Hello, please forgive me for what is a bit of a rant.
I have been following the threads here a while and find it so helpful and reasuring to hear other people are going through the same thing, alot of my friends and some family dont understand.
I've had symptoms of hypothyroidism for a while now and a family history so I ordered a private test which confirmed I was positive for antibodies. I took this test to my GP who refused to accept it or refer me to a specialist. They suggested instead I see a specialist in London who I pay - I did this.
The Endocrinologist I saw works for the NHS and is very qualified, he took my blood test results and an ultrasound and confirmed I have hypothyroidism. He wrote a letter to my GP and I recommendign I start on 75ug.
When I took the letter to my Dr he became really angry and suggested the blood tests were wrong and also suggested I had convinced the Endocrinologist that I have a condition when I dont, he suggested Im delusional and "working myself into this state".
He pescribed me 25 and told me I "was lucky to get that" and that I "was lucky to be treated at all". He told me to "shut up and accept this" and told me to shut up several times. He talked to me like I had been a very bad child and it was extremely upsetting. His manner was so aggressive I was quite frightened and really glad my husband had come with me.
I'm too scared to go back to the same Dr but I am also scared another Dr will have the same reaction when I bring them the letter. I am also worried what he has written about me on my record.
Has anyone had anything similar happen, or any advice about what to do?
I apologise for whats a rant, I'm so upset and so at a loss of what I am supposed to be if my GP wont trust a Endocrinologist.
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Impalpable
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What a psycho! Some doctors are so arrogant they just can't be proved wrong. The antibody test didn't lie and neither did the scan. 25 MCG of T4 is like a dose for infants. If you're not elderly or have heart problems 75 MCG is the starting dose. I doubt very much if 25 MCG will do anything, and it can actually make you worse.
Are you in a position to change your GP?
I'm not saying GP's are good with Hashimotos at all, but for goodness sake you shouldn't have to put up with this behaviour.
In the meantime you could get tested for ferritin, folate, Vit B12 and Vit D3, they all tend to be on the low side with hashimotos and can hold back thyroid medication from working well.
A couple of things you can do to help your antibodies reduce is go gluten free and take 200mcg of Selenium a day.
The Endocrinologist did all the vitamin tests and I'm severely low on vitamin D but everything else is "in range" although my B12 was very low but in range. I think my folate was aswell.
I think I will change practice, I just dread going back and having somebody accuse me of being crazy again.
It all started because I'm trying to conceive and I thought the antibodies or my tsh levels might be the cause of a miscarriage. The Dr has been insensitive from the start but I was so shocked by how he responded today.
My tsh level is only 6.5 but I feel really awful and trying to conceive.
I feel for you. You shouldn't ever be treated like that.
I had a similar situation sometime ago. I made a formal complaint (if you do mention "professional responsibility for patient care"). Unlikely to get you more than an apology. Then change surgery.
I changed and never regretted it, though still on the a long road medically.
Hi Impalpable, I'm not sure what the protocol re thyroid meds is if you are trying to conceive, but I know there are some people on this forum who are familiar with this. Inadequate thyroid hormones can sadly make you miscarry, I'm so sorry you lost your baby. Feeling so poorly and all this trauma, I really feel for you.
When my TSH hit 5 I felt terrible, my Ft3 and Ft4 were very low too.
Can you get all your vits and minerals up to high in the range? Being bottom of the range won't help you at all, and when you do get a decent dose of thyroid meds you want your body to be able to use them efficiently.
You really need to address all of the above, and get a proper dosage of thyroid meds before trying to conceive. It may well be many months before your body is able to have a healthy pregnancy. It's vital you get a doctor who understands this
Yea, I have come to terms and understood that it might be a long road to getting a pregnant, I will hold off until my body is ready. I'm just so disheartnened as I thought I would finally get somewhere today and maybe it would all work out.
