Stupid Things Doctors (or their staff) Have Told You...

[Aunty Body]

"If you have thyroid disease, a simple pill each day will cure you."

"You could not gain 11 pounds in three days. The doctor will see you
in three weeks, this is not important enough to bother him.

"I can tell just by looking at you that you are taking too much thyroid."

"You are just fat and lazy and depressed."

(When presented with the findings of a pituitary tumor in an MRI.)

"You do not have a pituitary tumor."

Me: "But the doctor who ordered the test told me by phone I do have a pit. tumor."

"Well, they lied. Or you are lying. If you do have one, it is so small it is not doing anything."

[IndianSummer]

Yeah Been There Done That Bought The T-Shirt, this is my second doctor,I would love to go and see a specialiest but she feels I don't need one.
I have been on Synthroid 0.03 for a week now and I feel worse then I did before I started taking it.
My brain fog is three times as bad,it even scare's me especially when I drive, and Im also batteling Hypoglycemia but was told that had to be controled by diet and exercise but Im to tired to exercise, at this point I can barley get out of bed and when I do my brain fog is so bad I can't think a straight thought.
I feel like I have lost all control over my life,if only the brain fog would go away.
Jackie:(

[btdawgh]

Synthroid screwed me up just like that.....brain fog and body if it even decided to move...it was in "slow motion"....body fog.....I take Armour also but if you read my post from today you will hear my Synthroid Horror Story...I am still working on this...doctors for the most part know little if anything about Thyroid and rely upon blood ONLY...not the person....

[Aunty Body]

Brain fog is the worst---although there are so many things that suck with thyroid problems.

I wonder if doctors avoid the endo stuff 'cause it is such a difficult area to deal with. It just seems that there are so few doctors out there who really have an idea of what we go through.

[Trisa]

That my med is NOT the cause of all my weird symptoms!
Seems to me if you stop taking a med and the symptoms all go
away then it MUST have been the med!!

[Kimemitch]

After several trips to same dr complaining of memory loss and fatigue - he told me everyone loses there memory as they get older - I was 32. When I returned and toldhim I felt a lump. Aggravited he said it was a "gland", but he would send me to a surgeon!!

The surgeon biopsied to find cancerous tumor!!!

[IndianSummer]

My God Kim im glad that you demanded to see a specialest,Im thinking I need to see one myself and to have them up my dosage.
Im at 200 lbs now and all I want to do is sleep,god forbid if I should try to think.

[Kimemitch]

we definitely, definitely have to be pro-active in our health - the whole experience has taught me not to just trust that they are right. They are "practicing medicine" - you just have to research and look at blood work etc... yourself!! Find someone who will listen - you are your best friend!!:)

Ps. Just FYI; All my blood work said my thyroid was normal which is why he kept sending me away until I found the lump that he labeled "just a gland". Thank goodness I had a med student show me how to feel my thyroid as I would have believed him if not for her education years earlier! Basically - you put your fingers at the bottom of your neck and when you swallow you can feel the thyroid. Of course I don't have one any longer!!

[seeker]

Thanks for the humor!!! I had one dr to tell me to tell my husband to take me to Hawaii for 2 weeks and I would be fine. Then told me to reschule for a follow up for 1 month. I was referred by the er for the 1st visit with him. He was new to the area and I believe they were trying to build a client base for him. Needless to say, I didn't feel like going to Hawaii, and didn't make the follow up.

[nothyapril05]

my doc put me on a 1000 cal a day diet to try to loose the first 35lbs i gained when i had mine removed... i fear he will put me back on that to loose the 20 i just gained! :(
he also wrote on my chart i was clueless about nutrition because i was trying to be nice and said "oh really" when he told me to eat fish not beef it has less calories.

[Andros]

"If you have thyroid disease, a simple pill each day will cure you."

"You could not gain 11 pounds in three days. The doctor will see you
in three weeks, this is not important enough to bother him.

"I can tell just by looking at you that you are taking too much thyroid."

"You are just fat and lazy and depressed."

(When presented with the findings of a pituitary tumor in an MRI.)

"You do not have a pituitary tumor."

Me: "But the doctor who ordered the test told me by phone I do have a pit. tumor."

"Well, they lied. Or you are lying. If you do have one, it is so small it is not doing anything."

