Re: Need to find Endo

[Guest guest]

where do you live?

chris

>

> Hi all, I desperatly need to find a NHS endoc who would be willing to treat

me, although im within range my symptoms are strong and i

[Guest guest]

Hello Sue

The doctors on our recommended list must know a bit more about

hypothyroidism than the average doctor because they are willing to prescribe either

synthetic T3 in combination with T4, T3 on it's own or natural thyroid extract.

I take that to mean that they have done their research into finding out the reasons

as to why some of their patients remain ill on levothyroxine alone and

therefore, probably realise too that reaching a diagnosis through serum thyroid

function testing is quite insufficient.

What I would do is to telephone the doctors on the list you

think might help you and ask them whether they diagnosis by serum TFT's alone

or do they take into account your symptoms, signs, results of a full clinical

examination, your past medical history etc. and would s/he check for

thyroid antibodies. You have to do a little work yourself on this one and as

they say " let your fingers do the walking " - get dialling and let us

know how you get on.

I would not let my GP get away with this. I would write a letter

to him asking him to give you the reasons in writing as to why he chooses to

ignore your diagnosis of hypothyroidism from Dr Skinner and his

recommendations. You are entitled to this, especially as you had to pay to go

outside of the NHS to get such a diagnosis in the first place.

Bring to his attention some of the 'Duties of a Doctor

registered with The General Medical Council - http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/good_medical_practice/duties_of_a_doctor.asp

" Patients must be able to trust doctors with their lives

and health. To justify that trust you must show respect for human life and you

must:

• Make the care of your patient your first concern

• Work in partnership with patients

o Listen to patients and respond to their concerns and

preferences

o Give patients the information they want or need in a way they

can understand

o Respect patients' right to reach decisions with you about

their treatment and care

o Support patients in caring for themselves to improve and

maintain their health

• Be honest and open and act with integrity

o Never discriminate unfairly against patients or colleagues

o Never abuse your patients' trust in you or the public's trust

in the profession.

You are personally accountable for your professional practice and

must always be prepared to justify your decisions and actions. "

Problem is that NHS doctors have been made afraid to diagnose

and treat outside of the BTA/RCP guidelines because they fear their livelihood

and career might be put at risk because they know members of these

organisations will watch their every step and wherever possible, report them to

the GMC to try to put a stop to what they are doing. They all know what

happened to Dr P, Dr S, Dr M, Dr H, Dr McD and others. This is the same for

doctors who dare to prescribe any other thyroid hormone other than the mainly

INACTIVE thyroid hormone thyroxine.

When you write to your GP, insist he gives you his reasons for

refusing to take into account Dr S's recommendations and diagnosis in

writing and send a copy also to your Head of Practice. Let us know

how you get on.

Luv - Sheila

Hi all, I desperatly need to find a NHS endoc who would

be willing to treat me, although im within range my symptoms are strong and i

have a diagnoses from Dr Skinner for hypothyroidism unfortunatly my GP is

flatly refusing to accept anything that Dr S has recommended. He is however

willing to refer me again to a NHS endoc of my choice, this is my last chance

and i dont want to waste it. I already have Sheila's list but as that is only

for dr's who will treat with t3 or NDT it wont help me with a diagnoses within

the NHS. I have written letters to the PCT complaining about my non treatment

and also the GMC but i do'nt hold out much hope on their response(when they can

be bothered to reply). If you could email me any info on NHS endo's that have

been known to diagnose and treat within the range it would help me no end. Luv

Sue X

[Guest guest]

> >

> > Hi all, I desperatly need to find a NHS endoc who would be willing to treat

me, although im within range my symptoms are strong and i

>

I live in telford, shropshire, but i am willing to travel. You watch, i

will eventually get treatment for this in the years to come and i'll drop dead

of something completely unrelated after struggling for all these years !!! It

seems that as soon as you mention Hypothyroidism to the NHS they all of a sudden

glaze over and wont listen to another word you say!! luv Sue X

[Guest guest]

>

> Hello Sue

>

> The doctors on our recommended list must know a bit more about

> hypothyroidism

>

>

> When you write to your GP, insist he gives you his reasons for refusing to

> take into account Dr S's recommendations and diagnosis in writing and send

> a copy also to your Head of Practice. Let us know how you get on.

