Good morning ladies. I have a lot to say so I will make this simple.
1. Okay now to my doctor’s appointment
a. Office was great and even upset they made me wait 10 minutes (I almost laughed and thought this is great, I am use to waiting forever this is nothing)
b. The doctor walked in and was very nice and pregnant, made a point saying she noticed I noticed she was pregnant
c. She asked why I was here, so I told her. Then asked if she had read my blood results and ultrasound
d. She said yes but what made you get a ultrasound
e. I said that is what the DR said was the next step to get a baseline.
f. She said yeah but now we have to deal with the issues we found, that I have four nodules, that 2 are the size that normal DR’s would biopsy but she said we would just wait 6 months and then re ultrasound. Part of me was happy she did not want to cut into me, part of me was upset she was blowing it off
g. She asked what my symptoms are, so I told her
h. Then she told me that my blood results are almost normal and if I was not having symptoms she would not even medicate me.
i. WHAT- that completely goes against what my DR told me, what I have read on line. I am so confused.
j. She said she was going to put me on meds. That normally you start out at .25 but she was going to start me off at .50. which does not make sense if my numbers are not so bad (according to her)
k. I asked if I should be on any vitamins, that I had read you need certain vitamins to make these meds absorb properly (I had already told her I eat little Debbie cakes and mountain dew for breakfast).
l. She said NO, that in other countries they would say take iodine but we live in the western world and in the western world we get all we need.
m. I asked her if I could be on a natural medicine and she gave me the whole spill on one is the same as the other and she does not see better results with one than the other. At this point I was almost in tears
n. So she listens to my heart and asks if my face is always this flushed, I said no this is new and it happens almost every afternoon or evening.
So here are some of my symptoms:
I freeze constantly. A year ago I kept my A/C on 68 and was warm, this summer I kept it on 76 degrees and was almost chilly. My normal body temp when I was in the hospital for 5 weeks with my last baby was 98.6 now it ranges from96.2-97.5. I have weird pains. Like today my upper right arm and shoulder hurt. One day my toes and knee will hurt, one day my shoulder blades will hurt. Nothing is consistent. My hands and feet are always like ice. I have headaches almost constantly hurts but not like a normal headache, it is like pressure all over my head like my skull is exploding. I have not used birth control since my last baby 5 years ago and still have not gotten pregnant. The biggest issue is I cannot concentrate. I cannot read a book like I use to, I cannot have long conversations because I just fade away or check out no matter what I do. It is horrible and I hate it. We had dinner guest over a few weeks ago and I honestly had to get up and walk away several times because I was so zoning out. I did not want them to think I was ignoring them. I am so stinking tired so often that it is hard to go through the day.
In case you are interested here are some of my basic blood work levels.
Thyroglobul AB 85.1
Thyroid Pero AB 680.1
Tsh sensitive 6.840
FT4 1.03
ESR 26
So I left feeling like I have completely lost my mind. I do not know what to do or think. So the next step is I am going to call my regular DR who was so nice and ask her to review my blood work with me and give me her opinion. I am not going to start the meds she wants me on until I know more. I think I am just really confused as to what to do. Maybe I am making this a bigger deal than it is. If you know anything about thyroid I would love to hear your opinion.
Pam
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10 comments:
Oh man, Pam. I don't know what to tell you! Did you see an endocrinologist? Was that the pregnant doctor?
My first thought was to see a different specialist. This one seemed too aloof, and besides, there is nothing wrong with getting a second opinion!
I can't tell you anything about your lab results...since most of my work deals with checking cervixes, I'm not up to speed on my lab knowledge (unless we're talking hemoglobins, white blood cells, or liver functions...then I'm golden.).
Keep me posted. And good luck!
I'm sorry you are going through all of this...but I would look for a different doctor. She didn't seem to up on her game. Also I can't believe that if you are having these issues and they found nodules they aren't investigating further. 6 months is a long time for them to grow and become a problem if they aren't now.
Good luck and I hope your family doc can help!
Pamela ~
I was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism and nodules on my thyroid 2 years ago. My TSH was over 6 and I felt awful, so I can really empathize with many of the symptoms you've been experiencing lately.
My 7 nodules are small and the endocrinologist does not recommend doing a needle biopsy on them unless they grow in size and/or number. So I have an ultrasound performed every 6 months to check on the nodules. So far, taking levothryroxin (synthroid) daily has helped to lower my TSH levels, control the size/number of nodules, and relieve my symptoms. I feel "normal" again and have more energy, better concentration, and less moodiness. It takes about a week for the meds to be effective, so the sooner you start taking them the quicker you'll start feeling better.
You can always seek a second (or third) opinion if you have doubts/concerns about your doctor's diagnosis or treatment plan.
Many people have thyroid nodules and don't even realize it. Nodules can become cancerous, but thyroid cancer is extremely rare.
There were probably no other indicators of "cancer" in Pamela's blood work, but it doesn't hurt to ask for clarification. Doctors don't like to perform unnecessary procedures like needle biopsies on such small nodules because it can be very difficult to get a good sample, and painful for the patient to go through.
