Google Catecholamines and Pheochromocytoma – actually, don’t bother ‘cos I’ve just done it.
One of these tests I have to do, is peeing in a bottle for 12 hours. Not 12 hours straight, of course. At least I don’t think so… I think I’m meant to pee in the bottle each time I feel the urge during a 12-hour period, but who knows…
Well, anyway, I was suddenly curious; why in God’s name am I supposed to do this? What is the mad-endo-bastard trying to prove? As if he hasn’t pissed me off enough already. So I had a look at the paperwork.It says: Overnight urine test. Catecol-whatsit and Pheocrom-thingamajig.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered those Catecol-whatsits are hormones produced primarily by the adrenal glands. And the Pheocrom-thingamajig is actually a tumour on the aforementioned adrenal glands. Yep, the very same glands that were in perfect working order only yesterday.
That son-of-a-syphilis-ridden-bitch!
Prince Charming, my arse! 
Why isn’t anything ever explained? “Here, do this”. Yeah, and what for? They never tell you. Ashame that you have to figure this stuff out yourself.
So now you’re being tested for something that they said was fine and never told you they were testing you for.
I hate being at the mercy of these people.
This is where we – as patients – start imagining or Googling the worst, ‘cos the bastards aren’t giving any answers! As for that test, I was just boiling mad when I realised what he was testing for AFTER he’d stressed there was def nothing with my adrenal glands. I’d have had more respect if he’d just said, ‘I’m sure there’s nothing wrong, but I’m gonna run a couple more tests just to protect my own arse.’
It’s demoralising, but you gotta keep fighting.
Idiot. Bastard. Asshole.
Why, oh, why do these MFers have to act like they know all and you cannot possibly know anything about your body. It makes me wonder how often a patient might be right about a diagnosis, yet they make them take a zillion tests, etc. before actually admitting it – just becauae they don’t want the guy without the doctorate to have gotten it right. Ugh.
On a lighter note, You HAVE to write about the bottle-peeing thing!
Lol! Don’t sit on that fence, Irene, say what you feel 😀
I know, I know – drives me insane as well – long gone are the days when we crept into a surgey, treated the docs as gods, and doffed our caps on the way out.
The bottle-peeing thing went just fine. The only embarrassing thing was lugging two gallons of the stuff into the doctors!! Can’t exactly do it discreetly! 🙂
I know that test… My brother-in-law wanted Marc to take it a few years ago, because Marc was flushing a lot, and my brother-in-law who is a dr, and very mellow dramatic found a rare disease that causes someone to flush a lot… So, Marc did the test, and I had to bring it to the dr for him. FUN! Hang in there!
That’s love for ya, Hilary! 🙂 I had to take my own pee bottle to the docs, of course… The whole village now thinks I’m pregnant! 😉
D’you reckon your brother-in-law might fly over to England? I could use a good doctor… Thanks, Hilary, I’m a-hanging! 🙂
I did this test, but I have the opposite problem of high blood pressure with no cause. Mine came back negative. I had a lot of your symptoms and started taking a lot of vitamins and using progesterone cream and am feeling better. Hope they find an answer for you soon!
The more I read up on medical stuff, the more I realise how much the doctors still don’t know. Mine came back clear as well. I read somewhere, that of course tests will come back clear if they aren’t testing for the right thing – they key is finding the appropriate set of medical tests at the start instead of relying on a load of generic ones. It was written so much better than my explanation though! Thanks, Kelly. Hope you find an answer, too!
Sometimes it’s better to just not read up on these things…
The internet’s both a blessing and a curse. Googling an illness is really asking for trouble, but if nobody will give you any help with the answers, then you’ll end up looking for them yourself.
WTF? Are you going to ask him about it or just take the test? I really wish there was something that can be done for you. If I had a magic wand I would wave it over you.
Bless you, Bernie for thinking of me. I did just take the test – I’d kind of given up by that point to be honest. I’ve just gotta keep fighting and I’ll get there in the end. Might be forced out of my GP’s practice, but I’ll get there! 🙂 *hugs*
Thought about you today when I saw a program here in the states called ‘Mystery Diagnosis’. A woman was diagnosed with dysautonomia (Google this), specifically orthostatic intolerance, by an automimmune specialist after suffering and being misdiagnosed other doctors for many years. Hope this helps. Wishing you well!
Thank-you so much, Kelly! I’m quite shocked how many of these symptoms I have. I’m making a list of possibles for next doctor visit – if I can just get her off the depression bandwagon, of course…
Really appreciate you thinking of me *hugs*
We must be our own advocates! We say here ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’. Keep on ‘squeaking’ and eventually you will find someone who will help you. With so much available on the internet, it doesn’t hurt to help the docs by narrowing it down for them. You know, they think horses, not zebras, when they hear hoofbeats…and sometimes our issues are zebras! Best wishes and **hugs** back to you.
I’m-a-squeaking! I totally agree with you, Kelly. And I’m definitely a zebra! I just wish the docs would credit you with some intelligence and realise you know your body best. 🙂