I need advice on how to approach my doctor

[FamilyPicnic]

Hi, another straggler from anxiety dot com here after many months of staying away!!!

I have very good reason to believe I am suffering from hypothyroidism but of course need a blood test to rule this out or in. To complicate matters I recently had quite an argument with my doctor with him yelling at me and refusing to listen to what I was trying to say. Needless to say, I am looking for a new doctor but the very soonest I can get an appt is 4 months away.

Meanwhile I want to get tested for hypot asap and in order to do this I have to go back to the doctor and ask him to test me. Because hypothyroidism is one of those diseases that people with hypochondria "think" they have and because my doctor is somewhat unwilling to do testing on me because of my hypochondria and because I'm afraid he'll bring up the last horrible appointment I'm at a loss as to what to do.

Any advice on how I can best approach him? I think I have enough so called evidence that at the very least calls for testing of this, but to be able to explain this to him, well that is very difficult for me as he is NOT a good listener at all and in general ignores most of what I say. So I usually end up stuttering and stammering a bunch of nonsense and leave, go to my car and cry because of another appointment gone wrong. I'm not real good at verbal communication especially if the other person does not listen.

[Lilliput]

Can you write down what you want to say so that you can go over it and check that you have explained clearly and concisely before approaching him?
No professional likes being told his/her job but, equally, there is a duty to behave in a professional manner and listen to patients' concerns.

When I first began to acknowledge that I had a problem with anxiety and panic, I found it impossible to talk to the doctor, even though he was quite kind, so I wrote him a letter and dropped it in to the surgery. It made it much easier when I did go and see him as I didn't have to explain everything from scrtch and get upset and miss out important things.

Good luck with your next approach.

[FamilyPicnic]

Hi, I have actually thought of writing him something but I honestly think he would"listen" to a letter as much as he listens to me, which isn't much. He is so quick to shut me up and write off everything as anxiety or "that's normal."

I'm also a bit nervous about being tested for hypothyroidism as I'm afraid the test will come out normal, and then what? If I don't have this the only other thing that can explain my symptoms is dementia and terrible cancer.

[Loveydovey0519]

Sometimes I feel that once we get the 'anxiety, panic disorder, depression' label that most doctors attribute our symptoms to that. My doctor has been relative good up until lately, and I'm more than likely going to switch doctors. However my advice would be, tell him to give you the test. At the end of the day it's your money that is paying for it. A thyroid test is simple and quick, I actually had one back in April because it was never tested. Maybe demanding isn't the best option, but strongly asking like I did got the job done. Best of luck.

[Lilliput]

Hi, I have actually thought of writing him something but I honestly think he would"listen" to a letter as much as he listens to me, which isn't much. He is so quick to shut me up and write off everything as anxiety or "that's normal."

I'm also a bit nervous about being tested for hypothyroidism as I'm afraid the test will come out normal, and then what? If I don't have this the only other thing that can explain my symptoms is dementia and terrible cancer.

Well, try anyway. If he still doesn't 'listen' you'll be no worse off than now. If he does listen, then you will have succeeded.

If the hypothyroidism test does come out normal then it's highly likely your symptoms are down to anxiety. It doesn't mean they're not real to you but they need to be dealt with in another way.

If you haven't looked at the cbt4panic site, take a look. There's a huge list of symptoms there that can be caused by anxiety. All of us here suffer from some of them, between us we probably have all of them! It's in Workbook 4, item 12, 'Anxiety Symptoms, The List'.

[robinhall]

Hi
The link to CBT4Panic is in my signature below :-)

[FamilyPicnic]

My hypothyroid symptoms are not anxiety related, in fact 3 of my main symptoms aren't even listed on the list of anxiety symptoms.

It's too easy to blame "anxiety" for symptoms and doctors are often too quick to blame that in someone they think is anxious. I don't suffer from panic attacks and am in general a calm person, but I got the label "anxious" in the doctor's office because I am a hypochondriac and therefore have had one too many "false alarms" thinking I had cancer when I didn't.

It's so frustrating to have him say it's anxiety when 1) I don't have anxiety and 2) he won't even listen to what I say. I will admit I can get "nervous" in the doctor's office and that may come across as anxiety but what it really is, is my frustration and anger that I'm not able to get my point across to him and hear him acknowledge what I am saying. I have about 10 seconds at most to attempt to say something before he totally brushes it off and that will be the end of the conversation.

[Lilliput]

OK. You seem pretty certain about all this. Maybe you will just have to wait until you are registered with another doctor.
Best of luck to you.

[Fishmanpa]

I'm also a bit nervous about being tested for hypothyroidism as I'm afraid the test will come out normal, and then what? If I don't have this the only other thing that can explain my symptoms is dementia and terrible cancer.

Actually the one thing that does explain your symptoms is your anxiety.

I'm curious as to why you'd be afraid of getting a normal test result. It's almost as if you want something to be physically wrong with you so you don't have to face the fact that it's actually anxiety and has been all along :shrug:

Your doctor already knows you have anxiety and I'm sure if you asked for help with that he'd be more than happy to help.

Positive thoughts

[FamilyPicnic]

I'm curious as to why you'd be afraid of getting a normal test result. It's almost as if you want something to be physically wrong with you so you don't have to face the fact that it's actually anxiety and has been all along



Fishmanpa, thank you for your words, I remember you from anxiety dot com and you always had a calm reassuring way about you. There is without a doubt something physically wrong with me, a good number of my symptoms point to hypothyroidism. I don't "want" something to be physically wrong but since there obviously is, I would prefer it to be a disease that is easily treated. As I said, my symptoms seem to fit, and these particular symptoms are not on the common symptoms of anxiety list. I know myself and I know my body and I know this particular problem isn't anxiety. I really am not good at verbal communication (it's not an anxiety thing, it's just the way I am) so for me to explain anything to my doctor is not easy, made all the worse by his unwillingness to listen. I'm just trying to figure out how I can explain this to him without him brushing me off as he usually does.

[Fishmanpa]

You could always go out of pocket but that would be some major $$$. If you're that uncomfortable with your current doctor it doesn't leave you much choice. You're going to a new doctor in 4 months. Seems like you've been dealing with this for a long time so you could just wait it out and talk then. All that being said? Even if it is? So? No biggie. A pill a day keeps the thyroid at bay ;) My ex had it and took Synthroid. Never had an issue.

Good luck and as always...

Positive thoughts