Re: Why we're here - Why we are all a Phoenix

[Guest guest]

Jodi and everyone,

This is a STRONG opinion of mine, based on how I just walked away when the doc said that I was fine, and needed to lose weight. He said that I was too fat to be sick, ignored my symptoms, although he did write them on my chart. He never even bothered to test me.

I KNEW there was something wrong, that's why I went in. It was the first time in my life that I went in when I didn't already know what was wrong. I didn't have an injury or tonsillitis, or an ear infection or anything, but I KNEW there was something not right.

But the doc just blew me off and I went home. The story of what happened as the symptoms progressed over the next 10 months is long... but by the time I started developing problems in my shoulders that was keeping me from doing my job I was a walking heart attack.

I was in thyroid storm. The shoulder problem was that I was developing tendonitis in my shoulders just from the muscles firing from the excess hormone. By then I'd stopped sleeping so that I could stay up to eat. I was eating 25 thousand calories a day and still losing weight. I was pumping out so much heat that I was not only not wearing a coat outside in sub zero weather. I was running an air conditioner in my truck to defrost the windows!

Ten months of H*** that me and my body went through because I just went home when that doc told me to. The second doc was so pissed off at the first for not having testing me, even though I had classic symptoms of hyperthyroid, that she stormed in the exam room that he was in and yelled at him so loud that EVERYONE could hear!!

She had me in the hospital that same day..... When I got there - I was the one that was told that I was irresponsible for waiting so long.

I was the one that had NO time to prepare for what they had to do to save my life. I was the one that was told after taking the RAI and signing away my rights that I might still die because I was the one that waited to long. That it would be my fault.

The moral to my story. If you KNOW that there is something wrong. If the doc blows you off and sends you home and you still KNOW that something is wrong.

PLEASE

Do not do what I did. Please. Don't go home. Find another doc, and another and another until you find one that can explain to you what is wrong and find a way to deal with it (treatment, meds, surgery, whatever it takes).

Ask as many questions here as you have, there is no limit to number of questions or length of post. No one will laugh at a 'silly' question. There is no silly question here. We've talked about female problems and bathroom problems, hair, skin, nails, food, temperatures, smells, pain, sleep, sex, hair, memories, housework, showers, vacations, pets, meds, and rants and ventings and dreams.

It's all part of what we are dealing with. It's all a part of our lives.

Do you guys know why we chose Phoenix to be a part of our web presence? This is right off our home page:

The Myth of the Phoenix

The Phoenix, also known as the Bennu, is a female mythological bird symbolizing immortality, resurrection and life after death. She is the quintessence of rebirth. She rises from the ashes of her own funeral Phyr and begins life anew.

When she feels her life nearing it's end she builds a nest using the branches of an oak in the top of a palm tree. In the nest she collects cinnamon, and spikenard, and myrrh. As her life ends the flames begin, as the flames die out, from the ashes rises a new Phoenix, a new life ,

With the rebirth begins a new cycle of time.

Why Phoenix?

There is no other way to describe what regaining control of your life and care of your health can be. Women are not the only ones that suffer from thyroid disorders, men and children are also victims. But male, female, young or old the common link between us all is the loss of the life that we enjoyed before becoming ill.

You are here because you are searching... for information... for answers to your questions... and for understanding.

Join us as we each find what we need to line the nests of our lives and begin our rebirth to a life that is healthy and once again worth living.

We're here to begin our new lives. To learn what we need to do to line our nests to begin that new journey. It's not corny.. it's what we do.

I'm gonna stop now. I get really emotional and passionate about things. Having a doc blow someone off is one of them.

It's your life. Fight for it. Not just to not die, but fight to have a quality of life, don't just exist.

