T3, the request can be blocked at the laboratory level – this isn't your doctor failing you

✅ If you've felt dismissed, unheard, or like you're imagining your symptoms – you're not, and you're not alone

✅ You don't have to navigate this system without support or a plan

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ACTION STEPS

1. If you've been told your levels are "normal" but you still don't feel right, know that this is a common and valid experience – not something to dismiss in yourself
2. If you haven't had Free T3 tested, it's worth specifically asking for it by name at your next blood test – even if it gets refused, it's worth being on record as having asked
3. If you're feeling lost or unsure where to start, take a look at the Hypothyroid Recovery Roadmap inside the Hub – start your free trial and explore

👉 https://www.skool.com/hypothyroid/about​

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Here's what I keep coming back to with all of this.

It's easy to feel like the system is against you – because in many ways, it has been shaped that way.

But understanding why something is hard doesn't mean you're stuck with it forever.

It means you can stop blaming yourself, and start looking for the paths that do exist, even within a system that wasn't built for you.

That's what the Roadmap is. Not a way around the system overnight – but a way to stop feeling lost inside it.

With love,

P.S. If any of this resonated – if you've ever been told your TSH is "normal" and felt like that was the end of the conversation - you're not alone, and there's a whole community here who understand exactly that feeling. Come and take a look around with a free trial: 👇 https://www.skool.com/hypothyroid/about​

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