The Endocrine Society does not advocate giving a patient T3. (quote, unquote)

Huh? Say what? Even if the patient is dying from lack of the active hormone, T3??? Really?

You don't have a goiter, it's just fat!

I love this; hope others add theirs to the list!

[StaciB]

Just yesterday I was told, that this is just my body, deal with it AND I will be hard pressed to find a doctor who will be willing to prescribe dessicated thyroid, oh and one more for the road..........since I have gained 35ish lbs under the care of a different Endo (another real winner) that I should look into the Lap Band system!!!

[Andros]

Just yesterday I was told, that this is just my body, deal with it AND I will be hard pressed to find a doctor who will be willing to prescribe dessicated thyroid, oh and one more for the road..........since I have gained 35ish lbs under the care of a different Endo (another real winner) that I should look into the Lap Band system!!!

Oooooooooooooooooooooooh; I would be furious!! How unkind and uncaring! I hope you get rid of this guy/gal????

All you have to do is ask your pharmacist "who" is Rx'ing dessicated porcine thyroid. Or Cytomel which is T3 only.

You know that there is no Armour, West Throid or Nature Throid available right now? So even if you could get an Rx for the piggy stuff, it is unlikely you can get it but you could go to a compounding pharmacy.

I am winging it on Cytomel for now.

[Andros]

my doc put me on a 1000 cal a day diet to try to loose the first 35lbs i gained when i had mine removed... i fear he will put me back on that to loose the 20 i just gained! :(
he also wrote on my chart i was clueless about nutrition because i was trying to be nice and said "oh really" when he told me to eat fish not beef it has less calories.

Oh, brother!! Nothing like making the patient's blood pressure go up!

You cannot lose weight until you are euthyroid and if you are not, that would seem to be the doctor's fault; would it not?

That's the way I see it, anyhow!

[StaciB]

Oooooooooooooooooooooooh; I would be furious!! How unkind and uncaring! I hope you get right of this guy/gal????

All you have to do is ask your pharmacist "who" is Rx'ing dessicated porcine thyroid. Or Cytomel which is T3 only.

You know that there is no Armour, West Throid or Nature Throid available right now? So even if you could get an Rx for the piggy stuff, it is unlikely you can get it but you could go to a compounding pharmacy.

I am winging it on Cytomel for now.

Furious is an understatement!! The man (endo) is a %#@*&^!!
Like I said in another post I am now seriously doctor shopping.
I did read the status of the availability of the "piggy stuff" and would treat with Cytomel if I needed, I just can't get the doctor to even check my T3!!
The last call from the dr., actually while writing this, his assistant said he only needs my TSH and T4 for my therapy with him....my response....I don't understand what his issue is with "allowing" me to have the tests that would ease my mind....if he is so sure that his treatment is correct then why not "indulge" me and ease my mind!!!
Since you are personally "winging it" on Cytomel, how are you feeling are you ever concerned on how this effects the heart (that is my biggest trepidation with T3ing it myself).

[Lovlkn]

Answering the post question - the dumbest thing my doctor has ever told me was...

"your labs are normal"

This has been said while I was hypo so often I cannot even count.

[texgal418]

And...Indian Summer, sometimes if we are undermedicated OR started on a dose that is too high (overly rapid titration), sometimes we can feel worse before we feel better. Hang in there and I pray you find a good doc that can help you soon. Also, the most ridiculous thing a doctor can say (and they say it over and over..."you are in the 'normal' range." Seriously, the fact that it is in fact a "range" speaks volumes about what part of it is best for each of us as individuals.

[Andros]

Furious is an understatement!! The man (endo) is a %#@*&^!!
Like I said in another post I am now seriously doctor shopping.
I did read the status of the availability of the "piggy stuff" and would treat with Cytomel if I needed, I just can't get the doctor to even check my T3!!
The last call from the dr., actually while writing this, his assistant said he only needs my TSH and T4 for my therapy with him....my response....I don't understand what his issue is with "allowing" me to have the tests that would ease my mind....if he is so sure that his treatment is correct then why not "indulge" me and ease my mind!!!
Since you are personally "winging it" on Cytomel, how are you feeling are you ever concerned on how this effects the heart (that is my biggest trepidation with T3ing it myself).

