Pivot table Data area show/hide behavior

I wonder if I could get some confirmation that this is indeed a 'feature',
and if so, if anyone has come up with creative ways to get around it. I've
noticed that the display/hide behaviour for items in the Data area of a pivot
table works differently than it does for those in either column or row
fields. If you click on the drop down list for a column or row and unselect
some fields, they are removed from the display in the pivot table, but still
remain in the drop down list and can be redisplayed by checking the box
again. However, with data items (in cases where you have more than one data
item in the table), it appears that if you wish to hide one of the data items
by unselecting it from the drop down list, the item is completely removed
from the pivot table (including the drop down list), and it's no longer
possible to get it back. This is particularly annoying if you've customized
the name, formatting, etc of the item, as it needs to be recreated from
scratch. Not very user friendly, to say the least. Thoughts?