I'm on T3 only,I have been all this year. (after disagreement with !st endo.) I asked to change my endo. so went for my 6 month check up at the beginning of Aug.Well I didn't like this one either. After keeping me waiting for half an hour,he didn't even apologise.He read my notes for a few minutes then called me in. Before I had chance to open my mouth he told me (someone he has only just met.) that I needed antidepressants.He told me women of my age get on better with antidepressants. Not all things are thyroid related and that he didn't want to see me again. I wasn't given chance to ask anything,he just kept repeating himself.
He asked why I had upped my dose,because my TSH had gone up. He told me to reduce my dose (from 60 to 40 ) and have a blood test in six weeks.
I reduced the dose to 50 and had the blood test,guess what my TSH is up. It was 0.104 and now is 2.6.
I see my GP on Monday,and as I have been returned to his care I want to be in control of my health.
On the lower dose I started to feel sluggish,I've put on weight. I have acne and my psoriasis and arthritis are back.
I would like to up my dose even further as I'm sure I'm not at an optimum level health wise. Could anyone give me advice on a way forward with this. My GP is good,he tolerates me but he isn't that up on thyroid. I have a list of things to see him about. It's taken 7 weeks to get an appointment so I want to make it count.
By the way,I did complain on the NHS hospital website about the way I have been treated during the last six years. I got a reply,to phone the service lead. When I rang she knew nothing about it,she'd been on leave.
Sorry this is so long.xx
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beaton
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Beaton, that endo sounds like a total waste of space There was nothing wrong with your TSH 1.04, it's right where most people are comfortable and doesn't indicated over medication. I'd certainly resume 60mcg. Do you have FT4 and FT3 results? If your FT3 is low on 60mcg then you need an increase in dose.
Thank Clutter, don't have the T3,but will ask on Monday. My TSH has always been low since T3 only apart from once when it went up to 2.64 in May,something else I wanted to see my GP about.
Beaton, your GP shouldn't have a problem requesting FT4 but unless s/he is very insistent with the lab it's unlikely you'll get FT3 tested because your TSH isn't suppressed. You can order private FT3 from Blue Horizon and Genova via thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...
Beaton, do you mean your endo tested FT3 but won't give you the result? Data Protection Act entitles you to your results so phone the endo secretary and request them or get on to PALS at the hospital.
Hi Clutter,I wont know my T3 result until I see my GP on Monday. If my GP doesn't have the result I will take it further. Last time this happened I phoned the endos secretary,she told me she could not give me the result but would email my GP but she only sent the TSH. It took a long time to sort out but I got there in the end.
Not sure about what levels should be as I'm trying to get mine sorted on T3 only, but regarding the Endo you could phone PALS at the hospital and say you want to make a formal complaint.
I did this due to the same problem with my first Endo and they put me in touch with their complaints department who agreed to give me an appointment with another Endo at the same hospital if I didn't go down the formal complaint route. They got me an appointment within a week with one who specialised in thyroid as I said I wasn't prepared to wait after already having a long wait initially. They said I could still complain formally later if I wasn't happy with second opinion but I got lucky with the second one.
Hi Shaz,thanks for your reply. I have contacted PALS before regarding thyroid issues and although I found them willing to help,the result was somewhat lacking. I'm glad you got a result.
You are best to go it alone (with GP) when you come across Endocrinologists like the one you saw. Some are so conceited and arrogant we can do with them. Considering there are no blood tests given before the diagnosis of depression, it annoys me that we cannot be given a decent dose of thyroid hormones.
Hi I have found that I had the best success when I wrote a letter of complaint to the Head of the Endocrinology Department. I have tried PALs at another hospital and after three complaints to them, they asked me to stop contacting them and to try and work with the consultant. I had valid complaints. One was the result of an MRI scan on pituitary. He had informed me that he believed I had a tumour on my thyroid, a very serious condition he said that would require surgery. I could not get hold of him for the results and the other twice were blood results, and when I got to the appointment he brought my name up on screen and it was blank. No results and he never got back to me with them.
I changed hospitals and I contacted the Head of Endocrinology about the way I had been treated by one of his consultants and asked him if he would be happy with that standard of care. He had the PR Dept of the hospital contact me full of apologies, I had an hour long consultation with a different consultant and they embraced what I said. They thanked me for bringing issues to their attention.
I have always felt that this hospital has wanted to improve their patient care, and they said they welcomed all feedback positive or negative but the only way they know how things are going is if patients tell them. Cut out the middle man and go direct. Good luck.
Hi Chicken,You seem to have been on a similar road to me but I hope now you are moving forward.
I have had half a dozen unsatisfactory consultations with the thyroid department at my hospital and did contact PALS about it. It was they that helped me change my consultant.But apart from that I found out that they didn't follow up my complaint or take the matter further. (They were supposed to monitor my appointments but it was I who had to ring for an appointment and I was on a registrar's list.)
Having changed consultants and had such a poor response from both him and the "service lead" I do feel that I have to take this further but I'm not sure which way to do this. I feel all my comments are swept under the carpet.
Thanks to those of you who have replied to my query. Replying to you all has helped me make up my mind as to what to do. I realise now I have to make some kind of formal complaint. I'm not sure how to go about this but I think whoever I complain to it must be in writing,emails and phone calls get you nowhere.
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There was nothing wrong with your TSH 1.04, it's right where most people are comfortable and doesn't indicated over medication. I'd certainly resume 60mcg. Do you have FT4 and FT3 results? If your FT3 is low on 60mcg then you need an increase in dose.
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