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Hypothyroid

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  • phlyn
    phlyn Posts: 15 Member
    I am amazed at the knowledge you all have about your condition, the numbers of Th this and that. I have been taking Levothyroxine for about 7 yrs now. I live in UK and have never known my 'numbers'.
    Each year the practice nurse takes my blood and reports back that 'everything is fine' and off I go. I have got a book by Mary J Shomon which started me looking at lowering my carbs intake, but I can't see much difference in my symptoms.
    Is it just a UK thing, we only have one Doctors practice in my village, you don't really get a choice, you have to register with your nearest GP. To get to see a specialist you have to have something really serious and then you have to wait an average of 3 months or more for an appointment. Unless there are major changes in your condition the practice nurse takes care of you not the doctor. There is no 'relationship' with doctors here you are in and out in a matter of minutes.
    I paid privately to see a specialist a few years ago for my Osteoprosis,as my ankle had swollen so much and the pain killers were hopeless, I went for 6 weeks for an injection at £100 per time, and when I could not afford any more, he referred me to his NHS clinic and was told that I would have to wait 6 months to see him again.
    Sorry I have gone off topic a little, :*
  • Patti2008
    Patti2008 Posts: 48 Member
    In the U.S. , my insurance has " in network" providers and out of network providers. If I go out of network, I pay more. I see a nurse practioner. She has to make a referral for me to see someone else, and as with you, things have to be pretty dire for that to happen. I saw an endocrinologist when I ended up in the ER with cardiac symptoms. I was diagnosed with Graves' disease and after that was dealt with, sent back to family practice. Everything is TSH driven and I would have to go to another institution to get further testing. And this at a world renowned health institution that is supposed to be "cutting edge."
  • Patti2008
    Patti2008 Posts: 48 Member
    In general, most doctors go by TSH here and you have to dig to find someone who will do more. Which is crazy in my opinion.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    edited December 2016
    phlyn wrote: »
    I am amazed at the knowledge you all have about your condition, the numbers of Th this and that. I have been taking Levothyroxine for about 7 yrs now. I live in UK and have never known my 'numbers'.
    Each year the practice nurse takes my blood and reports back that 'everything is fine' and off I go. I have got a book by Mary J Shomon which started me looking at lowering my carbs intake, but I can't see much difference in my symptoms.
    Is it just a UK thing, we only have one Doctors practice in my village, you don't really get a choice, you have to register with your nearest GP. To get to see a specialist you have to have something really serious and then you have to wait an average of 3 months or more for an appointment. Unless there are major changes in your condition the practice nurse takes care of you not the doctor. There is no 'relationship' with doctors here you are in and out in a matter of minutes.
    I paid privately to see a specialist a few years ago for my Osteoprosis,as my ankle had swollen so much and the pain killers were hopeless, I went for 6 weeks for an injection at £100 per time, and when I could not afford any more, he referred me to his NHS clinic and was told that I would have to wait 6 months to see him again.
    Sorry I have gone off topic a little, :*

    I only know my numbers after finding out, years later, that when the doctors told me I was fine, that they were wrong. That was just their interpretation. I got my records from a doctor who left her practice and discovered, 20 years late, that my TSH had been over 6 and then she had me retest and it cam back at a normal 5. She never told me my results.

    Same with ANA. I remember being told, when I had my first AI arthritis flare-up at age 22, that I don't have arthritis but I probably will one day. And that was that. (This was at the same time that my TSH was a 6 something.) The pain went away, I could hold a pencil again, so I moved on.

    Now? I get every lab report printed out and I consult Dr Google. I've had a couple of scares where the abnormal result was not as bad as I worried, but on the other hand, I'm the one who figured that I have hypothyroidism and celiac disease. I then told the doctor what tests to run to confirm it. LOL

    ... That doctor hated me. He told me to read less. :D I then added freeT3 and free T4 to my lab requisitions when he wouldn't. Then I found another doctor. ;)

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