Time for a new doctor
- I went to my endo because of sweating issues. I was having episodes during the day were I would get sweaty and would feel very uncomfortable and "smelly". My doctor told me the next time I go shopping I should just buy two (instead of 1) shirts so I could just change whenever I felt sweaty or smelly. I never went back.
- —Guest Amy
i need a new one now!!
- I went to the Dr. yesterday and told him about the exhaustion and hair loss (not to mention about 30 other symptoms on the checklist) and he told me that it was not my thyroid, it was IBS. I said "yes, but did you know that IBS can be a symptom in a poorly treated thyroid patient?" he said "it CAN be, but i don't think that is what is going on with you. all your symptoms could be from IBS" he then pulls out his BLACKBERRY to search the internet for IBS symptoms. 5 minutes later he says "well, I guess hair loss is not on here, but your thyroid tested normal in november, I really think your thyroid is fine!" I told him that i would like to get on Armour, and he said "I will prescribe it, as long as you know you are taking a step back from synthroid, Armour is an inferior product." I said "I think i will take my chances" I also asked him to check my adrenals, so that is happening tomorrow, and i started Armour yesterday. he wants to run labs in ONE MONTH to check the Armour...that long???
- —Guest kate
Time for another opinon
- Thyroid was removed in 2007, and surgeon put me on 150 mcg levothyroxin. I felt wonderful. I lost weight, could think again, and slept like a log. My doc says, "too much TSH, drop doseage to 125 mcg." Still felt pretty good, still could lose weight with effort. Next bloodtest, doc says, "too much tsh." Dropped doseage to 100 mcg. Getting pretty tired on this dose, but I can still keep weight from coming back on with LOTS of exercise and really watching what I eat. Next bloodwork revealed, "too much tsh." In spite of my pleading, my doctor dropped the doseage once again. Due to my pleading, he only dropped it to 88 mcg; however, I could no longer control the weight. No matter what I did, I got so tired I could barely crawl out of bed. I work full-time, so that wasn't so good! The weight steading increased. I was very depressed. Asked doc for a visit to see an endo. First bloodwork with endo, "you need a little more levothyroxine." YEAH!!! Feeling better, losing weight.
- —wandyholt
Inadequate thyroid management
- Looking for a regular doctor to manage my care because endo: (1) Doesn't run labs on regular basis even after making (anti)thyroid drug change. (2) Has overcongested practice: doesn't schedule an adequate number of appointments and is late for appointments by 40-60 minutes, consistently. (3) Doesn't listen to symptoms and correlate them to lab test results. (4) Doesn't run annual antibody tests or understand how TSH-R antibodies in Graves' disease can keep TSH suppressed long after the patient is made severely hypothyroid by drugs. (5) Doesn't read or rely on latest studies & research. (6) Has 2-pronged looked at labs: in range or not in range. Anyone who has thyroid disease knows when they are not at optimal set points. (7) Doesn't embrace best practices for thyroid management. (8) Keeps referring to what my insurance allows as reason for short-shrifting me. Insurance company has no clue what he's talking about.
- —Guest Needa Nudoc
Pharmaceutical rep decides MY fate ? ?
- My doc, who I really liked at first, refuses to consider Armour. I went on it (prescribed by another doctor) and I felt SOOOOO much better. She said it was the Synthroid (I was on for over 7 months and still feeling awful) that had kicked in and that Armour is no good, it's from the middle ages. That only quacks prescribe it. I asked for reasons Armour was bad and she gave me none. The best argument she had was that Synthroid is 'better' but that doesn't tell me why Armour is bad. Well, I was talking to the receptionist after that appointment and my doc was having a friendly chat with a Pharmaceutical rep. He was giving her a bunch of freebies - I'll give you one guess what medication it was . . . Synthroid!
- —barbara1105
an unfavorite doctor
- Sometimes it's hard to decide when you need to leave a doctor. With one endo I have seen, the decision was easy and almost instantaneous. I wasn't doing very well at the time, although I had gone on Thyrolar and knew I was doing better than I had been. This turkey said to me, "you're on the wrong medication." He thought everyone should be on a T4-only med. Anyway, I never went back. How wrong he was I found out several years later, when I found out I have Reverse T3 Dominance. When I finally got onto T3-only therapy, to clear the T4 and the RT3 made from it, out of my system, I finally felt well.
