wow. (long again, sorry)

[Guest guest]

So I went to my family doc at an HMO mind you, told her nurse first

exactly what I wanted (he seemed very concerned with the fact I was

forgetting things at age 33) then when the doc asked the old " so what

are you here for today " I said point blank, I want Free T4 and Free

T3 tests. To my astonishment she just said, " OK. " and pulled out a

form for the tests! YAY! So, I explained that I saw my TSH and read

articles saying anything over 2 or 3 is now considered high and that

people should at least consider further testing if they have a

highish TSH and feel like crap. So that's why I'm here! And she

said, Well, great! It's worth a look. I was happy with that anyway.

Of course THEN she asked about all my symptoms and started to give me

the condescending doctor reasons why I had the major ones: uber-

fatigue, oh too much caffine... good god, lady. I need caffine to

walk across the room, it's not like I'm gettin' jumpy off of it!!!

Low temperature (below 97.7) is apparently " normal " because Her

temperature is low. Huh. So there ya go everybody, my doctor's

temperature is low so that's normal for the entire world, case

closed. I didn't SAY that but I was thinking it... WHY do we even

HAVE a " normal " temp of 98.6 if NOBODYs is normal then??? That answer

just irritates me... " that's normal because that's my temp!! " I'M Not

YOU! grrrr... Anyway she went on like that for a couple of other

symptoms, then she asks, well what other symptoms have I got. I

said, oh well HERE and pulled out my 2.5 page list. She looked at it,

back at me and said, we're scheduling you for a full physical,

because if you've " really " got ALL of these symptoms, then

theres'something wrong.

Freakin. DUH.

So I don't get the results for 4 to 10 days but I said I wanted to

see the numbers and get the lab's normal values. She said she'd call

if the test show a " problem " but otherwise I'll be able to see my

results online and she'd also mail them to me, but that we'd discuss

them when I come in for a physical regardless.

So there we go, at least I didn't have to go pay for the tests

myself! She's also doing cholesterol (can't wait for that) and some

sort of other test to see basically how " strong " my blood is (not for

anemia but something similar.)

But I'm pretty sure the free T4 and Free T3 test will show that I'm

low or at least on the low end. I hope I can convince her to try me

on something even if it's on the low end, since there's now plenty of

evidence out in the world now that low end T4/T3 with a high-ish TSH

is at least subclinical, and that docs are treating subclinical

people to prevent them getting any worse.

[Guest guest]

Pretty decent start. At least she's willing to test and to see where

you're at and didn't totally blow you off...

Her low body temp, maybe she should be checking herself for low thyroid

and fatigued adrenals!!!

Caffeine.... heck, if you're dragging butt to survive the day caffeine is

sometimes that only thing that can pull you through. I did the same thing

myself.... but I was SOOO hooked on the stuff that I couldn't function

without it... then I found out that on top of all the common negatives of

excessive, chronic caffeine abuse (24 plus cans of Mountain Dew a day I

consider excessive - that was EVERY day of the week for years!) I found

that if the caffeine is substituting for missing hormones, etc from low

thyroid what your doing is stressing the adrenals to compensate... I

firmly believe that is why my adrenals are in such rough shape now. I

used the caffeine to make up for not being on adequate thyroid and still

be able to function.

I like not being in NEED of caffeine anymore. I can enjoy a Dew now and

relish it's flavor to the very last drop and then walk away, I don't

crave it or panic that I don't have it anymore. I'm free. That's the only

thing I can say, I'm free of the fear of being without caffeine, I can

function just fine without it now.

Topper () *who sure does enjoy a Dew when it's offered and really

does suck it down to the very last drop*

On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 17:10:16 -0000 " jpomber " writes:

> So I went to my family doc at an HMO mind you, told her nurse first

> exactly what I wanted (he seemed very concerned with the fact I was

> forgetting things at age 33) then when the doc asked the old " so what

> are you here for today " I said point blank, I want Free T4 and Free

> T3 tests. To my astonishment she just said, " OK. " and pulled out a

> form for the tests! YAY! So, I explained that I saw my TSH and read

> articles saying anything over 2 or 3 is now considered high and that

> people should at least consider further testing if they have a

> highish TSH and feel like crap. So that's why I'm here! And she

> said, Well, great! It's worth a look. I was happy with that anyway.

