If this endo thinks you need to get out more to boost your vitamin D, maybe the time has come, at last, when we can get a holiday on the NHS?! (Just joking)
you're depressed...............third time I had ever seen her. twice was for ear infections and the third time I went about my B12, trying to tell her my symptoms and that 220 was too low for me.........apparently not, it was just that I was depressed. Made a diagnosis without asking me about how I was feeling, family, work life etc etc
Before my PT op & nasty nodule out, I had strange 'episodes' waking up shaking in a sort of 'fit'. I 'luckily' got an early appointment, still shaking like a leaf, heart racing etc.... no exam....
GP said 'did you have a witness?' - yes one scared hubby! - have some antidepressants for your anxiety, bye.
PS - daughter's visit to different GP as she was under weight (despite eating like a horse!) - 'eat everything you shouldn't and oh, have some ADs'.
Qualifies for 'Laugh of the Day'!!! You couldn't make it up, could you? Mine was when I went with serious concerns about cramps I was getting when I first started on Levo... 'Well, you've never been this age before... now what do you think I've done to my thumb? I've hurt it somehow...'
Me (a woman)- Doctor, ive started feeling a bit unwell and got quite hairy again especially on my face, i think my thyroid levels might have gone a bit high again, can we do a blood test to check?
Doctor (a man)- No, you look fine and plus your white....white women tend to be quite hairy!
Me: My vitamin D is low, I've had it tested. On the NHS scale I'm insufficient and on the British Medical Journal scale I'm deficient.
Doctor: *shrug* Well everyone in Scotland will have low vitamin D in the winter.
I went to the health shop.
In Scotland earlier that year:
"Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer has on 3 February 2012 reiterated advice for people to guard against the risk of vitamin D deficiency.
Sir Harry Burns and Chief Medical Officers from across the UK have sent a joint letter to health professionals, reminding them of the importance of making people at risk of deficiency aware of the importance of getting enough vitamin D and how they can access daily supplements where necessary."
Yes Mrs E, although your TSH is 18.0, your symptoms are very unlikely to be thyroid related. In fact your symptoms of vertgo, anxiety, tingling hands and feet and headaches are almost certainly caused by health anxiety...
Mrs L all you test and scans are normal and your TSh is normal, therfore I suggest you take antidepressants and HRT you do not have a thyroid problem. I no I dont I replied, I have a Autoimmune D, Dr there is nothing wrong with your thyroid lol
I ask what criteria should a patient fit without the TSH test, The reply, constipation, weight gain and tiredness duhhhhhhhhhhh.
The best ever, I go to the gyni and he drew a picture of my bits below ( as I had a third degree tear after my son) He said look here Mrs L this is your fanny and your but hole, this is soooooooo true, I no I should of complained.
Me - I was sent for a 'dopler' test to check if my extra neck ribs impinge on the artery flow in my brachial plexus as I have no pulse in my arms on abduction, pins/needles etc.
VS - what's that then? you look fine. (no exam) [his speciality was varicose veins apparently]
me - (gets up to go) perhaps I'm in the wrong place & should go back to the ortho surgeon
VS - who sent you? hurriedly looks at notes....
Me - it's OK I'll see the physio instead.
VS - I recommend you go to physio and will write a letter.
I forgot the respiratory doc (this was in 2012) who looked at me and said what is your date of birth I said 15.7.54 - she said you're 60? ekkkkk! I nearly said Is maths part of a medical degree at all??
My doctor said to me (after I had done some research) 'You should not look on the internet for information, sometimes its better not to know'. I won't repeat what I said to him. I think I scared him though because he treated me with a bit more resoect after that!! I too have had the stock answers of 'Its not your thyroid'. 'You are imagining things.' You are getting old. etc.
My sister went into hospital to have her fibroids removed. The surgeon stood at the foot of the bed and said "full hysterectomy then today". She left and went private!
Blackheath Hosp - my boyfriend quietly says to Endo, 'she's put on a bit of weight and its worrying her' - young Endo says jokingly 'yes she really huge'! - I was nine stone at the time but I didn't laugh.
Me ' I'm feeling very low and depressed, it's having an impacy on my work and relationship, can we look at changing my meds'
Endo ' It's not your medication, are you feeling depressed beacuse you have a chronic illness which is never going to get better or because of something else/'
Me ' Well I had never thought about that, but I'll add it to the list!
Surfice to say I didn't go back and changed Endo's
All from endos at the same hospital – there is truly no hope!
“If you do not feel well on thyroxine, that tells us that your problem is not your thyroid.”
“As long as your FT4 is above 9 that’s fine. You will not get symptoms of tiredness or weakness unless it drops to 5 or below.”
“Take your morning T3 and do the blood test 2 hours later.”
