Doctors who refuse to check hormone levels over time for a patient are committing medical malpractice, amirite?

Which hormones? We always check TSH with routine labs

by Anonymous 1 week ago

TSH w/ reflex T4 is a thing… like that's the standard test (granted I dont do primary care and haven't since medical school)

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Most places will order TSH, free T4, and free T3 for hypothyroidism patients. Weird that they didn't do that

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Right! That works for me. I usually have to request it. Glad you know places that offer it!

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Hormones should be checked...when indicated.

by HotInstruction858 1 week ago

I think people are suggesting that we should have a healthcare system that prioritizes practicing medicine over profits. If I want a hormone panel done to manage my own health, I should not be denied access because it costs money. Increasingly, doctors are denying people access to medical care and resources unless they are clearly and obviously in extreme pain and suffering. I'm not sure if this is because of the costs involved or the desensitization of doctors, but it's absurd to me that healthcare is not treated as a service and instead is treated as a gatekept resource. Especially considering that in America, healthcare is privatized, yet I can still be denied access. My previous primary physician refused to even check my hormone levels as I got older unless I had a specific reason such as an injury, unprotected sex, or clear signs of physical illness. "Fatigue," "depression," and lack of appetite are not considered qualifying conditions in this case.

by Mediocre-Constant-55 1 week ago

You pay for a provider who practices evidence based medicine. If you want a "hormone panel" without any indication, then you should pay for the cost of unnecessary labs. Go on labquest or quest for that. Whatever "hormone level" even means. You have a few hormones.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

By all means, file your lawsuit if that's what you believe.

by Beginning_Crow_3657 1 week ago

Because if it's within the range of normal when you're feeling bad, we aren't going to give you a dangerous drug to make you on the high end of normal or above normal because that's when you feel best. That would actually be malpractice. Then when you have a heart attack and sue, the doctor would have zero defense for treating normal hormone levels.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

It wouldn't save money- money is all hospitals care about, if it saved them money they would do it. Everyone wants every panel all the time because they all think they're doctors and that their medical team is gaslighting them. The reality is 99.9% of the time they are just incorrect and are wasting time looking requesting panels or they've fallen into some pseudoscience ideas about what's healthy (this is really common with hormones for instance)

by Over-Western-7870 1 week ago

Well said. Though I'd be a bit kinder to OP cause I can understand how easy it is to get swooped by these people. Hell they're practically handing Testosterone out like candy though these websites now. Not to mention hypochondria I've dealt with that downstream of anxiety issues and it's intense. Really easy to question the doctors when you feel that way.

by Over-Western-7870 1 week ago

I mean I'd love to see more gains myself being too old to have appreciated how easy it was to get in shape back then lol

by Over-Western-7870 1 week ago

you should move over to IT. feels the same but, unlike Medicine, they do know they are idiots but pretend they arent

by PriorityTrick 1 week ago

Right so let's just cut off all your body parts because they might get cancer. No test is perfect. When the rate of a disease is low, eventually you end up with more false positives than true positives from the screening test. And then you end up with more patient harm (from unnecessary procedures investigating the false positives) than benefit from the people who actually had the thing you're testing for and got treated. If you're more likely to discover a false positive then a true one, and more likely to die from the work up of a false positive than you are to have had a true positive and been saved, well you can see why we don't just test everyone for everything all the time.

by elise96 1 week ago

You are questioning the medical professional? They do not see the need, but you want a procedure / medical test done that they did not authorize? You can still get it, but you will responsible for the cost since it was not medically authorized. So what is preventing you from ordering it and paying for it? Not medical malpractice.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

You can get any blood test you want if you're willing to pay out of pocket. You do not need your doctor's approval.

by Victoriafeest 1 week ago

You missed the point that if you want whatever test bad enough, you can get it. There are a finite amount of medical resources and doctors can't just send everyone who has a hunch that they need an MRI over for one. However, there are places around that will cater to those who want to pay a premium for their services.

