Posted by garnet71 on March 2, 2009, at 23:14:18
In reply to Re: thyroid and cortisol issues » garnet71, posted by Phillipa on March 2, 2009, at 22:51:49
Phillipa,
I asked the endocronologist for the tests. When she said I didn't have all the symptoms of cortisol problems, I reminded her to:
1. look at the huge list of my symptoms (which she had not read during the appt);
2. it could be that other conditions I have mitigate the negative or positive cortisol symptoms she was looking for (she agreed with that point);
3. I had years and years of chronic stress--actually a lifetime of being exposed to high stressors--and subsequently, my health has steadily declined;
4. I've been given psych meds by psychiatrists over and over and over that continually made me worse off.You have to be very assertive and force them to listen or plan to be brushed off to the clinical abyss. Not only that, but doctors (in my view/experience) are always looking for ONE single diagnosis as opposed to multiple problems. And for specialists, I noticed (in my experience) they rarely look outside their area of expertise--they will almost always diagnosis within their specialty--even if its wrong. Always keep that in mind.
I was actually in a state of distress when I got there, but 'something' always kicks in when I need it, allowing me to think rationally while simultaneously having an anxiety attack.
She was a more ideal doctor than I was used to; not because she let me take tests, but because she listened. She was also very sharp and focused-I could tell right away.
Making sure you get the first appointment of the day, before they get behind schedule, most often leads to a better outcome. It also helps if you can get them to think out of the box by asking questions about different angles of looking at things. I don't know-I just guess-that they might be trained to identify a diagnosis as quickly as possible; they always appear a bit hyperfocused on the most common illnesses. It makes sense, well to me, if you think about the way our health care system is designed, and think about all the people who suffer for years being misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed.
My lyme results were negative.
poster:garnet71
thread:883440
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090223/msgs/883448.html