Spoke to my doctor yesterday, re: my latest blood test results. All she would say is that my thyroid is "slightly suppressed" and even though I am still symptomatic she refused to give me a slightly higher dose - I am only on 50mcg. When I asked if we could discuss T3 she said I wasn't eligible for it because I didn't have Hashi's. She said to come in to discuss why I still felt so tired. I can get an appointment for the 26th of this month!
Phoned the surgery this morning to ask for a print of my results. The Receptionist was aghast! "We don't do that" she said.
"It's my right" I replied.
"Not being funny " she said "but how will you understand them" she said.
"Because I have joined a great Support Group who will decipher them for me" I replied.
"Oh that's different then" she said.
"May I have them, then?" I replied.
"No" she said. " I have to ask doctors permission, she's in a different surgery today, so try tomorrow to see if I get permission. I must say in my 16yrs of doing this job, you are the first to ask this" her voice fairly shook with outrage!
"I look forward to speaking to you tomorrow" I lied.
I then hung up the phone and in a most adult fashion blew a huge raspberry at it.
I await tomorrow!
Written by
Monster
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Can you ask your doctor to give you a copy of your test results each time as a matter of course? My doctor is quite helpful but I get mixed results from receptionists. They are polite but some give me results and some do not. I think they panic as they don't know whether they are meant to give them out or not. My GP has graphed all my results and I can book a telephone appointment to discuss results. Does your surgery have a telephone appointment system like that?
My opinion is that we have a long term condition and similarly to people with diabetes we need as much information as possible to manage our symptoms effectively together with our GP. It makes sense to have all the information to enable constructive dialogue with your GP.
Thanks Nanaedake. I had booked a telephone consult with my doctor, but forgot to ask her for a printout - typical of me! I thought the receptionist would be able to help because I had already, kind of, discussed the results with the doctor. I was only diagnosed last October and am still feeling my way around. Thank goodness for kind people like yourself and others in this group. X
This is the first time I've heard that you can't have T3 if you don't have Hashi's. Is this general thinking? What is the rational? Doesn't make any sense to me. Is she just making it up? lol
British National Formulary makes no mention of Hashimoto's:
Liothyronine sodium has a similar action to levothyroxine but is more rapidly metabolised and has a more rapid effect; 20–25 micrograms is equivalent to 100 micrograms of levothyroxine. Its effects develop after a few hours and disappear within 24 to 48 hours of discontinuing treatment. It may be used in severe hypothyroid states when a rapid response is desired.
And it is used in people preparing for Radio-Active Iodine Ablation for thyroid cancer.
Good luck I went to see my GP on Monday when I asked him to have copy of my blood results he went mad n said no then I askd him to explain he gave two numbers only saying that he can't tell all of them as it will take other patients time that's why I hate going to surgerys
Ermmm....they should just give you a print out of all the results and their ranges, have you tried saying that you'll interpret yourself? I just get mine from the receptionist at my GP, they get the docs permission to print out and then give them to me for a small charge (10p per sheet or something)...not sure how that would waste time for other patients?...have you tried saying you'll book a double appointment and see if that makes a difference? ...am sure they make half this stuff up!!!
hehe, when I first asked the receptionist she told me over the phone in a warning tone that they would have to charge me....at the time I thought she was going to say £2000 or something ridiculous and braced myself for the amount...when she came out with 10p per sheet had to stop myself from laughing at her (poor woman, she is really helpful but don't think she understood why I wanted the results or why I would pay money for them).
Lol it's true when I askd him to explain bit more about my thyroid he went made saying it will take whole day if he sits there n explain to me I hate going to doctors thats why when I found out in January n gp didn't bother seeing me instead he prescribed levothyroxine 50mg from reception for I only took it once n I didn't feel right so instead I went to my herbal doctor he's given me one tablet to take wich doesn't have no side effects in may I will find out if they r working for me o not when I have my repeat blood.
