Need to order your own labwork because your doctor is like one or more of the below?? STTM has partnered with two lab facilities, #1 and #2, just for you on the Recommended Labwork page. To find a much better doctor to take the results to, go here, because having a good doctor rocks!
To all the growing body of good doctors out there: I apologize for this list. We know there are many of you who would never say the below. But there have been enough ‘other doctors’ who have that we want to underscore how frustrating our journey has been as thyroid patients, and how much we appreciate YOU for not being like the below.
The following is a compilation of actual statements made by doctors to thyroid patients from 2003 until the present (most recent at the bottom of the list) and explains why patients find many doctors completely frustrating. And these kind of experiences only barely touch the surface. We hope someday to see comments like these become a thing of the past.
1) “fT3 is not tested anymore. It’s an outdated practice.”
2) “You just will need to live with it.”
3) “It’s not your thyroid. You need to be on an anti-depressant.”
4) “Your tests are all normal so you are just fine.”
5) “Although you are experiencing many hypoT signs, it does not warrant any meds.” (Yup, this Houston Endo in 2004 really said that.)
6) “Being hypothyroid for a few years won’t do you any harm.……” (Oh really?? How about depression, lowered immunity, misery, etc??)
7) All the following courtesy of Endo’s in UK, aka “Endobobbins”:
a)In answer to I’m tired: “The average person on the street is tired“
b)After being ‘stabilized’ on T4 after thyroidectomy: “You’re cured now, anything else you experience, if you get depressed or don’t feel right, is nothing to do with your thyroid and must be treated separately“
c) After telling my Endonob I was on Armour: “Aren’t you afraid of getting mad cow disease?”
8 ) When a patient continued to have lingering hypo issues from an inadequate dose of Armour, the doctor replied that she needed to “mourn her son” better!! (Her son had passed away in 1995)
9) Doc: I am taking you off thyroid meds: there is nothing wrong with your thyroid.
Me: But I feel so much better since I have been taking it.
Doc: If you took speed you would feel better too.
10) “Free T3 and Free T4 tests are only for patients with hyperthyroidism. It would be UNWISE to use those tests for someone with hypothyroidism.”
11) “It would be maltreatment to treat a TSH of 3.5.” (Said by Endo to patient who has numerous hypothyroid symptoms)
12) “T3 is a like a narcotic. If you get used to it, we will have to wean you off of it.” (Said to patient when her TSH got to .23, yet her free T3 was low in the range. Doc, if T3 is like a narcotic, then we’d all like to be T3 addicts!!)
13) “Hashimoto’s comes from a virus.”
14) “I can tell by looking at you that you don’t have thyroid disease” (This doc must have gone to “Here’s Lookin’ at Ya Medical School”.)
15). “We don’t know for sure that you are hypothyroid unless we take you off all medication for 6 weeks”. (Said by an Endo who said Armour was inconsistent, and who also said a mole on her breast was a “third nipple”.)
16) Said by a doc to a patient from Alberta when she asked about dessicated thyroid: “This is only given to patients that are allergic to “Synthroid.” When questioning him: Is there any difference between “Synthroid” and “dessicated thyroid”.…his answer: “NO”.
17) From a patient in Oct. 2004 when she went to an Endo referred to her by her doctor: “The Endo told me how dangerous Armour is, how unreliable the Free T3 tests are; and that TSH is how they manage throid issues now — and how wonderful and reliable that test is.” NOT.
18) Patient went into hospital with severe gastric pains. Docs tested her: they said it was probably due to the natural thyroid she was on and sent her home. Natural thyroid and severe stomach pains?? NOT. She was absessing from a severe ecoli infection – lost part of her kidney a few days later and almost her life.
19) A patient reports that her grandmother’s doctor is ‘managing’ her thyroid, keeping her TSH between 4.5 and 5. No free T’s have been done. When her grandfather questioned her TSH and asked about Armour, he was told “Her TSH is fine. Armour is just an old wives” tale.” (The old wives were correct, doc)
20) Doctor told patient “Cytomel has both T4 and T3”. When patient said she thought that Cytomel was simply T3, her doctor replied vehemently that it “has both T4 and T3 and she would need to start on 50 mcg.” (RUN RUN RUN FROM THIS DOC!!!)
21) Laurie in June 2005: “When I asked him about Armour, he kept saying he doesn’t recommend the “Armour All”. That most doctors wouldn’t put anyone on “Armour All.” (cough, cough…Doc, Armour All is a protectant product I use on my car dash)
22) Not about a doctor, but a well-meaning but uniformed husband: A thyroid patient reported that she has HORRIBLE PMS symptoms, to which her husband replied “PMS is just a chosen response to a certain stimulus and you have to make the choice not to respond.” (I told her to tell him exactly this: “Next time someone hits you in the balls, do understand that your pain is just a chosen response to a certain stimulus and you have to make the choice not to respond.” Grin.
