After 15 years since first diagnosed Hypo I have an appointment tomorrow supposedly with an Endocrinologist although my appointment advice said its at the Yeovil Hospital Diabetes clinic ??
I'm not at all sure what to expect and would appreciate a little advice.
I'm taking my prescription and a urine sample and a Thyroid checklist with my current symptoms. I'll also take a graph of the past 10 years TSH T4 & T3 test results.
What can I expect in the initial session ?
Johnny
Johnnyxs, my thyroid cancer clinic is held in the diabetes unit as that's where endocrinologists do most of their business.
I provided a urine sample to the nurse who weighed and measured height prior to seeing the endo at my first consultation but I wasn't given a result so I suspect it's a standard request on letters out of the diabetes unit, and I've not supplied further samples.
Endo checks my neck and throat for swollen lymph nodes post thyCa, checks hands for moistness and tremors which can indicate overmedication, occasionally checks pulse, reviews results from bloods taken prior to consultation and adjusts dose if required, discusses symptoms, issues an order form for bloods prior to next consultation and packs me off saying he'll see me in x months. I'm copied on the letter reviewing the consultation sent to my GP.
When I was very unwell endo arranged FBC, ECGs and chest X-ray, and wrote recommending GP organise coeliac blood screen, gastroenterology referral and lung function tests.
Early consultations used to run 30-40 minutes but I'm in and out in under 10 minutes these days.
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I am not a medical professional and this information is not intended to be a substitute for medical guidance from your own doctor. Please check with your personal physician before applying any of these suggestions.
well my appointment started off in the worst possible way .
I arrived late for my appointment and had to run the full length of the car park three times and then up 3 flights of steps so I was a bit out of breath when I arrived at the clinic. It was several minutes before I could speak normally!.
The nurse measured my height and weight with my shoes on ???? and took my blood pressure 186/93 ! crikey....
The consultant Endocrinologist was very attentive ,he asked lots of questions and took lots of notes. There was a 5th year medical student sitting behind me scribbling copius notes and every now and then I heard him turn another page of his A4 notebook.
When the Consultant saw my blood pressure result he looked a little concerned and took me into an anti room and gave me another BP test. It had come down to 178/ 90 but that is still stage 3 hypertension . This is now a much bigger problem than my Thyroid related issues.
I had to kneel on a couch and he tested my achilles reflex ? I later googled this test and apparently it is a recognised test for Hypothyroidism ... The test is positive if the recovery time for the muscle is slow . This can also suggest slow heart muscle which can contribute to high blood pressure. I presume it was my heart he was concerned about as my hypothyroidism isn't in question.
I mentioned my high stress levels and he requested adrenaline and nor adrenaline tests together with Testosterone and all the usual TSH T4 T3 etc
He suggested that rather than increase my Levo from 120 to 150 that I reduce it to 100mg every other day.
He also said he thought it should reduce my head and neck sweating I suffer, particularly after eating dinner in the evening and occasionally after a pile of toast and marmalade for breakfast. I still think the sweating is related to my blood sugar levels but we'll see in about 2-3 moths time.
When I queried my TSH T4 & T3 results always being outside the threshold range for the past 10+ years he said that the thresold range has changed several times over the past 10 years so my results wern't significant. I couldn't think of a suitable response to that until I'd left the Hospital.
What I should have replied was that if all the different ranges were overlaid all of my test results for TSH FT4 &FT3 would still all be outside all of the threshold ranges.
. I did however say that I thought a patient's symptoms and condition should surely be considered an equally important indicator .
I don't expect to get a full report from my Doctor until the consultant has seen blood blood results but I don't expect much as it is clear the consultant thinks that none of my symptoms are linked to my Thyroiditus.
Thanks again Clutter for putting my mind at rest about the consultation and for all your kind help and advice over the past year. This forum is a lifesaver
Johnny
1st Endo appointment tomorrow 
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Endo appointment tomorrow.