by Victoriafeest 1 week ago

Having a follow up also brings in money for them, why would they not do that if that's an incentive? They don't follow up for within normal limits results because it would save the patient money from having to come back

by Anonymous 1 week ago

They aren't doing it to save patients money. Your doctor is not your financial advisor. Hilarious to think they should make health based recommendations off of concern for the finances of their patients. It's a service, if I want it, I should be able to pay for it. They don't want followups because they don't make as much money as focusing on other patients. My dermatologist for instance told me that I should get a spouse to check for skin cancer because they would rather charge people for more expensive procedures than use that time slot for preventative medicine.

by Mediocre-Constant-55 1 week ago

Your doctors are ghosting you because you're weird.

by Ysmitham 1 week ago

If you experience constant "gaslighting" then maybe it's not "gaslighting" and you are the issue?

by Anonymous 1 week ago

The patient always wants to be right even though the person giving them medical advice went to school for 10 yrs just to be told they're wrong.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

10 years of school doesn't give you x-ray vision or any information about the patients past or current experience. Doctors that are comfortable admitting they don't know everything about someone's situation, and see them as a resource rather than an annoyance, would be nice to encounter more frequently.

by SoftPay5402 1 week ago

I personally never used the term until my GP told me I'd experienced gaslighting by doctors in the 17 years it took to be diagnosed with a disease that would have been caught much earlier if doctors weren't dismissive of women's issues. There's more at play and it's not as simple as you're reducing it to. Yes OP may be the issue. But there's significant barriers to care when you are a women or POC as an example.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Lmao I like pizza my guy

by Kautzeruriel 1 week ago

OP said multiple doctors are doing it. One I could understand but when everyone is gaslighting you it's a you problem

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Like I said, wasn't saying OP is or isn't, just that line is very common.

by Kautzeruriel 1 week ago

Didn't say that, I said the line "if you've been gaslit for years, maybe you're the problem" is a common line for gaslighting, so it's not the best way to deduce if you're gaslit or causing the issue.

by Kautzeruriel 1 week ago

That's only true if it's from a single person, if multiple unconnected professionals all agree it's not gaslighting but just the truth

by Anonymous 1 week ago

No, you can be gaslit from multiple people. Cults are pretty heavy evidence of it

by Kautzeruriel 1 week ago

I specifically said unconnected professionals not multiple people

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I missed that, my bad. Still, could happen, but way less likely, for sure.

by Kautzeruriel 1 week ago

Same.

by Ysmitham 1 week ago

Who said anything about gaslighting? I didn't, don't be ridiculous

by Kautzeruriel 1 week ago

What are you talking about?

by Ysmitham 1 week ago

Ok and many people are over dramatic. Not every doctor is perfect but even more of the patients are brain dead and lying to get a disability check

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Who said there is clear evidence with OP? OP said multiple doctors have looked at him and "gaslit" him by saying there isn't anything wrong. Sorry but I'll trust the opinion of multiple doctors over a collage kid's

by Anonymous 1 week ago

You gave an unrelated anecdote. That's completely useless

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Odd. I've never had problems asking for and receiving diagnostic blood panels, and tests on my own initiative. Even when my circumstances didn't result in my doctor recommending or ordering particular tests, he's always been responsive to my requests for non-invasive diagnostics. He'd, say, "Well, I don't see anything that indicates an issue, but if it makes you feel better we can go ahead and order that test." I imagine that it all comes down to specific doctor.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I had an issue where typical causes had been eliminated via testing, but no other cause had been found. I showed up with my NIH papers in support of a potential cause. Tests were ordered because I had made my case. Voila! Cause found, treatment initiated.

by biankaprosacco 1 week ago

That's because you're not pestering your doctor for monthly hormone labels to detect things like cancer and tiredness. Dude is legit insane.

by Ysmitham 1 week ago

I think there is some fundamental misunderstanding OP has regarding medical care.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Took me 4/5 years in Canada to finally confirm my hashimoto's so ya I agree here.. had to battle for it

by Deshawnnikolaus 1 week ago

Completely agree and my issues could have been helped a lot sooner if I'd had similar blood panels taken sooner

by Teresa16 1 week ago

Where did you study medicine?

by Anonymous 1 week ago

You don't have to study medicine to know you're in pain and need help.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