23) “Your fatigue is caused by your sugar and white flour intake”.
24) Said by doctor to patient with a slow heartrate, normal TSH, and a slew of obvious hypothyroid symptoms: “Everyone is born with a certain number of heart beats for their lifetime and when they use them up they die so it is better to be low and use them slowly.” (EEOW. RUN from this doc!!!!)
25) A patient states that she did WONDERFUL on Armour when she tried it, but had been forced to go back on Synthroid after her higher free T3 concerned the doctor. So, when she confronted the doc for an explanation as to why she felt SO much better on Armour, he replied “There may be a preservative or something in there that made the difference.” Needless to say, she is asking “May I scream now?” (10 – 05)
26) “Today happened to be my scheduled yearly physical with my PCP. I discussed my elevated peroxidase antibodies and hypo symptoms with him and he told me that these antibodies do not indicate hashimotos, but rather, “thyroiditis” which is treated with aspirin and ibuprofen.” (Uh, Doc, sir – Hashi’s and thyroiditis are the exact same thing. Duhh. 11 – 05)
27) Said to a patient when she asked her doctor to consider treating her using the Broda Barnes method: “I’m sure there are patients who would like me to swing a pendulum to figure out their dose!” (Uh doc, there is a reason her mouth fell to the floor. 1 – 06)
28) Even though this patient had an ANA of 1320, high antibodies, and a myriad of hypo symptoms, the doc stated “you don’t qualify for treatment because your TSH is a healthy 3.5.” (How thick are this doc’s glasses?? Huh?? 1 – 06)
29) Said to a patient (who wants to switch to Armour) by an Endo in Jan. 20O6 when she wanted to test her free T3 because she fears that she’s not making enough T3 from the T4 conversion: “That’s not true. Lab tests have been done on dead babies and had found T3 in them.” (UGH, doc, spare the dead baby analogy and give this girl Armour!)
30) Said to a patient by the Pharmacist of a Walgreens Pharmacy in No. Cal. when she asked if they carried Armour Thyroid: “EEEEWWWW! You don’t want to take that disgusting stuff..it’s PIG THYROID!” She replied “Do you eat pork chops?” He said he did. (p.s. She then asked him him if he has a problem selling horse pee to women for their estrogen pills. No problem with that. 
” (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA)
31) Stated in the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) guidelines:
1) The most valuable test is the sensitive measure of the TSH level.
2) The TSH assay should always be used as a primary test to establish the diagnosis of primary hypothyroidism.
3) An additional test is the free T4. The free T3 is not listed as an acceptable routine test.
4) Desiccated thyroid hormone should not be used as a replacement therapy.
The above guidelines get the GOLD STAR for the GIVE ME A BREAK AWARD in the Hall of Shame.
32) A patient looked up hypothyroid symptoms and discovered she had almost every single one except for the hair loss! When she mentioned this to her doc, he stated “Well, you’ve got to admit that all of these symptoms are nebulous and could be related to any 40 year old woman”. (cough. Perhaps what is nebulous is the brain of this doc.) 2 – 06
33) Doctor: “Why are you on Armour?”
Patient: “Well, it contains the same hormones that our own bodies make, and that makes sense.
Doctor: “Aren’t you aware that ‘not’ every natural substance is beneficial to the human body? Think about tobacco, arsenic, and other natural substances.” (2 – 06)
(Cough. Comparing Armour to tobacco and arsenic?? Cough. I do believe that the human body makes thyroid hormones like what is found in desiccated thyroid, but don’t recall it making tobacco and arsenic. Cough.)
34) Patient figured out he had sluggish adrenals after he had hyper-like symptoms at 2 1/2 grains. After explaining what patients have learned about sluggish adrenals and the need for cortisol, doctor not only refused to help, he stated to patient: You have two choices: to be “wired” at 2 1/2 grains, or “fatiged but calmer” at 2 grains. One or the other. No other option. Patient did make his choice: he fired this doctor.
35) All said to a Canadian patient with raging hypo symptoms, in one visit:
“I’ve seen people with a TSH of 20, 30, and even one patient with 120, so 5.13 really isn’t that bad, and couldn’t account for all of the symptoms you’ve felt“
“You had a lot of things going on in childhood. This list of symptoms tells me that you’re depressed. You need Zoloft or Effexor. You also need more exercise.“
“You must have bad genes. Some people are just overweight and that’s the
way it is. You should see a dietician.“
”(Concerning her air hunger) “You should try an anti-anxiety medication. It sounds like you’re pretty anxious.“
“No, I don’t want you on Thyroid (the Canadian generic Armour). I had a
patient who tried that once and her TSH was all over the map. That medication is unstable”
36) Said to patient when she said she was on a large internet group where everyone was doing wonderful on Armour: “They’re all crazy over-medicating fools because they are making themselves feel better by going hyper.” (Let’s see – are those hyper symptoms under this rug? Hmm. Maybe they’re behind that door? Nope. Calling all fools! Hear ye, hear he!! 