> Of course THEN she asked about all my symptoms and started to give

> me

> the condescending doctor reasons why I had the major ones: uber-

> fatigue, oh too much caffine... good god, lady. I need caffine to

> walk across the room, it's not like I'm gettin' jumpy off of it!!!

> Low temperature (below 97.7) is apparently " normal " because Her

> temperature is low. Huh. So there ya go everybody, my doctor's

> temperature is low so that's normal for the entire world, case

> closed. I didn't SAY that but I was thinking it... WHY do we even

> HAVE a " normal " temp of 98.6 if NOBODYs is normal then??? That

> answer

> just irritates me... " that's normal because that's my temp!! " I'M Not

> YOU! grrrr... Anyway she went on like that for a couple of other

> symptoms, then she asks, well what other symptoms have I got. I

> said, oh well HERE and pulled out my 2.5 page list. She looked at

> it, back at me and said, we're scheduling you for a full physical,

> because if you've " really " got ALL of these symptoms, then

> theres'something wrong.

> Freakin. DUH.

> So I don't get the results for 4 to 10 days but I said I wanted to

> see the numbers and get the lab's normal values. She said she'd

> call

> if the test show a " problem " but otherwise I'll be able to see my

> results online and she'd also mail them to me, but that we'd discuss

> them when I come in for a physical regardless.

> So there we go, at least I didn't have to go pay for the tests

> myself! She's also doing cholesterol (can't wait for that) and some

> sort of other test to see basically how " strong " my blood is (not

> for anemia but something similar.)

> But I'm pretty sure the free T4 and Free T3 test will show that I'm

> low or at least on the low end. I hope I can convince her to try me

> on something even if it's on the low end, since there's now plenty of

> evidence out in the world now that low end T4/T3 with a high-ish TSH

> is at least subclinical, and that docs are treating subclinical

> people to prevent them getting any worse.

[Guest guest]

That's funny I almost said the same thing to her, maybe YOU should

check! But yeah the caffine thing is a pretty nasty cycle. I did

quit years ago for about 6 months, and instead of " being energetic

and sleeping well " I was totally inoperable as a human being. The

nutritionist I saw kept railing about the evils of it and how all you

need to do is STOP, and you will suddenly have " natural energy " to

exercise, and all of your sleep disturbances will magically go away.

When NONE of that happened, I assumed I really was some sort of lazy

ass who couldn't get off the couch without caffine. So I started up

again and have been drinking espresso every single day ever since.

You're right, I will panic if I don't have it. When I travel I

buy " doubleshots " in cans and bring them with me in my carry on

because I'd rather carry a dozen cans in my bag than discover the

hotel has no espresso nearby. In case you're wondering I can't drink

regular coffee because of the acid, however espresso is actually much

less acidic (long story I won't go into) so that is all I drink.

I would LOVE to not need it anymore, however I really enjoy the taste

of coffee so I may never fully quit

> Pretty decent start. At least she's willing to test and to see where

> you're at and didn't totally blow you off...

>

> Her low body temp, maybe she should be checking herself for low

thyroid

> and fatigued adrenals!!!

>

> Caffeine.... heck, if you're dragging butt to survive the day

caffeine is

> sometimes that only thing that can pull you through. I did the same

thing

> myself.... but I was SOOO hooked on the stuff that I couldn't

function

> without it... then I found out that on top of all the common

negatives of

> excessive, chronic caffeine abuse (24 plus cans of Mountain Dew a

day I

> consider excessive - that was EVERY day of the week for years!) I

found

> that if the caffeine is substituting for missing hormones, etc from

low

> thyroid what your doing is stressing the adrenals to compensate... I

> firmly believe that is why my adrenals are in such rough shape now.

I

> used the caffeine to make up for not being on adequate thyroid and

still

> be able to function.