>

> Luv - Sheila

>

>

>

>

>

> Hi all, I desperatly need to find a NHS endoc who would be willing to treat

>

>Thankyou Sheila, I will write him a letter, I have already written to the GMC

and the PCT. I am so angry about the way I am being treated and will not rest

until I have gone as far as I can go with this and some. Could we take them to

the Court Of Human Rights as a mass action!! Get that Max Cliffsomething on th

case! Luv Sue X

[Guest guest]

, Just an update of my situation, I got refered to a Dr A.B @ Heartlands in Brum

but when the appointment came through eventually ( I had to chase this up on

several occasions) it was with a Dr A.K, I phoned the hospital to tell them that

the referal was for Dr A.B specifically and was told he was to busy, i asked to

speak with his secretary and explained to her that i wanted to see a thyroid

specialist not a diabetes one, she agreed to make me an appointment but this

is'nt until sept @ Solihull, today however i recieved a copy of a letter for my

GP from a dr A.R in the endoc dept @ heartlands saying that he nor his

consultant colleague Dr A.B would offer this lady thyroid replacement based on

these blood results ( TSH 1.41 and 0.85 and a fT4 Of 12.2 and 12.1 ) He said

that fT4 remains at the lower end of the normal range but on both occasions was

within the normal range and stable. Therefore i do not feel that there is much

point in sending her an outpatients clinic appointment to see us. If however you

feel that you would like us to see her please let us know and we can send her an

outpatient clinic appointment just to confirm that we would not prescribe

thyroid hormone replacement for her. So i presume that my appointment with Dr

A.B still stands @ solihull but i am very disheartened that this might be the

attidude i am going to be met with, My Gp is defo playing games because he never

mentioned in his referal letter the TSH that was 2.14 or the fT3 of 4.0. What

are your thoughts on this, should i just give up do any of you believe with my

results that i am hypothyroid or is all this in my head??!! Very tired of this

fight now Luv Sue X

[Guest guest]

If this was me, I would sit down and write a letter and tell

your GP that you have no intention of seeing Dr A.R that that you have specifically

requested one with Dr A.B. and that you do not wish to see anybody else.

Patients have choice. I would also say how appalled you are that any specialist

would make up his mind about a patients treatment (or not) based on the results

of serum thyroid function test results only. I would tell him

that any doctor trying to reach a diagnosis using ONLY blood tests is going

against the

....the General Medical Council (GMC) who state: " Good

clinical care must include: an adequate assessment of the

patient's conditions, based on the history and symptoms and, if necessary, an

appropriate examination; "

....the Department of Health state: " Blood

tests are useful in helping diagnose hypothyroidism but should not be used in

isolation and other factors must be taken into account such as the absence or

presence of symptoms. This is why at present it is considered good medical

practice to rely upon clinical history and examination, in addition to blood

tests, in the diagnosis of this condition.

....the

British Thyroid Foundation state: " The biochemical

results have to be considered alongside clinical symptoms, and together they

determine the point at which the physician will introduce Thyroxine

therapy " .

I would also tell the GP that you would be very unhappy being

treated by a doctor who did not know that for a person not taking any thyroid

hormone replacement, their free T4 should be just above the middle of the

reference range, which would mean that for a normal reading, your fT4 should be

around 17 (assuming the top of the reference range is 22.0). Your fT4 is

clearly at the bottom of the range and as he admits himself, 'stable', so not shifting up

to where it should be. Mention also that the TSH Dr AB is referring to is

NOT the correct TSH and that this is increasing, and with a free T3 of only

4.0, again, this is clearly at the bottom end of the reference range. Just

make it absolutely clear that you will be seeing Dr AB and nobody else in

September and will wait for him to decide whether you need treatment, based not

only on blood results that are obviously outdated and incorrect, but through a

thorough clinical examination, taking into consideration your past medical

history and testing further to see whether you have thyroid antibodies. You

should also mention whether you have other members in your family with a

thyroid or autoimmune disorder. Ask your GP in that letter to test your levels

of ferritin, vitamin B12, vitamin D3, magnesium, folate, copper and zinc to see

whether any of these show low levels.

Ask

for your letter to be placed into your medical notes and send a copy to the

Head of Practice.

Yes,

it is so easy to give up when you get doctors around you like this, but if you

have made up your mind to see Dr AB, then stick with this and don't let them

talk you out of it. Last, ask for your letter of requests to be placed into

your medical notes and keep a copy yourself. Putting everything down in writing

often works wonders, because they know at a later date, they cannot deny the

conversation ever took place.

Always

remember, your doctor is there to help you get well -= and for no other reason.

If he is clearly not doing this, change doctors.

Good

luck and big (((HUGS)))

Luv

- Sheila

So i presume that my appointment with Dr A.B still stands @

solihull but i am very disheartened that this might be the attidude i am going

to be met with, My Gp is defo playing games because he never mentioned in his

referal letter the TSH that was 2.14 or the fT3 of 4.0. What are your thoughts

on this, should i just give up do any of you believe with my results that i am

hypothyroid or is all this in my head??!! Very tired of this fight now Luv

Sue X

[Guest guest]

do you know that AB will treat you or would consider doing so? have you had any

contact with him at all? maybe AB would offer a trial (who can say) but AR

doesn't sound much help!

