Thyroid problem

[thyme4change]

Jul 9, 2013 15:30:27 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Jul 9, 2013 15:26:33 GMT -5 Jaguar said:

How are you feeling Thyme ?

With my hands.

But, thanks for asking sug - today I feel like shit.  I sat in my car and cried at lunch because I am so frustrated at how my life is going.  If I can hang in there, I have a vacation coming up soon.  At least then I won't have to be face to face with my daily failures.

[Jaguar]

Jul 9, 2013 17:12:39 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

But, thanks for asking sug - today I feel like shit.  I sat in my car and cried at lunch because I am so frustrated at how my life is going.  If I can hang in there, I have a vacation coming up soon.  At least then I won't have to be face to face with my daily failures.

Oh hon you need to do something and really soon. Your not a failure Thyme, don't ever think that hon.

[Jaguar]

Thyme try deep breathing, don't hyperventilate when your feeling down. Are you taking your vitamin D ? Do you have an appointment to see your doctor ?

Seriously Thyme this is not hopeless, hon.

[Formerly SK]

Jul 9, 2013 17:12:39 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Jul 9, 2013 15:30:27 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

With my hands.

But, thanks for asking sug - today I feel like shit.  I sat in my car and cried at lunch because I am so frustrated at how my life is going.  If I can hang in there, I have a vacation coming up soon.  At least then I won't have to be face to face with my daily failures.

(((HUGS)))  Take care of yourself.  I hate that you are feeling so low. 

[Jaguar]

thyme4change , it's been over a week, how are you doing ?

I told my Family Doctor that I'm getting my Endocrinologist to do a full workup on my thyroid. Something doesn't feel right and it hasn't for a while.

I am going to try a supplement for inactive thyroids after I do the full workup. But I wanna know where I stand first.

[Jaguar]

May 30, 2013 17:39:48 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

 - I'm lethargic
 - I can't focus
 - I am forgetful
 - I am depressed
 - I have neck pain and headaches
 - I have gained weight, with no changes to my diet or lifestyle
 - I am apathetic

Should I call an endocrinologist directly, or should I go through my GP?

I told my doctor this morning NOTHING is happening UNTIL I get this fixed, I told him to order a complete set of bloodwork to be done on my Thyroid. I told him it has to be done. I think I threw him for a loop, but that's that.

He said I've been going through a lot of stress lately, and I said this shit isn't even over yet.


How are you doing hon ?

[Jaguar]

And yes when I get these results back and I don't see any improvement then I'm off to see my Psychiatrist.

[thyme4change]

As it turns out, pretty much any disease you can get as a 40 year old woman has all the same symptoms. I could be depressed, my thyroid broken, developed a food allergy, fibromyalgia, premenapause, a lot of autoimmune diseases, and on and on. So, who the hell knows how I am suppose to move forward. Either I need counseling or I will live in pain for the rest of my life, or any infinite number of possibilities in between.

[Jaguar]

My sanest sister is choosing to live in pain the rest of her life. No way I can handle that with everything else.

Thyme I do hope that someday really soon you feel a whole lot better, and that that continues on for you. Hon I wish you the very best.

[Deleted]

Sept 18, 2013 13:36:49 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

As it turns out, pretty much any disease you can get as a 40 year old woman has all the same symptoms. I could be depressed, my thyroid broken, developed a food allergy, fibromyalgia, premenapause, a lot of autoimmune diseases, and on and on. So, who the hell knows how I am suppose to move forward. Either I need counseling or I will live in pain for the rest of my life, or any infinite number of possibilities in between.

On the bright side, I reread this thread and I am hilarious.

[Deleted]

Sept 18, 2013 17:05:19 GMT -5 @patstab said:

One of the best things for enough iron is cook in an iron skillet.  I can't right now with this electric stove, soon as I get the new one hooked up, I'm back to one of my old iron skillets.

My doc started me on thyroid pills, after a couple of months she increased it again as they still weren't high enough.  Man I feel so much better, almost human again.  It has made a difference, but it takes awhile.  But then I'm also on my "stay young" pill of 1.25mg of premarin.  Noone is taking that away from me.  I've taken them for over 20 years and likely will till I die, so there

Pat, we've been using cast iron pans on our electric glass top for 5 years now with no issues.

[Deleted]

Jul 2, 2013 15:43:24 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Dr. Dragon's prescription involves one of the parties sinking into a deep depression.  

