Quote:
Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB
I will tell you that my sophomore year in college I gained 40 lbs in one year despite eating better and getting a great workout every day on my hilly campus. I was pre-med at the time and noticed that I had a number of symptoms of hypothyroidism (we were studying the endocrine system at the time). So when I went home at the end of the year, I went to the doctor. And she wouldn't test me. Told me I was too young to have hypothyroidism and that I just needed to exercise more. By the time I came home from winter break of my junior year, I had gained another 20 pounds. I went to the doctor, crying, and she finally tested me. My TSH test came back at a 45 - but she still didn't want to treat me! So I asked for a referral to an endocrinologist and I've been treated ever since. Through REALLY hard work, and medication, I've been able to lose 20 of the pounds, but not all 60. My TSH is still around 10.
Some doctors who are more recent graduates and know all of the latest research on this stuff may know better than their patients, but not all doctors keep up on current research and treatments. Any patient who has had to change doctors due to new insurance or lack of "chemistry" with a given doctor knows that there is a huge variety of doctors out there, all with different methods. My doctor was old school, about five years out from retiring, and though she was a smart lady, she used old-fashioned approaches that were not appropriate for an unusual case like myself. She needed to recognize her areas of weakness and refer me to someone who knew more about my condition than she did.
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Seriously, I've had some not great doctors and I think what we need people to do is to learn to advocate for themselves and do some research. I don't mean spending hours on WebMD, but keeping track of changes/norms so when something comes up there is a baseline and a time line. If I go to the doctor and my blood pressure is high and I ate a high salt meal or was running late, that would make sense. If I just drank coffee, that could account for an elevated temp. So much of that behavior for me is left over from having to keep track for health issues I just kept doing it and I always bring that to an appointment, as well as writing down my concerns. I want to make the most of my time and the doctor's time.
I was dismissed once for breast cancer and I was so fortunate the ENT surgeon (huge a-hole, but good surgeon) refused to operate until a doctor he trusted ruled out cancer as the person I normally saw was on maternity leave and the other doctor didn't find my concerns important (that person is no longer in the practice). I have the option of a second opinion but it is so annoying when office #1 will not send your records in a timely manner to office #2. If I had cancer and they blew me off I'd have considered filing a law suit because it shouldn't take three months to send records. I go to the biggest practice in town and thankfully they also run the Urgent Care but one practitioner doesn't get butt hurt if you see someone else because they aren't available, nor is there drama if they consider different treatments. Living in a rural area makes it hard at times, and many people make the 1.5 hour drive to Spokane for specialists.
My time in Alaska is always a crap shoot because the clinic is either 30-100 miles away and because I'm an outsider the med student who is doing a rotation always wants to see me because I'm less likely to object (I don't have tinfoil underpants and believe in conspiracy theories) and have some strange shizz in my medical history. I've only been cranky once when one young woman was telling me I should be concerned about osteoporosis, when my only risk factor is being female. No one in my family has had it, I've never broken a bone, my bone affected surgeries healed freakishly fast, I'm not lactose intolerant, and I'm Norwegian so eating cheese on the daily.
My temp is low though, constantly, about 97.5-97.9 but allegedly it is genetic. I'm willing to have my thyroid checked though because I tolerate cold too well for some people's liking.
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