) 4 – 06
37) HAHAHAHAHA Said to a patient by her new 30-something doctor: “I will prescribe Synthroid or Levoxyl, but Armour Thyroid is made from horses.” Patient then told her that she thinks it’s made from pigs, to which the doctor repeated “It’s made from horses. It’s yucky stuff.” WHINNY WHINNY (April, 2006)
p.s GUESS WHAT ELSE this brilliant female doctor said??? Ready??? “Hypothyroidism only starts giving symptoms when the TSH level is from 30 to 40.” (If this doctor ever gets hypo and starts having symptoms when her TSH is around 2, let’s all be sure and tell her it’s all in her head!)
38) Directly from the mouth of an Australian doctor: “Desiccated thyroid is not as great as one might think. There are things in pigs that might start growths in humans.” (5 – 06)
39) After 2 years of complaining of classic hypo symptoms, doctor finally agreed to run only the TSH. Test came back at 12.71 (3 times upper limit of 4). Doctor looked at the results and said “Well, one high test isn’t really significant. We’ll test again in a few months and if it’s still high, we’ll consider treatment then.” She found another doctor. (5 – 06)
40) Are you ready for this?? Patient has “dry skin, muscle aches, low temp, weight gain, bloating, depression & anxiety, hair loss, always cold, problems swallowing “.…and her doctor stated adamently that she “has no problem” because her TSH is .82. (puke) 6 – 06
41) Patient goes to her Nurse Practitioner and requests that she wants to switch from T4 to Armour. NP replies that patient’s TSH ( 0.41 ) is “happy” and thus, there is no reason to switch. (I wonder if patient’s continuing symptoms on T4 are “happy”.) Another patient looking for a new doc. 6 – 06
42) Straight from Down Under: Patient rings the Compounding Pharmacist about getting desiccated thyroid. Pharmacist replies that he doesn’t like compounded desiccated thyroid. “Why is that?” asked the patient. “Because it’s unstable, which is due to the stress the pigs were under when they died.” (I guess that’s akin to saying stress makes your donger fall off. )
43) Said to a patient when she took him some information about desiccated thyroid: “Hmmm, what do they want you to take, ground up rhinoceros horn?” (Keep ‘em coming, all you brilliant doctors) 6 – 06
44) An endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville told patient that he had “no problem with her taking Armour.…if she didn’t mind killing an animal.” Yessiree, this was, in fact, stated at least 6 times while she sat there. Dumbfounded, she finally asked if he ate meat, which he replied “Yes”. So she didn’t hesitate to say to him “You killed an animal!” Ahem. Patient has stopped seeing this animal-killing doctor.
45) Patient reports that she went to an Endocrinologist for the first time. She has been feeling fairly well on 3 grains, but felt she might need a little more to rid herself of a few more lingering hypo symptoms. He comes in the office where she sat waiting – does no exam, does not ask how she feels, looks simply at her TSH of .01…and tah-dah, reports that she is hyper and needs to drop her current 3 grain dose of Armour down to 1/2 grain. He then proceeds to tell her what an idiot she was for being on Armour, explaining that he travels all over the world talking about thyroid, and on ones needs to be on more than one grain anyway. When she explained that this one-grain advice was not in the Armour insert, he proceeded to tell her that she was a difficult patient…and ended the session. (This difficult patient reports that she just had her first and last Endo appointment). 8 – 06
46) An informed patient (because of this site) with continuing hypo symptoms spilled everything about her symptoms, what labs she wanted, and what she wanted to accomplish. Doctor cut her off and stated that since hypo is a disease, she will always have symptoms. (cough) When she mentioned testing her adrenals for low cortisol, doctor states that cortisol doesn’t have anything to do with being hypo. (cough) He then stated that she will need to accept feeling like she does for the rest of her life and to get used to it. (cough) Hope than came back to her when he stated he would do a complete lab workup.…when she looked at the paperwork, it contained not ONE of the labs she requested. (Another run, run, run from this doctor!!) 9 – 06
47) Patient has a first appointment with an Endo from a Top Doc list who says he prescribes Armour. Based solely on her TSH of .02, and totally ignoring her continuing symptoms, he recommends she reduce her 2 3/4 grains Armour to 2 grains. (Strike One) She then heads for an appointment with a second doc who prescribes Naturethroid. But, this doc didn’t seem aware that Naturethroid contains T3. And he states ““I don’t think that the frees are really an accurate measure of anything. They’re really not that consistent. Most of my patients — both thyroid and non-thyroid patients tend to test in the low range of the frees.” (Strike Two). 10 – 06
48) Tacky doc part one: Patient’s new doc increased her Synthroid. Symptoms remained, including easy weight gain. When she told the doc that she didn’t think the thyroid meds were working, doctors states she should consider herself lucky that all she had to cope with was obesity, because “It isn’t like you have lost your legs or anything.“
Tacky Doc part two: Patient kept gaining weight, panic attacks, swelling, and felt like she was going crazy. Standing in paper gown, she asked to be tested for Hypothyroidism. Doc says she doesn’t have a weight problem, but an eating problem and if she had been in a concentration camp, she wouldn’t be fat. (For about 15 seconds, patient was floored. Stunned. Speechless.) 10 – 06
