Greetings to all in the group.  I haven't written to the site in a while, so
I'll start by saying that I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism (and
Hashimoto's thyroiditis) in 1997, a year after I arrived in Los Angeles from
the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC (District of Columbia).

When I was ultimately diagnosed, my TSH was at 60.  I had some of the
well-known symptoms (huge weight gain; edema; high cholesterol), although
others didn't manifest themselves until months later (dry skin; constipation).

Last week I requested, and received, copies of labs done by my former
internist in DC, whom I saw from 1988 to 1996, with 1 visit in December, 1999
(when I was living near Philadelphia).

Although I had had a weight problem from the beginning of the time that I
first saw him, he only checked my thyroid 3 times over that period.

I suspect that it is because the lab was located IN the office where his
medical group practiced, and since they probably felt that the insurance
comapnies "stiffed" them in terms of payment for lab tests, probably ordered
as few as possible (so as to get "stiffed" on fewer items).  I gather this
from what happened in Dec. '99, at my last app't.  I requested that they
check the reverse T3, which they did.  A month later, someone from the office
called and said that I had to pay them more $$$ for that test, since insofar
as this was a "patient-requested" test, they could not "swallow" the
difference between the cost of the test and what the insurance co. would pay.

At any rate, in early 1993, when my TSH was tested, it was 6.0.  Even back
then, the range was 0.5-5.6.  (Now the all-knowing American Academy of
Clinical Endocrinologists says, i think, above 3.0 indicates hypothyroidism).
 But the doctor in DC DID and SAID NOTHING.

(I'M AFRAID THAT THE DOCTOR KIND OF "CHECKED OUT" MENTALLY; HE HAD HAD A
TERRIBLE FAMILY TRAGEDY JUST BEFORE I MET HIM, AND, I SUSPECT, HE WAS NOT
"ALL THERE" THEREAFTER).

And I did nothing but castigate myself for being as fat as I was.

(THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LET THE DOC SUMMARIZE THE LAB RESULTS FOR YOU,
INSTEAD OF DEMANDING THE HARD COPY OF THE RESULTS TO SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!!)

In early 1994, right after my 40th birthday, the TSH was down to 4.15, within
the (then-) 'normal range.'  Before the lab results came in, I with great
anguish told the doc that I was working out all the time --which was true --
and i requested phen-fen to help me lose weight.  That he wouldn't prescribe,
but he did write out an Rx for "Tenuate Dospan," which is another appetite
suppressant.


To add insult to injury, when I saw him in '99, he mentioned that "patients
blame too much on their thryoid."

So, I can complain of at least four years wasted -- from at least '93 until
the formal diagnosis in '97.  It makes me feel a little better as to why i've
had an awfully hard time losing weight.  But still -- I'm angry.  I liked the
guy; I trusted the guy.  And I was left hanging.

-edward reisman

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