Hi All,
I'll be "interviewing" a new doctor tomorrow - hoping to find one to replace my old doc, who told me at my last visit, (a couple of months ago), that he had done "all that he could do", as far as treating my hypothyroidism is concerned. Since "all that he could do", consisted of using an obsolete test range for TSH values, and no tests at all for Free T3, Free T4, nor thyroid antibodies, which resulted in a seriously inadequate treatment program, that doesn't even come close to resolving my symptoms, I didn't see much choice in the matter - it was clearly time to move on. Since the thyroid affects so many vital functions in the body, I really feel that treating thyroid problems, (and treating them correctly), is extremely important.
I picked a doctor who has a reputation for having an outstanding "bedside manner", IOW he not only shows real concern for his own patients, but everyone else he meets, also, during the day. So naturally, the doctor that I wanted, isn't taking any new patients, (I guess so, with a reputation like that), so I had to settle for his office partner, hoping that some of his good qualities may have rubbed off on those around him.
If we don't hit it off, though, (IOW, if I don't like his answers to my questions about his thoughts on treating hypothyroidism), I reckon I'll see if my first choice would be willing to add me to his "waiting list", whether he has one or not. After all, if I'm gonna continue to be mistreated anyway, in the meantime, it may as well be by my old doc. LOL.
Tex
Looking For A New Doc
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Looking For A New Doc
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Good luck Wayne! I know it is frustrating to go from doc to doc without finding a good one. I hope your search is short.
Keeping fingers crossed for you!
Love,
Mars
Keeping fingers crossed for you!
Love,
Mars
"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful." -- Buddha
Hope this doc will be the right one. I didn't know you were feeling poorly. Hope you'll get some better treatment soon. My mom took a pill every day for hypothyroid and my dad, if I remember correctly--I was only a little kid, drank a "radioactive cocktail" for hyperthyroid, so I figure I'm balanced! 
kathy
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barbaranoela
- Emperor Penguin
- Posts: 5394
- Joined: Wed May 25, 2005 6:11 pm
- Location: New York
Galahad---so sorry to read that U are on the *look-see* for a new doc. and as we all know tis very frustrating to start searching again--
Lets trust that his assistant will have the same good qualities--and that U dont have to go back and mistreated---
Boy, how well we all know that feeling---
And U never complained---
always here to guide us in the right directions!!!
luve Barbara
Lets trust that his assistant will have the same good qualities--and that U dont have to go back and mistreated---
Boy, how well we all know that feeling---
And U never complained---
always here to guide us in the right directions!!!luve Barbara
the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control
Well, actually, I have to say that I'm feeling pretty good, for the most part, and always have, (ever since I got rid of the "D" and associated symptoms of you-know-what). It's definitely not like me to be "doc shopping", either. I'm pretty easy to get along with, and I tend to stay away from doctors, unless I have a pretty urgent need to see one, (like a broken arm, for example). It concerns me though, to see so many symptoms of hypothyroidism still unresolved. They include shortness of breath, elevated cholesterol levels, decreased metabolism, (easy weight gain), fatigue, coarse, dry hair, hair loss, (the classic marker is the thinning or disappearance of the outer third of the eyebrow), memory loss, decreased libido, etc.
Taken altogether, it's pretty strong evidence of of hypothyroidism, especially since all these symptom started about the same time, and none of them existed previously. The symptoms started soon after my surgery, two and a half years ago. Most likely, the anesthesia, or one of the IV meds they gave me during and after the surgery, negatively affected either my thyroid or my pituitary, or both. Or, maybe it's just a coincidence. Maybe my thyroid and/or other glands were damaged by years of being sick from eating gluten, and they're continuing to deteriorate. Who knows?
I only know that the treatment that I'm currently receiving is not resolving the symptoms. I especially don't like the idea of my cholesterol levels climbing, when the reason is so obvious, and yet my doc just ignores it.
Love,
Tex
Taken altogether, it's pretty strong evidence of of hypothyroidism, especially since all these symptom started about the same time, and none of them existed previously. The symptoms started soon after my surgery, two and a half years ago. Most likely, the anesthesia, or one of the IV meds they gave me during and after the surgery, negatively affected either my thyroid or my pituitary, or both. Or, maybe it's just a coincidence. Maybe my thyroid and/or other glands were damaged by years of being sick from eating gluten, and they're continuing to deteriorate. Who knows?
