• Doctors

At the heel of Oprah’s revelation that she has a thyroid condition (see my blog post below) comes this article on September 13: Statins: Doctors ignore patients’ complaints of reactions to drugs

Boy howdy, doesn’t THAT sound familiar!

Sure, it’s about a non-thyroid drug called a statin, which has an advertised purpose of lowering your high cholesterol. But the information MIRRORS the experience of ALL thyroid patients!! Namely, the article shows that doctors rarely believe that the pill you are on is to blame for your “real – or imagined reactions”.

The article outlines a study that involved 650 patients who had complained of particular reactions after taking their statin. And the problems these patients observed are COMMON to being on statins – muscle problems, cognitive loss, and nerve pain called peripheral neuropathy (and my dear mother-in-law, who is on a statin, has all three). And what they got across the board is that their doctors either denied or barely considered that the statin could be causing the problems which the patient complained about!

And there’s a huge double whammy irony here. Namely, not only do thyroid patients have this exact experience when we are on T4-only meds and continue to have hypo symptoms that our doctors dismiss, but WE ARE A CERTAIN BODY OF THOSE ON STATINS because of one of the key continuing hypo symptoms that our doctors dismiss–high cholesterol.

Clinical presentation has gone by the wayside in favor of a lazy worship of the infallibility of pills.

Who hasn’t heard the tale of the naked king, who succeeded at making his subjects schizophrenically believe that nakedness is the norm?? That nakedness isn’t nakedness at all!

The same folly still occurs today when you view the final press release in the Fitness to Practice hearing of Dr Gordon B Skinner in the UK, sent to me by Lyn Mynott, chair of Thyroid UK. In case you aren’t up on the news, Dr. Skinner has been brought before the GMC because he dares to treat his patients with thyroid hormone when they have so-called “normal” blood lab test results. The General Medical Council (GMC) is the “big brother” of all doctors in the UK, dictating exactly what is “a good standard of practice and care” for patients and the “proper standards in medicine”.

And you don’t have to guess long to know what that “good standard of practice” is. Namely, that man-made ink spots on a piece of paper called labwork tells the truth, and your slew of symptoms do not. That your chronic low-grade depression is of “unknown origin” or imagined. That your aches and pains are from Fibromyalgia or imagined. That your easy weight gain is because you eat too much or exercise too little. That your rising cholesterol is from what you eat or your genes. That your hair loss is simply alopecia or age. That your poor stamina simply means to take naps. And they can all occur with “normal” thyroid labs.

It’s simply pure and simple crazy-making: Of COURSE you aren’t hypothyroid. Your lab work is NORMAL. You are NORMAL.

What a bunch of brainless, skunk-butt bull crap.

If what is happening to Skinner by the GMC isn’t so pitiful, it would be hilarious. History will one day look back at this and weep.

I’m sick. I’m tired. I feel awful. I’ll go the my doc’s office for help.

Today’s morning newspaper was repugnant. The article was titled Doctors not fans of Googling to find ailments. Oh really?? Why are we not surprised! Yes, the article began with the idea that many of us are googling our unexplained symptoms before heading to the doctor and they “aren’t thrilled.”

It then stated:

In fact, doctors used words like “nightmare,” “annoying”, “irritating” and “frustrating” when talking about the burden of dealing with patients who bring in stacks of Internet-based health information (and misinformation) according to a recent study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.”

It continues with doctors seeing it “as an unwelcome intrusion” and they “resent the new interpretive role they have been put in.”

Does that trouble you, the thyroid patient, as it does me?? In fact, I find it pompous and nauseating. Let’s turn that article around to represent the REAL truth:

Thyroid patients have found it to be a “nightmare” when doctors overtly and unanimously proclaim us “normal” because of dubious lab results (TSH and T4) in the face of obvious and ongoing hypothyroid symptoms.

Thyroid patients find it “annoying” that doctors ignore the continuing symptoms and instead, push anti-depressants, statins, anti-anxiety or pain meds on the patient rather than become educated about the role of a low free T3.

Thyroid patients find it “irritating” that doctors, especially Endocrinologists, blindly conclude that Synthroid, Levoxyl and any other T4-only treatment is the best treatment for hypothyroid patients…when it has clearly failed us for decades.

Thyroid patients find it “frustrating” that doctors don’t recognize the common occurrence of adrenal fatigue with hypothyroid, and their failure in understanding how to treat it.

And thyroid patients “aren’t thrilled” that doctors still seem to see themselves as demi-gods of their patients health, when in fact, the relationship should be a PARTNERSHIP. You do NOT live in our bodies.

So dear doctor, instead of bemoaning our use of the internet, which in fact saved ME from your incompetence as it’s doing millions of others, rejoice that your patients have had the balls and inclination to FIND answers via the internet. Because those answers are here. And the answers are not just for us, but for those of you who are open-minded and mature enough to LEARN from the internet. Because the internet is ultimately US.

For those that don’t know….in June of 2005, Dr. Gordon Skinner, a private practitioner in the UK, was called before the General Medical Council to ascertain his “fitness to practice”. And why was he called before the board? Because of alleged “inappropriate clinical practice including maintaining medication for patients at dangerous levels and failures of communication with other medical practitioners.”

And might you guess what the “inappropriate” measures really concern? Namely, Skinner DARED to listen to his patient’s clinically presented thyroid SYMPTOMS, and dose by those symptoms, rather than her TSH labwork which fell in the erroneous normal range.

Further, Skinner was going to treat the patient without a referral letter from her GP, and may have failed to contact the GP. Heaven Forbid!!

The outcome of this absurb baboonery will not occur until July of 2007.

And the entire scenario makes me pause. In my inner ears echo the desperate and miserable cries of THOUSANDS of patients I have dealt with since 2002…patients who’s TSH was “normal” while their entire bodies screamed and pulsated with hypothyroid symptoms. Yet……..the medical school educated physician who’s brilliance falls to ink spots on a piece of paper pronounces his patient “normal”, figuratively pats her on her butt, and sends his patient on her ‘merry’ way with her sample box of antidepressants.

Cough.

This patient site exists EXACTLY because physicians have sent MILLIONS of us on our merry way, pronouncing our thyroids “normal” because of a so-called normal TSH, in spite of the fact that we have lived miserable lives with miserable symptoms while having a “normal” TSH.

How many doctors does it take to change a lightbulb? Ten. One to change it by noting that it’s not emitting light, and nine others to declare the first doctor unfit for daring to act on clinical presentations of a lightbulb that isn’t working.

Hang tough Dr. Skinner. Because millions of thyroid patients are behind you.