49) Patient explains to doc that she had read good information on the internet about adrenal fatigue accompanying hypo, and she sees signs in herself it. Doc replies ““If TV is a library then the Internet is a drunken librarian.” (hmm, we drunks have helped thousands of hypo patients get WELL) 10 – 06
50) WARNING! If your eyebrows are slowing disappearing, it’s due to plucking them! Yup. No matter how much you insist that you are NOT doing so, it’s the cause. Period. End of story. (Said to patient when it wasn’t working to say the thinning eyebrows were due to her imagination, besides the other 50 symptoms which were from “something else” besides thyroid.) 10 – 06
51) After patient tells doc that she was feeling better on Armour, doc replies “I do not treat just because someone feels better. Just because you feel better on cocaine doesn’t mean it’s good for you.” Side note: since starting Armour, patient’s cholesterol has decreased 30 points, Fibromyalgia and heel pain is gone, bond scan is good…and this doc wants her to decrease..and decrease some more. (Run, run, run, run, run from this doc) 11 – 06
52) Patient’s TSH went down to .100 on Armour. Doctor put her on T4, and she eventually had plantar fasciitis on her feet & 2 types of tendonitis on the left one! She went to the doc wearing a big foot/ankle immobilizer to get her thyroid tested. The doc laughed, smacked the immobilizer with his hand and said the podiatrist she saw was “going overboard” because her feet couldn’t possibly be in that bad of a condition. The pain sent her to a physical therapist. (another doc fired. And by the way doc, foot problems are COMMON with hypo and while on T4 meds, which keeps you hypo, sir.) 11 – 06
53) For a couple of years, patient was taking whole thyroid glandular given to her by her Naturopath. When she visited her family doctor (who only tests the TSH) and told him how good she was feeling on desiccated thyroid, he stated word for word; “I don’t care and I’m going to fight this.” (No he’s not. She left this guy behind in the dust. Run, run, run.) 12 – 06
54) Says a doctor to a patient who stated that she’s feeling wonderful on Armour: “I am not aware of any persuasive evidence in the form of studies to support that you feel better.” (Mouth agap.…WE ARE THE EVIDENCE!!! OPEN YOUR EYES!) 12 – 06
55) When the patient’s thyroid antibodies TPO test came back with a result of 103 (0 – 34), the doc said she’s fine and needs to take vitamins. (We need to tell this doc that the next time his fever is 103, he needs to take vitamins.) 1 – 07
56) When patient requested Armour so she would feel good and accomplish tasks, she was told by the nurse, “We would all like to pop speed to get our housework done.” (Cough. Brilliant nurse) 1 – 07
57) Same patient above, when she explained how awful she felt on T4-only meds, was told by her doctor: “I think you are in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.” (I would say the doctor was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s if he can’t recognize poorly treated hypothyroid, don’t you?) 1 – 07
58) When patient reported to her doc that her morning, before-rising basal temperature was always in the chilly 94 – 95 degree range, he replied “Everyone runs low in the morning and it means nothing.” (Shivering must mean nothing either. Run, run, run from this doc!)1 – 07
59) Patient complained that her throat and speaking hurts (an obvious sign of an autoimmune attack going on against her thyroid), and her highly intelligent and insightful doctor replied “You simply don’t speak and breathe correctly.” (Cough.) 1 – 07
60) Since her doctor left her on a low dose of Armour, this patient’s hypo symptoms returned, including a wave of exhaustion which reappeared in the afternoon. And her doctor’s astute explanation? “You must have an allergy to something you are eating.” 1 – 07
61) When patient inquired about Armour, her Endo repied: “It’s an inferior product made by scooping up the entrails of animals from filthy slaughterhouse floors, and all kinds of bone and germs are in it.” (This one gets the gold star for pathetic.) 2 – 07
62) Said to a patient by her Endo:
1. A TSH of 10 is fine
2. Her own TSH of 6.07 is barely out of range and doesn’t necessarily require treatment
3. It’s impossible to have hyperT and hypoT swings, even with Hashimoto’s
4. Testing for antibodies is a “waste of time“
5. The constant feeling of phlegm in her throat isn’t phlegm and can’t be related to her thyroid
(Eek. Run, run, run from this doc) 4 – 07
63) This female patient, who is of normal weight, walked into her doctor’s office because of the following symptoms: irregular periods, depression, intolerance to cold, easy weight gain, hoarse voice, phlegm in throat, coarse hair, thinning eyebrows, not able to get pregnant with a second child, sleepy/sluggish, family history of thyroid issues, dizziness, difficulty remembering things and focusing, constipated, anemic, low libido, dry skin, brittle nails, droopy eyelids, low blood pressure, and low resting heart rate. To underscore her hypo symptoms, she placed her ice cold hands on the arm of her doctor, who then replied: “You’ve got what I call skinny white woman’s disease – you’re cold natured due to your fair hair and skin.” (Another run, run, run from this terrible doc!) 4 – 07
64) Said to patient with multiple hypo symptoms, tender throat, swollen thyroid area, insane swinging between hypo and hyper by gaining weight, losing weight:
1) Your TSH is normal, so you are normal.
