Thought some might appreciate this tale of extraordinary information from a GP.
I had a telephone appointment late this afternoon with a senior GP at my surgery who is due to retire in a couple of weeks. Until now my thyroid related conversations with him have gone well. Today discussing low FT4 and an inexplicable increase in TSH to 5.6 , I started to tell him the symptoms which were troubling me and he told me “The lab have told us to ignore symptoms they are irrelevant, only blood tests matter.’ So are GPs irrelevant I wonder.?
Needless to say he did agree an increase and retest in 8 weeks. He has been round the block often enough to know not to try to teach his granny to suck eggs!
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Miffie
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The trouble is - if it wasn’t thyroid, why aren’t they investigating to find out what the cause is.
I once refused to answer a Endo specialist when they asked how I was, by saying isn’t this call so you can tell me if I have any symptoms or not according to blood test results.
She wasn’t happy at all and insisted I tell her my symptoms. So I said, yes I have the the same as usual. Again I must go through them in detail. In her defence she did listen quietly when I went though the main ones. Considerably more so than most normal doctors. Of course p, once I was done - none of the text book examples of symptoms I gave were possibly to do with my thyroid & I must take them to the GP. I said I had he told me all thyroid speak to you…..She never commented on that, but rambled for several minutes about how bad smoking was for your health…… which is fair enough, but as I said repeatedly I’d never been a smoker, you have to wonder why.
🤔 Clearly her listening skills did not include a memory of what the patient said! 🙄 One can only despair... & then they wonder why patients go off piste and do their own thing.... Lol....and annoyingly probably to them... Get better!!
Just a thought PurpleNails. However if hypothyroidism is mentioned at all in the notes absolutely anywhere I have a feeling it gives them carte blanche to ignore the patient and get them out of the surgery ASAP. There will be enough in the notes to protect them from any legal issues, so no bother. Patient non compliant. Patient depressed. Patient somatic symptoms. Who would have thought that after suffering for years with undiagnosed thyroid issues that the battle was not yet over at diagnosis? If ever. I know that has been one of my biggest disappointments with diagnosis - I thought, naively “now I will get better!”.
I think your right. Mine recently didn't even bother with any contact at all... Just sent me a text to lower my dose! Blood test rules! Of course if he had applied a little thinking he would've realised my results were distinctly odd & cross checked with me. Had he done so I would be said a) the test was done with out my awareness so had taken my thyroid tablets B) I ad also taken my b12, complex which incudes biotin. Hence the freak results. Retest a week later showed my thyroid hormones well in range. Shame the GP didn't engage his grey matter. I pointed out that in no circumstances could a text message be seen as a consultation &, that the NHS patient charter requires him yo consult before changing a patients medication. Seems to me even the basics is under threats these days....
Just realised reading your reply. NHS? National? No it’s done by postcode/who is in charge/who is interested. Health? Completely questionable. Service? I think A&E still struggle along and they are the department most in the spotlight. However Endocrinology for example have given up entirely on thyroid and seem to be all about diabetes - even although we know for badly/non treated hypothyroids, diabetes is a known/recognised Co-morbidity.
Simple good manners are absent and as for care and treatment…. MIA.
In my current county of residence the diabetes service is no better than thyroid care. I have both but the must never be discussed together. On the plus side it lets them tell me it’s because of my failure to adopt the correct lifestyle. Everything is blamed on what I put in my mouth for both conditions from hair loss, brittle nails and dry skin to exhaustion. The diabetes lead in Endcrinology at our local hospital told me to ‘ try dieting to lose weight ‘. No wonder they love telephone appointments because we can’t see their face as they spout misinformation to us. The only moment of pleasure I ever get is when during the telephone call I remind them I have been hypothyroid for over sixty years and bizarrely know my own body. It always causes a bit of silence followed by ah well but and some nonsense verbal garbage or , yes but your results are suggesting………… So insulting! Even though they know I have a degree in nutrition they tell me how I “don’t understand”.
As you say A&E provide an excellent service and I had a fabulous service in orthopaedics when I had to have a shoulder replacement.
Sadly summed up well. I avoid GP Surgery as much as poss. They r keen to do an annual review with me with some lass who isn't even qualified as a nurse let alone a doctor. How does that work then? Ticking box exercise....& a waste of my time.... then it'll be my fault!! As for your specialists they need shooting! Of course if they treated both your conditions optimally & jointly you'd be a lot more healthy.... But oddly this thought doesn't often, if ever, cross their minds. . Much easier to blame the patient. Lol.....
I came across a letter I had drafted in complaint about being seen by a ‘cleaner’ for my annual review, before my hypo diagnosis. She told me “it’s your weight”, such an amateur Sh1t show and she was even bigger than me! Never sent the letter because basically hadn’t got the stamina to see it through, as already undiagnosed hypothyroid for many years but battling on. The whole thing just served to put my gas at an even lower peep.
I agree on both counts..... But if they hadn't been starved of funds for over a decade and wasn't filled with staff who have nothing to do with medicine we just might get better treatment. Eg. There was a time when the dept reception booked you into the consultant you need to see. These days they have a designated booking clerks dept who gets lists of patients in an order. You then have to ring them so they can tell you no your not near the top of the list yet. I had Op beginning of Dec 2022. Surgeon said follow up review app of op Beginning of March. Here I am in June still waiting, booking clerk say Im no 50 on the list, & my surgeon has3 slots in next 6 weeks. Guess that means sometime next year then. The ops failed in any case! As for checking it's healing well.... That's a joke! Xx
Well my ‘heart condition’ was ignored by GPs and when I finally got to eventually see a cardiologist, she assured me I was not going to have a heart attack, 10th May 2002. However on the 7th August same year, I suffered a heart attack. Since found out fairly recently of course that I was ‘sub clinical’ hypothyroid from a blood test taken at the time but ignored. So, curious heart symptoms ignored with assurances/ inferences that I was imagining it? However in my case I suppose it amounts to the same thing. Hypothyroidism you stupid medics. I wonder how many other women are palmed off with twaddle? Far too many methinks.