“So in your professional judgment, I am not hypothyroid?”
“I don’t need to exercise any professional judgment. I get the figures from the lab. They give me your result and a range. If your result is within the range you are not hypothyroid.”
He may never know how grateful I am for this simple explanation.
I sought help from my GP for exhaustion after my sixth serious UTI infection in three months (including being hospitalised), only to be told "I refuse to treat you unless you stop taking anti-depressants and there's nothing wrong with you...you're just lazy". He originally prescribed the ADs and I was working full-time despite my illness.
Different GP, same surgery:
Me: "I have a large lump in my throat, and I've already had a hemi-thyroidectomy plus my mother has hypo - I need some thyroid help please"
Dr: "Oh, I can see the lump from here, but I've called you in because of a UTI infection so won't discuss the lump".
Me: "I'm very worried about it...plus I have about thirty other symptoms (produces Thyroid UK support checklist)"
Dr: "Your goitre won't cause any thyroid symptoms...I'm sending your for an ultrasound for gallstones".
Thanks for the funnies everyone - I'd weep if I didn't laugh about these.
Endo at Clementine Churchill Hosp Harrow: I was treated for Graves disease...
He stopped all of my meds (block and replace) cold turkey, actually I did it gradually never the less I dropped to hypo like a stone.
I was in tears and virtually suicidal- he said I need counselling because I was cured and people often get depressed when they get cured from an illness!!!!!
I went straight to see Dr S*****r (Birmingham) and got myself some thyroxene!
Conclusion: we are depressed because we have an illness, we are depressed because we haven't got one any more!
This blog has really brightened my day thank you everyone.
I really think they all should be made into a book with proceeds to Thyroid UK
Seeing NHS Endo for very high hypo blood test of 94. On 300mcg levo. Feeling pretty cr*p!!!
Me:-.......is it possible that there is something wrong with the levo as I have NEVER missed a dose and always take at bed time?
Endo......absolutely not they are rigorously checked and quality controlled. I find if I admit patients like you into hospital and we administer your medication you will get better! (Suggesting its my fault!!!)
Me..........left hospital appointment feeling annoyed and questioning my sanity-maybe I wasn't taking my meds (I know I was but maybe I did forget - brain fog etc!)
Several weeks later I got letter from hospital and phone call from drs surgery to say that particular brand of Levo (brain fog has made me forget name - I'll remember the minute I submit this reply ) had been with drawn because of absorption problems!!!!!,!, No wonder it looked like I wasn't taking meds 3x100mcg daily = 0 mcg daily!
Happily now on better brand on 150mcg daily now and getting better
Endo took me off Carbimazole because he thought I had a 'touch of thyroiditis' and was now cured. I had a radioactive uptake scan and the results came back as positive for Graves. He asked if any of my symptoms had come back. Yes, they had with a vengeance so he put he back on the meds but I had to start form scratch and felt rotten all over the Christmas period. When I had a moan about this at my next session he told me it was 'a good diagnosis' because it might have been right. Grr.
GP Diagnosis - You don't look normal - Need to look at mental health and referring you to a psychologist!
GP ignored borderline hyper TSH/FT4 blood test results and history of hyperthyroid/thyroiditis and no other tests. Ddifferent GP referred me to an Endo and diagnosed Hyperthyroid with Autoimmune Thyroiditis. Definitely did not look normal as extremely ill, like a skeleton despite ravenous appetite, shaky and exhausted with severe palpitations which GP also ignored and refused beta blockers despite leaky heart valves.
GMC Letter - GP cannot be expected to diagnose multiple symptoms!
This is what the GP that diagnosed me with ME/CFS said to me after several months of dragging myself to the surgery looking and feeling like death warmed up 90 percent of the time. He was aware of my hypothyroid issues too and commenced free prescritions for levothyroxine ath the same time, but here was his parting comment...
"Have you thought about volunteering overseas maybe, helping to build a school for kids in Africa?"
Good thread, thanks. Will I make the medal podium I wonder?
Hi ,I have so many, my best was" I cannot look after you as you are dying, you are far too ill and you might die when I am looking after you", me, "Regard it as a challenge" him, " I do not want a challenge!
I have one arm longer than he other when I was young the hospital asked If i could go in so the students could diagnose the problem as it was so rare. when I got there they asked me to take my trousers off my nan said just do as you're told so I laid on the bed, when the students came round the Professor asked them if any of them could see what was wrong with my legs none of them could then Professor went on to explain how obviously longer my right leg was went through problems with this and possible treatment when my nan piped up it's her arm there's nothing wrong with her bloody leg
There should be a health warning with these comments. I have asthma and have laughed so much I need to go and have a puff of my inhaler as I can't stop coughing! Seriously though, these are all wonderful and I agree they should be made into a book for Thyroid UK to sell,
Me.. i don't really feel well i think my levo needs upping as ive been taking 25mcg for over a year now.