Dont put up with this nonsense. You have a legal right to see your medical records under the Data Protection Act. More than that, you also have a right to have a print out of your records. The surgery can choose to charge a fee up to MAXIMUM of £50 but the charge has to be reasonable so just for a print out of recent tests I estimate around 20p to £1.00 is reasonable.
Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Fees and Limits) Regulations 2000
Subject Access Request – My Own Medical Records from#date to #date
Please will you provide a copy of my medical records as I am entitled to have under the above Act. I require my notes from #date to #date. Please will you provide the copies within 40 days of receipt of this letter.
I understand that you may charge a fee for providing copies of my notes and that such a charge is set at a maximum of £50. If you do wish to make a charge please inform me what that fee amounts to as soon as possible. Please note that, under the above Act, such a charge has to be reasonable. Reviewing, redacting and considering whether information held is exempt cannot be considered as part of the Fees Regulations calculations.
Further, please will you ensure that the records are in a format that I can understand as required by paragraphs 21 and 32 of Good Medical Practice. This should include expanding all acronyms, including reference ranges and where possible, referencing the guidance or other document that you have based any of your conclusions on.
Look on the bright side Monster, at least she's checking for you!...I got told the same thing from my receptionist (that they had to check with the doc) but now get them without problems every time I ask for them.....good luck!!
I wrote a letter to my gp asking for a printout of all the blood test and results they had obtained from me for the last 10 years, enclosing a stamped addressed envelope and waited. 2 weeks later I received all the information requested. My thyroxine was lowered 6 years ago because tsh test said i was slightly out of range too high ! personally I felt the best I have ever felt ( 20 years hypo diagnosed ) agreed to lower dose and have not felt right since, results fluctuating between hypo and hyper. But Have also been going thru the menopause. My daughter reckons they needed to lower dose because of my age ? Since discovering this site i have learnt loads and now supplement regularly with vitamins and minerals! . I feel empowered now with knowledge from members on this site and feel a lot better and will not allow drs to lower my dose again if I feel ok. Everyone is entitled to copies of letters, blood results, relating to their treatment. Ask for an appointment to see the practice manager if you don't get fobbed off. All the best
Ever wondered WHY they don't want to give our results to you? What on earth do they think you are going to do with them, perhaps inflict a severe paper cut on yourself or perhaps put them on E Bay or make yourself severely mentally ill trying to work them out? The Path Lab the other day would not even tell me whether they still had some of my blood in storage (they keep it for varying lengths of time depending on what tests). I was getting answers like "I'm afraid I cannot give you that information, you won't get anyone to give you that information, I'll put you through but they won't tell you"! I was beings sarcastic (which didn't help) by saying stuff like " I promise I won't tell anyone" and "I didn't realize that informtion about MY blood, belonging to ME, which I freely gave you because of a request I made about MY condition is being deliberately witheld due to... Terrorist Activity in the area?.... A secret ingredient never before found in an ordinary human being?.... Special request by MI5? How ridiculous is this?
I laughed out loud when i read your post !! I agree with you and i also think that knowledge is power and the medical profession really don't want to let go of the power they have over us.
It's ridiculous. I used to work in life insurance many years ago and if the company needed details of an applicant's medical history we would send off a questionnaire and then ask the applicant to attend a medical if necessary. The company requested permission from the applicant and the company paid the costs. I found that most doctors were quite happy to do this, maybe because they got paid.
I think the 'correct' approach is to contact the practise manager by letter, and formally request this happens. They then hopefully should inform all receptionists on 'a protocol' for responding to requests. Otherwise you are at the mercy of the receptionists opinion / anxiety each time.
Doctors probably do have a point 'that it is not a job for them' when busy.
People are increasingly realising they can do this within the law - but it is not yet a regular thing - and the 'protective' receptionist reaction is the most usual one encountered.