I had a total heart block 7 yrs ago caused by the toxic effect of too much T4, explained by the cardiologist. I now have a pacemaker. I at last saw an endo a few weeks ago ( at the same hospital) she disputed that and asked me how I knew that all my symptoms were caused by a lack of T3. I replied that when I began t3 almost all the symptoms disappeared. I had been taking 50mg (self medicated ) and been well on that dose for two years, she told me that she was going to prescribe half of that dose, disregarding the fact that I will be less well. I had to be grateful that T3 was going to be prescribed on the nhs after such a long time!! What a state of affairs!
My introduction to Levo really did help. At least it reduced the pain a lot. However it has done very little to allow me ‘getting about’. Perhaps instinctively, I did not want to do what my local endo suggested (without seeing me) to put my dose up. Well when I finally worked up the courage to do it, my symptoms were so bad (not heart particularly) I felt like I had cerebral palsy with no power in any limbs and huge areas of Raynauds and my FT4 shot up to 126%. They just can’t be trusted. They really cannot be trusted.
At least half a prescription is something. However if I look in my crystal ball, I see problems ahead for you. Welcome to the next level of unnecessary stress.
It took two years of agony for them to discover I had a dodgy gallbladder. It wasn’t all in my mind! Computer says fat, fair and 40! I was 28, brunette and gaunt by the time they treated it!!
Have to be honest. Same thing for my sister. A couple of years of agony, I suggested gall bladder to her but it’s difficult saying such things, not being a doctor. In less than two weeks after she retired, an on call elderly doctor at a Walk In clinic immediately said, after a proper examination, that it was gall bladder. Two days later the op was done but by then it was a concern it had affected her pancreas. That was two years ago but she seems to be fine. Fingers crossed. Women in general but older women in particular are utterly disposable, even in this day and age. It’s a disgusting state of affairs. Luckily for us surgeons still seem to know what they are doing but GPs don’t seem to be worth a light.
Miffed yes it used to be that the doctor used his/her skills to diagnose. Blood tests were used to confirm or deny diagnosis. Doctor was left to treat using their judgement. What is that expensive education for when at best these professionals are becoming more and more de skilled? Tail is now wagging the dog. I am just so mad at your clear perception. Soon we will all be able to put up a shingle on the door stating we treat hypothyroidism ‘cheap’.
I was diagnosed in the pre TSH and blood test days arrived. Prescribed ndt as everyone was. My thyroid was destroyed by radiation therapy for a birthmark in the early 1950s. Doctors now have never heard of such treatment so zero understanding.
I am with you on the heart stuff as well, I have had a heart murmur all my life so no biggie. Interestingly it seems an enlarged heart, sinus tachycardia, ectopic heart beats and diastolic dis function were identified accord to an echocardiogram last year. They have done 3 ecgs since then, all print offs state abnormal ecg result. I did ask about the middle one of those and was told I have ‘ some T wave concerns, we’ll keep an eye on you’. However also filed this week a letter to the diabetic endo for advice from our ‘diabetes specialist’ GP who states ‘ excellent heart function”.
Do you think they do this to see if they can get a reaction from mature women so they can prove we are mentally unwell?
Perhaps they are planning to replace GP's with AI, if they ignore symptoms and just go by blood tests then they are in danger of making themselves obsolete. All those years at Med school wasted if all you need is the ability to read numbers on a screen. A child could do it.
What I wonder about AI is ‘who or what’ is putting the info in. You know that saying “Rubbish in. Rubbish out”. I hope to God it’s not my GPs job. We might as well just take anti depressants. Is there a need for any other medication for hypothyroidism?
They have already started - doctors will be phased out and others will do most of what they did with AI taking over - I kid you not. Been decided many years ago and everybody laughed. Hence the new system with ancillary staff taking over so many duties with GPs secluded in their offices filling out forms and only availabel for about 3 days a week office hours to deal with us plebs.
The latter part of above from the horse's mouth. Forums like this will be invaluable,unless they are to go as well. Great life if you don't weaken.
A few years back my cousin was asked to design a computer program so that the doctors could put in the symptoms and the program would tell them what tests they were allowed to do. Not a nice thought. I don't know what became of it. He's doing something else now.
That was all preparation - i am 81 and saw many things being put in place bit by bit, all we can do is support others and pass on any information that we come across which may help others, was going to add more but decided better not.
Hi everyone on this post may I have your permission to cut and paste these posts into an e mail to my local MP who I am in 'conversation' with on thyroid issues.
Could you ask who writes the instructions to the labs? Who has responsibility? I am certain there will be a Prof in there somewhere who has not got a clue.
Laugh or cry is my response too. That’s plain nuts and sort of makes the doctor redundant. Hope he finally did listen to your symptoms. I have perfectly normal test results on the right dose of T4 for my weight but felt terrible. I‘m on T3 now, if my GP and endo had based treatment on test numbers only I’d be housebound.
I used to say to my GP “are you happy to go on record saying that?” And they do tend to back peddle a little then…
It dosnt surprise me I’m afraid as we are up against the same sort of thing with our GP’s. They don’t even go off test results let alone symptoms. They just leave you. It’s like banging your head against a brick wall. What happens to those with no knowledge to help themselves I wonder? X
I had my Endo tell me that your old now you should stop the estrogen (Im 53) I said in response your old now you can stop your little blue pill …. (Not exact words) but you get the gist my husband died in his seat that day…..jacka$$
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