- —Guest Ed Arnold
still felt bad
- My doctor did all the correct test but would not listen. I felt like I was talking to the wall. It seemed like I'd fill out this questionnaire every visit and then no one would read it. Now I'm looking for a doctor closer to home with an ear for their patient.
- —kimcincarolina
I know I need a different doc because...
- He isn't listening to me. I moved and had to find a new doc. I went in for a refill and told him things were going well and he proceeded to order the lab work. I saw him a few days later and despite what I had said about feeling good on 88mcg. he said I was hyper and dumped my dose down to 44 mcg. Then told me I needed to drop about 5-10 pounds. Asked me if I needed to speak to a shrink cuz apparently I am suppressing some anger, and to top it off is sending me to a dietary consult to lose weight!!! I tried on the 44 for 10 days and put on 5 pounds, he wasn't happy when I told him I upped it myself to 75mcg. Now he's redoing the TSH. We'll see where it's at now but I know he's not for me. Medicine is about the individual and not about a so called "normal" lab value.
- —stprdi
"you're just getting old"
- GP diagnosed my hypo in summer 2005, she tried this dose & that but I felt so tired so often, even curled up in a ball on my office floor to take a snooze! I also gained close to 10 lbs, 1 size in 6 mos despite my eating habits not changing & my working out 3x's per week at least. Then decided to try a local endo-he immediately increased my Synthroid to 100 & I felt much better, gained another 2 lbs, but was stable at that weight for the next 2 yrs. Then last summer, I started gaining belly weight again, feeling "eh"-endo tested me & raised me to 112 & then I really started feeling bad, gained a few lbs & he said he didn't need to see me for 6 mos (no retest!). Went to GP instead 2 mos later, said my T4 was too high, reduced me to 100, gained more lbs. Told GP about weight gain, she said to exercise more, eat less. Had appt with endo - he was insulted I consulted another dr., & also said weight gain is from aging & not exercising-also told me T4 doesn't matter, only TSH! Trying new dr.
- —Guest Debbie F.
New Doctor
- Time to get a new doctor when you still do not feel like a human and he tells you that you are fine.
- —Guest Callie
How did I know it was time for a new doc
- It was when for 3 years straight, the formulation of the Synthroid I was taking was never changed even when asking him to change the meds. I found a new doctor when I moved. He changed me to Armour Thyroid and I lost 30 pounds in a matter of weeks and still losing....
- —Guest Linda S
I had to take my husband with me
- Every time I went to see my endo alone, he'd decrease my dosage because my TSH was out of range even though all the other readings were within range. When I took my husband along, the Doctor would look at him and when my hubby said I was doing fine, the Endo would back down from changing my dosages! This went on for 4 or 5 visits and I finally fired him!
- —Guest SueB
time to find a new doctor
- 1st dx w/a goiter. Put on 150mg of levothyroxine (too much all at once), then down to 80mg (too little). A friend sees a doc 4 hrs away & she was quit happy. He doesn't take insurance and I was determined to find a doc in our local small town who does. I spent almost 2 yrs going from doc to doc. In the 1st compreh visit, they ALL said "It sounds like you aren't taking a high enough dose of levo". Then they would do the blood test, call me a couple days later, tell me my levels were fine. I asked All of them, since I don't feel fine, can't we just try slowly increase the dose. None would prescribe it. Each one also told me,"you ARE getting older"!. When the last endo put his hand on my shoulder and said that, I told him if this is what it is like to get "older" then I believe a lot more of us "older women" would be holding hands together and jumping off cliffs. I am now seeing a doc 4 hrs away, pay cash, feel great! It is worth the $, he saved my life, my marriage etc.
- —Guest Lee Ann Morgan
Dump the Thyroid Doc
- He billed me (I paid my own bills) three times. I told him he was fired! Ed
- —EBironwood
Thyroid Patient
- Seven years after having my thyroid removed I put on 20 pounds in 3 months and was having all kind of muscle issues. My doctor tried to imply it was my diet and that feeling that way was to be expected with thyroid disease. I demanded for a blood profile test and my calcium came in very low. My parathyroids had failed. I then found out that the medical center he was at, did not have any way to attach tests done at other facilities to my chart so they basically had no history on me since he moved there 3 years ago.
- —camaro2002