2) You have hypochondria
3) Your high Thyroglobulin AB of 47 may be of no significance since your TSH is normal (4 – 07)
65) When patient asked doc if she could switch to Armour: “It isn’t a drug that is prescribed anymore and besides, it’s made from pig testicles.” (Wow. What an incredible feat of nature for a pig’s thyroid to be lodged in it’s testicles. ) 6 – 07
66) When patient asked her doc if she would run an antibodies test for Hashi’s since it had never been done, her doc replied “I wouldn’t know how to treat Hashi’s anyway, so I won’t run that one.” (eek) When asked if she could perhaps find out how to treat it if the results were positive, she told the patient “Oh, you’re fine”, and changed the subject. (Double eek. Now her ex-doc) 6 – 07
67) A day in the life of a patient visiting her Endocrinologist: THUD #1: Patient returns to Endo’s office to review results of blood draw, which were to include the free T3 and free T4 at the specific request of the patient, and the agreement by the Endo. When discussion starts, it becomes crystal clear that the Endo not only didn’t do the frees, but she flat out refused to put in an order for it, stating, you guessed it, TSH is enough. THUD #2: Endo then has the patient put out her hands, which are shaking. Endo asks patient “Why are your hands shaking?” Patient replies, “Low cortisol” (as was clearly shown on the morning blood draw – bottom of range). Endo replies “Don’t teach me.” Patients responds “Then why did you ask me?” THUD #3: In spite of obvious low cortisol and continuing hypo, Endo makes it clear that what she wants to treat is the cholesterol. No more. THUD #4: Receptionist to Patient as she is leaving the office: “Do you want a followup appointment scheduled? (hahahaha. Nope) 7 – 07
68) Yup, this patient’s doc accuses her of inventing her hypothyroid symptoms, dismisses her as depressed, and then tries to prescribe Lexapro — even tho he knows she’s been on anti depressants in the past and they did nothing for her. When she ran down her long list of symptoms, including a list she printed out, he said verbatim: “God does not hate you enough to give you all of these ailments”, tossed the list to the other side of the desk, and concluded with “I’m not interested in anything you printed out and highlighted.” Ahuh. Ahuh. (7 – 07)
69) Patient is a previous fitness freak and health nut, runner of marathons. Yet now, it takes 15 minutes to walk up a slight hill that before would only take 5 minutes, and she has heart palpitations, 5 stone overweight, puffy, exhausted, no eyebrows…every symptom in the book. So after explaining to her UK doc that she thinks it’s her thyroid, he states: “I want to see you get a lot worse before I decide to treat you”. (Oh yup.…patient has to be DEAD before she gets thyroid treatment. 