Topper ()

www.thyrophoenix.com

On Fri, 16 Jul 2004 03:46:20 -0000 "jlwitz" writes:> Hi, ,> > Thanks for all the info - I do have a HealthCheck lab about 15 > minutes from here. I already had several of the tests done in the > VIP Profile Plus II - maybe I could just have the Comprehensive > Thyroid Profile II done. And I guess the antibodies test is what > determines Hashi's?> Thanks, too, for the encouragement - it took a lot to get me to just > ask him to treat for thyroid. I backed off instead of insisting on > having the free T3 & T4 done...I was hoping my TSH would come back > abnormal, then I wouldn't have to argue with him...> I did have a sono done by the endocrinologist to determine if the > thyroid swelling was nodules, cancer. He said it was a simple > goiter. And he just wanted to watch it. Ugh.> Jodi

[Guest guest]

I still say that yes, I would definitely have been a mercenary about this because you had VERY strong grounds for a lawsuit? Why? Not simply wanting money, but the fact that your marketable skills (at least at THAT time) were put to an end, at least temporarily. Also, had you had children, they wouldn't have had a mother, or, for that manner, anyone else that you were valuable to in your family. Just think, WE wouldn't have had you here, imparting information to thousands and thousands of people! Also, you cannot afford the medical care that it takes to correct all the things that this disease causes. There ARE monetary reasons for filing a suit, and yes, it might still be in the courts to this very day, but I think that I would have done it just to keep irritating this doctor, so that maybe HE could worry himself into a breakdown or something. Then, I might have offered him some free Prozac samples and told him to go home, that it's all in his sorry head. I get angry every time we talk about this.

Re: Why we're here - Why we are all a Phoenix

Jodi and everyone,

This is a STRONG opinion of mine, based on how I just walked away when the doc said that I was fine, and needed to lose weight. He said that I was too fat to be sick, ignored my symptoms, although he did write them on my chart. He never even bothered to test me.

I KNEW there was something wrong, that's why I went in. It was the first time in my life that I went in when I didn't already know what was wrong. I didn't have an injury or tonsillitis, or an ear infection or anything, but I KNEW there was something not right.

But the doc just blew me off and I went home. The story of what happened as the symptoms progressed over the next 10 months is long... but by the time I started developing problems in my shoulders that was keeping me from doing my job I was a walking heart attack.

I was in thyroid storm. The shoulder problem was that I was developing tendonitis in my shoulders just from the muscles firing from the excess hormone. By then I'd stopped sleeping so that I could stay up to eat. I was eating 25 thousand calories a day and still losing weight. I was pumping out so much heat that I was not only not wearing a coat outside in sub zero weather. I was running an air conditioner in my truck to defrost the windows!

Ten months of H*** that me and my body went through because I just went home when that doc told me to. The second doc was so pissed off at the first for not having testing me, even though I had classic symptoms of hyperthyroid, that she stormed in the exam room that he was in and yelled at him so loud that EVERYONE could hear!!

She had me in the hospital that same day..... When I got there - I was the one that was told that I was irresponsible for waiting so long.

I was the one that had NO time to prepare for what they had to do to save my life. I was the one that was told after taking the RAI and signing away my rights that I might still die because I was the one that waited to long. That it would be my fault.

The moral to my story. If you KNOW that there is something wrong. If the doc blows you off and sends you home and you still KNOW that something is wrong.

PLEASE

Do not do what I did. Please. Don't go home. Find another doc, and another and another until you find one that can explain to you what is wrong and find a way to deal with it (treatment, meds, surgery, whatever it takes).

Ask as many questions here as you have, there is no limit to number of questions or length of post. No one will laugh at a 'silly' question. There is no silly question here. We've talked about female problems and bathroom problems, hair, skin, nails, food, temperatures, smells, pain, sleep, sex, hair, memories, housework, showers, vacations, pets, meds, and rants and ventings and dreams.

It's all part of what we are dealing with. It's all a part of our lives.

[Guest guest]

Not one person worried about my aldosterone being so very low and the same with rennin, transferrin and ferritin because I was (am) fat. Only skinny people have such low numbers. Luckily Friedman thinks outside the box!

