Re: My RE does not have a clue - frustrated! Amy / Terese
From: summer (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Sun Jun 29 21:14:22 2008
Sorry, it was Terese who had the problem with the RE! Got the names
mixed up
http://www.thyroid-info.com/
Another blip, kind of, in that post below. The above is Mary Shomon's
site, a kind of jump off for learning so much more about thryoid issues.
At Sun, 29 Jun 2008, summer wrote:
>
>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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