RE: Re: Fuming

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the suggestion Mo. What is DLPA?

Lilian

[Guest guest]

This doctor IS another one My old one was just as bad. Out of fat into fire. I asked to change from my old one, but had no say in the one chosen for me. I was told he was the only doctor with a vacancy.

I am wondering what will be put on my records if I say I want to change yet again. If I keep putting that I cannot get on with my doctor they will begin to think I would not be able to get on with any doctor and that there is something wrong with me. So the next doctor will be preparing themselves for an awkward patient.

Lilian

[Guest guest]

No I have not looked at her website. I will do so.

Thanks Bob.

Lilian

[Guest guest]

I went to her sight Mo, but do not seem to be able to read anything. Does one have to register or something. I have clicked on sleep problems but it does not give any real information.

Lilian

[Guest guest]

That was very interesting Mo, thanks for the Link. I see there is no mention of thyroid though, yet I did not have this excessive sleeping when on Armour. I went to bed, slept well, woke up refreshed and awake all day.

Lilian

[Guest guest]

That looks extremely interesting. Steve Redgrave is also diabetic. I have just read the first bit at the moment and will read and digest tomorrow.

When I clicked on the links on her sight I got nowhere. Odd that.

Thanks again Mo.

Lilian

[Guest guest]

I see they say it is not suitable for people with high blood pressure, and I have very high BP .

Lilian

Here's some info on it :http://www.upmarketnutrition.co.uk/acatalog/D.L.P.A.htmlI use it every morning.

[Guest guest]

He has done it to be bl**dy minded Dawn. His nose has been put out of joint because he was so adamant that the new consultant would say the same as the other one and the same as him, but he didn't, he has given me a prescription for T3 (albeit a microscopic dose).

He only wrote that letter to me after he received the consultants letter telling me he was prescribing T3.

He told me his reason for not giving me T3 (or any more thyroxine) was because I could have a heart attack.

Next time I see him I will mention that I feel re-assured that he has guaranteed I will now never have a heart attack, and see what he says to that lol.

Lilian

[Guest guest]

Will try to keep a long story as short as possible:

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism about 25 or over years ago. In my case probably hereditary because all family have it. I was given thyroxine and felt well on it.

I cannot pin point a time when I became ill as it must have been slowly creeping up on me, and several things happened, and which in hindsight I see, could well be thyroid related, but I did not know it then.

I kept going back to my doctor for these various things. My legs, feet and ankles swelled up very badly. So much so that my legs were stretch so much they were shiney. I got plantar fasciitis and also needed an operation for two frozen shoulders. I had been on a very strict diet for three years, not even cheating at Christmas's and was so frustrated at only having lost a couple of stone at the most in all that time. I also had very bad pins and needles in my arm which was not a circulation problem because rubbing would not help. The last straw was when I started to fall asleep in mid sentence. I then knew there was something wrong. My GP did a TSH test, which was within range and even low, so told me there was nothing wrong with me. Didn't even pursue other avenues as to why this was happening.

I often wonder if the reason he did not pursue other avenues was because he secretly knew it was a thyroid matter but his hands were tied.

I then decided to get my blood tested by a private clinic, to include T3, T4 and also B12. This came back as my T3 below range, T4 at the very lowest of the range, and B12 low. I took these results back to the GP who told me that they do not take any notice of T3 but that it looks as if I needed some more T4. I had another test for the B12 which subsequently showed I had pernicious anaemia.

The GP therefore decided that although 125mcg was adequate for me the week before (after the NHS inadequate test), it should be raised to 150mcg because I was still hypothyroid. I am quite disgusted as if I had not been able to get my tests done privately, I would still have been told I was euthyroid when, in fact, I was not.

However, after a couple of months feeling better on 150mcg the tiredness started to come back again, and I still could not lose any weight.

My husband was working at a private clinic and there was a doctor there who was also a nutritionist, so I went to see him privately. My GP seemed to have washed his hands of me because I would not take the Prozac he spent over 10 minutes trying to persuade me I needed.

This doctor arrange for some more tests including a 24 hour urine one. They all came back the same and with notes to say it looks as if I was not converting to T3, as the T3 was still below range.

This doctor told me there was no nutritional advice he could give me to lose weight until I had got my thyroid sorted, and he gave me a prescription for T3. I followed his protocol of starting slowly, and during the whole time I felt only better and no bad effects at all.

My NHS GP was so angry because I was taking the T3 that every time I went to see him about anything I was told the remedy was in my own hands. I was not sure whether he was implying it was because I was taking T3 or not taking Prozac. He also wanted me to take statins, which I also refused.

I then decided that I had no alternative but to change my GP. I asked to be changed to one but was told he had no vacancies and I could change but had no choice who to change to.

