*This post was written in 2013 with everything recreated from my forum posts, Facebook updates and written notes I had from doctor’s visits.

See the previous posts in this series – first symptoms and Doctor #1.

My Symptoms

As I continued to drag on with no diagnosis, I added more and more symptoms to the list. This is my list from the end of September:

• Fatigue/exhaustion like I’ve never had in my life
• Hair falling out to the point the girl who does my hair commented on it
• Brain fog
• Lack of concentration
• Memory lapses
• Inability to find the right word when speaking
• Mixing up words
• Always feeling cold with low body temp (lowest recorded was 95.8)
• Changes in menstrual cycle (had always been like clockwork)
• Daily headaches that typically started in the afternoon
• Unexplained coughing
• Hoarseness
• Neck pain, back pain, pain between shoulder blades

But you know according to my previous doctor’s office, I was just depressed! And maybe I was getting there by this point because I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me! But the anti-depressant did nothing so I knew it really wasn’t that.

I anxiously waited for the short waiting period to pass from switching my primary care manager so I could be seen by the new doctor’s office.

Appointment with Doctor #2

The last week of September, I saw the NP at the new office and she agreed that something just wasn’t right. I took her my list of symptoms (listed above) along with a much more thorough medical history. I had spent days compiling this in written form from past medical records because my memory was getting so bad, I couldn’t be sure I would remember answers to questions in her office.

I also gave her the list of labs I wanted to have drawn. She agreed and then added a few more on top of those. She also ordered an ultrasound of my thyroid, which I had completed the following day. I was feeling very positive after my appointment with her, especially when she told me if all of this comes back normal, it doesn’t mean I’m okay. It just means we haven’t found the cause yet.

Pure relief.

Follow-up with Doctor #2

When I went in for my follow-up with her, she said that all of my labs showed normal except for my vitamin D. And she said that lack of vitamin D can cause some of the symptoms I was complaining of. Whew! How easy, right? And it was no big surprise I was low in vitamin D since my skin hasn’t seen the sun without 50 SPF since 1997 and I was no longer drinking milk because of the low carb diet.

My thyroid ultrasound also showed a multinodular thyroid that was slightly enlarged. Hmmm…this was new to me. She said none of the nodules were large enough to be biopsied so it was a “watch and see” kind of deal. The odd part was that my thyroid labs showed normal. So she wanted to refer me to an integrative medicine doctor who, in her words, dealt with “weird thyroids”.

I agreed and went on my happy way thinking this must be the ticket! It’s vitamin D and my thyroid! My next hurdle was that this integrative doctor was not covered by my insurance. She didn’t take insurance at all. And that would bring along with it a whole new set of complications.

Read more about going to see Doctor #3

*This post was written in 2013 with everything recreated from my forum posts, Facebook updates and written notes I had from doctor’s visits.

See the first in this series of posts here.

When the carb re-set didn’t work, I made an appointment with a new doctor. We changed our primary doctor just after the car accident when we were told he didn’t see car accident patients. I had not yet seen this new doctor since this was my first time needing a doctor that wasn’t directly related to the car accident.

My first appointment was on August 23rd. I was actually pretty excited as I figured he would draw some blood, we would figure out what was going on, I’d pop a pill and a few days later, feel like a new person.

If I had only known…

I filled out all of the new patient paperwork only to find out I would be seeing the PA instead of the MD. I had good luck with NPs/PAs in the past so I just said whatever and went over in my mind what I wanted to say to him.

At this point, my main symptoms were fatigue, hair loss, low body temp, feeling cold and I was just starting with what at the time I didn’t know how to describe. I now know it as brain fog.

I told him about all of these things and gave a brief medical history (kidney stones, c-section with my son, tachycardia episodes in past, etc). After listening to me for a few minutes, he diagnosed me as having depression and anxiety. When I realized I was being written off, I started to tear up (which didn’t help me much in convincing him I was not depressed). He told me if I would try this anti-depressant for a few weeks, he would run blood tests then if it didn’t work. But he was sure it would work – I was just stressed.

Now, I knew then that it was not stress related. My husband deployed four times to a war zone with special operations. During his first ever deployment, I simultaneously quit my job, moved to a new city and started a business. When I was in an accelerated MBA program, four months pregnant with my son, my doctors told me they thought I had a rare and incredibly aggressive form of breast cancer that untreated would likely kill me around my due date (turned out to be a false alarm). My point – I know what stress is and this wasn’t it.

I took my prescription and left. On September 13, I showed up in his office again and this time made a follow-up appointment specifically with the MD for a week later to review the blood tests that he was going to draw on that day, as promised.

He was clearly not happy to see me back letting him know that his miracle cure did not in fact work, just as I had predicted. I insisted something was wrong and things were getting worse. Can we PLEASE run blood tests now?

After a lecture that I was overreacting and just needed to exercise, he finally relented and drew blood. I had a whole list of labs I was requesting based on my research. I assumed he would draw what I asked….wrong.

A few days later I called to confirm the appointment time with the MD. I was told the PA canceled that appointment “on my behalf” after my visit demanding blood tests. So here I was with no follow-up and another two week wait to get back in with the MD. I was furious. How he dare he cancel my appointment! I called my insurance company and dropped this practice as my primary care manager.

I went to the patient portal to pull my blood tests results. I thought there must have been a mistake. The only tests run were for iron, B12 and TSH. He didn’t even run a CBC! What a complete waste of both time and money with this jerk.

So it was off to yet another doctor….see how that visit progressed here.