This is such a stupid question to ask her

by Teresa16 1 week ago

I bet you know a lot about stupid questions

by Anonymous 1 week ago

ON POINT! 👍

by AnxiousLaw9682 1 week ago

So nowhere lmao

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Your partner needs to set aside the ego and treat patients properly. Refer them to a specialist for a second opinion in case they are missing something. 'Real Professionals' have been so hog tied by insurance that they dismiss valid concerns at an alarming rate.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Wow, God complex apparently is passed on like second hand smoke. Invisibly even! Listen. People have the right to bone up on their bodies and their health. Many of us have spent DECADES hearing how important it is to be "an educated partner in our healthcare" from different arms of the medical establishment. Do you understand that it is OUR life? Do you understand that the US medical system is a cheapskate dysfunctional POS a lot of the time? To be clear I mostly feel sympathetic towards doctors because I believe they really do care the most about their patients and hate all the middle's and bureaucracy from insurers and the the other non medical profit oriented cogs in the system.

by AnxiousLaw9682 1 week ago

Wow. Your partner is in the wrong field.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Lmao

by Anonymous 1 week ago

What the person is asking for is a simple lab to be run as a service for their medical care. You're extremely out of touch. Checking hormone levels regularly and looking for fluctuations would be a great way to detect a change in your personal health. That's how anomoly detection works. What is being practiced is a tradgey of the commons. Where doctors are incentivized to just address acute issues because they're obvious (no risk for mal practice, low effort to diagnose, and "cheap" because it's a justifiable expense where as preventative is seen in america as a waste because you can't prove it prevented illeness) TL;DR: This isn't pseudoscience to measure your hormone levels regularly and look for fluctuations. You're just uneducated and your partner shouldn't be in the field.

by Mediocre-Constant-55 1 week ago

Your hormones drastically change even within the same day. You won't achieve much by doing a lab test without any indications.

by zariamoen 1 week ago

It's normal for hormone levels to fluctuate and unless they're out of range would not lead to anything actionable. Doctors practice evidence-based medicine. That means that if there is evidence that checking something is helpful for patients, in general (not everyone is perfect), they'll do it. There is actually a lot of evidence that over checking labs can be harmful and result in unnecessary procedures, which is why they are avoided. Another reason not to check them would be a person in the normal range calling the office, freaking out because a lab is 5% higher or lower than it was last quarter. Dealing with that takes time and resources, which are extremely limited, and they would rather be spending time helping people who actually need it.

by Ufeeney 1 week ago

I just went through 2 years of hell that could have been avoided with proper monitoring. I assure you I needed help when my issues started two years ago, I spent many evenings and early mornings in the emergency room either unable to breathe or with a pulse of 140 and bp of 190/120 feeling like my cardio system was on fire. by the time I was actually able to get care I was told it's probably nothing every time, that it was anxiety or panic disorder. Turns out my adrenal glands were cyclically going haywire all the time because of a medication I was taking and the only thing that helped me recognize what was causing the problems was my own inductive and deductive reasoning and reading pubmed. Every doctor I spoke to was utterly useless, I was afforded 5-10 minutes of time at most per session and 4 different kinds of basic tests over the course of 2 years. They always jumped to conclusions about what was causing my problem with whatever seemed immediately obvious to them and spent no time actually figuring things out. You can't provide an evidence-based approach to healthcare if you don't take the time to actually figure out what the evidence is. I don't have anything against doctors, I understand it's a workload problem but something has got to change.

by PhysicalRespond 1 week ago

That's a systemic US Healthcare problem, not a physician problem. And being able to have a-la-carte Healthcare like you can in Mexico isn't the answer either.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

not sure if Mexico is the country you want to use to prove your point

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Glad your husband was able to get the treatment he needed. But thousands of people come to the US every year for specialized treatments and care they can't receive anywhere else. Personal anecdotes aren't data.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

"My doctors have prevented me from receiving completely unnecessary medical treatment so it remains freely available for ill people who actually need it. I'm calling this malpractice instead of admitting I'm trying to overuse the medical system"

by Anonymous 1 week ago

As a rule, doctors don't order unnecessary tests. Hormones are tested when there is an indication for them. They aren't ordered just for fun so you have a baseline. If you have symptoms that are indicative of a hormone problem, then of course those tests will be ordered. Suppose you feel great and are tested but it turns out your hormone levels are outside the normal range. Now what? Does the doctor do something based on labs when there's no clinical indication for treatment? Your body can't read lab reports. Your body doesn't care if your labs are within normal limits. Tests are ordered when two conditions are met: there is a medical indication AND the results will be useful in treatment.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