When I changed to my present GP he asked about medications I was taking and I told him. He wasn't happy but implied that he would treat me but leave thyroid matters to the private doctor. I was happy with this.

However, the private doctor left this area, and I could only get prescriptions by post, and with the occasional telephone consultation where it was confirmed I had no problem. My GP did not like this arrangement and said it was bad medical practice. I therefore decided I would stop contacting the private doctor and buy the T3 myself. After all I knew how to take it and have had no problems with it, and had to pay for it anyway with the private prescription.

At the time I had difficulty finding T3 but had been reading a lot about Armour, and joined TPA. I therefore decided that I might as well switch to Armour. So for about 2 years I took T3 with thyroxine and for a further 3 I took Armour.

During those 5 years I gradually got better and better. In fact during the last six months I started to diet again and began losing weight at a steady safe pace like any normal person would on such a diet. I slept well, was awake during the day, no aches and pains, and generally speaking felt 20 years younger. My cholesterol went down to 4.3 my tryglicerides were excellent, I had better control of my blood sugar, although I did suffer from high blood pressure, the pills I was taking kept it down to a reasonable number. I was able to join clubs, read books, and had even bought a camcorder ready to take videos of my forthcoming holiday.

Then my GP told me he was not happy with what I was doing and that I must stop taking anything other than 100mcg of thyroxine a day or he will not be my GP. I tried to explain that 100mcg of thyroxine would be much too low as I was unwell when it was put up to 150mcg but he was adamant.

By the time I went on holiday a couple of months later, I could hardly walk. Weight had gone on, the tiredness had come back with a vengeance, I started to get pins and needles in my arm and hand again and my shoulders became painful again, which made me think those two things might well be thyroid connected. Ankles, feet and legs swelled up albeit not quite as bad as they were before - as yet. My hair which was thinning before I started taking T3 and which started to thicken up again when taking Armour, started to thin again.

The GP is now telling me that my tiredness could be Sleep Apnoea and is arranging for me to go to a sleep clinic for diagnosis. He has told me to stop driving.

I would have thought that had my tiredness during the day been due to sleep apnoea it would have been like that during the 5 years I was on T3 or Armour, but it was not. My husband told the doctor that he had watched me sleep for 40 minutes and at no time did I stop breathing, yet he still will not accept it is because I am not being medicated properly for the thyroid.

I am still waiting to hear the results of a recent cholesterol test, but I know that since stopping the Armour my blood pressure has gone sky high. I have needed to take a much higher dose of blood pressure pills and have even been prescribed a diuretic, whereas when I was taking the Armour my blood pressure was well controlled on a much smaller dose of BP tablets.

The consultant endocrinologist I see agreed with my GP that I should go on thyroxine alone, regardless of my trying to explain how I was so much better on Armour, or even T3. But the most insulting of all was to be told that the consultant DOES prescribe T3 but only to patients who had moved into this area but who had been prescribed it by another consultant from the area they have come from. He took no regard to the fact that I had been prescribed it and taking it and feeling well on it for the past 5 years.

The new consultant was most sympathetic and is indeed concerned with how I feel, yet is only happy to start me off at 5mcg of T3 daily. Although he says he could well increase it when I see him next time, even if he puts it up to 10mcg it will hardly touch the surface and then I will have to wait months again. At 69 I do not want to spend months trying to get my health back again, I do not have months to lose just sitting around like a zombie.

Of late I have become very breathless. Again since stopping the Armour. I am not sure whether this is because of the extra weight I have put on or the thyroid. I am finding it painful to walk and my neck hurts when moving it. This has only manifest itself since stopping Armour. On mentioning this to GP I was told that I had arthritis in the neck.

I contacted the PCT to find out if there was a doctor I could change to who does prescribe T3 but they were no help whatsoever. In fact there must be a doctor who does because the consultant said he does prescribe it for other patients in the area. They put me on to PALS, who said a chemist would telephone me to discuss the matter and if he thought I needed T3 he would talk to my GP about it. A chemist!!!!! Anyway he never did phone.

Having already changed my doctor once and finding I have got out of the fat into the fire, I do not want to change again unless I can be sure the GP knows what he is about regarding the thyroid, or at least is prepared to treat me for other problems whilst I buy Armour myself.

In fact, whilst I was on Armour I didn't have many other problems.

Just to let you know what this GP is like. I wanted to go on Lighter Life and they required the doctor to fill in a form and agree for a nurse to monitor my BP once a month. He filled in the form, charged me £30 for it, then wrote all over it that he is not prepared to monitor my BP and does not agree with it. When I asked him for my money back he refused saying that he had filled in the form.

Lilian

[Guest guest]

Thanks Dawn.