Depending on the Practise, in my experience(and I have moved to ever practise in my catchment area in the last 5 years! I was trying to get away from the appalling and dis-empowering so called 'triage system' of allocating appointments. To no effect it turns out - as they ALL now use this method of power and control to keep patients at bay!)......
anyway as I was saying - some will be OK with doing the print off in good spirit - if they have been told it is OK by there bosses. Others will give the body language of the furious, make you come back to collect it when they are less busy, and make a charge anywhere between 50p and £5.00 per sheet. They are allowed to make a 'reasonable charge'(?)
This is a very informative site to learn the ins and outs of it all.
all sounds familiar. When I nursed in the NHS I was told it was a sackable offense if patients managed to see their own notes. There is a common theme here. I now live in France where i am sent copies of all my medical tests etc. I don`t understand what all the secrecy is about.??
...methinks it has to do with control. I now live in Crete where we too take charge of all the paperwork/results/scans etc. Just means taking a BIG file when you visit a medic. It also means that once you have the printed test results - seeking a second opinion is also easier. No having to go through the GP again !
I was chatting to an English midwife one day, and telling her about the system in France and she was horrified. She said "But what if you want to write in her notes that this woman is an infuriating hypocondriac?" I said "Well, you just shouldn't write things like that in patient's notes!" She got really huffy. lol
You replied right. It was this midwife being infuriating. Besides, even if the medical profession chooses to label some patients as hypochondriacs, they need help too. I do not understand this notion of 'wasting a doctor's time', unless they only want to see patients at death's door of course. It is more likely the patients' time that is being wasted.
That's terrible greygoose. I was nursing in the NHS until I retired a couple of years ago and we were always being told that you MUST NOT EVER write anything in patients notes that was
a) not true (NHS stating the bl....ing obvious)
b) unfounded opinion
c) acronyms which not only would be incomprehensible to patients but often to other health professionals as well
and many other rules in similar vein.
They should only write true, factual and timely entries in notes, and if they do this then there would be no problem with allowing patients to read their notes.
Belwom and Griselda (oh I love that name!) you are both so right. And I wouldn't claim that this midwife was typical of all NHS employees. This was just her opinion and, obviously, the way she behaved. She wasn't 'my' midwife, we met at a social occassion (and she seemed so nice!!!), but I think we were both as shocked as each other! lol It should not happen, but I bet it does! Someone posted here recently - forget the details (oh my fading memory!) - about a letter that an endo wrote to her doctor (I think!) in which he said things that were just his opinion, not medical fact. I think it's appalling! Pity we don't get to reciprocate! lol
Since when have you had to have Hashi's to get t3.... This is new to me. I thought you got it when your symptoms of hypo were unresolved because you couldn't convert to t4 to t3... Personally I think everyone with symptoms should have a trial of t3 without all the bullshit that is uttered by those who should know better... You've gotta laugh sometimes lol X
Janinit, maybe the Gp who is treating Monster has heard that many people with untreated longstanding Hashi's often have a conversion problem. But her knowledge seems to stop short there....Valerie
The problems is....may cause mental anguish to patience. That little gem they wield up. Its for your own good, you dont need to be distressed by these results.
They put depressed down on your notes so they can use it if you become difficult and want something.
No the real reason is, you will see what is going on and think, hang on I felt great there, but since it was droped I feel Bleughy! Therefore you will do the nasty thing and ask yoru Dr for something. They will need a huge holiday to recover from your impertinance. Bless they are fragile little things these Drs.
I always answer, it is you causing me anguish not a bunch of figures, now you can give me what I asked for or I can instigate a tribunal about your working practise, which would you like, hand over piece of paper or undergo a formal investigation? Strange how they change tunes then.
After 20 + years of living with this level of *ahem* Ive had enough now. I will make a *ahem* nuisance of myself. Im the one who has to live in a body held hostage by the Gangsters of symptons. Why should my life be shortend, because their purses and egos.
Grrr!!! I'm having a bad day, which is of no suprise seeing as Ive a thyroid in full on demoltion derby races that it wants to win and rule the island of me.