 POTD 

[Chocolate Lover]

Just an afterthought Thyme, after having read a few books and questioning my doctor about what "normal" is it seems some labs have rather high ranges of normal.  Per my reading and my doc up to about 2 on the TSH (one of your thyroid tests) is normal. Per the lab results I had them print for me, the lab's range for "normal" went up to 5.  

I had my kids checked just to be sure since both my mom and I have issues, their numbers were under 2 but the nurse told me when she called that the range was from something under 1 to 5.65    If I had gone to someone who accepted those ranges, I never would have gotten any help since I started off right under 5.

Couldn't hurt to ask about the actual numbers if you guys didn't discuss them before. 

[Peace Of Mind]

Sept 18, 2013 13:36:49 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

As it turns out, pretty much any disease you can get as a 40 year old woman has all the same symptoms. I could be depressed, my thyroid broken, developed a food allergy, fibromyalgia, premenapause, a lot of autoimmune diseases, and on and on. So, who the hell knows how I am suppose to move forward. Either I need counseling or I will live in pain for the rest of my life, or any infinite number of possibilities in between.

What kind of pain?  Joint pain?  Hips, shoulders, having trouble getting comfortable while sleeping kind of stuff?  Try a low dose of HRT.  You'll know in 2 or 3 weeks if it's perimenopause  issues.  Are you getting hot flashes or flushed?

My ovaries were still producing estrogen but on the low side.  Even with all the cancer in my family I said "F it!"  and went on the lowest dosage of HRT (which my doctor suggested a year ago) and almost all pain went away and not one hot flash or flushing since.  And I'm back to sleeping like a rock for 8 or 9 hours. 

[Jaguar]

Sept 20, 2013 15:38:36 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

Just an afterthought Thyme, after having read a few books and questioning my doctor about what "normal" is it seems some labs have rather high ranges of normal.  Per my reading and my doc up to about 2 on the TSH (one of your thyroid tests) is normal. Per the lab results I had them print for me, the lab's range for "normal" went up to 5.  

I had my kids checked just to be sure since both my mom and I have issues, their numbers were under 2 but the nurse told me when she called that the range was from something under 1 to 5.65    If I had gone to someone who accepted those ranges, I never would have gotten any help since I started off right under 5.

Couldn't hurt to ask about the actual numbers if you guys didn't discuss them before. 

I couldn't agree more with this statement.

I'm not even close to normal, BUT the numbers put me in 'normal' range and the doctor is happy cause I'm what he thinks is normal. Meanwhile I'm in hell screaming cause I feel like shit.

I'm looking at two natural supplements to help me.

[Chocolate Lover]

Your doc needs to read anything slightly new Sugi. I did some reading on my own between appointments/tests and tried to find the newest ones I could at our library and even one last updated in 2006 (Thyroid for Dummies) mentions the huge range of "normal" some labs have and that it's WRONG.   Maybe find the book and smack him with it?

[justme]

The normal range is normal for normal people - i.e. ones that don't have thyroid problems. It's not a good range for people that already have thyroid problems. My endo wants me under 2 and has no problem with me wanting to be closer or slightly under 1 because I start to feel like crap when I get close to 2. My primary care Dr is much less concerned about where in normal I am.

[Jaguar]

Sept 20, 2013 16:06:55 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

Your doc needs to read anything slightly new Sugi. I did some reading on my own between appointments/tests and tried to find the newest ones I could at our library and even one last updated in 2006 (Thyroid for Dummies) mentions the huge range of "normal" some labs have and that it's WRONG.   Maybe find the book and smack him with it?

Yeah cause it's just madness feeling like this all the time.

Thyme's list :

- I'm lethargic
- I can't focus
- I am forgetful
- I am depressed
- I have neck pain and headaches
- I have gained weight, with no changes to my diet or lifestyle
- I am apathetic

I have 5 to 6 from this list. I started back with the Vitamin D3.

[Chocolate Lover]

Sept 20, 2013 16:12:05 GMT -5 justme said:

The normal range is normal for normal people - i.e. ones that don't have thyroid problems. It's not a good range for people that already have thyroid problems. My endo wants me under 2 and has no problem with me wanting to be closer or slightly under 1 because I start to feel like crap when I get close to 2. My primary care Dr is much less concerned about where in normal I am.

If the range is applied to EVERYONE then it's not helping the not normal people. Which is my point, and the book I mentioned even had the different normal ranges for 3 or 4 specific national labs that were all different. So, if you start with your GP like most people you may keep getting told that you're fine when you're not.  

