Ever feel like your doctor doesn't listen to you? Doesn't believe you? Or just won't admit that he/she doesn't know the answer? This has been my life for the past several months. This blog is not meant to badmouth the medical community, or place blame on anyone.....it is my story, and I want to bring awareness to what can happen when you least expect it. I will start off my saying I am a nurse, so I too, am part of the healthcare system. I've been a nurse for 13 years and am currently a Nurse Practitioner student......so I value healthcare, and am proud to have a small part in helping people.
For the past nine months I have had symptoms that seem to be unexplainable to most physicians. It started off with shortness of breath with exercise.....I was given an inhaler for exercise induced bronchospasms. It seemed appropriate, but did not help. Another inhaler was added for daily use, but still no relief. About a month after trying this regimine I ran my first 10K......and by ran, I mean, struggled to breath and finish in an upright position.....for about a week after that run, I was beyond exhausted. My coworkers sent me from work to a local walk in clinic for evaluation......I could barely stay awake, my blood pressure was elevated (not normal for me), but the provider I saw felt it was just exhaustion from running, working and school.....did some blood work and sent me home.
I let my PCP know of this visit and was referred to a pulmonologist. He wanted to send me to the group affiliated with his office but agreed to allow me to choose the group affiliated with my work. I will be forever grateful that I asked to be sent to this location. I went through several tests (EKG, Echo, Methacholine challenge, pulmonary function tests, cardiopulmonary exercise tests) and was started on a calcium channel blocker to help control my high heart rate. In the three months it took to get these tests done, I was now having headaches, occasional palpitations while at rest, my heart rate was significantly elevated and I was incredibly short of breath just climbing a set of stairs. So, I went from running to not being able to properly walk up a flight of stairs. At this point I was also feeling very flushed off and on throughout the day....would start sweating for no reason....and would wake up in the middle of the night completely drenched and need to change my clothes (and sometimes my sheets).
I told both my PCP and my pulmonologist. My PCP thought he would wait until my physical the next month to see if things became better. My pulmonologist ordered a thyroid panel.....which showed that my TSH had increased (from 3.2 to 5.1) over the last six weeks. I called my PCP to see if this could be part of the problem......and help explain the extreme fatigue I was still having. He did not feel this needed to be treated. I pushed a little harder and he ordered an antibody test, saying he would only treat me if the antibodies were positive.....which they were not.
I called his office again, this time asking to be referred to an endocrinologist. He agreed to make the referal but I got the impression he did not feel it was necessary. I was able to get in to see someone within a couple weeks and my TSH had increased yet again (5.9) and he felt it was reasonable to put me on Levoxyl due to my symptoms and the increase in numbers. Finally!! Somebody listened!!
But things didn't get better.....
