After much research and amazing assistance from people like yourselves the day has come. At 18.45 this evening I am going to descend upon my GP (assuming their not running late) with ALL GUNS BLAZING. Well actually with one piece of A4 paper with a list of Blood Tests, antibody tests etc etc that I want done. Alongside with reasons why I want this done and what I want checked out. I.e Hashimoto,s other autoimmune diseases, vitamin deficiencies. I have also written down that I have had enough now. I want proper answers, diagnosis, medications, and most of all I now require my life back as complete as possible. I have back-up though I think it's me that will be doing the talking. Beware my Nemesis because I am coming. YES I AM A MENOPAUSAL MIDDLE-AGED NEUROTIC WOMAN AND I'M NOT AFRAID TO USE IT. !!!!!😈 (neurotic his word not mine). I have my first grandchild on the way in April and I am damned if I am prepared to lose out on all the joy of that child. I will NOT live this less then half life anymore.
I hope I can actually be as strong as I have portrayed above and whilst I don't think I will be going all "bodecia" on his arse (sorry) I am.going to muster all my inner strength and start to fight back.
Phew I need a lie down now I have quite worn myself out 😴😀
I hope my forceful language has caused no offence. For those that are I interested I shall post tomorrow how it went and if any GP's were harmed in the making of this post. 🙏😉
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colleenofminster
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Thank you Cinnamon. I will do and also want copies of all results. I am going to a private consultant so want to have as much done by GP as possible to take with me.
I had to get my medical records two years ago because of ATOS. I hear what your saying. A gynacologist wrote to my GP complaining about me, what a nuisance I was, how I would make a meal out of any illness, how I wouldn't listen to him etc etc. Eventually my mother paid for this man to perform a hysterectomy on me. (We had no idea at the time of his thoughts on me). Of course after.the operation he said that I was the worse case of adhesions he had whenever. They had to page an urologist during the operation because they could not separate my bladder from my womb. Some of my uterus is still there because it is so adhered it cannot be removed. Shockingly I hear you say lol he did NOT apologise for dismissing me as an NHS patient. His concessions was "we don't always get it right straight away, but eventually we do" however I digress. I now that they think the worse of us. I read a book once by lady who had suffered Terri let through underactive thyroid. Called I think "Tears behind closed doors" in this book was a list of idioms that doctors use.in patients notes to forewarn other doctors. One example was middle-aged, menopausal, neurotic. MMN. I might not have that exact but think it is. When I read.my medical notes I cried. It was so hurtful, cruel and bloody unfair. But your right, they are a real.eye opener. I go into a consult under no illusions now days. You have to be prepared to argue your case. It's hard when you already feel so low or ill or both. Reading mine was in the long run a good thing. It's opened my eyes, shown me the real world and toughened me up.
I am thinking between two private consultants at the moment one was from here, another recommended by a friend. Part of my mission today is to get him to agree to a referral. I have Beneden healthcare so it is.possible that with a gp's referral they could pay towards the costs fingers crossed.
Gosh, that sounded very distressing for you. I just don't know why some of these so-called 'medical professionals' actually go into medicine, certainly not to help patients.
It's good that you have private healthcare, one less thing to worry about.
We have to be on the ball these days as patients are just seen as a cash cow.
Unfortunately my experiences are far from unusual and compared to many not that bad. I believe that there are good Doctors out there, I just haven't come across one myself yet. Beneden isn't exactly private healthcare but they are there to step in when the waiting lists are over 6 weeks. Over the years I have been with them they have helped me out a lot. Upto the last few years infact I found they were excellent with their service. It was a service for certain occupations and their families. However, they have now changed their ethos and are open for public membership. They have now become a business with profit their motivation which is such a shame. However they are better by far then the alternative lol. Because they do not have a specialist in Endo at their hospital they will fund upto a reasonable amount for a member to go elsewhere if the wait on the NHS is deemed to long. But I must have a GP referral to get this. If they won't fund me then I will have to find the money somewhere because I do intend to go outside of the NHS.
Good luck.If you think you are going to lose it take a deep breath and count to 3 .Your post was well said ,i think that all we all want is to have a better quality of life .
Thank you Lizzy. I think I will be doing a fair bit of counting this evening. More then losing my temper I am worried about getting upset and crying. I don't want to show I'm weak. This GP is well known for reducing patients to tears. I have an unfortunate tendency to crying when I am angry but I shall power through it and 'man up'. 😠😬
I know its hard to try and keep calm,after all you just want to be well and your health is in their hands.I had a training GP asked me where did i get my degree from and told him clearly not the same place as you .and then he asked me to leave .
Anyway let us know how you get on hope it all goes well.
ColleenCallinan, why do you continue seeing that GP? Is there not a more empathetic GP you can see at the practice? I hope tonight's consultation goes well.
I believe there is a lady gp there who is well liked but very popular. I do hope.to be able.to change to her and if the original GP is unwilling to listen with an open mind to me tonight I will change to her. However that will take time. Tonight I hope to get agreement to appropriate tests and for a referral. I don't like bullies and so am determined even.if this is the last time to face up.to this DOCTOR. I will however not cut off my nose to spite my face so will change if all goes wrong.
Good luck, you sound very determined and I hope all goes well.
What about recording your consultation? There was a post about this earlier on today, it is legal to record covertly apparently but as you have someone going on with you it might be worth being open about it and say you won't remember everything so it would be good to be able to listen to what was said so you can fully understand and discuss things (sort of).