I have no problem with Cytomel although I will always prefer "my" Armour and hope it comes back in mighty quick. One grain and 1/2 grain tabs are hitting the market now but you know they will get swooped up. My pharmacist has me "red flagged" the minute some should become available through their supplier.

That said, "if" everyone would just listen to what I tell them about Cytomel, they would do fine.

You start on 2.5 mcgs.. The lowest dose available is 5 mcg.. So you need a pill splitter. Cytomel is very potent and if you don't ease into it, you are doomed for failure. Many have ended up in the ER and it was not necessary for I have been around the forums a very very long time and never fail to tell others this.

A doctor will Rx 25 mcgs. as a starting dose. OMG!! They just don't know what they are doing. Truly. It is very rare to reach this level as a maintenance dose, I kid you not.

I am doing great. My doc just gave me the green light to raise by another 2.5 mcgs. today. That will place me on 7.5 mcgs. per day now. No palps, no shaky or any other bothersome symptoms except that I am still a wee bit hypothyroid.

Your doc might be limited by your insurance company? Is that a possibility? You may have to take issue w/ your health insurance.

By the way,Free T3 is your active hormone and if you are deficient in Free T3, you are doing more damage to your heart, bones and other bodily organs including your brain than you can possibly imagine.

Make sure you are able to tell the difference between Free T3, Free T4 and T3 and T4. Use the proper terminalogy.

Free hormone is the unbound portion of the hormone available for cellular uptake. Total hormone is bound, unbound and reverse hormone. Do you see the dilemma with the Totals? How on earth would you possibly know what is available for cellular uptake?

Here is something to help you; you must scroll down for thyroid labs.....
http://amarillomed.squarespace.com/howto

I love this site. Explains in layperson's language.

[soladeo]

Both of my doctors have been awesome, but one of the nurses drives me crazy. She sees "Xanax" and "Zoloft" on my chart and assumes my symptoms are mental, and that I'm not having physical symptoms (guess the metropropol is not a clue to that). I was at the grocery store and started to get really dizzy and felt like I was going to pass out. I called the dtr's office to get advice on what to do. The nurse said, "You're just having an anxiety attack." Me: "So it wouldn't be a heart attack or thyroid storm? (both of which I was cautioned to watch for from my doctor)" "No." My husband ended up having to pick me up. Figured out later it was a hypoglycemic episode, which is also connected to thyroid. Fun.

[Andros]

Answering the post question - the dumbest thing my doctor has ever told me was...

"your labs are normal"

This has been said while I was hypo so often I cannot even count.

Oh, I just haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate to hear someone say that.

We all know they do cohorts of a miniscule portion of the population at large to get these "mean averages" and furthermore, ethnicity aside. Plus a lot more skewed info. Blah! And Pooey!

[alikat]

this is a great forum.

Here's mine:

I went in to the ER feeling like I was having a heart attack after literally two tiny sips of alcohol sent a horrible aching in my left arm and chest. I was told it was an alcohol allergy and to "just not drink". Come to find out it was a symptom of Hodgkin's lymphoma....diagnosed over a year later.

I went to the Doctor about constant itching that was so bad I was causing blisters and wounds from scratchign even in my sleep. I was told, its stress induced, let me refer you to a psychiatrist...after only trying about 5 allergy medicines...if its not allergy related, it has to be mental? Again, found out it was a symptom of my cancenr later diagnosed over a year later.

Recently went to doctor about the pain I was having with my increased dose of levothyroxin. I suggested testing for Hashimoto's to my doctor explaining how my symptoms seemed relative. I was told "Hashimoto's is only typical in those with Hyperthyroidism" then she pulled out a book from her pocket and asked "are you having any hairloss?" I said "no", she said, "ok see yeah. {paused} I"m going to refer you to an endocrinologist to see if maybe he can help with the dosage. But for now lets just reduce it back to 88 to ease your pain.

I love how its always the easy way out they choose to go with, and if that doesn't resolve it.....then we must be crazy. Mental drugs are way over-prescribed if you ask me. Heck if my thyroid is good, my mood is good. Its the thyroid that is the problem, not my brain.

[Andros]

this is a great forum.