With my extremely limited knowledge from my time working in a primary care clinic. They can't just order labs for no reason. Most labs only get ordered if you're suspecting for something, have a known issue, or for yearly visits (where you get your basic panels). It's about the money & what insurance will and won't pay for. But if you really wanted to get labs run just for the heck of it, I'm sure there are private labs that would love to charge you an arm n a leg to do it.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Maybe I'll listen to you after you spend a few years in med school and then residency, but till then you're a keyboard warrior shouting at the clouds.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Most doctors are cogs in a massive system these days. You have to go outside of insurance to get that kind of bespoke treatment, and quacks abound there too. It's definitely a valid option but often very expensive.

by Sure_Improvement9787 1 week ago

This is so dumb

by Anonymous 1 week ago

There's a reason doctors don't recommend full body scans. You end up wasting time and resources and potentially causing damage chasing something that might not be an issue or will fix itself. Too much information can be a bad thing.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

My two experiences when referred for PT have led me to consider them Miracle Workers.

by Kindly-Word 1 week ago

You're able to create your own custom bloodwork panel with private clinics.

by thielerling 1 week ago

I have a lot of issues like extreme fatigue and daily migraines. I keep going to the doctor (I've seen three different ones at my office) about the same issues. I keep requesting a blood test to check to see if I have deficiencies or hormonal issues, and they tell me that I don't need that test. One doctor literally said "you took a test two years ago and it looks good so we don't need to do that" as if nothing would change in the course of two years. They completely disregard my symptoms and just prescribed me 600mg ibuprofen. I cannot take ibuprofen everyday….that'll just create more problems. When I told one doctor about my daily fatigue, she told me I must have depression. I know that I don't, i had it when I was a teen and I know I don't now. She demanded I take antidepressants. I don't need antidepressants..I'm not depressed.

by FineSandwich 1 week ago

Can you get private blood tests done? I got a full blood panel done for only about $100

by Teresa16 1 week ago

Where would I go for that? I'm planning on switching doctors offices anyway

by FineSandwich 1 week ago

For me it was as simple as Googling "private blood test [my city name]"!

by Teresa16 1 week ago

You can order your own blood tests through various sites online. Your doctor doesn't want to order it because they know it's not medically necessary which means it's coming out of your pocket, insurance won't cover it. It's always possible the medical group the Dr works for doesn't allow unnecessary medical procedures of any kind to protect themselves, prevent the appearance of insurance fraud or billing issues. Also could just be the doc doesn't think you need it, so order your own marek I think would be a good place to start.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I agree that doctors should have a baseline for their individual patients when they're healthy, but "checking hormones" is a bit too vague to be a helpful request. There are certain blood tests you have to do after fasting for a certain amount of time for it to be meaningful, and then there are some that are the opposite. Just as a really basic example that most people are familiar with. So it would be a huge investment. Not to mention that it would require a LOT OF BLOOD at once to check all of your hormones across the various tests. It might be feasible if that Theranos thing was real, but alas.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

It sounds like you have no idea what you want tested and for what reasons. Which hormones? There are hundreds. For what purpose?

by Anonymous 1 week ago

So… your fine compared to the average….. you have no signs of symptoms. You know what happens when you run unneeded test and labs? You pay a lot since insurance won't cover the called for tests. You run the risk of false positives which are rare but more common the more tests your given. So maybe listen to the person who spent years in school learning the human body

by zhermiston 1 week ago

You don't need a doctor's orders to get hormone panels taken. Private labs are more than happy to do it for you.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I agree. But doctors don't really deal with our "health". They deal with medicine. Their job is to identify an ailment/disease/disorder that can be treated with specific interventions or medicines. And that's only if that ailment is identifiable with the current testing. If they can't identify anything, then we're "fine" or "normal" which isn't necessarily true at all. I wouldn't mind if they would just be honest and admit, "There may be something wrong, I just can't tell with the tests I've got". And that also means they aren't going to test someone who has no symptoms. There's nothing to identify and our general "health" isn't really their concern. I'm not a fan of naturopaths generally (not for diagnoses and treatment) but they can be good for getting certain tests done that a doctor won't do. Sometimes it's covered too.

