And the verdict is...

[kickaha]

"Meh, we dunno."

Endocrinologist is 'disinclined' to think it is adrenal, but glucose instead. (His reason? I'm not hyperpigmented. I'm a *redhead* you dolt, we *don't* pigment... and besides, I *have* had a large increase in freckles in the last five months, without sun exposure.)

Despite me sitting there and telling him that every &*%$@$%# doc I've ever seen has said that at first, then come back with "Huh, I guess not. I dunno."

Despite me sitting there telling him that my BP drops below 110/70 unless I drink 1/2 gallon of salt water a day.

Despite me sitting there telling him that I *have* a glucosometer, and that it reads like clockwork, and *does not* correlate with my feeling craptacular.

I swear to god, I may as well not have been in the room. I could have saved two hours, and just had him look at my previous blood workup, since that's all he did.

I think I am 'disinclined' to want to go back to him.

I have a battery of tests on scrip, and I have a call in to find out if the ACTH test listed is an ACTH *response* test, or just yet another goddamned ACTH snapshot, like I've already had two of. If it's the latter, that's useless, and I'll argue until I get the correct one.

Oh, and the followup appt?

Six weeks. Six more weeks of this shit, until he goes "Meh, I dunno" again.

Edit: Okay, so mental fog and irrationality is something else I'm dealing with when stressed or frustrated. Thanks to ginkgo looking up some of the tests he ordered, it's much more oriented towards adrenal than our spoken conversation indicated. In fact, it's pretty damned comprehensive. Thanks hon, that makes me feel tons better.

Comments

Find a way to drop your physics background

[actsofcreation.livejournal.com]

It has been my experience that dropping information about your background in physics tends to garner instant respect from most physicians. They were almost all terrified of the physics section of the MCAT. In short, indicating that your background in physics moves you from the 'dumb patient' category into the 'smarter than me' category. From there you can actually get them to treat you like a real scientist, with reliable data to report.

Re: Find a way to drop your physics background

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

Heh. For about three weeks, I kept a log tracking how I felt, what I ate, how much water I drank, what my BP, pulse, and glucose levels were, and even how often I urinated. I handed them a copy today, and the nurse said "I have *NEVER* seen this detailed or well-done a chart! Wow!" At first, she thought it was from the referring doctor.

I thought it was half-assed, with not nearly dense enough data sets, but they seemed to like it. So *maybe* I can convince them I'm not a totally buffoon. :}

Re: Find a way to drop your physics background

[actsofcreation.livejournal.com]

I doubt your doctor looked at it. Physicians commonly consider patients to be unreliable reporters at best, that's why it's important to drop the physics thing... make them flash back to possibly staring down a C in their mechanics class...