Further to my posting about my appointment with GP. That was horrendous much worse then I thought it would be. I only thank god my partner was with me because I don't think anyone would believe me. My doctor was patronising, dismissive, and in a polite way, rude. To summarize, his thoughts are that no matter what tests are done for me, no matter what specialists I see I will never be happy or accept any diagnosis I am given. He has known me for a year and a half and seen me possibly half a dozen times but in that time he has realised that I have always got lots of different symptoms, none of which he thinks have any relationship to my Thyroid or each other but have more to do with the fact that I suffer with depression and fibromyalgia.
He informs me that my last blood test (last Oct) showed my T4 level to be 14 which is perfectly healthy within the range. T3 was not tested because there is NO need to do so.
He does not want to refer me as that will be feeding my problem (I assume he means Hypochondria/depression)? He is very reluctant to do tests for the same reason. He has agreed to some of them.
He strongly disagrees with patients researching or acquiring information from the internet. He believes that I have reinforced my delusions and anxieties.
This is going to be short because I am so angry but also so bloody fed up at the moment. I have no idea how I stayed as calm as I did in the surgery. I definitely had a lump in my throat but that was because I was holding in the tears and my disgust with him.
Sorry for such a negative posting. Tomorrow I will try to post a clearer account of what happened. Tonight I feel pure despair, what am I going to do, how can I get someone to listen to me.
Colleen, that sounds fairly grim and doesn't bode well for the future. You need to find a doctor who is prepared to work collaboratively with you in a doctor-patient partnership and ditch the dictator/gatekeeper. If you have delusions of ill health and depression why hasn't he referred you to psychiatry?
Hello Clutter thanks for replying. Your description of GP is spot on. He was very annoyed with us for challenging him last night. He says he hasn't heard of Thyroid UK or other forums I mentioned.
My problems according to him are Depression/Anxiety/Fibromyalgia and IBS. None of which he believes are related to possible Hashimotos or other auto immune or antibodies issue.
I told him get me the blood tests done show me the results and refer me to a specialist that is prepared to open his mind and look outside the box of "The Range"
At that point if all evidence and all experts believe that all my symptoms are because of depression and fibromyalgia then I would appreciate it if someone (anyone) in the medical profession would actually address (his expression) these issues and treat accordingly.
That would be most welcome and something that I have also been trying to get for many years now. My local Mental Health have not got the funding to help (again their words) the physiotherapist I saw last year believes that pain is all in our minds DUH and sent me to the pain clinic who's entire ethos is also "Pain is in the Mind" and if we learn to ignore the pain, stop pandering to the pain and think positively we will be healed. It must be true because I saw a couple of their films about it and all the patients got better!
I apologise for the ranting above. I either rant or cry at the moment. I will allow myself today to have a wallow but then I am going to get on with my original plan. See a private consultant, get ALL the blood tests done. Just need to do some wound licking today.
I did ascertain that my T4 read as 14 though this was last October. He thinks that is a good level. Is it?
colleen - I am so sorry to read this and unfortunately it's a fairly typical response from a GP according to so many posts written on this Forum.
If nothing else, to at least make you feel pro-active, is to write a letter of complaint to him with a copy to the Practice Manager stating that his attitude was poor and he was not interested in helping you regain your health.
GPs are revalidated every 5 years and any patient complaints will be on their file. I've done this myself, not that it's done me any good but a complaint will certainly take the smirk off his face and, you never know, he may think twice before doing it again.
Good luck with taking control, you're the only person who has your interests at heart.
Collen, my trainee GP who'd done a six month rotation with my endo didn't think 14 was good enough when I was tested after resuming Levothyroxine after a 4 week break. Someone on Levothyroxine will ideally have FT4 in the upper range. Read Treatment Options in thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...
I am so tempted to print out all the information and shove it down my GP's throat! However I think I shall be printing out these articles and giving him them to read. Because he seems to know very little about any of this. He has never heard of D102 Gene and made it very clear that this was all utter nonsense. I shall print him off information on that, on Hashimotos, T3 treatment and any other suggestions (preferably that I can't get lock up for lol). xx
Colleen, GPs knowledge of thyroid and Hashimoto's and gene testing isn't broad. They are generalists, not specialists. Some specialists acknowledge Hashimoto's causes more problems than causing hypothyroidism, but many don't/won't, possibly because there is currently no treatment protocol for the autoimmune disease other than lfestyle and dietary changes suggested by naturopaths which allopathic doctors sneer at and despise.
My GP and thyroid surgeon insisted my symptoms were non-thyroidal because bloods were euthyroid and thyroiditis (Hashimoto's) "doesn't cause symptoms". My symptoms were initially hyper and then spiralled between hyper and hypo. After thyroidectomy a lot of symptoms resolved, I suspect, because Hashi attacks stopped when there was no longer a target thyroid.
If you are not already100% gluten-free you should give it a go. It helps many Hashi patients manage flares and may reduce antibodies.
What an awful experience Colleen - I don't think I could have stopped myself from punching him!
I know it's already been suggested but was just wondering if you'd had B12 tested as this could also account for many of the symptoms you've described in past posts, as autoimmune thyroid/PA/B12 def. are often interlinked and symptoms overlap. Many researchers believe leaky gut is the ground zero of autoimmune disease and, as you've mentioned you have intestinal problems (IBS) plus migraines, loss of balance, dizziness, blurred vision etc. are symptoms of B12 deficiency and, together with thyroid disease, may mean you are not fully able to absorb this important vitamin.
Here are links and an excellent film below, which explain more:
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