Monster - well done for jumping the first hurdle! (get past the receptionist)
I have had a few note my posts with my question 'why can't they give us OUR results' creates a little problem, it shouldn't.
To be honest the first time I was asked why I wanted my results, I tentatively said my Osteopath wanted them (she agreed that was fine when I did present them!) although I know now it's our right! (and some PCTs - if that's what they're called now, were implementing an on-line service - not sure if this is still going ahead 'tho!).
Being fair, as I always try to be I really don't know what receptionists have been told - it's different per receptionist so it must be their training (or lack of) of course it is reasonable they don't want to give you results if it's going to cause distress or without explanation - but c'mon are Thyroid blood tests going to do that? or is 'a Thyroid problem' still secretly linked to being 'm..m...mad'??? (OK some results are darn annoying and don't reflect how you feel, but we're not seriously going to flip!)
Anyway I was told if your GP is willing they can put a note like 'patient is monitoring results/taking a part in their own care - OK to release' (not the right word really). Jane
(PS I answer the phone to the public too, all sorts of enquiries, and if I'm unsure I say I'm unsure and will check and ring back, simple!).
when i asked my doctor to ring me about this i was told I was perfectly fine and didnt need them! The doctor got very angry when she rang and I too am on the naughty step.
Hi Serela. It appears we thyroid sufferers are a trial to our doctors - or at least to some of them. At least we're not lonely on the naughty step :)! That said it is your blood and your right to have the results. X
It would make life a lot easier for both patients and docters in my opinion if they did like the french do and the patient is responsible for their own results. That way results would not get lost or be delayed when transported between hospitals. Th NHS stance is that they are the property of the NHS and not the patient unfortunately. Maybe money could be saved in the NHS by not needing so much admin or storage facility?
Our daughter moved from London to Bath about two years ago and her records still have to catch up with her. Each time she rings to make an appointment with the surgery, they inform her that she is not registered with them. Before travelling, she wanted to check her immunisation record, which they claimed not to have. She eventually went to London to check with the surgery there and they claimed everything had been sent the previous year. She wanted a cervical smear test as she was going to be away when it was due and was duly offered one. A week later, they rang to say there was a problem as the test had been done two months early and could not be processed. She would need to make another appointment in two months` time unless she wanted to pay to have it processed privately.
When she first became unwell in London, she went to see a doctor with all the classic symptoms of adrenal fatigue and hypothyroidism. He gave her anti-depressants and birth control pills as he felt that her problems he felt, stemmed from a suppressed fear of becoming pregnant!! It beggars belief! She could barely stand and a relationship was frankly the last thing on her mind. What presumption! Thankfully she is now well and leading a full life again, but only because I recognised the symptoms and treated her myself with the help of Dr.P.
It is very important that a search is made for your daughter's notes. They have been lost. They need to be found. Her new Gp should have written to the central office to advise them that the notes have gone missing. They are at a central offce in Maidstone. Ask the GP for the details, you can ring them yourself and explain what has happened. Two enquiries should get them looking!
good on you - Monster how little did Freddie Mercury & Queen know how true the song " It's a hard life" is - but then again of course he did know! I downloaded the album to iPad and it's lovely, inspirational and sad!
Go for it and still persist for your results? How are things 3 years on from your post? S x x
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I really don't know what receptionists have been told - it's different per receptionist so it must be their training (or lack of) of course it is reasonable they don't want to give you results if it's going to cause distress or without explanation - but c'mon are Thyroid blood tests going to do that? or is 'a Thyroid problem' still secretly linked to being 'm..m...mad'??? (OK some results are darn annoying and don't reflect how you feel, but we're not seriously going to flip!) 
Advice please on "normal" blood results
Small Step
14yr old - Don't think all the necessary blood tests have been carried out
Update on yesterday's post - after endocrinologist appointment
REPORT ON VISIT TO GP ON 12/01/17