I only know that the treatment that I'm currently receiving is not resolving the symptoms. I especially don't like the idea of my cholesterol levels climbing, when the reason is so obvious, and yet my doc just ignores it.
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I wish you luck, too Tex. Good doctors are hard to find.
I'm curious about the hypothyroidism. It seems to me that I hear about more and more people who are having problems with their thyroid. Some even have it removed. I don't recall it being such a problem years ago. Am I correct in noticing that it's more prevelant today than years ago? And if so, do you have any idea why? Do you think it's another gluten-related problem? Have we ever done a poll on it?
I'm curious about the hypothyroidism. It seems to me that I hear about more and more people who are having problems with their thyroid. Some even have it removed. I don't recall it being such a problem years ago. Am I correct in noticing that it's more prevelant today than years ago? And if so, do you have any idea why? Do you think it's another gluten-related problem? Have we ever done a poll on it?
You never know what you can do until you have to do it.
My opinion is that thyroid problems have been treated a lot like MC, IOW, most doctors don't really know how to diagnose them, so all but the most obvious cases have been going untreated, at least until they get to a more advanced stage. For one thing, most doctors, (and most labs, too, for that matter), still use an obsolete range for TSH, (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone), levels, when making a diagnosis, and during treatment. Unfortunately, those range limits were determined from test data using TSH values of twenty-something year old men, (which really doesn't necessarily apply to anyone else), and it's now suspected that the original data were flawed, because some of those original test subjects apparently had undetected thyroid problems, which skewed the data. Accordingly, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists issued revised guidelines for appropriate TSH ranges, over five years ago, but it appears that most doctors and labs are still using the obsolete ranges. <sigh>
Also, most doctors put too much weight on TSH levels alone, without considering free T4 and free T3 levels, and their overall relationship for various TSH "categories". Nor do doctors pay enough attention to what their patients tell them about how they actually feel. The net result is that there are more undiagnosed cases running around, than you can shake a stick at, but more and more patients are demanding better treatment, (because of internet discussion boards, etc.), and so more cases are being diagnosed than ever before.
If you look at the symptoms of hypothyroidism, virtually all of them have traditionally been written off as a "normal" part of growing older. Interestingly, though, if hypothyroidism is properly treated, those symptoms disappear, without the need to dunk the patient in the fountain of youth.
It's certainly possible that the problem is on the increase today, but I have a hunch that a lot of the additional diagnoses are due to more doctors figuring out how to properly diagnose the issue, and patients taking a more active role in their health care. To our grandparents, and even our parents, a doctor was a marvelous being, with almost magical powers. These days, though, many of us view them as just another highly paid, (maybe overpaid), technician, and by virtue of that attitude, we try to hold them to a higher standard than our parents and grandparents did. At least that's how I see it.
I don't believe we've ever done a poll on this one. Probably, there are a number of us who have thyroid issues and don't even realize it. I encounter people regularly, who obviously have hypothyroidism, (at least it's obvious to me, after talking with them for a while), but they don't even realize that they have it, and they've never been tested for it, let alone diagnosed.
Tex
Also, most doctors put too much weight on TSH levels alone, without considering free T4 and free T3 levels, and their overall relationship for various TSH "categories". Nor do doctors pay enough attention to what their patients tell them about how they actually feel. The net result is that there are more undiagnosed cases running around, than you can shake a stick at, but more and more patients are demanding better treatment, (because of internet discussion boards, etc.), and so more cases are being diagnosed than ever before.
If you look at the symptoms of hypothyroidism, virtually all of them have traditionally been written off as a "normal" part of growing older. Interestingly, though, if hypothyroidism is properly treated, those symptoms disappear, without the need to dunk the patient in the fountain of youth.
It's certainly possible that the problem is on the increase today, but I have a hunch that a lot of the additional diagnoses are due to more doctors figuring out how to properly diagnose the issue, and patients taking a more active role in their health care. To our grandparents, and even our parents, a doctor was a marvelous being, with almost magical powers. These days, though, many of us view them as just another highly paid, (maybe overpaid), technician, and by virtue of that attitude, we try to hold them to a higher standard than our parents and grandparents did. At least that's how I see it.
I don't believe we've ever done a poll on this one. Probably, there are a number of us who have thyroid issues and don't even realize it. I encounter people regularly, who obviously have hypothyroidism, (at least it's obvious to me, after talking with them for a while), but they don't even realize that they have it, and they've never been tested for it, let alone diagnosed.