Re: Why we're here - Why we are all a Phoenix

Jodi and everyone,

This is a STRONG opinion of mine, based on how I just walked away when the doc said that I was fine, and needed to lose weight. He said that I was too fat to be sick, ignored my symptoms, although he did write them on my chart. He never even bothered to test me.

I KNEW there was something wrong, that's why I went in. It was the first time in my life that I went in when I didn't already know what was wrong. I didn't have an injury or tonsillitis, or an ear infection or anything, but I KNEW there was something not right.

But the doc just blew me off and I went home. The story of what happened as the symptoms progressed over the next 10 months is long... but by the time I started developing problems in my shoulders that was keeping me from doing my job I was a walking heart attack.

I was in thyroid storm. The shoulder problem was that I was developing tendonitis in my shoulders just from the muscles firing from the excess hormone. By then I'd stopped sleeping so that I could stay up to eat. I was eating 25 thousand calories a day and still losing weight. I was pumping out so much heat that I was not only not wearing a coat outside in sub zero weather. I was running an air conditioner in my truck to defrost the windows!

Ten months of H*** that me and my body went through because I just went home when that doc told me to. The second doc was so pissed off at the first for not having testing me, even though I had classic symptoms of hyperthyroid, that she stormed in the exam room that he was in and yelled at him so loud that EVERYONE could hear!!

She had me in the hospital that same day..... When I got there - I was the one that was told that I was irresponsible for waiting so long.

I was the one that had NO time to prepare for what they had to do to save my life. I was the one that was told after taking the RAI and signing away my rights that I might still die because I was the one that waited to long. That it would be my fault.

The moral to my story. If you KNOW that there is something wrong. If the doc blows you off and sends you home and you still KNOW that something is wrong.

PLEASE

Do not do what I did. Please. Don't go home. Find another doc, and another and another until you find one that can explain to you what is wrong and find a way to deal with it (treatment, meds, surgery, whatever it takes).

Ask as many questions here as you have, there is no limit to number of questions or length of post. No one will laugh at a 'silly' question. There is no silly question here. We've talked about female problems and bathroom problems, hair, skin, nails, food, temperatures, smells, pain, sleep, sex, hair, memories, housework, showers, vacations, pets, meds, and rants and ventings and dreams.

It's all part of what we are dealing with. It's all a part of our lives.

[Guest guest]

I did try to go after him years later... but the state told me that all he had to do was file bankruptcy and I couldn't touch him... when I called the AMA (I think that's who it was) they said that the best that I could do is have his license pulled in the state of Minnesota but that he'd just go to another state...

At that point I didn't feel too bad about what I did do....

The first time I went in to the regular clinic after my diagnosis and RAI they had me scheduled to see him. I made a, well... I'll use nice words... Um.... a colorful declaration of this particular doctor's lack of qualification and that he'd never come anywhere near me again.....

Same thing with the next time I was in... both of these were for work related things so I was to see a GP.. and they had me assigned to him... after the second 'show' in the waiting room he was moved to another clinic within the HMO... I, um.... well.. found him.. .and made a scene there a couple of times about what type of a doc they had at their clinic...

They moved him again.. but I never found out where.

See.. I have a strong brand loyalty for things that are good and will promote them to anyone that that item is of interest to. But on that same token, if someone does me wrong.. they will get just as much advertising from me as the guys that I like. Afterall ... it's only fair that they get my same level of passion, right?

There has only been one time that I have wavered from that... it was when making what the individual did public would hurt others that were innocent. I'll not knowingly hurt an innocent bystander if I can avoid it... and this particular time I could avoid it if I just choked it down...

