# Need help making a list...



## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

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## xxdanioo (Jan 17, 2012)

I love lsit making. What kinda list?!


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## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

I am a list maker too.


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## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

We could make a list of what we need to do today, that is my favorite list.
Trouble is it seems to be the same list over and over again, just gets longer and longer.


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Gah! Stoopid smart phone!

Anyway...

I am going to be making a doctor's appointment soon to get myself checked out and need help making a list of what to talk to the doctor about. I hate going to the doctor, but I seriously need to, as I can feel that something isn't right in my body.

Here's my stats:
Age-30
Height-5'7"
Weight-Currently around 230# (this is part of the issue, though)
Race (if it matters)-White/Caucasian (most likely Scotch/Irish for the most part)
Occupation-Car washer at a local car dealership
Previous medical-Two pregnancies (one live birth nine years ago and one miscarriage at 6 weeks six years ago), torn meniscus (required arthroscopic surgery), pinched rotator cuff/chipped collar bone (required arthroscopic surgery), fractured left ankle, minor sprains/illnesses as would be expected for 30 years of somewhat rough/accident-prone use. Lol
Family medical history-Completely unknown (I was adopted when I was a newborn).

Ok, so here's my list of symptoms/what's going on with me:
-Sudden weight gain about six months ago with no real change in eating habits (gained 50# between September and mid-October last year)
-Moderate to severe fatigue (no matter how much sleep I get, I wake up tired)
-Frequent urination, especially considering the small amount of fluids I drink throughout the day
-Easily winded, even doing the simplest tasks like walking across the parking lot
-Sudden, sharp, fleeting pain in my uterine area (basically feels like someone stabbed me, but it goes away within a few seconds)
-Irregular menstrual cycle and periods (includes being more than a week late and no two periods being the same for flow/severity)
-Unusual "tightness" in uterine area (really difficult to describe)
-Inconsistent/irregular bowel movements (one day I'll have a "normal" BM, the next I'll have constipation, then I'll not have a BM for two days and all of a sudden have very soft, almost diarrhea-like, stool...and it doesn't appear to reflect what I eat).
-Waking in the night repeatedly (my boyfriend says I rarely snore)
-Waking drenched in sweat for no reason in the early morning hours (usually around 2-3am)
-Mood swings (one minute I'll be perfectly fine, the next something will set me off and I'm ****ed as hell, then an hour later I'll be fine...but this doesn't happen every day)
And the big one...
-Absolutely ZERO sex drive (this is beginning to affect my relationship)

Okay, so now that you know what's up, how would you approach a doctor's visit? I am absolutely awful when it comes to doctors and tend to blow stuff off because I don't want to seem like a hypochondriac. Weird, I know, but the way I was raised, if you don't need multiple stitches (and even that's subjective), something isn't obviously broken, or you haven't been sick (read: puking your guts out) for more than a week, you don't need to see a doctor. The first time I went to a hospital (except to visit) was when I had my son. I've been to the ER twice: once when I had my miscarriage and had hemorrhaged (drove myself) and once when I fractured my ankle (my best friend made me go or I probably wouldn't have).

So, I need all the help I can get. Would you write/type out the list I made above and just hand it to the doctor with a "Here. This is what's wrong"? Help!

ETA: Sorry this took so long to get up. My phone accidentally posted it before I could type anything and then this post took forever to type on my iPhone.
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## nvr2many (Jan 18, 2011)

Print out what you typed to us and give it to the DR.


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## wausuaw (Apr 15, 2011)

> So, I need all the help I can get. Would you write/type out the list I made above and just hand it to the doctor with a "Here. This is what's wrong"? Help!


Yes, that's exactly what I would do, and keep it with you between now and then in case you think of anything else. 

I hate doctors


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

nvr2many said:


> Print out what you typed to us and give it to the DR.


Thanks. That's what I thought, but like I said, I wasn't sure if that would be okay. 

Oh! Another thing for the list! Horrible memory and trouble concentrating. I have a hard time thinking of words when I speak and sometimes entirely forget what I was about to say. Sooooo not normal for me.
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## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

I think you have made quite a good list. 
You know how your body works and it is not working correctly now.
I would go over that same list with your MD and if you do not get the answers, results, concern etc. you need, go to a different MD.