Doc. well if your sure you need them upping
Me.. well i was told that i would eventually be on 100mcg a day that was over a year ago now.
Doc.. So your not managing well with the 25mcg
Me..No i'm not
doc now typing on his notes.
Me. Are my antibodies high then
Doc. Yes your last blood test showed they are very high
Me. Whats causing it then..Does that mean i have Hashimoto's
Doc. Do you have a swelling on your neck
Me. No
Doc. No lots of women your age have thyroid trouble.........
then fobbed off with a prescription
This is the same doctor who diagnosed me with early menopause aged 32 then also same diagnosis aged 46. i told him then that he had already diagnosed me with that over 10 years ago.
The same doc who also sent me for tests for ulcer & gallstones when it turns out i'm coeliac...Also numerous tests for MS..Xrays for arthritis and much more.
I can live in hope but i can't see me getting any further or any extra help anytime soon x
Nothing to do with thyroid. At age 17 I developed what I now know is called sesamoiditis in my big toe. Painful, swollen, felt like I was walking on a stone (it's a bit like a knee cap, but it's somewhere under your big toe).
GP - you've got hard skin
A year later, aged 18, still painful.
GP - have you tried resting it for a week
Me - Yes, I've just been in hospital for a week having my appendix removed
A year later, aged 19 and at university. Visited aged GP
GP - Come back when it's so painful you can't walk on it at all
--------------------
8 years ago, woke up one morning with back spasm. Couldn't move at all. Phone friend who climbed ladder handily left in garden by decorator to come in bedroom window which, equally handily, was open. Phoned GP who for once actually came round.
GP - what do you want me to do?
Me - I'm not being funny, but you're the doctor, Can't you give me an injection or something to relax the muscles
GP - we don't carry any medication with us
-----------------
I don't know if this counts. It's a psychiatrist story. Not what you think - I was working part-time and temping through a local agency. They had the health service contract and I often stood in at a local mental health unit.
Time came when the health trust decided to set up their own bank of temps. I applied. Interviewed by a psychiatrist - clearly interview skills aren't part of their training.
Him - "How do you feel about starting work at 9 o'clock in the morning? Would that be a problem?"
Me - (politely) "it is 9am and I'm here. No it wouldn't be a problem"
Him - "The job involves working at several different sites. Would that be a problem?"
Me - (again politely) "no - I managed to get here alright."
Him - (warming to his task now) - "How do you feel about working with mentally ill people?"
Me - (in head - "oh my goodness, I didn't realise that was what you did at a mental health unit") out loud - "I've been working at a, b and c mental health units for the last six months.
Him - fixing me with the sort of pitying stare that only psychiatrists can manage - "if I were to ask your colleagues about your ability to work as a team secretary, what do you think they would say to me?"
Me - explained that before temping I hadn't been a secretary and that I had only worked either on my own or in small groups
Him - fixing me again with stare and solemnly repeating question - "if I were to ask your colleagues about your ability to work as a team secretary, what do you think they would say to me?"
Me (well there's only so much a girl can take, isn't there?) - "I don't know, you'd have to ask them".
(In case you're wondering, no I didn't get the job)
This is an amazing thread, I think I could write a book about the crass things I've been told over the years - usually following on from the comment there's nothing wrong with you.
I was first told that I shouldn't expect to feel so well as I was getting older and looking after a family (I was just 24)
The one that sticks in my mind most of all was the delightful (female)rheumatologist I saw. I was really upset about my huge swollen hands and bright red palms that you could see a mile off. She was useless and unhelpful as ever and as always there was nothing wrong with me, I tearfully asked what I could do about my hands, she fixed me with a steely look and said scathingly "you should stop wearing nail varnish and remove those rings"
44 years ago I was referred to a specialist for Erythema Nodosum - painful lumps in both lower legs. ( Known causes....TB Crohns Thyroid and Cancer ) I was expecting baby No 2 and had to take 2 year old daughter along with me. When he saw the lumps he said - well you could come into hospital and leave your delightful toddler - just to discover you are allergic to cabbage !
Three years later I was diagnosed with the first two conditions and almost 32 years later the thyroid.....! Must have been all the cabbage I ate ! It is goitronic after all !!
"You obviously have SAD"
ME: "Is that a new hypo symptom because I never had it before I was hypo?"
"Its your age". I was 33. Needless so say he is no longer my doctor!
put a packet of frozen peas on your head and take some paracetomal, - 2 brain bleeds !
Dont bother taking the lemsip anymore Its a pulmonary embolism ......
