2 ms·

How about “your test came back too low, but I’m not even going to think about treating you because you don’t fit the profile.” You beg to at least be referred

How about “your test came back too low, but I’m not even going to think about treating you because you don’t fit the profile.” You beg to at least be referred to a specialist. The specialist all but laughs you off but agrees to test again. The test comes back even lower. You then have to ask the “specialist” for a specific treatment because you apparently know more than he does. I’ve never had a good experience with an endocrinologist.

tasogare 5y ago
I had one good endocrinologist, then she moved away. Since then it's just doctors looking at numbers and be like "numbers are low so you're fine", despite being tired all the time.
tremon 5y ago
This is my father's experience with his hematologist. He presented around 2000 with symptoms of fatigue and shortness of breath. He got bypass surgery a year or so later, but his condition never improved -- he wasn't even fit enough to complete the (very light) physical therapy recommended after surgery. Eventually, he started compiling his own bloodwork and measurements in an Excel sheet and could correlate the severity of his symptoms with the red blood cell count in his blood, but was rebuffed every time. After urging from us, he finally asked to be referred to a different specialist, and one of the first things he asked her was: "can my symptoms be explained from this blood work?", and he was very happy and relieved when she said yes. In all, it took ten years after his first symptoms to be diagnosed with MDS [1]. He's gone now, but at least his last years were better than the ten before that. To this day, we don't know if his bypass surgery was a necessary intervention. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myelodysplastic_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myelodysplastic_syndrome

2 ms·

How about “your test came back too low, but I’m not even going to think about treating you because you don’t fit the profile.” You beg to at least be referred

by AuryGlenz 5y ago

tasogare 5y ago
I had one good endocrinologist, then she moved away. Since then it's just doctors looking at numbers and be like "numbers are low so you're fine", despite being tired all the time.
tremon 5y ago
This is my father's experience with his hematologist. He presented around 2000 with symptoms of fatigue and shortness of breath. He got bypass surgery a year or so later, but his condition never improved -- he wasn't even fit enough to complete the (very light) physical therapy recommended after surgery. Eventually, he started compiling his own bloodwork and measurements in an Excel sheet and could correlate the severity of his symptoms with the red blood cell count in his blood, but was rebuffed every time. After urging from us, he finally asked to be referred to a different specialist, and one of the first things he asked her was: "can my symptoms be explained from this blood work?", and he was very happy and relieved when she said yes. In all, it took ten years after his first symptoms to be diagnosed with MDS [1]. He's gone now, but at least his last years were better than the ten before that. To this day, we don't know if his bypass surgery was a necessary intervention. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myelodysplastic_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myelodysplastic_syndrome