) 7 – 07
70) Just when you thought a TSH of 10 was high.….an exasperated patient states that even when her TSH got to 17, her Endo stated “That’s not bad.” In fact, this same doctor stated that getting up to 35 wasn’t bad either. Finally, it took a TSH of 150 for her Endo to state it was now “high”. And after reading the information gathered here, she was empowered enough to ignore her TSH-loving endo and find another doctor who believed her when I said “I’m tired.” (Blessed be the doctor who LISTENS.) 8 – 07
71) Patient was switched from her Armour back to Synthroid. Within a week, her hair was falling out, crying constantly, feeling achy all over, rise in blood pressure, and the return of her allergies so severe that her nose was bleeding. She calls her doctor’s office twice, complaining. Their reply? That she needs “to give it two more months”, and they will redo the labs and see where she is. (Perhaps next time this doc has re-occurring explosive diarrhea that never goes away, he should wait two more months so they can do labs and see where he is.) Thud. (she is now back on Armour, and when her doc said he only knows treating hypo by the textbook, she replied “I’m not a textbook. ) 8 – 07
72) Patient’s husband went to a new doctor and asked for the Free T3 & Free T4. Doctor would only agree to check his TSH. When he questioned the reasons for not agreeing to test the Frees, she got upset and asked ‘what idiot was feeding him that info?’ (First faux pas i.e. the “idiot” was his very informed wife). She next told him that he hurt her feelings very much by not trusting her and her 20+ yrs experience. (Second faux pas i.e. so what if you have a brain, besides live in your own body.) Run, run, run from this doc. 9 – 07
73) When Endo asked patient to abstain from thyroid hormone for a month for further testing for hypopituitary (i.e. let’s overtest you for what is already obvious), she asks him if he had any suggestions for surviving a month without thyroid meds. He said, “I don’t know, sleep lots?” (zzzzzz Sleep enough to forget the next appointment with this one.) 9 – 07
74) Gal went to an endocrinologist and was told there was nothing wrong with her thyroid because…drum roll…he told her, “You are too pretty to have thyroid problems.” And she left.….pretty.….and still with a thyroid problem. (Thud) 11 – 07
75) Patient’s saliva results show adrenal fatigue and quite low aldosterone. Explains to her doc why she wasn’t tolerating Armour. Doc tells her that if she takes fish oil and magnesium, that should help. (Strike one). Patient said she already took those, and insisted on HC, so doc prescribed 10 mg HC, telling her to take it once a day. (Strike Two.) Patient then asks about Florinef to treat her low aldosterone, and doc states she doesn’t work with it. When patient explains how low her aldosterone is, and how it’s a big issue, doc states that the mental problems that came with her condition were showing itself and perhaps “we should just let it go.” (HUGE Strike Three). This doc is OUT!!!!
76) The reason this hypothyroid patient calls her doctor a Mickey Mouse: 1) she’s been pushing anti-depressants on her for the last 7 years 2) she ignored her 45 lb weight gain, although she exercises regularly. And as a recovered anorexic, gaining 45 lbs might as well be 450 lbs. 3) when she woke up several months ago grossly swollen, her doctor had no idea what was wrong and said it’s not a thyroid problem since her parents don’t have it 4) and the doc then got pissed off when the patient didn’t have health insurance. 4 – 08
77) Patient with clear hypothyroid symptoms visits female Endo, who proceeds to tell her that she goes only by the TSH (i.e. I keep my patients sick), the Frees don’t really mean anything (i.e. I’m clueless about labwork), she does not dose by symptoms (i.e. I am a non-human zombie), the patient’s symptoms don’t necessarily mean hypo (i.e. I’m blind), insomnia has nothing to do with hypo (i.e. I don’t get adrenal fatigue), and patient needs to stop her Armour for 6 weeks then get retested (i.e. I like torturing my patients).
When patient explains that she can tell when she needs another raise because heart starts to feel heavy, Endo prescribes Verapamil (i.e. I’m drug-happy). Endo then says something about seeing a psychiatrist (i.e. I like cop-outs.) Run, run, run, run, run, run from this nutso Endo!! (8 – 2008)
78) Patient calls her new Endo who came highly recommended for good thyroid treatment. She questioned why he has only checked the TSH, and what about all the other levels to be read. The gal on the phone replies “Are you the doctor or is the doctor the doctor?” (Does this gal get the condescending stupid award or what?) Patient states that steam came out of her ears, and she finally just HUNG UP. (pssstt. Docs. WE live in our own bodies, and WE have brains. If you want our money, you’re gonna have to work WITH us, not in spite of us.) 09 – 08
79) Patient had 12 years of adrenal fatigue with no treatment. Found STTM, and went to doctor wanting ACTH, AM cortisol etc. Wanted to cover all bases, including potential hypopituitary since there had been 4 head injuries before age 22 (and those implicate hypopituitary). Doctor replies “You’re not secondary because of the lack of lactation”. (uhhh, doc, many many many patients have problems because of hypopituitary without milk coming out of their breasts) 9 – 08
80) Patient went to her doctor complaining of typical signs of hypothyroidism, including increasing fatigue and memory problems. Her own mother had it. The doctor grudgingly ran blood work (TSH-only), hardly viewed it, then proclaimed her fine. Doctor suggests other causes for her symptoms and hands her a prescription for anti-depressants. At the time, she was still doing martial arts 5 times a week and says she didn’t fit the profile of a depressed couch potato. A few years later, after she had to gradually drop all of her non-work activities due to ever increasing fatigue…and finally reached the point where she was missing lots of days at work, a different doctor finally picks up her hypothyroid, low-functioning adrenals, low iron and B12. (Gee, guess the first doc missed a few things??) 10 – 08