Can you confirm your date of birth please sir ( on the way to operating theatre) ......Im a womem
Me - I think my adrenals may be fatigued
Dr - You do make me laugh sometimes ( chuckling to himself)
GP - Have you had your thyroid antibodies tested?
Me - Yes I did, back in January and they came back raised. Should I have another retest?
GP - Thyroid antibodies in hypothyroidism is irrelevant.
Just thought of some more:
Me - My ankles have gotten very puffy. Could it be the hypo?
GP - It's the heat.
****************
Me - I get these awful leg cramps when I'm in bed and it always seems to be when my boyfriend gives me foot massages.
GP - It must be a trapped nerve.
Me - But I get this when I'm lying in *any* position.
GP - Yes, It's a trapped nerve.
****************
Me - I get a terrible itchy feeling at the front of my neck over my thyroid. I don't think it's dry skin though as I have dry skin on other parts of my body and they don't itch.
GP - I'll note it down as dry skin for now and keep it at that.
****************
Appointment before blood test for thyroxine review =
GP - How much thyroxine are you on?
Me - I'm on 125mcg a day.
GP - That seems very reasonable.
Appointment after blood test for thyroxine review =
GP - Your TSH is only a little elevated so you're slightly under medicated.
Me (thinking) - Am I or aren't I?
****************
A letter I wrote to my GP - I haven't gotten on very well with the thyroxine and due to an elevated number of thyroid antibodies and an illness with no name I'd like to be referred to an endocrinologist.
GP's reply - I'm sorry you haven't coped well on the thyroxine. Many patients with hypothyroidism have an autoimmune cause and get on very well on the thyroxine. Yours sincerely, Dr ?
****************
Me - Have I got myxoedema?
GP - Myxoedema only shows up on the legs as dry, waxy skin.
(I know it doesn't and I also know it shows up on the legs in hypERthyroidism.
My Gp said to me when I complained about my excessive sweating, over and above the menopause,,he replied'Oh you're in good company in this weather!!'
My endo..'Oh from your blood test I see you're optimally dosed on 50mg, we can hand you back to your Gp, your other symptoms are all your age,! I know im good at my job'
My Gp' just take this 50mg levo and I promise you in 6 weeks you will be feeling like a new woman!'
(Who did he think he was! a miracle worker)
needless to say I didn't, and was feeling like a 109 yr old that had crawled out of a car crash!!
whilst seeing my now retired oncologist over my weight gain following TT ,
Me: I've put on so much weight yet eat no differently??
Dr: have you tried green beans?
Me: I eat lots of vegetables
Dr: oh, well I'll refer you to endo then.
the visit to endo wasn't much better he did lots of what seemed silly tests like watching his fingers move and raising arms and legs to come to the conclusion,
Endo: there's nothing wrong with you that explains the weight gain its all in your head,
Me: well its obviously not, my clothes don't fit
Endo:oh well in that case I'll refer you to our Fat club!
when the Dr's blame all symptoms on menopause and my mental health when it is my thyroid that caused my severe menopausal symptoms( symptoms period)!. I shook my head and chuckled when I read that one also my upper abdominal bloating and weight gain there which is my thyroid you do not get a menopot below your breasts it happens below your bellybutton and I barely have any there lol :)! Gotta love the reports back and forth when the Docs' try to make themselves look smart and the patient look stupid yet you know more than they do! hahaha
Pat my own back
My doctor said to me You are a very tired woman and the sooner you realise it the better you will be.???
On one of my Endo appointments at Guys in 2012, a young man was on the reception. He took my details, including my DOB (1959) and then proceeded to ask me if I was pregnant! I was gobsmacked - I know I had put on weight with the hypo but the patter of tiny feet at 53?
I had to see a female doctor who had never treated me before. after half listening to what I was describing, she suddenly said "well, must get on"! I came out of the surgery feeling worse than when I went in!
me - being newly arrived to area, (after a brain haemorrhage prev year/car accident 9 months later)........
....... - bonjour Dr, I'd like help for neurological/physical after effects of recent events please. (I hadn't realised my then problems could be down to that... till finding Headway on HU).
GP - well you can walk and talk, what more do you want?
Me - looked at him, got up and walked out of surgery!
I changed my doctor after that - and sadly that's when I was put on too many antidepressants!
2015 - Endo -hepato Consultant
Consultant.......... (she had just looked at all my last blood test results, said they were all ok)
ME - bonjour, well aren't you going to investigate these related health problems, there COULD be a connection!
Consultant to me - if you want holistic investigation, then go find a Holistic expert!
I stormed down the Hosp corridor after her shouting, I want answers!
The look of horror on other waiting patients faces made me smile! She was the 3rd diff health consultant I'd seen in just over a month!
Health Visitor at 1st postnatal visit to my surprise son "oo youv got 3 under 3's we dont want that happened again do we! have they all got the same father?
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