Thank you for the advice I will take the vitamins, I should have left the practice when he made insensitive comments about the miscarriage I just thought he'd had a bad day or something.
Thanks Jellynpain, I will make a complaint but as you say I am not very hopeful it will result in any changes in his attitude or practice.
Gabkad, the endocrinologist is in London so he wont know anyone in my area I dont think, I will have to change to someone local and hope for the best! I think Im being a bit silly, Im sure most Dr's/people arent likely to treat people that way.
I don't know what to say, except what a dreadful experience you have just had. I think you need to do more than rant. Your GP sounds disgusting, and if possible, like others have said change GP's.
Oh dear, having checked there arent any GP surgeries taking on new patients in my catchment area. I'm really left with little choice. I might need to consider going private.
I worry that will affect my treatment with the NHS in the future? If my Dr has already accused me of being some sort of delusional person, with a crazy need to fake blood reports and convince well respected Endocrinologists to help me I might not help myself by self-pescribing?
My husband did suggest I just take three of the 25mcg pills a day, which made me laugh but again I worry it could cause me problems in future treatment :/
Good grief! I'd put in a complaint to whatever PALS are called now and to the practice manager, and possibly contact the endo's secretary to see if he can prescribe for you as the GP won't - after all the GP is insinuating that the endo doesn't know his job.
You owe it to the rest of the patients he humiliates. You are going to need to change GPs anyway and you have a perfectly good letter for a respected endo and test results to back you up. GP is a head case, not you. You don't have to put up with being insulted and abused, any more than the staff do. Best bet is to di what your other half says and also buy extra on the web so you don't run out. You might find that endo will write you an NHS prescription and post it.
Impalpable, Have you looked at the information about pregnancy on the main Thyroid UK website? There is plenty of evidence now strongly suggesting that TSH should be at 2.5 or lower at conception and during the pregnancy.
Perhaps you could print out the relevant information and take it to your GP. He needs to understand that a TSH of 6.5 is absolutely not acceptible! Here's the link:
I presented him with that information at another appointment and he said that he still couldn't do anything and that if I keep trying and have a third miscarriage then the hospital will refer me.
I wish I found that difficult or impossible to believe. As it is, it makes me incredibly angry.
Of course he could do something. His lack of any guts or spine in simply going "Well the guidelines won't let me." rather implies he is more amoeba than human. He has no compassion, no clinical judgement and does not deserve to be in a position of authority (which doctors are).
My husband did regret not speaking up and apologised afterwards but he's a very shy/quiet person and was dumbstruck by his behaviour and a little scared too. Im not usually so easily intimidated.
Thank you for the advice about how to raise a complaint - very helpful information. I've written out the conversation so I don't forget it and I will pursue a complaint. I don't think he should get away with how he spoke and behaved toward's me. Someone more vulnerable might come into his office.
Sometimes it's best in the first instance to try to raise a complaint locally. From what I've seen here on the forum, they can get quite difficult if you go straight to NHS England...
My GP practice has this to say about raising a complaint:
"We aim to provide a caring and efficient service to all our patients. However, if you have any concerns about any aspect of our service you receive from the doctors or staff working for this practice, please ask for a copy of our Practice Complaints Procedure.
"However if you do not feel you are able to discuss your complaint directly with The Practice, you can ask NHS England to look into your concerns. The contact details for NHS England are:
Tel: 0300 311 22 33
Email: england.contactus@nhs.net marked ‘For the attention of the complaints manager’ in the subject line.
"Or write to the address below:
NHS England
PO Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT
We aim to treat our patients courteously at all times and expect our patients to treat our staff in a similarly respectful way. We take seriously any threatening, abusive or violent behaviour against any of our staff or patients. If a patient is violent or abusive, we have a no tolerance approach to this behaviour and appropriate action will be taken immediately."
Your surgery will have a complaints procedure - ask for it. You should not have been treated the way you were.
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But there's always a chance that this nobhead's colleagues are desperate for someone to complain about him.
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