81) A 42 year old female reports that in spite of having the following LONG AND PATHETIC list of symptoms for 15 years, her doctor has kept proclaiming her “normal” the entire 15 years because a TSH lab result around 1 has said so. Note that she also now has adrenal fatigue symptoms. (Is this doctor BLIND??? 1 – 09):
Post partum depression; difficulty losing weight; extreme exhaustion; Chronic Fatigue; Candidiasis; low body temps throughout the years, sometimes less than 95; pulse (resting) has gone from low 70’s to low 60’s currently; blood pressure on low side; rapid heartbeats on occasion; frequent cold hands and feet, mostly in winter and nose; hypoglycemic symptoms including shaky & weak upon missed mealsl blood sugar crash in the early afternoon; can’t drive long distances – fall asleep; crave sweets and carbs; often tired in the morning; afternoon fatigue is common;several bouts of minor depression; difficulty enjoying life; difficulty sleeping; overly irritated, stressed, or angry, mood swings; OCD about a few things, mental concerns– forgetfulness, brain fog, difficulty concentrating at times; overly emotional; sensitive to light, sound, stress; sexual side effects; cholecystectomy; gallstones; very thin and often dry hair, constipation throughout the years; dry skin and nearly debilitating eczema the last five years; acne; PMS and shortened periods, heavier periods; puffy ankles, sometimes puffy eyes; backache on occasion; sore feet, plantar fascitis; singing voice has recently become hoarse.
82)“My dear, you do not realize how lucky you are” says the doctor to his patient.
**She replies “Oh really? How?”
He said: “Well, if I had to have an illness and could choose it myself, I would choose Hashimoto’s disease“
**“Really?” she said, amazed and fighting back the urge to punch him in the mouth. “Why is that then?“
“Well”, he said and gave a wry little smile “All you have to do is take a tablet and it all goes away” (talking about the evil levothyroxine) With this he waved his hands about like a magician “Ping” he said. He then said “And also, if you forget to take it for a few days, it doesn’t matter one bit“
**She sat there and thought about the 15 years of hell she’d suffered only to have him dismiss everything with a “ping”.
He looked at her brightly and said “well done” and patted her patronizingly on the shoulder.
(This is the same doctor who fed her antidepressants for 9 years and told her she was “just a tired worn out mother who has a lot on her plate”)
83) Patient took her husband to his doctor’s appointment for testing of his dementia. She asked the doc if he would please test hubby’s thyroid and adrenals. Very curtly he replied “We test his thyroid each time we draw blood on him”. She asked if he gauged his results on TSH only… (a potential Pandora’s box question). She asked if he would please check FT3/FT4 and Reverse T3. His response “Those idiots who have been reading all that material are idiots! TSH results are all you need to verify thyroid problems. I should know I am an allopath and hypothyroid.” (Gee, doesn’t look like hypothyroid allopaths know squat.…) 2 – 09
84) This female patient was still feeling horrible on T4, suffering depression and more. She saw a study suggesting T3 might help. So when she asked her doctor to add T3 to her T4, he said: “Of course you’ll feel better on T3. Everyone does. But everyone feels better on cocaine, too, and that doesn’t mean it’s good for you.” One year later, when she still complained of feeling horrible, his next reply was “Well, you know Emma Robinson (an Olympic rower), she only had her RAI two months ago and she just won two more medals at the Pan Am games, so that just goes to show you that with the right attitude…”. So, says this newly enlightened patient, “not only was he breaching patient confidentiality and suggesting I was an idiot with a poor outlook, he was comparing me at age 31 to someone who was a 21 year old Olympian.” An objective and brilliant doctor, she concludes. 4 – 09
85) A patient was supposed to see her endo soon, but she knew that increasing her dosage to combat continuing hypo symptoms wouldn’t go anywhere with him. Last time she saw him, she mentioned that she doesn’t sweat anymore, a common symptom of a low-functioning thyroid. And what did he reply? “In the last 3 generations, we have evolved beyond sweating”. Anybody spitting the water out of their mouth?? Says this patient: I didn’t realize that things “evolved” so quickly (sarcasm). p.s. He also gave the classically misinformed line that a suppressed TSH while on desiccated thyroid says she is subclinical hyperthyroid and will have heart problems plus osteoporosis. (funny how those with suppressed TSH’s on an optimal amount of desiccated thyroid have improvement in both heart function and bone desity, ain’t it?) 6 – 09
86) Female patient’s doctor called a compounding pharmacy by mistake for a refill of her Armour. The compounding pharmacist made up the capsules to match Armour. Patient decided to try it, and when she arrived at the compounding pharmacy, asked the pharmacist whether it was synthetic or pig thyroid, since she could not take anything like Synthroid since it tried to kill her. Pharmacist replied “Synthroid IS pig thyroid. “ When patient said otherwise, the pharmacist argued with her. They got out the insert…Oh no, well, she really thought it was. La ti Da! No big deal, says Pharmacist. (gulp) 6 – 09 p.s. pharmacist also put in the wrong amounts of T4 and T3.
