Thyroxine

[oceanflower]

Hi,

Do any of you take thyroxine? I've had my thyroid gland removed, and here in England I get thyroxine free. I'll need to know exactly what to do to get it in Canada. I know nothing about medical matters in Canada.

How do I get a prescription....is it the same as in UK, and do I just go to a GP? Also, is thyroxine free to everyone taking it, regardless of their financial situation, like in UK, or do you have to pay for it? Will I have to take proof of the removal of my thyroid gland or anything? Otherwise, how will the Canadian GP know I need it - I take medication every day so tests would show my thyroxine levels to be normal.

(I have no objection to paying at all, I just want to know what to expect!)

Thanks.

[Graeme]

Hi Oceanflower:
The scoop is in Canada you need to be resident for three months before you can be covered by the provincial medical plan. You should plan to bring about 4 or 5 months worth of thyroxine with you. Once you are covered by the medical plan I would see your doctor (you need to find your own doctor which in some places may not be easy) who will then order some blood tests on you. Once they have the results back they will titrate a dose of thyroxine for you based on your blood tests. It may take a few months to get the dosage exactly right and take a couple of blood tests to check your levels. You can always see a doctor earlier than 3 months but you will probably have to pay, and also pay for the blood tests. Thyroxine is a pretty standard medication and is almost certainly the same here as in UK, however the manufacturing company may be different, the tablets may be a different size etc so if you have some of your own to show the doctor may be helpful. Bottom line is, we have lots of people here in Canada with hypothyroidism and they are all treated reasonable successfully, oh and the medication will be covered by your third party insurer but not by the medical plan (provided you have a third party insurer). Thyroxine isn't too expensive anyhow as it's not a protected medication.
Hope that helps.
Graeme

[deppfan64]

Hi Graeme

Does that apply to high blood pressure tablets??? We have been here a month but are still waiting on my hubby's work permit to come through, by which time my stock of medication will have run out. I have been to a walk-in clinic when I wasn't well a couple of weeks ago. He charged me $50 to see him and then the prescription was $12 for some antibiotics, which I thought was really reasonable.

However, I am very worried about running out of my blood pressure tablets....do you think the prescription will be really expensive?? Would I be able to visit the same walk-in clinic again just to get this prescription?

Thanks

Mal

[Graeme]

You should be able to visit the same clinic and get your meds without problem. Once you get to three months residency, provided you are paying for health coverage, you'll be able to do this for free. A lot of high blood pressure tablets have become generic now and so many of them are quite cheap, the more expensive ones tend to be the newer ones. Make sure the doctor doesn't prescribe the latest and greatest as it could cost a lot.

Graeme

[Michael44]

Ontario it is 6 months and unless you have insurance or are covered by an employee Plan or are over 65, you pay for Meds.

Exceptions are made for Welfare and some other Social Assistance recipients.

[oceanflower]

thanks a lot for the info Graeme, very useful!!