Think I'm not serious about that kind of stuff? I drove a company truck into a ditch during an ice storm in the late 80s.... if I hadn't I would have hit a pickup truck head on... I would have been just fine... He would have been dead. I stood a better chance turning the wheel... so I did. The truck rolled and I totalled the load. But I walked away from it. That's the same incident that caused the local hospital to come after my dad... cause the company was late in turning in the paper work. (Same company that I turned in the following year for 23 counts of state and federal commercial vehicle code violations. They hired a new warehouse manager that didn't like to have a female lead driver, he kinda got into trouble when the owner found out that he was gabbing on the phone while I was doing his job for him.... The owner reamed him a new posterior aperture.... So when he went on vacation the next day my new manager fired me. I was at the DOT within the hour and was filing the charges. The guy got canned two weeks later. I used to be such a [foe] to deal with when I'd been done wrong.)

Would you believe I not only got a pat on the back from the hiway patrol at the scene of the rollover, but an official thankyou from the employer's insurance company for making the choice to risk the load and truck rather than kill the guy.

I still think of that every once in a while.. I always thought that I'd make that choice.. but you dont' really know until you're in that position... and in that fraction of a second I had to choose.. I didn't even hesitate. He wouldn't have stood a chance at all...

Back to the bad doc... when I went to file against him I explained that I wasn't going for money.. I wanted to be assured of medical care and medication for the rest of my life as it related to the mutilation (RAI) that I'd been subjected to due to the lack of care or concern by the doc and that I didn't him to ever do to someone else what he did to me. That's why I got the referral to try to get his license pulled.

I wish that I'd been healthy/strong enough to pursue it further at the time. But I was having a hard enough time just doing my day to day things by then already. But, you know what? If I'd won on those terms I'd still be on Synthroid and being treated by TSH values... So I'm better off now anyway.. I'm on natural thyroid and am self medicating by symptoms and doing WAY better than I ever did with the docs and Synthroid.

20/20 hindsight. I can't do anything about what happened to me... but hopefully I'll help others not be victimized in the same way.....

I know what you mean about the anger, ... so many come to us when the docs turn them away.... I want to go do some doc bashing... With all the reality shows on tv... wouldn't that be a great one? Maybe that will be our ticket to money for the clinic.. start out with a reality show of folks going in with symptoms and the docs mostly turning them away.. then run the correct tests and correct diagnosis and the docs get their licenses pulled and the patient gets PROPER medical care.

Makes more sense to me than the million dollar check shows that they have now.

IMHO

Topper ()

www.thyrophoenix.com

On Fri, 16 Jul 2004 09:25:46 -0500 " " writes:

I still say that yes, I would definitely have been a mercenary about this because you had VERY strong grounds for a lawsuit? Why? Not simply wanting money, but the fact that your marketable skills (at least at THAT time) were put to an end, at least temporarily. Also, had you had children, they wouldn't have had a mother, or, for that manner, anyone else that you were valuable to in your family. Just think, WE wouldn't have had you here, imparting information to thousands and thousands of people! Also, you cannot afford the medical care that it takes to correct all the things that this disease causes. There ARE monetary reasons for filing a suit, and yes, it might still be in the courts to this very day, but I think that I would have done it just to keep irritating this doctor, so that maybe HE could worry himself into a breakdown or something. Then, I might have offered him some free Prozac samples and told him to go home, that it's all in his sorry head. I get angry every time we talk about this.

[Guest guest]

Thank you Topper2, I needed to hear that again. I am sorry that

happened to you. It shouldn't happen to anyone.

> Jodi and everyone,

>

> This is a STRONG opinion of mine, based on how I just walked away when

> the doc said that I was fine,

[Guest guest]

Nope it shouldn't... and that's why we're here. To help others to

understand that they have to stand up for their health... and arming them

with the information and understanding to be able to stand their ground.

Topper ()

On Fri, 16 Jul 2004 23:59:44 -0000 " darringirl "

writes:

> Thank you Topper2, I needed to hear that again. I am sorry that

> happened to you. It shouldn't happen to anyone.

[Guest guest]

Yes, even overeating, that they thought was psychological, now they know

it has to do with leptin and ghrelin. So much for " willpower will take

care of that " .