[justme]

Sept 20, 2013 16:25:53 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

Sept 20, 2013 16:12:05 GMT -5 justme said:

The normal range is normal for normal people - i.e. ones that don't have thyroid problems. It's not a good range for people that already have thyroid problems. My endo wants me under 2 and has no problem with me wanting to be closer or slightly under 1 because I start to feel like crap when I get close to 2. My primary care Dr is much less concerned about where in normal I am.

If the range is applied to EVERYONE then it's not helping the not normal people. Which is my point, and the book I mentioned even had the different normal ranges for 3 or 4 specific national labs that were all different. So, if you start with your GP like most people you may keep getting told that you're fine when you're not.  

True, but I think at least with thyroid it's a fine line to walk. My Dr said that sometimes people with no thyroid problems whatsoever will test at 4 or 5, but then the next time you test them they're back down to 2 or 3 or lower. If you moved the range down to 3 you'd flag all these people that don't have a problem with their thyroid. And it's hard to back down from thyroid meds - I was actually testing slightly too low and it was only at my Drs insistence that I went down a level because once I went down a level I went from being fine on less than 8 hours sleep to dragging if I didn't have 9. I asked at my next appointment to go back up cuz I missed the energy I had, she said that didn't outweigh the negatives of being on a high dose grr.

But I'm kind of used to understanding the ranges can be almost meaningless and have taken to asking their opinion on the range and researching it. Like the B12 range is 200something to 900something but all the newer research says B12 is a problem if it's under 500, but it seems it's a PITA to change the range. I regularly test over 900 for that now with shots, when Drs I tell them to show me a negative about high B12 and they can't so I tell em to stuff it.

[thyme4change]

My dr. put me on Wellbutrin.  I had every side effect there was, and it was a pretty miserable 6 weeks, but everything I read said to just keep powering through.  And sure enough, I think all of the side effects have gone away, and most of my problems are starting to solve themselves.  I have more energy, and I'm focusing at work about as well as I did at any point in my career (except the last year-ish.)  I have even dropped 12 pounds without too much effort.  So, I guess it is working.  I am currently only taking the lower dosage, and my doc was trying to move me up to a higher dosage.  But, I am under the impression that if the lower dose works - you can just stick with it unless it stops working for you.  So, I guess I will try this for a while.  Do I have to take this forever and ever, or will be brain chemistry rebalance itself and I will be able to stop without crashing back to who I was for the first 6 months of 2013?

[Jaguar]

Awesome Thyme, good luck with Wellbutrin.

[Deleted]

As it turns out, pretty much any disease you can get as a 40 year old woman has all the same symptoms. I could be depressed, my thyroid broken, developed a food allergy, fibromyalgia, premenapause, a lot of autoimmune diseases, and on and on. So, who the hell knows how I am suppose to move forward. Either I need counseling or I will live in pain for the rest of my life, or any infinite number of possibilities in between.

That's the conclusion I came to a few months ago. It's awful knowing something is very wrong with you and nobody can figure out what the cause is.

Good news that the Wellbutrin seems to be working for you. I don't know enough about it to be helpful about how long you might have to take it. I'm just glad to see that you've started to feel better and things are improving.

[thyme4change]

I'll take it forever if I need to.  I will say I have returned to my normal self.  I was hoping medication would give me a better version of me - you know - a nice, optimistic person.  But, alas, I'm the same snark-face as I was before.  Glad to have my pep back - even if it comes with a bad attitude.  

[Jaguar]

Thyme I luv you hon, even as the snark face. Seriously your one of my most favorite peeps on here.

[Jaguar]

Well crap it is my thyroid completely out of whack. I'm crazy low in what a nurse said was my TSH of 15.23, but I got to check that out to be sure.

I know a lot of it is stress with me, I have never done good with antibiotics or pain meds. And this year since June I've been on both. Plus the horrific pain I had a week after discharge. My poor system is in shock.

[thyme4change]

Ugh - sorry to hear that.  The last few weeks the efficacy of my meds has been deteriorating.  I guess I need to up the dosage, as right now I'm on half-sies.  I'm not looking forward to weeks of side effects.  It was brutal last time.  

[mmhmm]

You shouldn't have many (if any) side-effects from an increase in the medication, thyme.  Your system now recognizes Wellbutrin as "friend".  As for how long you'll have to take it, that really depends on the person.  It may be things will regulate and you can wean off, or it may be you'll need it for quite some time.  I'm just glad you've found it helpful!

[Jaguar]

Thanks peeps, I do feel better just cause I feel vindicated. If that makes any sense.

[Artemis Windsong]

Snark face.   I hope you get to feeling healthy again.