Doctors do not know everything

It's funny how the older I get the less trusting I get of people - especially doctors. What I've come to realize is that general practioners are just that - generalists. They know a little bit about a lot of things, but nothing too much in detail. And, because they are forced to see a gazillion people a day to earn a living, they don't take time to read your charts so that when you have an appointment it isn't very thorough. That's been my experience at least.

So, today I had a physical and a followup for blood work. Physical was fine except for my blood pressure is creeping back up. It wsa 158/90. I asked if my headache could be affecting it and he said yes, to the top number, no to the bottom number. I filled out a form for the physical. He must not have even looked at it as he never even asked about my shoulder ache, headache or even the stress incontinence which was all mentioned on the form.

He asked if I had gotten blood work done (meaning he hadn't looked to see if he had ordered it or that it had been received) and I said yes. He looked and yes, it was there. He glances over it, says, "check, check, check, "Everything looks fine except you are slightly anemic. Blood sugars are fine. Cholesterol is fine. Everything is mostly fine." He made out a prescription for blood pressure meds (but thought I was still taking them as he hadn't updated my file from last April/May when I stopped taking them - and I've been to see him 2-3 times since then) and a lab order for 3-4 months from now to check on the anemia and thyroid.

No mention of my continued weight loss (I weigh about 12 pounds less now than I did in January). But he also didn't mention me needing to lose weight either.  No mention of my previous blood sugar issues - well, he did mention it saying, "We checked your blood sugar because you had gestational diabetes" Um, no, you checked it because last year it was registering as being diabetic and only the last time did it come back OK and you were verifying that it stayed better (and it did  - even better than before - fasting blood sugar was 83 and A1C was 5.1) Appointment done.

Well, I looked at my thyroid numbers. They are 4.2 The lab says anything below 4.5 is fine. The doctor thinks anything below 5 is fine. All new research (and it's everywhere online) says numbers should be below 3.0. The closest I've gotten is 3.3 before it shot up to 14 and has been around 4 for the last 4 months I figure. (I never got the results from the last check). http://thyroid.about.com/cs/hypothyroidism/a/undertreated.htm 
http://thyroid.about.com/od/gettestedanddiagnosed/a/normaltshlevel.htm

Thyroid is what messed up everything for me - blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol. All of it was haywire with my thyroid being haywire. So, I'm suspecting it's still what's causing the blood pressure issue. I exercise 5 hours a week. I have lost a lot of weight. Why is my blood pressure creeping up?

Well, then I found this: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/blood-pressure/ and the more I read about synthroid (especially generics) the more I realize that it's not working for me.

1. I am still having sexual side effects. Doctor dismisses it.
2. My thyroid level has not stabilized and has not gotten to where it should be.
3. My blood pressure is creeping up for no reason.

Instead of just giving me a script for blood pressure medicine, shouldn't we try to figure out if my thyroid might still be messing with my blood pressure? Why are they so quick to just give a pill?

So, tomorrow I will look for an endocrinologist. My husband's boss is a nurse who works with endocrine stuff, so I'll be asking her for a reference/ideas of where to look. Enough is enough of waiting on my doctor to figure it out. I need to be smart enough to know I need to do more for myself and not expect him to do more.

Stats for 4/19/12:

Highest weight: 275  Now: 170.0