87) When patient visited her new doc with high hopes about getting correct treatment for her Hashimotos symptoms as well as potential low cortisol, she got the following from this doc: Hashimotos is Graves disease (NOT). They are one in the same. (NOT) Hashimotos is not a hypOthyroid issue but a hypERthyroid issue (NOT) which means you don’t have it (NOT) because you have hypo, so there’s no need to check for antibodies. (NOT) There is also no need to check your adrenals (NOT) or sex hormones (NOT) because adrenals will correct automatically (NOT), plus thyroid hormones do not affect female hormones (NOT). This doc proceeded to pat this patient on the shoulder. (UGH) (This doc has too many “knots” in his brain). 7 – 09
88) Says a female patient: After being on Armour for about 6 weeks and having my fT4 come back out of range, my primary care doctor wanted me to see an endocrinologist. The endo was very clear that she “didn’t LOVE Armour.” She felt it was unstable and unpredictable — what if the pig it was harvested from was hypothyroid??? Therefore, she insisted that I change to Levothyroxine. Of course my symptoms came raging back. My next labs showed my TSH at .01, but she didn’t share my fT4 level. When I asked if I could go back on the Armour, the endo stated that I am now HYPERthyroid and should lower my Levothyroxine and that my remaining symptoms must be from something else so she can’t help me anymore — she FIRED me!” 9 – 09
89) Patient states: I had a thyroid lobectomy in early 2006. Soon after my ENT put me on Synthroid. The side effects were miserable. I went to a highly reputable endocrinologist and asked to switch to Armour. I was barely functioning on Synthroid due to irritability, rage, severe mood swings, and extreme lethargy. He said my TSH range was normal and prescribed Effexor. I indicated that none of these symptoms were present before my surgery, and he said “All of our bodies change over time, your lobectomy has nothing to do with what you are feeling.” The doctor said he could do nothing for me and said it wasn’t necessary for me to return. (YIKES. Not a doctor to continue seeing!) 9 – 09
90) Patient stated with amazement: For a few days on my new dose of 2.5 grains/day I felt good, and then for the last few days I’ve had hypoT symptoms – intense physical exhaustion/fatigue/mental fog in evenings, super tired upon waking after full night of sleep, etc. NO hyper symptoms. I suggested to my doc something I re-read at the STTM site (common mistakes made when starting NDT)– that perhaps I was experiencing the hypothalamus/pituitary feedback loop effect. “It doesn’t exist”, he exclaimed, and suggested I am on enough thyroid, sometimes these symptoms are not thyroid related, you may be HyperT now (I said no way) and to get labs done and see if I’m on the right dose. (Yikes. Did this doctor flunk section 15 of his med school exam about the feedback loop??) 10 – 09
91) Before she was diagnosed, patient states she knew what was wrong by researching: hypothyroidism. So she goes to her doc, and her first TSH result was high. But the very next day, the TSH was taken again, and it was normal. Her doc states it’s impossible for it go sway that much in 24 hours and the first test was “wrong”. It took a third test to finally get the diagnosis. And she realizes what the doc did not: it is not impossible for a person’s TSH to be really high one day, normal the next, then really high the next. (she is now looking for a new doc). 12 – 09
92) When patient asks her Endo to switch to desiccated thyroid, the brilliant reply she gets is this: “I have never met anybody who needs anything more than T4”. (Clearly, this Endo hasn’t met anyone and must be sitting in an empty office, don’t ya think?) 4 – 10
93) From Windsor England: At the hospital, patient was discussing being put on thyroxine medication by another doctor in spite of a normal T4 result (they don’t test T3 in England nor do they prescribe anything other than T4-only) along with clear clinical presentation of hypothyroidism, including problems in her liver, cholesterol, iron levels and female hormone function. Hospital doctor says she never should have been put on thyroid medication with a normal T4 result. She replies: “Then how come I have made so much improvement and felt so much better?” His reply: “Heroin can make you feel better but we don’t prescribe that!” (Stupid, stupid, stupid). 8 – 10