Lilian

[Guest guest]

,

I cannot remember whether I have mentioned this. I wanted to go to Lighter Life (in desperation), but they needed a form to be filled in by my GP.

I went to see him about it, he said he would fill the form in but it would cost £30. I took this to be that he agreed. So a week later I took the form to him, he filled it in, and took the £30.

He then proceeded to write over the form that he does not agree with it and will not have me monitored. I said they would not accept this and asked for my money back. He would not do this saying "you have paid for me to fill in the form and that is what I have done".

A decent person would have said before hand that they do not agree with it and therefore would not fill in the form or take the £30.

Lilian

[Guest guest]

This is

definitely a reportable offence by a GP Lilian. I would tell your local Primary

Care Trust about this and demand that this doctor be made to pay back your

money, which has been taken by false pretences.

luv -

Sheila

I

cannot remember whether I have mentioned this. I wanted to go

to Lighter Life (in desperation), but they needed a form to be filled in by my

GP.

I

went to see him about it, he said he would fill the form in but it would cost

£30. I took this to be that he agreed. So a week

later I took the form to him, he filled it in, and took the £30.

He

then proceeded to write over the form that he does not agree with it and will

not have me monitored. I said they would not accept

this and asked for my money back. He would not do this

saying " you have paid for me to fill in the form and that is what I have

done " .

A

decent person would have said before hand that they do not agree with it and

therefore would not fill in the form or take the £30.

Lilian

[Guest guest]

Hi Lilian,

              Sheila Is quite right, this

Dr needs reporting- it’s not the first time he has treated you badly- all

needs including. I know you have had problems with docs in the past and felt

that this one was your only option, but  surely almost any one else- even with

a long journey, would be better than this.

Stenning

Subject: RE:

Re: Fuming

This

is definitely a reportable offence by a GP Lilian. I would tell your local

Primary Care Trust about this and demand that this doctor be made to pay back

your money, which has been taken by false pretences.

luv - Sheila

I cannot remember whether I have mentioned

this. I wanted to go to Lighter Life (in desperation), but

they needed a form to be filled in by my GP.

I went to see him about it, he said he would

fill the form in but it would cost £30. I took this to be

that he agreed. So a week later I took the form to him, he filled

it in, and took the £30.

He then proceeded to write over the form that

he does not agree with it and will not have me

monitored. I said they would not accept this and asked

for my money back. He would not do this saying

" you have paid for me to fill in the form and that is what I have

done " .

A decent person would have said before hand

that they do not agree with it and therefore would not fill in the form or take

the £30.

Lilian

[Guest guest]

Lilian - has read your story.

I have never seen him so ANGRY in a long time. He cannot believe that ANY

doctor would take away the medication that has been shown to make you well. He

says your doctor appears to be hell bent on doing everything he can to cause

you illness. He too believes you should send your story to the Head of your

local PCT - and to PALS with a demand they do something before they kill you

off completely.

I personally believe you should get back on

to Armour immediately, because if you don't, the lack of T3 will do you so much

harm you may not be able to recover fully, so please do not let these doctors

take charge of your thyroid treatment. They are ignorant of this disease and

how it should be treated.  Carry on getting the treatment you need for your

diabetes, but take your thyroid problem into your own hands.

I have just posted a message to with

a link to a paper asking whether thyroid function tests need to be done when

taking thyroid hormone replacement - they should treat your symptoms - not the

blood test results. How much longer are you going to let them ruin your life. You

remember June, and how her doctor stopped her Armour and insisted she takes

levothyroxine only and look how ill she became, and she has still not

recovered. This is absolutely scandalous. The reason why TPA is here is to help

you through all of this and to teach you how to look after yourself. You KNOW

you know more than your doctors do - you don't trust your doctors and

therefore, to regain your normal health again, you MUST look after yourself and

get back on to the dose of Armour you were taking when you were so well. If

your doctor tells you that he will not treat you if you continue taking Armour

or T3, then quite simply, don't tell him.  This is your health, not his.

Luv - Sheila

I

contacted the PCT to find out if there was a doctor I could change to who does

prescribe T3 but they were no help whatsoever. In fact

there must be a doctor who does because the consultant said he does prescribe

it for other patients in the area. They put me on

to PALS, who said a chemist would telephone me to discuss the matter and if he

thought I needed T3 he would talk to my GP about it. A

chemist!!!!! Anyway he never did phone.

Having

already changed my doctor once and finding I have got out of the fat into the fire,

I do not want to change again unless I can be sure the GP knows what he is

about regarding the thyroid, or at least is prepared to treat me for other

problems whilst I buy Armour myself.

In

fact, whilst I was on Armour I didn't have many other problems.

