Has Anyone Been to an Endo w/ no diagnosis, just made the appt themselves?

[Anonymous]

Just curious, I made an appt on my own and they seemed a little annoyed that I had no diagnosis and no referring doctor. I am certain I have a thyroid issue and wanted to get an appt as they are scheduling into late July. I do have an appt with my dr. Has anyone gone to a specialist w/out their doctors suggestion?

[Anonymous]

If you can, try to get your regular doctor to mail you a Lapcorp script so that you can get your TSH, T4, T3 and antibodies tested before going to the endo. They can't really do anything for you without knowing these results, so you're just going to have a follow up appointment regardless.

[Anonymous]

Well yes, but not for things where I am guessing at a diagnosis. The only way you can be sure you have a thyroid problem is with a blood test. So if you come in saying you haven't had blood drawn and yet you are "sure" you have a thyroid problem, well it's difficult to swallow.

[Anonymous]

I just booked myself directly with a top GI at Georgetown suspecting I either had a tumor or celiac. She was shocked taking my pt history that I had no referring doctor and didn't "pass Go" before proceeding directly to her, but she was appropriately concerned about my symptoms. She ordered a upper and lower scope and had my blood drawn just to check against celiac - - turns out I had THE highest reactivity in all the panels for it she'd ever seen.

Sometimes, patients really DO know themselves best and aren't just hypochondriacs. Good luck, OP!

[Anonymous]

Oh, and after I was dx'd with celiac and reading up on it online.... I read that most people with it spend more than FIVE years before they get the right diagnosis. So, "Yay!" for me and Dr. Charabaty for getting it dx'd in three weeks!

[Anonymous]

You can do it, of course--but you'll maximize your and the dr's time if you show up with blood results in hand. Call your PCP and get your thryoid levels drawn. My PCP did them, said they were normal (because TSH was slightly under 5), I went to an endo with them and was dx with hypothyroidism. Taking medication for it changed my life (for the better). Be prepared, if you go in without any bloodwork the dr may be annoyed with you. It's not the end of the world but they need it as a starting point and would rather have it while listening to you talk about your symptoms.

FWIW, I really like and generally trust my PCP--except on endo issues. It's wise to go to an endo if you think you may need one.