by Agile_State 1 week ago

if you look for problems, you will find problems. also it isnt cheaper. lets say you are in America and it has a 350 million population Round it to 400 mill for easy maths and some wiggle room. at 300$ a panel it is already 120 billion. ok lets say you have to request it, if you have to pay for it then 99% of people will not request it because cancer can be detected by cheaper methods and its expensive. if its free then u have the issues of it costing way to much for any government to justify in finding that 1% thay it might help. the government can use that money on real tangible benefits like more hospitals that already would have cancer screening with the added benefit of curing other things. you make it sound like the government has unlimited money. which it obviously doesnt

by PriorityTrick 1 week ago

OP is correct and this goes beyond US borders. In the Netherlands is almost impossible to get your hormones (or blood in general) checked on request to see if something is wrong. They want to to explain the problems your having and will then send you home with the suggestion to take some paracetamol.

by Udach 1 week ago

The short answer might be America

by Enough_Computer 1 week ago

Doctors don't decide what labs insurance pays for. The hormones people often request often result in huge bills.

by Mckenziebarney 1 week ago

And then the patient calls the office angrily because they don't want to pay $800 for labs.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Yes I agree. It is depressing to say the least. The system is broken .

by doylejosiane 1 week ago

I've got blood tests done at my request. GP didn't have anything to do with it, only the nurse. They checked it against the average range and against my previous tests.

by Ok_Reaction_3537 1 week ago

This should be the norm. Unfortunately in america it is not. Many doctors are jaded / burnt out / optimizing costs for their business *cough* hospital.

by Mediocre-Constant-55 1 week ago

It wasn't long ago that pain started becoming a checked vital sign. I mean, it's an information economy nowadays, so what is there to lose by keeping a hormone log aside from insurance companies needing to fork out more of the money we give them?

by Weak_Solution 1 week ago

Dr checked my cholesterol first time when I was 18 because of my family history.It was just under the high mark. I had some health issues at 40 and they freaked at my cholesterol level until they saw it was the same for the last 20 years. Checking levels when your young is a great idea.

by WorthAd 1 week ago

Your suppose to get a blood test every years, athletes actually get them tested every 2 to 3 months to make sure the train right thyroid and testosterone levels are huge part of why people are overweight or maybe you can't build muscle. Also everyone needs to be taken vitamin D because it's a huge part of why people are depressed.

by grimesalexanne 1 week ago

That's why there are specialists. I'm not going to a podiatrist for stomach issues. Why would you see a GP when there are people more qualified?

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Because my GP has to recommend me first

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Even the specialists in the us seem barely willing to listen to patients and are almost completely useless on their own without their teams of technology specialists that they are forced to outsource you to. I saw a specialist for a potential mass in my cervix and the doctor shrugged her shoulders and told me "well we won't know until you get the ultrasound". So a specialist in the US can't do that herself, but in Mexico I can speak to one for an hour, get a detailed follow-up plan, and get an ultrasound all in the same visit. Quit kissing the asses of US doctors. They do not care.

by StandardHuge 1 week ago

Look into getting a functional medicine doctor. Traditional medicine is really only good for acute issues.

by jermain59 1 week ago

Functional medicine is a form of alternative medicine that encompasses a number of unproven and disproven methods and treatments. It has been described as pseudoscience, quackery, and at its essence a rebranding of complementary and alternative medicine.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Umm yes, because if you click you'll see Wikipedia sourced all those nice claims. Yup, I'm sure you were "medically injured" whatever that means. Keep believing in your witch doctors. I actually have an MD behind my name and can guarantee you're not healthier than me.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Then you're part of the problem with medicine.

by jermain59 1 week ago

Thanks, I'll be sure to let my patients know

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Yeah, let them know that their M(ostly) D(elusional) has to go to Wikipedia to find out what functional medicine even is, and can't give an independent, scientific, fact based opinion an aspect of medicine that still adheres to the Hippocratic oath. You're not a doctor. You're a troll.

by jermain59 1 week ago

Take a Xanax.

by RelativeMore 1 week ago