While waiting another 6 months to recheck the nodules may feel like a long time (I know from experience), it is not unreasonable.
what about fibria myalgia? Low iron? Thyroid? In my family we have low thyroid and are on RX even though they are in the "normal" range. My aunts and mom are all on the low side of normal...mine is yet to be determined.
I understand waiting 6 months if they are small...but she mentioned that any normal physician would biopsy 2 of them. To me that doesn't mean they are very small.
I guess I'm a little more leery as I have a friend who just last week is proud to say she is cancer free after a 2 year struggle with thyroid cancer. And she has been shouting "get those lumps checked" to everyone who will listen.
Oh Pamela!!! I have so much to tell you about my walk!!! I had EVERY symptom of hypothyroid, and my reg. Dr. and Endo. said my TSH looked "fine" and moved on. Meanwhile, I SUFFERED through everyday. It was awful! I felt ill all the time, my heart rate was WAY whonky, I was so cold, I couldn't concentrate on anything, and short term memory was horrible. I had 74-92 day cycles...etc, etc, etc. Finally, I found an Anti-Aging and Rejuvinative Dr. (via my Herbalife wellness coach). He first diagnosed me with a gluten sensitivity (life changing!), and then ran a myriad of tests on my blood, urine and saliva. Yes, my TSH is fine, so is my T4, but my T3 was in the basement. So, they supplemented with T3. (It's NOT the same as basic prescriptions which are a combination of TSH and T4 (Synthroid) or T3 and T4 (Armour Thyroid). In addition, I was put on a loading dose of Iodoral (combo. of iodine and iodide). Iodine is DESPERATELY needed in converting the T4 hormone into usable T3. That helped a lot. Then, they Dx'ed me with adrenal insufficiency, and I was put on a supplement for that as well. Between those four things, one year later, I am a new woman. I'm still getting "tweeked" since my latest blood work shows my Vit. D level was still WAY too low, and my Magnesium level was really low too. But...I'm telling you- they LISTEN to me. They TRUST ME TO KNOW HOW MY BODY FEELS!!! Guess what?!?!? This summer, I sweated for the FIRST TIME in 7 years! It was AWESOME! To top it off, I gave up my "nap time", and can stay awake until a normal bed time. I actually took up running (well, slooooowwww jogging) on Monday, and I feel great about it! I'd recommend ANY book by Dr. Brownstein to get you started (There's on about Iodine: Why you need it and why you can't live without it and another one called Overcoming Thyroid Disorders). My next step is to get rid of all the immalgium fillings in my mouth. There are MANY, so this will take some time. Keep me posted on your progress, please!!!
Pam...your symptoms are so familiar. Not the blood work...no idea what the numbers mean... but the symptoms I can identify with completely. Have they tested you for lupus? I had most of the symptoms you describe and they put me on thyroid medicine and it really didn't take care of the problems, but my dr kept testing and finally sent me to a rheumatologist(sp) and it turned out to be lupus. Not good, but mine is very well controlled with medication. I still take thyroid meds and kelp for iodine plus my meds for lupus, but I am finally feeling human, have a bit of energy, my brain works part of the time and the various odd pains and joint refusals to work are very infrequent. My head is not aching and my ears are not ringing...anyway, please check it out...your symptoms are too familiar not to investigate...
Pam I am so there with you. I think I told you before but I finally went to a naturopath because none of the doctors where I live would even address my thyroid. I knew it was my thyroid. One of those intuition feelings type things. Ally my blood work said I was normal but the naturopath ran a reverse t3 and said that basically I make enough thyroid stuff my body doesn't use it correctly. I'm on T3 now and I have more energy than I've had in years! Like high school years. The thing is that I know something is still wrong. I think my hormones are out of whack so I'm headed back to him address that. Here is a website to check out http://www.wilsonssyndrome.com/ Seriously no "traditional" doctor will acknowledge this. And I know Tricare won't cover a naturopath but it's so worth it to find one that will listen to you. They will cover the T3 and the blood work any naturopath prescribes or orders but not the actual visit.
Email me if you want more specifics
erin(underscore)amundsen(at)msn(dot)com
I know I'm not a doctor or a nurse but I can help with the tricare and with my experience. And to let you know I was drinking gallons of mt. dew a day and I'm probably down to a 6 pack. SO something is working.
Hi, I have hypothyroidism and was diagnosed about 6 months ago, I recognise a lot of the symptons you have mentioned but since i've been on levothyroxine I feel like a new person. I'm 36 and I've been told that its not just low its given up the ghost and is on its last legs which means like most people with this I will have to be on this medication for the rest of my life. You asked about whether there are other things to be aware of well from what I found out there are other things I need to be aware of are the side affects that you get from long term usage of the thyroid medication. I now take a joint and bone supplement as one of them is Osteoporosis, apparently hair loss can be a problem but that's whole other paranoia for me.
It sounds like you've had an awful time just getting a straight answer, I was lucky that mine was picked up through an allergy test at the hospital and once they wrote to my doctor it was very straight forward from that point. It's still early days but I can't believe how I managed to function previously without the medication. I do hope you manage to get some answers and that whatever happens you start to feel more human again soon.
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