Hello everyone!
I sure am glad I found you, because I'm a bit upset. I live in the United States and I'm having a rough time with my father's family doctor, which isn't anything new. My dad's on 50 mcg of levothyroxine, but gets a tickle in his throat and a persistent, frequent little cough. After his TSH 2 months ago, he was dropped to 25 mcg. The cough disappeared almost immediately. Two weeks ago, after another TSH, he was increased back to 50 mcg & the cough came back right away. My father is a strong man who has survived colon cancer, having his foot crushed by a forklift, a massive heart attack, both knees replaced, a pulmonary embolism, atrial fibrillation, and most recently, quintuple bypass surgery. His hypertension and elevated cholesterol are nicely controlled with meds. He's 78 years old and has to wear hearing aids in both ears. My mother has moderate Alzheimer's and they live together in their home, by themselves. So I handle most of their affairs, especially medical issues and medications.
My dad had just signed a HIPPA form at the end of June. Unbeknownst to me, they had him sign another one just 2 months later, when he went in for a ProTime. He didn't quite understand what he was signing, though, and listed only my mom. Now they won't give me any information!! We have to go back over to the clinic after Christmas (the holiday I'm beginning to abhor) to have my name added or a new HIPPA form completed properly and signed by him. I am the Power Of Attorney for Health Care for both of them, but that has no bearing, according to the clinic. The doctor's office called my mom and told her there is NO correlation between the tickle/cough and his levothyroxine! Luckily, they caught her at a good, lucid moment and she knew enough to write it down and call me! In the meantime, my dad doesn't care what they say. He cuts the 50 mcg in half and has no cough, so he's happy and doesn't care what the doctor says. I want to see his TSH history, but right now I can't!
Sorry for writing a novella here, but I'm so frustrated!! My mom is on 50 mcg and I'm on 125 mcg and we have no side effects or problems, so it's not that I don't like the drug.
Here's my dilemna: I take my mother to all of her appointments and watch the paperwork very closely. My father is more independent and takes himself to the clinic for ProTimes every 2-3 weeks. Otherwise, I attend all his appointments as well. How can I make sure they don't give him any more HIPPA forms to sign when I'm not there? And will he be okay taking the 25 instead of 50 for a few days until I can get this straightened out? Also, he's on a diuretic, so he gets up to use the bathroom at least once during the night. That's when he takes his "thyroid pill". Would he be less likely to have the cough if he took it in divided doses, such as 25 mcg during the night and 25 an hour before supper?
Thanks for any advice anyone can give me! Bless you, one and all! ❤️
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