Jan

wrote:

> The idiots are now being MADE to realize that there is ALWAYS a

> physical reason for being overweight, not sometimes, but ALWAYS. More

> and more is being found out about this every single month of every

> single year.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

But sadly many patients by then have had stomachs stapled, went on crash

diets that made them woBut sadly not fast enough!

> Reply-To:

>The_Thyroid_Support_Group To:

><The_Thyroid_Support_Group > Subject: Re:

> Why we're here - Why we are all a Phoenix Date:

>Mon, 19 Jul 2004 02:54:08 -0500

>

>The idiots are now being MADE to realize that there is ALWAYS a physical

>reason for being overweight, not sometimes, but ALWAYS. More and more is

>being found out about this every single month of every single year.

>

>

>

> Re: Why we're here - Why we

>are all a Phoenix

>

>

> Not one person worried about my aldosterone being so very low and the

>same with rennin, transferrin and ferritin because I was (am) fat. Only

>skinny people have such low numbers. Luckily Friedman thinks outside the

>box!

[Guest guest]

And there is a connection between eating disorders and thyroid disease!

Feisty

Re: Why we're here - Why we are all a

Phoenix

> Yes, even overeating, that they thought was psychological, now they know

> it has to do with leptin and ghrelin. So much for " willpower will take

> care of that " .

>

>

> Jan

>

> wrote:

>

> > The idiots are now being MADE to realize that there is ALWAYS a

> > physical reason for being overweight, not sometimes, but ALWAYS. More

> > and more is being found out about this every single month of every

> > single year.

> >

> >

> >

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Really? Interesting. Can you elaborate?

blithe

> And there is a connection between eating disorders and thyroid disease!

> Feisty

[Guest guest]

Thyroid and adrenal - they've proven anorexia can be caused by adrenal

fatigue, and is not necessarily a psychological disorder.

Jan

Feisty(ThyroFeisty) wrote:

>And there is a connection between eating disorders and thyroid disease!

>Feisty

>

>

[Guest guest]

Wow, that's really interesting. How does that work? And how does the

inappropriate self-image come about (like when a really thin person

looks in the mirror and sees themselves as really heavy)?

blithe

> Thyroid and adrenal - they've proven anorexia can be caused by adrenal

> fatigue, and is not necessarily a psychological disorder.

>

>

> Jan

[Guest guest]

Blithe, the adrenals make people prone to obsessive-compulsive

behaviors in general - so these people just make the bodies the source

of their obsession.

I used to be very OCD - was diagnosed and had drugs prescribed for it

several times. I was anorexic as a teenager too. I think you start

thinking you are fat cause you look at yourself so much. It is like when

you try to hang a painting really straight and you look and look and

after a while it seems like it is always crooked and like it will never

be straight? Well, maybe only OCD people have that reaction, but I

believe with the body it is the same thing - you look and look and think

it will never be right. And the more you look and get convinced it is

never gonna be right, the lower the self-esteem. How can you like

yourself if you are always doomed to be " wrong " ? I try to avoid mirrors

although I haven't had a relapse in almost 10 years, so I don't drive

myself crazy. And when I am not in that crazy state, I know that I

didn't really think I was fat at 89lb - " fat " just becomes a synonim for

" not good enough " .

I know that at least in my case it is because of OCD that started years

earlier. When I was learning to read and write, I'd redo my homework

over and over until I had finished it without erasing anything. At 8pm

my mom had to come and hide the notebooks and pencils or I wouldn't go

to sleep, or would wake up to redo the homework more. I'd go through a

notebook in a few weeks. I would put my toys in a certain order, too. I

was 6.

Anyway, there was a study where they got anorexic people and tested

their adrenals and all were low. Then they put them on replacement and

85% of them or some other high number improved just from the

replacement, with no need of psychotropic drugs like Prozac.

Jan

blithezb00tik wrote:

>Wow, that's really interesting. How does that work? And how does the

>inappropriate self-image come about (like when a really thin person

>looks in the mirror and sees themselves as really heavy)?