Tex
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MaggieRedwings
- King Penguin
- Posts: 3865
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 3:16 am
- Location: SE Pennsylvania
Morning Tex,
One of our least favorite things to do - doc shopping but I really wish you well and it is so depressing when our physicians just don't listen to us and take our symptoms to heart.
Hope you start feeling better once you get a new doc on board.
Love, Maggie
One of our least favorite things to do - doc shopping but I really wish you well and it is so depressing when our physicians just don't listen to us and take our symptoms to heart.
Hope you start feeling better once you get a new doc on board.
Love, Maggie
Maggie Scarpone
___________________
Resident Birder - I live to bird and enjoy life!
___________________
Resident Birder - I live to bird and enjoy life!
Gosh! Good Buddy!!
I didn't know that you've been dealing with some health symptoms pertaining to your thyroid!!
I have no doubt that you will find the right doc because you will be well armed with information & questions....
Sending you a !!!
Feel the sqeeeeeeezzzzzeeee?????
Love
Dee~~~~~
I didn't know that you've been dealing with some health symptoms pertaining to your thyroid!!
I have no doubt that you will find the right doc because you will be well armed with information & questions....
Sending you a
!!!Feel the sqeeeeeeezzzzzeeee?????
Love
Dee~~~~~
"What the heart gives away is never gone ... It is kept in the hearts of others."
Tex....hoping the doctor interview went well and you are satisfied with his/her innput. I am getting a reputation among family/friends for firing my docs....only have done it twice, but it is sooooo liberating. I feel downright rebellious! 
The older I get the more determined to find someone who will partner with me and not patronize me. So there!! (Wish I were as brave as I sound!) It is scary to leave a doctor and feel left out to dry while searching out the new one..... 
I feel downright rebellious! The older I get the more determined to find someone who will partner with me and not patronize me. So there!! (Wish I were as brave as I sound!) It is scary to leave a doctor and feel left out to dry while searching out the new one..... "It is very difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. "
Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
Well, so far, so good. I'm going to run by the lab tomorrow morning, so that they can draw some of the red stuff, and run a bunch of tests, and then I have an appointment to go over the results with the doc, and see what he thinks, Friday a week from now.
I was amazed to discover that they expect the transfer of records to take around three months. Most of the records will be coming from a hospital a few blocks away, (where I had my surgery, a couple of years ago), that the clinic/hospital that I am moving to, is now affiliated with. The rest will come from my old doc's office, which is about 15 miles away, and he used to be a surgeon at the hospital/clinic where the new doc is located. Obviously, distance has nothing to do with the transfer process. I'm glad the records are not being transferred because I have some fast-developing, terminal disease that needs to be treated - I might be gone before they ever get the records moved. LOL.
The new doc was amazed when I told him that I had copies of almost all of my records from both places, and I'll be giving him those at the next appointment. Hopefully, that should save some time, and give him a head start on most of the details.
Because of record transfers that take way too long, and other foolishness that can leave you "in limbo", I have to agree with you Sunny - changing docs could be a scary proposition, if you're in urgent need of help. That's one of the reason's why I decided that now was a good time to move - before my health deteriorates to the point where I might be in urgent need of help.
Dee, thanks for the "squeeze". I'm not really having serious issues at this point, I just thought it might be a good idea to change docs before that happens, because I don't like the direction that things have been going, during the past year.
Love,
Tex
I was amazed to discover that they expect the transfer of records to take around three months. Most of the records will be coming from a hospital a few blocks away, (where I had my surgery, a couple of years ago), that the clinic/hospital that I am moving to, is now affiliated with. The rest will come from my old doc's office, which is about 15 miles away, and he used to be a surgeon at the hospital/clinic where the new doc is located. Obviously, distance has nothing to do with the transfer process. I'm glad the records are not being transferred because I have some fast-developing, terminal disease that needs to be treated - I might be gone before they ever get the records moved. LOL.
The new doc was amazed when I told him that I had copies of almost all of my records from both places, and I'll be giving him those at the next appointment. Hopefully, that should save some time, and give him a head start on most of the details.
Because of record transfers that take way too long, and other foolishness that can leave you "in limbo", I have to agree with you Sunny - changing docs could be a scary proposition, if you're in urgent need of help. That's one of the reason's why I decided that now was a good time to move - before my health deteriorates to the point where I might be in urgent need of help.
Dee, thanks for the "squeeze". I'm not really having serious issues at this point, I just thought it might be a good idea to change docs before that happens, because I don't like the direction that things have been going, during the past year.
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.