Here's mine:

I went in to the ER feeling like I was having a heart attack after literally two tiny sips of alcohol sent a horrible aching in my left arm and chest. I was told it was an alcohol allergy and to "just not drink". Come to find out it was a symptom of Hodgkin's lymphoma....diagnosed over a year later.

I went to the Doctor about constant itching that was so bad I was causing blisters and wounds from scratchign even in my sleep. I was told, its stress induced, let me refer you to a psychiatrist...after only trying about 5 allergy medicines...if its not allergy related, it has to be mental? Again, found out it was a symptom of my cancenr later diagnosed over a year later.

Recently went to doctor about the pain I was having with my increased dose of levothyroxin. I suggested testing for Hashimoto's to my doctor explaining how my symptoms seemed relative. I was told "Hashimoto's is only typical in those with Hyperthyroidism" then she pulled out a book from her pocket and asked "are you having any hairloss?" I said "no", she said, "ok see yeah. {paused} I"m going to refer you to an endocrinologist to see if maybe he can help with the dosage. But for now lets just reduce it back to 88 to ease your pain.

I love how its always the easy way out they choose to go with, and if that doesn't resolve it.....then we must be crazy. Mental drugs are way over-prescribed if you ask me. Heck if my thyroid is good, my mood is good. Its the thyroid that is the problem, not my brain.



You are a true survivor and I have been admiring you from afar. God bless you to have had to go through such a very frightening ordeal and thank you so much for helping others as you have been doing.

Most of the medical profession scares the bejesus out of me; I kid you not. Sometimes I don't take such good care of myself because of that.

How did you finally achieve a definitive diagnosis for Hodgkin's??? You are so lucky you did get medical intervention.

[alikat]

I ended up with terrible chest pain which was thought to be pleuricy caused from two spots on my lungs that they thought were pneumonia. I was on antiobiotics and steroids for the "pneumonia" for 4 weeks. AND, when I returned to do a followup the 5th week, I was 15 lbs lighter, and had a bad intestinal virus plus a UTI as well as the pain and spot that remained. THey did a lung biopsy which finally gave us answers and I started chemo within days. It was wonderful to finally be told I wasn't crazy after all.

I have learned from it to never "settle" for guesses. If I do not feel better with prescriptions, or suggestions made by the doctors, they will quickly see me again. I do not give up and I force them to do their jobs or to pass it on to another that will do so. I have been through several doctors and the only ONE I truly trust so far is my oncologist....but I guess I might be partial since he did save my life. lol

--ali kat--

[Andros]

I ended up with terrible chest pain which was thought to be pleuricy caused from two spots on my lungs that they thought were pneumonia. I was on antiobiotics and steroids for the "pneumonia" for 4 weeks. AND, when I returned to do a followup the 5th week, I was 15 lbs lighter, and had a bad intestinal virus plus a UTI as well as the pain and spot that remained. THey did a lung biopsy which finally gave us answers and I started chemo within days. It was wonderful to finally be told I wasn't crazy after all.

I have learned from it to never "settle" for guesses. If I do not feel better with prescriptions, or suggestions made by the doctors, they will quickly see me again. I do not give up and I force them to do their jobs or to pass it on to another that will do so. I have been through several doctors and the only ONE I truly trust so far is my oncologist....but I guess I might be partial since he did save my life. lol

--ali kat--

How interesting as I had swollen lymphs for years and tested negative for Hodgkin's and Non-Hodgkin's. I had pleurisy so many times (screaming pain) and costalchondritis plus other horrible symptoms. Come to find out years later (once I found a good doctor that cared), that I have Lupus. Now when I look back, it all makes sense.

You have been through your own personal fire.

[alikat]

you too it seems! Its good to be able to share our experiences with others that maybe experiencing some questionable symptoms themselves. It seemed that I had nearly diagnosed myself prior to my biopsy by searching online and coming acrossed the Hodgkin's forum. It is good to hear from those who experience it themselves. As most doctors have never lived through the things we are experiencing making it hard for htem to truly understand. Its not their fault. They are just inexperienced at being unlucky in health. hee hee I on the other hand am a PRO.

Hodgkin's lymphoma Stage IIB> PRO !!!

Pituitary Tumor (which disappeared?)> PRO !!!!

Hypothyroidism which Hashi-like symptoms> Beginner...but I have you PROS to help me through it! lol

thanks again for being here.