>

>blithe

>

>

[Guest guest]

This is all very interesting. Thanks for the info!

I never realized all these things were related to adrenal function. It

reminds me of a friend who has chronic fatigue syndrome. She has a

sibling with OCD. Seems like they each suffer from 2 different sides

of the same coin.

Anyway, I'm glad you're better now.

blithe

Blithe, the adrenals make people prone to obsessive-compulsive

behaviors in general - so these people just make the bodies the source

of their obsession.

I used to be very OCD - was diagnosed and had drugs prescribed for it

several times. I was anorexic as a teenager too. I think you start

thinking you are fat cause you look at yourself so much. It is like

when you try to hang a painting really straight and you look and look

and after a while it seems like it is always crooked and like it will

never be straight? Well, maybe only OCD people have that reaction, but

I believe with the body it is the same thing - you look and look and

think it will never be right. And the more you look and get convinced

it is never gonna be right, the lower the self-esteem. How can you

like yourself if you are always doomed to be " wrong " ? I try to avoid

mirrors although I haven't had a relapse in almost 10 years, so I

don't drive myself crazy. And when I am not in that crazy state, I

know that I didn't really think I was fat at 89lb - " fat " just becomes

a synonim for " not good enough " .

I know that at least in my case it is because of OCD that started

years earlier. When I was learning to read and write, I'd redo my

homework over and over until I had finished it without erasing

anything. At 8pm my mom had to come and hide the notebooks and pencils

or I wouldn't go to sleep, or would wake up to redo the homework more.

I'd go through a notebook in a few weeks. I would put my toys in a

certain order, too. I was 6.

Anyway, there was a study where they got anorexic people and tested

their adrenals and all were low. Then they put them on replacement and

85% of them or some other high number improved just from the

replacement, with no need of psychotropic drugs like Prozac.

Jan

[Guest guest]

Right. And low thyroid and low adrenal affect the brain chemistry very much

so, as in the serotonins and others, so the appetite is killed. I can't

remember which ones have to do with OCD, but I used to have a touch of this

sort of thing myself way back there----checking the door latches over and

over. It wasn't severe, and lasted for a couple of yrs. It was before I

was diagnosed with thyroid problems. I think my adrenals were already

pooping then. If they weren't, they probably should have been, from

emotional stress.

Re: Re: Why we're here - Why we are all

a Phoenix

> Blithe, the adrenals make people prone to obsessive-compulsive

> behaviors in general - so these people just make the bodies the source

> of their obsession.

>

> I used to be very OCD - was diagnosed and had drugs prescribed for it

> several times. I was anorexic as a teenager too. I think you start

> thinking you are fat cause you look at yourself so much. It is like when

> you try to hang a painting really straight and you look and look and

> after a while it seems like it is always crooked and like it will never

> be straight? Well, maybe only OCD people have that reaction, but I

> believe with the body it is the same thing - you look and look and think

> it will never be right. And the more you look and get convinced it is

> never gonna be right, the lower the self-esteem. How can you like

> yourself if you are always doomed to be " wrong " ? I try to avoid mirrors

> although I haven't had a relapse in almost 10 years, so I don't drive

> myself crazy. And when I am not in that crazy state, I know that I

> didn't really think I was fat at 89lb - " fat " just becomes a synonim for

> " not good enough " .

>

> I know that at least in my case it is because of OCD that started years

> earlier. When I was learning to read and write, I'd redo my homework

> over and over until I had finished it without erasing anything. At 8pm

> my mom had to come and hide the notebooks and pencils or I wouldn't go

> to sleep, or would wake up to redo the homework more. I'd go through a

> notebook in a few weeks. I would put my toys in a certain order, too. I

> was 6.

>

> Anyway, there was a study where they got anorexic people and tested

> their adrenals and all were low. Then they put them on replacement and

> 85% of them or some other high number improved just from the

> replacement, with no need of psychotropic drugs like Prozac.

>

>

> Jan