Re: My RE does not have a clue - frustrated!
From: summer (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Sun Jun 29 21:02:52 2008
If an endocrinologist only goes by one or two numbers, they will not
treat your thyroid in a way that might be helpful to someone who might
have a thyroid problem that doesn't show up in those tests. You need to
find someone open to new ways of looking at thyroid issues, instead of
going by the old school book. Perhaps it's hard to understand because
you're used to that older way of looking at things? A doctor who will
look at your symptoms and not JUST the blood tests can be a huge help.
So many doctors - men who went to med school years ago - just look at
one or two thyroid numbers. The range of the thyroid tests is a
compromised group of people, and one has to be aware enough to
I didn't catch your name, but if you'd like to learn more, please see
Mary Shomon's sites. She's amazing. You can have a thyroid problem,
and if you feel tired and all the other thyroid symptoms, you need to
keep going until you find someone to help you. I saw several
''regular'' endocrinologists, and they were not able to help me. My
thyroid problems got worse. Again, if you see Mary's list of doctors,
you'll have more insight. Any endocrinologist can treat a blatant case
of hypo- or hyper-thryoidism. if you're at the beginning of having
problems, you might want to find someone who is more sensitive to what's
going on with women in the way that Mary Shomon writes of. It's clear
that Amy (I think that's her name) hasn't found someone who thinks
people can have a thyroid issue if her number(s) is/ are within
''normal'' range.
When I went to the first RE, I thought they'd know things about
progesterone, thyroid, any hormone. No, not really. Not speaking of
all of them, but they know about chemical means of manipulating
fertility, for the most part. And they know almost nothing about
treating endo with excision surgery.
At Sun, 29 Jun 2008, anonymous@obgyn.net wrote:
>
>Summer--by "new" things, do you mean alternative medicine? An
>endocrinologist should be well qualified to diagnose and treat a thyroid
>disorder. I'm a little unclear as to what you meant.
>
>At Sun, 29 Jun 2008, summer wrote:
>>
>>One of the problems with even a ''regular'' endocrinologist is that if
>>they go by just one or two numbers, they won't treat the thyroid
>>problem...You need someone who's a little open to trying new things.
>>
>>At Sun, 29 Jun 2008, anonymous@obgyn.net wrote:
>>>
>>>Terese--After reading about the difficult and complicated referral
>>>process to see a specialist in the UK I felt so relieved that our system
>>>here in the US still, for the most part, allows us a lot of freedom in
>>>making our OWN choices about our care. i think you have way more than
>>>enough reasons to find a new doctor. Just being uncomfortable with his
>>>treatment of you is enough, not to mention being treated rudely by his
>>>staff, his not sharing test results with you, ignoring troubling
>>>symptoms, etc. Please don't feel like you are doing anything wrong in
>>>seeking out a Dr. with whom you can have a trusting relationship. Most
>>>of the time, the new Dr's office will even handle the request to have
>>>your records transferred to them. ( I do think you ought to go with the
>>>recommendation to see the endocrinologist, though. I believe their
>>>training and focus varies greatly from that of an RE. ) When I first
>>>developed symptoms of endo I saw a new gyn who really left a bad
>>>impression at my first appointment. She kept explaining all my endo
>>>symptoms away as something else and made me feel like I was whining
>>>about nothing. I ignored my first impression and let her treat me
>>>anyway--very bad idea. I won't EVER make that mistake again. Good luck
>>>to you in your journey!!!
>>>
>>>At Sun, 29 Jun 2008, Terese wrote:
>>>>
>>>>Okay, so I have had endo for quite some time now. I have severe pain
>>>>and can't get pregnant. I have had 2 laps, both of which have not
>>>>helped with pain. In addition to endo symptoms, I have had a number of
>>>>other weird symptoms like 2-3 weeks straight of bleeding (like an
>>>>extremly long period), my hair falls out like crazy, at one point my
>>>>breasts shrunk down about 1/2 my size (that freaked me out), my
>>>>progesterone is low, my testerone is slightly elevated, I'm cold all of
>>>>the time and I have other odd symptoms as well. I explained all of this
>>>>to my reproductive endocrinologist, but his only concern was putting me
>>>>on clomid or doing in-vitro. He was not concerned at all with all of my
>>>>symptoms.
>>>>
>>>>Before jumping into all of these costly and possibly unecessary
>>>>fertility treatments, I asked him to do a thyroid panel. He refused to
>>>>do a full thyroid panel, but did test my TSH. The TSH came back high
>>>>and he didn't even say anything about it! I asked for a copy of my test
>>>>results and found out on my own. During my last appointment, I brought
>>>>my TSH level up and the nurse practitioner (since my lap, the the nurse
>>>>has been seeing me instead) and she tried telling me it was "normal".
>>>>Luckily, I had articles and books that specifically talk about TSH
>>>>levels (what is high and low) and how it impacts infertility. I
>>>>presented all of this information to her, she looked shocked and
>>>>uncomfortable. She excused herself and when she came back she said that
>>>>she was going to have refer me to an endocrinologist. I mentioned that
>>>>the doctor was a reproductive endocrinologist and I thought that he
>>>>would be able to help me. She said that the thyroid was not his area of
>>>>practice! Hello, if he is a fertility expert wouldn't you think that he
>>>>should know about other issues/symptoms that impact ferility?
>>>>
>>>>So anyway, I'm going to see another doctor about my thyroid as well as
>>>>some of my other hormone levels that are not right. I have done a lot
>>>>of reading on the thyroid and how women with endometriosis are at higher
>>>>risk for thyroid problems. What it has come down to is ME doing all of
>>>>the reading and finding things on my own! It seems as though I have not
>>>>had any doctors care enough to look at the root of the problem.
>>>>
>>>>Have any of you ladies with endo had issues with your thyroid? If so,
>>>>who has been able to help treat you? I am hoping that this new doctor
>>>>that I see next week can have an answer to my problems. I'm just tired
>>>>of wasting my time with useless doctors!
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