GP told me to stop wasting his time - AIBU?

[TimeWastingTeresa]

I had my third trip to my GP today in 3 months.

I feel like absolute rubbish constantly - tired all the time , achy , generally run down .

My hair is awful - dry as a bone and gets greasy at the roots within hours of a wash.

My skin is so dry it flakes . My legs look like a reptiles !

My periods are much heavier than usual - I need to change a super plus tampon after 3 hours . I used to wear regular for the whole duration.

I have gained over a stone in weight in less than a year and I just can't shift it .

My GP ran bloods around a month ago and all vitamin levels were fine.

My thyroid came back as TSH 4.5.

He told me everything was normal and to go back in 6 months .

I went back a month later as I just don't feel well at all.

He ran bloods again and again my TSH came back as normal (4.5).

He told me I'm fine and I'll feel better if I exercise and lose weight .

I can not go on like this so I went back today and he told me that I just need to lose some weight . He told me not to come back before 6 months is up as there's nothing wrong with me .

I left in tears .
I feel so down . I'm so so tired I can't cope with much at all.

I look and feel disgusting . My hair is dull and lifeless and my scalp is so dry .

I don't know what to do

My mum says I should go private but if my TSH comes back as 4.5 again , my GP will still refuse to treat it !

Help please !

I've had full blood count and they all came back fine .

There's nothing else to test for - all B12 and celiac screening came back fine .

The only elevation was my TSH. I don't know if T3 or T4 was tested - do they do this in a full blood count?

I don't think there's any point having the test again, it will most likely produce the same result.

The key is interpretation of that result. For that you need a better doctor.

Re your periods, were you tested for PCOS (generally periods are light or absent, but some people like me have heavy periods with it)? How old are you?

I've had full blood count and they all came back fine
I am not sure exactly how blood tests work but I do know that the standard blood test that the GP sends you for does not cover everything.

Does anybody else have any advice please??

distancecall I agree with you about hcp not bothering if they think your levels aren't that bad. They don't inform you so you can make some decisions for yourself.
When I was pregnant they checked my iron which was borderline at the first check (they didn't tell me this as by their standards it was fine). Later in the pregnancy I ended up anaemic and on strong iron tablets until the end of my pregnancy which gave me an upset stomach. I had been exhausted and freezing cold for weeks and assumed it was just normal pregnancy symptoms. If they had told me I was borderline at the start I would have made a real effort to include more iron in my diet and possibly add a gentler iron supplement.

Op get a second opinion and in the meantime try to take his advice so you can at least say you've done it iyswim?

The gp sounds like an arse. No one should ever leave an appointment in tears. However I do feel a bit more exercise than 'gentle walking' might help. You may be too tired to exercise because you are not exercising!

RepentAtLeisure Sorry, are you saying you were diagnosed by an NHS doctor as having hypothyroidism and yet refused a prescription for thyroxine?

Nope! I was diagnosed and took Levothyroxine for nearly a decade and continued to get progressively sicker - weight gain, tiredness, cold, thinning hair, etc. I just couldn't convert it. I ended up having so little energy that standing up for a short time was enough to exhaust me. My GP gave me a trial of Liothyronine which worked, but I couldn't afford it, now I order another brand of T3 online knowing full well that it works for me. In my case it was that or die essentially. I would have fallen into a coma sooner or later.

But as far as the OP goes, I repeat that she needs to get a medical diagnosis and then try the recommended medication. But it doesn't hurt to let desperate and increasingly ill people know that there are more options out there if need be.

Just a note about diet and exercise, it can be very hard to lose weight as a hypothyroid person, so again, establish that first. And beware of too much exercise as it can actually be anti-thyroid. Start off with gentle exercise like walking, yoga, swimming - something like couch to 5/10K could actually be detrimental if it is an underactive thyroid problem.

I'd try min 30 min brisk walk day and quit ALL dairy for min 3 weeks- honestly imagine a huge improvement in skin and hair but you do need to watch all ingredients

Thing is if you have sore joints, vigorous exercise is daunting. I lost a lot of weight a few years ago through long walks in the country. I began with a stroll round the block! I was doing about 5k twice a week by the end of 3 months. I began slowly but persisted, and I was careful with eating. And on an adequate thyroid replacement at the time. But you have to just start moving more and build it up very gradually.

It's however extremely hard to advise strangers on the web whether they need to do this, that or the other. All we can do is say what worked or didn't work for us. Some of you are being a bit harsh to the OP in my opinion.