Just

to let you know what this GP is like. I wanted to go on

Lighter Life and they required the doctor to fill in a form and agree for

a nurse to monitor my BP once a month. He filled in the form,

charged me £30 for it, then wrote all over it that he is not prepared to

monitor my BP and does not agree with it. When I asked

him for my money back he refused saying that he had filled in the form.

Lilian

[Guest guest]

I totally agree with Sheila, go back on Armour lillian and just self treat. You know it works for you and you know how well you were on it. Why put up with being ill when you know there is something that will make you better?

Is it funding that is causing you not to go back to the Armour? I would do as Sheila says and not even tell your doctor what you are doing, he obviously doesnt care about your health and is failing as a doctor, he really is.

If it were me i know what I would do.............

Lilian - has read your story. I have never seen him so ANGRY in a long time. He cannot believe that ANY doctor would take away the medication that has been shown to make you well. He says your doctor appears to be hell bent on doing everything he can to cause you illness. He too believes you should send your story to the Head of your local PCT - and to PALS with a demand they do something before they kill you off completely.

I personally believe you should get back on to Armour immediately, because if you don't, the lack of T3 will do you so much harm you may not be able to recover fully, so please do not let these doctors take charge of your thyroid treatment. They are ignorant of this disease and how it should be treated. Carry on getting the treatment you need for your diabetes, but take your thyroid problem into your own hands.

Luv - Sheila

I contacted the PCT to find out if there was a doctor I could change to who does prescribe T3 but they were no help whatsoever. In fact there must be a doctor who does because the consultant said he does prescribe it for other patients in the area. They put me on to PALS, who said a chemist would telephone me to discuss the matter and if he thought I needed T3 he would talk to my GP about it. A chemist!!!!! Anyway he never did phone.

Having already changed my doctor once and finding I have got out of the fat into the fire, I do not want to change again unless I can be sure the GP knows what he is about regarding the thyroid, or at least is prepared to treat me for other problems whilst I buy Armour myself.

In fact, whilst I was on Armour I didn't have many other problems.

Just to let you know what this GP is like. I wanted to go on Lighter Life and they required the doctor to fill in a form and agree for a nurse to monitor my BP once a month. He filled in the form, charged me £30 for it, then wrote all over it that he is not prepared to monitor my BP and does not agree with it. When I asked him for my money back he refused saying that he had filled in the form.

Lilian

[Guest guest]

F,

Well I know my local chemist does not stock it because when I brought in the prescription he had to look it up.

There are so many chemists round this area, including in the supermarkets, but then people from all over the area and outside the town come here to the town centre and the out of town supermarkets, that it will still not give me an indication as to where the doctors are likely to be.

There may be many doctors but only one consultant for the area and a lot of doctors will go by what the consultant says regarding medication, because the responsibility will then be the consultants not theirs (I think).

I could find a doctor who might be willing to prescribe T3 but the consultant say they do not agree with it.

If it were not for TPA I couldn't imagine how I would be today.

Lilian

and it could be worse, you could be going thru this experience and nothave access to shelia and this forum, then you would be stumped !!

[Guest guest]

I

cannot get my head around why, in the past, GP's automatically prescribed T3/T4

combination or T3 alone for their patients if they were not losing their

hypothyroid symptoms on T4 alone, but suddenly, there doesn't appear to be one

single GP in the whole of the UK who is prepared to do this without the say so

of a consultant endocrinologist. What's going on? If you can find a doctor who

will prescribe you T3 Lilian, then why do you need a consultant. Go and see

that doctor. I would also write to Dr E and ask him for an immediate increase

in your T3 as 5 mcgs is a ridiculous dose after you have been on such a high

dose of T3 previously.

Luv - Sheila

F,

Well

I know my local chemist does not stock it because when I brought in the

prescription he had to look it up.

There

are so many chemists round this area, including in the supermarkets, but then

people from all over the area and outside the town come here to the town centre

and the out of town supermarkets, that it will still not give me an indication

as to where the doctors are likely to be.

There

may be many doctors but only one consultant for the area and a lot of doctors

will go by what the consultant says regarding medication, because the

responsibility will then be the consultants not theirs (I think).

I

could find a doctor who might be willing to prescribe T3 but the consultant say

they do not agree with it.

If

it were not for TPA I couldn't imagine how I would be today.

Lilian

and it could be worse, you could be going thru this experience and not

have access to shelia and this forum, then you would be stumped !!

[Guest guest]

…and

more than that - I am wondering just how many other patients he is taking money

from under false pretences. Can't he manage on his £100,000 wage? This should

be investigated for the sake of other sufferers in your area - even though it

was quite a few months ago.

Luv -

Sheila

That's disgraceful. I'd have thought you'd be justified in making a

complaint. It's unprofessional and unethical.

Is there any way you can change your GP?