Poor thing - life is really giving you a beating lately, physically and emotionally. I don't know you very well, but I respect you, and everyone else here does too. Hold onto your self-respect and don't let anyone tear it down. It takes great strength of character to get through every day with all your medical conditions, and that's much more important than being skinny or pretty.

Since at this time I can't say anything nice about endocrinologists (see one for my thyroid and type 1 diabetes of 30+ years) - I won't say anything at all - except:

I hear your pain and will gladly scream in frustration with you until it becomes a joyful noise of laughter.

Seriously if you have an empty house go ahead and scream at the top of your lungs. I can't do it without breaking into laughter at some point. ;-)

Kim & Smith, you two make me feel so lucky. I adore my endocrinologist, and he's one of the smartest, kindest, most caring doctors I've ever had. I hope you both can find one like him.

As far as the blood pressure medicine goes, I'm not familiar with the one you mention, but there was something in the news in the last couple of days about a study showing an association between calcium channel blockers and breast cancer. That may be what he was squawking about.

So I know Kim this seems like a lot of information when the doctor is spurting numbers at you. can you ask the office to send the result to your PCP's office so someone else can review them and also your PCP can put the whole picture together for you. If the number he said was 50 that must have been in reference something other than anemia, but he put you on Taron Forte which is for iron. Shortness of breath, and palpitations can be a symptom of iron deficiency so the primary should be aware of this so she can pull it all together. Iron levels should be watched as they can become so low and a person can become symptomatic and before you know it you may need a blood transfusion. It has happened to me in the past. This was pre-RA and I was actually transfused at that time, but always had a history of being anemic. I have not had that problem since I have had RA. Also if those iron pills are causing stomach problems maybe you could be prescribed something else. here is a link to info on those iron pills and how best to take them.( http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/r/medications/taron-forte-oral-152251) Also know that any iron pills can cause constipation, so as not to cause yet another drama on that end eat plenty of fruits and veggies and drink lots of water. Warm prunes or prune juice work well to solve that issue.

Also I don't think endocrine should be switching blood pressure medicine around without at least conferring with the original prescriber. Are you also seeing a cardiologist for your hypertension? They are the ones who have the expertise when it comes to hypertension along with the PCP.

With that said I must say I am so sorry you have to go through all this. Also when you go to the doctor it is a good idea to have pen and paper in hand because they tell you so much in such a short period of time, some of what they say is forgotten once you leave the room or you forget to ask them when you are in the room. It's just that we all have so much going on in our lives and so much on our minds it is difficult to focus on every detail. I wish you good luck and hope you are at least enjoying a good night sleep.

One thing I have learned to do is to ask the lab to send me a copy of my test results. Then when someone bombards you with letters and numbers, you can at least go home, look at the report, and see what they were talking about.

Kimberley - I'm going to jump on the "that doctor is a jackass" train. It's hard enough to deal with everything, much less have to go through a doctor "shaming" us. : (

Altoclef mentioned getting copies of lab results - very good advice.

I don't know what labs you use, but I'm always at either Quest Diagnostics or LabCorp - and BOTH have websites where you can sign up for them to automatically send you your results, the same time your doc gets them! So mine come straight to my cell phone on apps I have - very cool, very convenient (I can also access them via email and print them out for my file).

Hugs to you for this craptastic experience you are enduring - you are not alone, we are all here for you.