>

> I like not being in NEED of caffeine anymore. I can enjoy a Dew now

and

> relish it's flavor to the very last drop and then walk away, I don't

> crave it or panic that I don't have it anymore. I'm free. That's

the only

> thing I can say, I'm free of the fear of being without caffeine, I

can

> function just fine without it now.

>

> Topper () *who sure does enjoy a Dew when it's offered and

really

> does suck it down to the very last drop*

>

> On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 17:10:16 -0000 " jpomber " <jpomber@y...> writes:

> > So I went to my family doc at an HMO mind you, told her nurse

first

> > exactly what I wanted (he seemed very concerned with the fact I

was

> > forgetting things at age 33) then when the doc asked the old " so

what

> > are you here for today " I said point blank, I want Free T4 and

Free

> > T3 tests. To my astonishment she just said, " OK. " and pulled out

a

> > form for the tests! YAY! So, I explained that I saw my TSH and

read

> > articles saying anything over 2 or 3 is now considered high and

that

> > people should at least consider further testing if they have a

> > highish TSH and feel like crap. So that's why I'm here! And she

> > said, Well, great! It's worth a look. I was happy with that

anyway.

> > Of course THEN she asked about all my symptoms and started to

give

> > me

> > the condescending doctor reasons why I had the major ones: uber-

> > fatigue, oh too much caffine... good god, lady. I need caffine to

> > walk across the room, it's not like I'm gettin' jumpy off of

it!!!

> > Low temperature (below 97.7) is apparently " normal " because Her

> > temperature is low. Huh. So there ya go everybody, my doctor's

> > temperature is low so that's normal for the entire world, case

> > closed. I didn't SAY that but I was thinking it... WHY do we

even

> > HAVE a " normal " temp of 98.6 if NOBODYs is normal then??? That

> > answer

> > just irritates me... " that's normal because that's my temp!! " I'M

Not

> > YOU! grrrr... Anyway she went on like that for a couple of other

> > symptoms, then she asks, well what other symptoms have I got. I

> > said, oh well HERE and pulled out my 2.5 page list. She looked at

> > it, back at me and said, we're scheduling you for a full

physical,

> > because if you've " really " got ALL of these symptoms, then

> > theres'something wrong.

> > Freakin. DUH.

> > So I don't get the results for 4 to 10 days but I said I wanted

to

> > see the numbers and get the lab's normal values. She said she'd

> > call

> > if the test show a " problem " but otherwise I'll be able to see my

> > results online and she'd also mail them to me, but that we'd

discuss

> > them when I come in for a physical regardless.

> > So there we go, at least I didn't have to go pay for the tests

> > myself! She's also doing cholesterol (can't wait for that) and

some

> > sort of other test to see basically how " strong " my blood is (not

> > for anemia but something similar.)

> > But I'm pretty sure the free T4 and Free T3 test will show that

I'm

> > low or at least on the low end. I hope I can convince her to try

me

> > on something even if it's on the low end, since there's now

plenty of

> > evidence out in the world now that low end T4/T3 with a high-ish

TSH

> > is at least subclinical, and that docs are treating subclinical

> > people to prevent them getting any worse.

[Guest guest]

Hypothyroid people who's thyroid issues have not been corrected usually have a higher cholesterol. I've run a 170 for yrs and yrs now, higher in the good ones and lower in the bad ones, and low in triglycerides. Suddenly this yr, when I started having even stronger issues with my thyroid than when I was first diagnosed, I had a cholesterol over 200, with a slightly higher in the bad ones than before, though the good ones still outweigh the bad ones, to the extreme. With a TSH of 30 something and an abnormally low T4 and too-low "normal" T3, that's the problem. It's because the liver is the organ responsible for making our cholesterol, and it is highly involved in these processes.

Re: wow. (long again, sorry)

I could have sworn that I read (from an article that someone on here suggested) that people with hypothyroid, have low cholesterol. The last time I had my cholesterol checked, I didn't see any numbers, but assumed that it was good because the doctor said that mine was better than his. Maybe it wasn't low, but normal.