Seeing an Endocrinologist in Edinburgh

[helvon]

Can anyone give me some info on the endocrinologists in Edinburgh and their attitudes to treatment. It will prepare me and perhaps I will be lucky to get appropriate treatment as levo nearly killed me. Many thanks.love and prayers xxx

[Hidden]

I may have someone on the list - email me - [e-mail]

L

x

[Starfish123]

Isn't Dr Toft up that way?

[Jane104 in reply to Starfish123]

He only practises privately now, I think only one day a week.

[helvon]

Dr Toft oh well I have no chance then

[Hiphypo]

If you look on the NHS info pages you will see how the dept. is structured.

This is the link:

nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk/Serv...

[helvon]

thanks everyone for your replies x

[paigie]

I was treated / life-saved (?) by a Mr. A. PATRICK [ Edinburgh Royal Infirmary] who seemed very clued up, perfectionist & involved in the subject. He diagnosed & treated me immediately. Hope he's still there ! My subsequent check-ups more recently were

dealt with by a MISS ZAMMIT who was equally thorough; I saw her name on a recent conference paper. Hope you can ask to see one of these two.

Don't be put off by the vast, overcrowded waiting room : it's a multi-purpose space for all sorts of subjects + conditions, and I never had to wait more than c.10 minutes.

Good Luck.

[helvon in reply to paigie]

what was your treatment if I am allowed to ask paigie

[paigie]

After about 5 months of repeated crawling to a gp who failed to diagnose my florid nine

symptons, even though my legs + swollen ankles were no longer able to walk, I was diagnosed by a student who happened to be in his room; she phoned me later & gave me her opinion ---- over-active thyroid. She was right. Somehow I was able to get another gp (NOT that one) to fix up a hospital session, and from that first meeting everything ran swiftly. Mr Patrick certainly knew his subject and had a friendly approach

so I felt confident under his instructions.

The treatment was Carbi ....zole, constantly monitored by blood tests, a high dose to start, (sorry, can't remember the figures) to stop the arm-shakes, weight-loss, &tc, then

he gradually reduced the dosage which took quite a few months; just swallowing this tiny pill was no trouble, and eventually my physique became normal. He warned that Carbi ...zole and the human system don't always move smoothly in tandem, the balance between overactive & underactive being impossible to predict; so when blood tests

showed I was tipping the other way, with Under-active thyroid, I had to stop this drug & take something else (sorry, I forget what --- it was way back in the 1990s) ---- with, again, regular blood - monitoring. I was very pleased at this, because prescriptions for UNDER- active thyroid were FREE, for OVERactive were NOT ! After basically being

cured / righted I was told to continue taking the carbi....zole for some time, just as a precaution, I think. He did say openly that I was an "extremely bad case" when I arrived, so hopefully other people today are diagnosed more quickly.

Years later, in 2001, my Mother suddenly died. She was an old lady, 81, in hospital, but it was a shock to us all. My thyroid reacted by going into overdrive, but this time, of course, I recognised the symptoms, and had been warned that sudden grief can trigger it. So, back to Square One, except this time the carbi....zole high dose didn't subdue it. That meant swallowing a small dose of radioactive iodine. A bit spooky, but I have had

no thyroid problems since then.

It's said to have a genetic aspect : my father's late sister had overactive thyroid in the late 1920s, which was treated with a massive dose of radioactive iodine, normal at that

time, apparently, and she had no recurrence of it.

Ask if you can see Mr. Patrick or Miss Zammit at the Infirmary. If you can't, I imagine the

rest of their team will be good.

Good Luck.

[helvon in reply to paigie]

Thank you so much for your reply at the moment I am nursing my mum and caring for my sister with special needs and learning difficulties so I know its going to be a rough journey and I know I have to be able to function at some level. love and prayers Helenx

[paigie]

I'm so sorry to hear of your other problems, but if your thyroid disease is treated soon by the Infirmary you should sail through it. My blood tests were done by the local practice nurse up the road, the drug was only a question of swallowing a tiny pill at home, so the only disruption to life & work was my visits to the new Infirmary which is far away from where I live. If it helps, I was also caring for my husband who was surfacing from a horrendous breakdown, and I was travelling to England to help look after my Mum at weekends. I have a vicious type of arthritis which was beginning to worsen (happily under the care of hospitals, not gp.s) ---- so I'm sure you'll cope. If you have to have surgical operations, the City has to provide cover for your sister and Mum.

All the best, thinking of you,

Paigie.

[helvon]

thank you Paigie xx