Dr just rang me and is 'confused by my results'

[LongtimeRLSsufferer]

A usual she would not tell me what they are, (dont worry I am changing surgery as i move home in 5 weeks), but she wanted to make sure I had been taking my meds and when? Because she said she was confused by my results as they are apparently worse now than when I was first diagnosed. I was started on 25mg, upped to 50mg then another dr upped me to 75 mg about 8 weeks ago but this dr said she would not have upped me as she thought the result last time was within the 'guidelines'. those bloody guidelines.

Anyway she spoke to me as if i had fixed the test in some way.

How the hell can you fix a blood test for god's sake?

She said to carry on with the 75mg for now then have anopther test in 4 weeks which will be interesting as this is about the time I will be swapping surgeries just to confuse things.

Any ideas as to what I should say to her?

The only thing I suggested was that I have been put on a calcium tablet (the size of a 20p) and have been taking it at the same time) and only read recently that you should not take it within hours of the thyroid meds, so she suggested speaking to the pharmacy to see if there are any ,ore of my meds that should be taken at other times (I take several others)

I then obviously have to go through all of this with a new doctor, hopefully i will find one that has a brain in their head and some knowledge of thyroid and RLS too.

Any advise greatly received.

Thanks in advance xx

[HypoHim]

Taking calcium at the same time as your levothyroxine would almost certainly reduce the amount of hormone that you absorb. This would lead to your TSH increasing. Amazed the doctor didn't know about this or warn you about it - it says it quite clearly on the package instructions.

[LongtimeRLSsufferer in reply to HypoHim]

Neither the doctor nor the chemist had said anything. But they are both completely useless. Glad I am moving to TBH. I have not been instructions at all as to when or how to take any of my meds except the once or twice a day.

[cec57]

Hi it's very important that you take the levo with half a glass of WATER on an empty stomach and don't eat or drink anything but water for at least and hour. Even a cup of tea can cause problems as it contains caffeine and milk. I have to take calcium and vit D tablets as well, my ones need a 4 hour gap after taking levo but as i can take them with food I have them at lunch and tea time. Unfortunately most GPs are not that knowledgeable about drugs. Its always good to talk to your pharmacist every time a doctor prescribes something new, just to make sure the drugs don't clash with each other as they can interact in a negative way.

[LongtimeRLSsufferer in reply to cec57]

Thank you for this I will try to speak to the chemist at the new surgery as the one i use at the moment is useless, it takes them a week to do a repeat prescription and then the lose it!. I always wake in the night so will start trying to take the levo then and see if that helps, thanks again

[PinkNinja]

It could well be the calcium but it could be that your thyroid has deteriorated further, especially if you have hashimotos. Clearly she doesn't know very much about thyroid!

I have no problem with doctors not knowing much about thyroid as long as they take the time to look into what they don't understand to expand their knowledge so they can treat their patients effectively. That's what a GP should be doing. Obviously they can't know everything about everything but if they have a patient with a condition they have little knowledge about, they should make the effort to better understand it. And indeed some do.

I hope your next doctor is better!

Carolyn x

[LongtimeRLSsufferer in reply to PinkNinja]

Thanks Carolyn , you would have thought she would have at least have tried but I have over the years had so many different things wrong with me and she has not shown any interest at all so I have just suffered in slience so to speak. I even had to pay to get my own medical records to prove a few things as she refused to believe me over some things.

So this time I have investigated the new surgery a bit better and they only seem to have good reviews about tests ets so fingers crossed xx Lana x

[PinkNinja in reply to LongtimeRLSsufferer]

Good luck I hope your new doctor is better than this current one!

By the way, your doctor shouldn't refuse to give you your blood test results. I can even access mine online in full once they have been reviewed by the doctor, although I have never had any problem with seeing them or having the read to me over the phone.

All the best xxx

[LongtimeRLSsufferer in reply to PinkNinja]

they are not that advanced here unfortuneately, even the new surgery doesnt do results online. I will be able to book appointments and order repeats online though and in the reviews that I have read some have mentioned doctors giving test results over the phone. It is a surgery that does minor ops too and tests straight away onsite rather than waiting weeks for tests so heres hoping. xx

ps The only odd thing is you dont register with one particular doctor you see any one of them from what i gather they reckon it gets you seen quicker but i assume you can ask to see one in particular but we will see. xx

[PinkNinja in reply to LongtimeRLSsufferer]

That's how our surgery works. You can ask to see a particular doctor but if you don't mind who you see, they'll put you with whoever can see you first.

Sounds like you're making the right move

[Glynisrose]

When in doubt - blame the patient.....