Could you mail him and say look these are my results, symptoms, would you

investigate/treat at this level to see if i get better? if not then you have

your answer i suppose and you need to look else where and you won't waste a

month or two waiting maybe you'd need to see someone else in the birmingham

area.

you could find AB's email address easily enough i should imagine. if it's who i

think it is, then i found his email just by googling dr (first name last name)

and it was the top links (looks like he does a private clinic).

i should make sure the AB appt is still valid and they've not cancelled it.

make sure you see who you were referred to and don't let them cancel that

appointment. i had a aimilar problem - was referred to a urologist who in email

sounded very helpful, but he was off work so i ended up having an appointment

with his colleague, a surgeon, who was ok, but knew very little, had *no* copies

of my notes whatsoever, no information, and discharged me with a recommendation

that the gp treat me. the one i was supposed to see was very knowledgable in

the area i needed help with. very frustating. don't let it happen to you.

Yes, GPs play games, i was referred to an endo and you should have seen the

letter, it said pretty much, he's depressed, won't admit it, nothing wrong with

him, testosterone normal, so i was impressed when the endo wrote back and said

actually there are a few things wrong with him and his testosterone is low. gp

wasn't impressed though.

there's probably a good reason AR isn't on sheila's list! oops, my eyes are

getting bad i think (or my monitor needs cleaning) it looks like it's AK not AR!

Chris

>

> , Just an update of my situation, I got refered to a Dr A.B @ Heartlands in

Brum but when the appointment came through eventually ( I had to chase this up

on several occasions) it was with a Dr A.K, I phoned the hospital to tell them

that the referal was for Dr A.B specifically and was told he was to busy, i

asked to speak with his secretary and explained to her that i wanted to see a

thyroid

[Guest guest]

i'd be interested to know if you had a urinary 24hr thyroid done too? just

curious what it'd show with those levels. they don't seem to do them on the nhs

but genova do them

chris

>

> If this was me, I would sit down and write a letter and tell your GP that

> you have no intention of seeing Dr A.R that that you have specifically

[Guest guest]

>

> If this was me, I would sit down and write a letter and tell your GP that

>

Thankyou Sheila, You are a gem, I really do not know where i would be without

yours and everyones help and much needed support on here. I will write to my GP

noteing all the points you have outlined and keep my fingers crossed, I have

phoned around the surgeries in my area to try and find a GP who would be

prepared to take my symptoms into consideration but unfortunatly no joy there,

it seems as though they have closed ranks in Telford, unless this is where they

send all the idiots haha ! Thanks again for all your help luv Sue

[Guest guest]

>

> do you know that AB will treat you or would consider doing so? have you had

any contact with him at all? maybe AB would offer a trial (who can say) but AR

doesn't sound much help!

>

>

>

Hi Its not your eyesight lol, I know its a bit mixed up but thats me all

over haha ! I wanted an appointment with DR A.B @ Heartlands but got one with Dr

A.K @ Heartlands instead, it was a Dr A.R from Heartlands that wrote my GP the

letter but, what i did was to ring the hospital when i recieved the appointment

and said i wanted to see Dr A.B only, so was then put through to Dr A.B's

secretary @ Solihull and made an appointment with her to see Dr A.B @ Solihull,

very confusing lol, so with any luck with it being a different hospital my

appointment will still stand. I have tried to find his email address but can't.

To go back to your previous point, I would'nt want to spend even more money that

i hav'nt got on a test that would'nt be recognised by the Nhs, as i have already

borrowed the money to see Dr Skinner and my GP is refusing to accept his

diagnoses of hypothyroidism and treatment recomendations, so no 24 hr urinary

test for me i'm afraid, although i have to agree with you, that it would be very

interesting to see the results of such a test. Thanks for your reply Chris. Luv

Sue X

[Guest guest]

Hi Sue

what was Dr S's recommendations? if he was going to prescribe t3, have you

looked into obtaining it yourself? might be a lot cheaper?

sorry this is being such a performance for you -these simple things shouldn't

be. sounds like your gp is very awkward.

chris

>

> >

> > do you know that AB will treat you or would consider doing so? have you had

any contact with him at all? maybe AB would offer a trial (who can say) but AR

doesn't sound much help!

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

>

> Hi Sue

>

> what was Dr S's recommendations? if he was going to prescribe t3, have you

looked into obtaining it yourself? might be a lot cheap

> > >

> > >

> > >

>

Hi Dr Skinner diagnosed me as hypothyroid and recommended i be started on

thyroxine at a low dose to start and gradually building up to 150mg from what i

can remember, I never recieved my copy of his letter to my GP and i have

telephoned on several occasions and asked for another copy along with some blood

test results i accidently left on his desk ( maybe i should just send a letter

to him with a stamped addressed envelope ). I chose this GP in my practice

because he had a very good rep as being thorough, diligant and caring (somebody

was lying lol) it turns out he did a master class in bull shit . Luv Sue X

[Guest guest]

it is a pity your gp wouldn't just try you on that recommendation by Dr S. t4's

dirt cheap isn't it, and what price the cost of a few blood tests? Was the

cost of continuing to see Dr S and gettings scripts from him too prohibitive?

sounds like he's just being very awkward. stick to your guns! :-)

chris

>

>> Hi Dr Skinner diagnosed me as hypothyroid and recommended i be started

on thyroxine at a low dose to start and gradually building up to 150mg from what

i can remember,