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Now to find a doctor. :-/

I moved back to my home town, but the one doctor I went to growing up (for physicals and such) wasn't very helpful the last time I went to him (had an almost third degree grease burn on the top of my foot and because of his treatment and lack of wound care instruction, I have a quarter-sized scar on the top of my foot that shouldn't be there). I think I'll ask my FB friends who they use.
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## nvr2many (Jan 18, 2011)

I think it would be fine to type it out and hand it over. Will save a lot of time and questions also because its all right there! Hope you figure this out soon!!


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I agree that it would probably be easiest to just print out your list of symptoms and give it to the Doc.

First thing that pops into my head is hormonal imbalance, perhaps with a thyroid problem mixed in, but that is my very non-edumacated thought.


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## franknbeans (Jun 7, 2007)

Smrobs-you may know a thing or two.......

I would also print out the list. I would make an appt with a GP type person first, and then with your GYN. Most GP;s know very little about hormones-GYN is better, Endocrinologist is best. But, start with the GP-he may want you to get some GI workup also.....but will probably start with blood work.


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Thanks, everyone.

I already asked on FB for some suggestions for GPs and have gotten a couple of answers. 

My boyfriend has even noticed a big difference in me, personality-wise. The whole moodiness and irritability thing have thrown him for a loop because when we met, I wasn't that way at all. I don't have a lot of stress, either (at least no more than a normal person with a job and bills).
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## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

I don't know if I would just hand over the list. I think I would take it with me and then discuss it with my doctor. If he wants to read it fine, but I find discussions to be more beneficial as one thing can lead to another. As you discuss, tick off each point that you cover so you don't miss anything.


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

NorthernMama said:


> I don't know if I would just hand over the list. I think I would take it with me and then discuss it with my doctor. If he wants to read it fine, but I find discussions to be more beneficial as one thing can lead to another. As you discuss, tick off each point that you cover so you don't miss anything.


I'm kinda thinking maybe do both. Hand him/her the list and then discuss each point on it. That way if I forget anything (as I'm prone to do, especially if in the moment I feel nervous or like it "is just a minor thing"), the doctor can still see that it's there.

Also, would it be weird to ask my boyfriend to go with me (and be in the room with me, if they'll let him)? I'm not a shy person, really, but I tend to get nervous when asking for help, especially from people I don't know (which, in my mind, I'd be asking the doctor for help figuring out what's wrong with me) and I think having someone there for "moral support" would help me be...braver. I'd ask my mom, but she's got her own stuff she's dealing with (uterine cancer) and I don't want to burden her/put this on her.
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## franknbeans (Jun 7, 2007)

Did anyone say just hand it to him/her? I must have missed that. I meant take it and use it as your basis for discussion.


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

franknbeans said:


> Did anyone say just hand it to him/her? I must have missed that. I meant take it and use it as your basis for discussion.


I think NorthernMama was just making sure that I understood what y'all meant (which I did).
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## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

Boyfriend question: well, that's entirely up to you and him. I think you should be able to do it by yourself, but that's just me. The other neat thing about having a 2nd person there is to help interpret what the doctor replies back with. If you do take him along, I would be inclined to ask him not to take an active part in the discussion unless you give him the "help me" look  or if someone asks him something directly.

Just before you leave, you could ask him if he has any input on it maybe. Because after you leave the office, it's harder to go back and ask right away.


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

I *can* do it by myself. It's just that I know I'd be more comfortable with someone I know there. Perfect example is when I tore my meniscus. My then-boyfriend (not the one I have now) came with me to my ortho appointment to determine what was wrong. He didn't say anything really (other than "Yeah, I think that hurts" when I nearly squeezed his hand off as the doc poked and prodded my knee lol), but he was there if I needed him.
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## PaintedFury (Aug 18, 2010)

If you need to take the bf for moral support, by all means do it. It's your appointment, they shouldn't care if you bring someone with.
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## Cacowgirl (Feb 19, 2011)

I took a friend w/me when I went to appt's dealing w/my uterine cancer. It was a big help as stress kind of fries your brain. Have you ruled out being PG, as you mentioned it awhile back?


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Cacowgirl said:


> Have you ruled out being PG, as you mentioned it awhile back?


Unless the last half dozen pregnancy tests I've taken have lied, pregnancy has been ruled out. Last test I took was about a month ago.
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