I've not been feeling my best for a while, and I'm considering going to the doctor. It's just a question of whether it will be worth it to pay for everything insurance inevitably will refuse to pay for. I always avoid going to the doctor for that reason.
I hope some of you can shed some light on what I've been experiencing, and whether it is serious enough for me to go to the doctor, or normal. I have not consulted a doctor or nutritionist since starting my new lifestyle, but I haven't been doing anything super drastic. I've been counting calories and eating cleaner foods. I try to stay around 1350 calories a day, and I measure all my food. I have not eliminated any particular foods (carbs, proteins, or fats).
I have been very low energy (even after upping my calories for a day), almost space out during every day activities, my weightloss has stalled for about 2 months (hovering in the same 3 lbs), and recently my scalp has become itchy and I've been losing more hair than usual the past week or so (my husband says my hair looks fine, maybe I'm being paranoid). I also had a very strange TOM this past week, it's usually normal but this time I lightly spotted for 2 days, the third day I lost almost everything and felt so sick I was dizzy and shaky all day with incredible pain, and then it was over. Not typical for me at all.
My Mom told me to get my cholesterol levels checked because they were high when I was young, I haven't done that yet but I am planning on it as soon as I get my new insurance card.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, because I just have this feeling that something is not right, and I'm not sure what to do.
Your insurance should cover a physical, which likely also includes annual bloodwork. If you haven't been in a year or so, I would go that route. Your physical will definitely be covered assuming you're in the US, but make sure to ask them or your insurance company if there would be a cost for bloodwork - I think I paid a whopping $8 last time. Better to educate yourself before making a decision without all the facts, right? You definitely need to get things checked out!
I hope you get it sorted out and feel better! I'm in a similar spot right now
Last edited by nonameslob; 08-06-2014 at 10:39 AM.
I've had weird periods before and the nurse I see said that it's not a concern unless it happens more than once. As far as the low energy, I had that for about a month when I first gave up sugar and flour, but low energy can happen for a large number of reasons. I do think a physical is in order but I don't think it's something urgent. I hope you feel better soon.
Agree with nonameslob. Your health is worth it, and your list of symptoms sound worth checking out. Weight loss can play around with hormones to produce a wide array of changes, but so can low thyroid as well as many other things that you would want to do something about.
fwiw...Although you aren't eliminating food groups, is there a change in the foods that you now include? I had all kinds of hair issues around weight loss--very itchy flaky scalp that resolved when I cut out anything with casein. That's in almost all dairy products so I use whey protein for things like shakes and coffee lightener. Before I did that, I was drinking a LOT of Muscle Milk protein shakes and I think the casein in them is what tipped me past my tolerance. Some veggies can even do this, and of course hair products too. you probably already thought about all these things.....
Sometimes normal cyclical hair loss can be more noticeable than at other times. The general wisdom out there is that any shock whether physiological or psychological can cause hair loss--starts 90 days or so after the shock. Dieting can do that for sure, though it's usually a severely restricted one.
With out of pocket cost as a concern, I would let your health provider know that you aren't looking for a full screening, rather a focused one to find out what is causing your symptoms. Sometimes they assume you want 'the works'. That said, as a new patient and if you have not had some screening labs, they may want to order a lot of tests, depending on your age and health history. Still, there's no harm in asking to limit tests to what is essential.
If you have to pay out of pocket, see if you can negotiate lower costs. If you are paying yourself, its usually easier to do. Again, it doesn't hurt to ask!
Thanks for all the input I appreciate it. Im going to look into what my insurance will cover for a physical, I'm just anxious because last time I went and had bloodwork done I had to pay an additional $120 out of pocket. I just want to make sure that I'm taking care of my body and know what's going on, I think it will help me make better choices, and more advice on the changes I have made. More knowledge can't be a bad thing!
Ugh. My insurance (tricare) does not cover annual physicals. They say they cover doctors visits to treat a condition or set of symptoms, but last time I went to the doctor for that reason it cost us $120. They will cover a cholesterol test thankfully. It just makes me so aggravated that I pay them so much money every year and I can't get a routine physical, that is completely ridiculous. My husband says I need to go, but I feel guilty because I work part time, and don't contribute as much financially, and am costing him more money when we are financially tight. I don't want to go if im going to pay the doctor that much money for him to say he doesn't know what's wrong. That drives me crazy. I guess I just need to suck it up and go, but it aggravates me!
We have tricare reserve select (my husband is in the national guard). I checked the website and it said routine annual physicals are not covered (which seems crazy to me) but that going in for treatment of a condition or symptoms is. Last time I went I paid money for blood work and additional doctor's fees (since insurance wouldn't pay the whole amount) and my copay. I will call them tomorrow to see if my plan is different in any way.
I've experienced what I felt was alarming hair loss and after a blood analysis I found out I was anemic...if you're not getting sufficient iron in your diet, that could be something to check out. I was also very low in my Vitamin D levels and once that was brought into normal range my energy improved quite a bit. I hope you get easy answers like I did when having some of the same type of issues
We have tricare reserve select (my husband is in the national guard). I checked the website and it said routine annual physicals are not covered (which seems crazy to me) but that going in for treatment of a condition or symptoms is. Last time I went I paid money for blood work and additional doctor's fees (since insurance wouldn't pay the whole amount) and my copay. I will call them tomorrow to see if my plan is different in any way.
Seems to me they would cover because you actually are going because of a set of symptoms, no?
^^^ Mars makes a good point. It's all about how the doctor "codes" your visit, so you'll probably want to talk directly with the office and make sure it gets handled in a way that is covered.
I haven't been working out a lot right now, but I think I am due for a gyno visit anyway, and a yearly visit is completely covered, I didn't think about that! Thanks Serenity. As far as my primary care doctor, maybe they didn't code it correctly last time, but I did tell them I was going in for a set of symptoms, and was charged for blood work and doctor's fees.
I think I'll start with the gyno check up that's free and if that doesn't resolve anything I'll go to my other doctor. hopefully it will be something simple and easy to fix.
Health concerns