I would suggest that you get the following tested:
Vit D, Calcium, Parathyroid (PTH), and B12.

Once you know the figures (and don't make do with just "In range" or "They're fine" - get the actual numbers). You're welcome to pm me with them if you want.

If it was me, I would take a close look at my diet before returning to the doctor. Then make sure that however exhausted I felt, that I went out in the fresh air for half an hour each day. I feel exhausted if I have too much wheat - I'm not allergic to bread or anything but believe that the additives they put in it affect me adversely. Same goes for too much sugar!

I have to say, first thing that came through my mind was ME/CFS. You might need being tired for 6 months before fulfilling the criteria but it does also means you have been exhausted for 6 months! So nothing says it is not that.

I also agree about the fact the tests the GO are running are often not precise enough.
And the fact that even though your levels are 'within range' it doesn't mean you don't need some supplements/will feel better by taking them.
For one, the optimum level of vitamins and minerals will vary form one person to the next. And then, if you are considered ill if your bitB12 is below 180, then surely you will crap if it is at 200. I can't quite see how you miraculously go from feeling great and healthy at 190 and crap at 180....

Great you have another appointment. I would take a list with you of all the symptoms you have and give some example of what yu mean by being tired.
When I went to see the GP with ME, being tired meant struggling to go up one flight of stairs up to the point of avoiding them and planning what I needed to do to reduce said trips upstairs to a minimum. It could be that you can't manage more than a 30mins gentle walk when before you were running a 5k wo any issue.
What will be important for the GP is to evaluate how you are NOW compare to YOUR normal. And he needs concrete examples for that iyswim because feeling tired can have a very variable meaning.

blobby YY about diet and avoiding some foods, incl sugar.
Dairy is one my triggers (I end up in pain waking me up at night if I really overindulge).
Sugar is a hard one for me because I crave sugar when I'm exhausted (to give the 'boost' I need to carry on. Of course, I crash afterwards but ....)

I have been trying - especially with diet . Exercise is trickier .

I'm doubting whether I should bother going now . I don't want to waste an appointment to be told to lose weight .

Maybe I should wait until new year .

I've been dieting for months and eating healthier but I don't lost much at all . In fact I've gained !

But I would be more weary about the half an hour walk a day.
I fully agree in principle but if you are already exhausted then it might just be too much.
My rule is that, if I feel ok or better dong it, then yes. If I feel crap afterwards, then I have overdone it.

With the ME, how much I can do can be quite variable so I've had to learn to listen to my body to judge that. But at some point, a half an hour walk would have been very detrimental for me (that includes food shopping too etc..)

Shall I guess that you have been under a huge amount of stress recently OP?
Stress afffects the adrenal that in turns make it hard to loose weight (or you gain weight).

StressedAndConfusedArgh I couldn't give a rat's ass if you listen to me, I just hope your conscience is clear when the new evidence shows your practice up for the negligence it really is.

Oh and thats not NICE Guidelines, it's a Clinical Knowledge Summary. There are no NICE guidelines because the standard of evidence, consensus statements and outdated trials, are considered insufficient to build guidelines from.

What is your BMI? if high and your GP is being like this how about asking him for a referral to Slimming world?

No stress that isn't just normal work and life stuff . Nothing overly stressful .

It's easy to say do exercise but I'm not just talking normal tiredness . I am permanently exhausted !

I sometimes can't even summon the energy to make myself a cup of tea .

For example I'm at work and I actually started sobbing earlier when I realised I was called for the umpteenth time upstairs

Because I just don't have the energy .

Why don't you pay to have done tests done privately?
That would be my first port of call.

My GP gave me a trial of Liothyronine which worked, but I couldn't afford it, now I order another brand of T3 online knowing full well that it works for me
Are you not in the UK then because I don't understand how you can't afford a prescription charge but you can afford to order drugs online?

My mum phoned private clinics for prices and they said they need a GP referral.

But now I'm too frightened to go back to the GP in case I'm labelled a time waster (again!)

Are you obese?

I've been dieting for months and eating healthier but I don't lost much at all . In fact I've gained !

This is worrying. It sounds like you're having a rough time, I hope you can get things sorted soon.

Is there another GP in the practice that would write the referral? Or ask the practice manager for some help in getting the referral without another visit.
If not I'd call back the private doctors and say that he is very dismissive and you would like to see the private doc without your GP's knowledge if thats possible.

you can see a GP privately