Guest guest Posted January 4, 2006 Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 Fibro is often the diagnosis used for long term low thyroid...so getting the thyroid stuff straightened out might take care of that too!! I'll be crossing leg hairs for ya! Woo Hoo on the change in prescription.. I just LOVE it when a doc listens and works with ya! You better keep us posted! Topper ()"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body. But rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO-HOO what a ride!" On Wed, 4 Jan 2006 00:29:10 -0500 (GMT-05:00) bLaZy boBBie writes: day fiveHello,You will not believe it-my endo RX ARMOUR THYROID for me!Am using 60mg twice a day sublingually.Today is first day.Since I have already begun porcine from nutri-meds... it will beinteresting to see "if I can tell the difference."Was DX Hashis in April - saw an endo in Sept. - less than a year to try Armour. I have been vigilantwent to E.R. twice and was admitted once for 5 days.Getting better in wee little bits-have DX of fibro now and can maybe concentrateon what is a good diet regime for both conditions. (There issome arthritis being checked on now.) Does anyone have diet advice formultiple conditions?-Bobbie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2006 Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 Fibro is often the diagnosis used for long term low thyroid...so getting the thyroid stuff straightened out might take care of that too!! I'll be crossing leg hairs for ya! Woo Hoo on the change in prescription.. I just LOVE it when a doc listens and works with ya! You better keep us posted! Topper ()"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body. But rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO-HOO what a ride!" On Wed, 4 Jan 2006 00:29:10 -0500 (GMT-05:00) bLaZy boBBie writes: day fiveHello,You will not believe it-my endo RX ARMOUR THYROID for me!Am using 60mg twice a day sublingually.Today is first day.Since I have already begun porcine from nutri-meds... it will beinteresting to see "if I can tell the difference."Was DX Hashis in April - saw an endo in Sept. - less than a year to try Armour. I have been vigilantwent to E.R. twice and was admitted once for 5 days.Getting better in wee little bits-have DX of fibro now and can maybe concentrateon what is a good diet regime for both conditions. (There issome arthritis being checked on now.) Does anyone have diet advice formultiple conditions?-Bobbie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2006 Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 Fibro is often the diagnosis used for long term low thyroid...so getting the thyroid stuff straightened out might take care of that too!! I'll be crossing leg hairs for ya! Woo Hoo on the change in prescription.. I just LOVE it when a doc listens and works with ya! You better keep us posted! Topper ()"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body. But rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO-HOO what a ride!" On Wed, 4 Jan 2006 00:29:10 -0500 (GMT-05:00) bLaZy boBBie writes: day fiveHello,You will not believe it-my endo RX ARMOUR THYROID for me!Am using 60mg twice a day sublingually.Today is first day.Since I have already begun porcine from nutri-meds... it will beinteresting to see "if I can tell the difference."Was DX Hashis in April - saw an endo in Sept. - less than a year to try Armour. I have been vigilantwent to E.R. twice and was admitted once for 5 days.Getting better in wee little bits-have DX of fibro now and can maybe concentrateon what is a good diet regime for both conditions. (There issome arthritis being checked on now.) Does anyone have diet advice formultiple conditions?-Bobbie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 Don't over do it Bobbie... trust me on that one... I did and crashed.... Let your body build it's strength again... muscles that are not used to being used can become exhausted..... Are you taking breaks and working for short periods of time? I'm so happy that this is working for you... just want to be sure that you don't pull a Topper..... See... It got so excited when I started feeling so good that I over did it..... I worked myself to muscle exhaustion and started falling down..... long story short... I didn't know what it was... I was self treating and thought that I'd done something wrong and was dying.... I got online that night looking for help.... they gals that I found that night, at the Immune Group, helped me to figure it out.. that was the night that and I met... and just a few weeks later we started this group... so that others might not make the mistakes that we did..... ....that's gonna be three years in just a few days... Yep... we're three years old!!! heheheheheeh YIIPPPEEE Anyway.... pace yourself... give your body time to gain strength and endurance... grow stronger and keep moving forward.. don't crash like me, from over doing, and end up nearly and invalid until your body mends again, okay? End of lecture.... Changing the type of med, mostly moving away from the synthetics and going to natural thyroid... Can make that HUGE a difference.... it's hard to describe just how profound it can be... but you've experienced it... you know it... Topper () On Thu, 5 Jan 2006 19:46:05 -0500 (GMT-05:00) bLaZy boBBie writes: Now day seven on Armour (skipped day six)Hello!Have to say I am doing more things at home, still cannot 'concentrate' onthem.The 'doing' is big as I have been always sleeping and confined to laying down most of the day.What did I do- made meals! watered plants! yippie!!Have laundry from last summer, will be so glad when I can start on this.Dishes from 2 months I may try to strt into tommorrow : )-Bobbie (cannot believe the difference from a mere med switch) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 Don't over do it Bobbie... trust me on that one... I did and crashed.... Let your body build it's strength again... muscles that are not used to being used can become exhausted..... Are you taking breaks and working for short periods of time? I'm so happy that this is working for you... just want to be sure that you don't pull a Topper..... See... It got so excited when I started feeling so good that I over did it..... I worked myself to muscle exhaustion and started falling down..... long story short... I didn't know what it was... I was self treating and thought that I'd done something wrong and was dying.... I got online that night looking for help.... they gals that I found that night, at the Immune Group, helped me to figure it out.. that was the night that and I met... and just a few weeks later we started this group... so that others might not make the mistakes that we did..... ....that's gonna be three years in just a few days... Yep... we're three years old!!! heheheheheeh YIIPPPEEE Anyway.... pace yourself... give your body time to gain strength and endurance... grow stronger and keep moving forward.. don't crash like me, from over doing, and end up nearly and invalid until your body mends again, okay? End of lecture.... Changing the type of med, mostly moving away from the synthetics and going to natural thyroid... Can make that HUGE a difference.... it's hard to describe just how profound it can be... but you've experienced it... you know it... Topper () On Thu, 5 Jan 2006 19:46:05 -0500 (GMT-05:00) bLaZy boBBie writes: Now day seven on Armour (skipped day six)Hello!Have to say I am doing more things at home, still cannot 'concentrate' onthem.The 'doing' is big as I have been always sleeping and confined to laying down most of the day.What did I do- made meals! watered plants! yippie!!Have laundry from last summer, will be so glad when I can start on this.Dishes from 2 months I may try to strt into tommorrow : )-Bobbie (cannot believe the difference from a mere med switch) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 Don't over do it Bobbie... trust me on that one... I did and crashed.... Let your body build it's strength again... muscles that are not used to being used can become exhausted..... Are you taking breaks and working for short periods of time? I'm so happy that this is working for you... just want to be sure that you don't pull a Topper..... See... It got so excited when I started feeling so good that I over did it..... I worked myself to muscle exhaustion and started falling down..... long story short... I didn't know what it was... I was self treating and thought that I'd done something wrong and was dying.... I got online that night looking for help.... they gals that I found that night, at the Immune Group, helped me to figure it out.. that was the night that and I met... and just a few weeks later we started this group... so that others might not make the mistakes that we did..... ....that's gonna be three years in just a few days... Yep... we're three years old!!! heheheheheeh YIIPPPEEE Anyway.... pace yourself... give your body time to gain strength and endurance... grow stronger and keep moving forward.. don't crash like me, from over doing, and end up nearly and invalid until your body mends again, okay? End of lecture.... Changing the type of med, mostly moving away from the synthetics and going to natural thyroid... Can make that HUGE a difference.... it's hard to describe just how profound it can be... but you've experienced it... you know it... Topper () On Thu, 5 Jan 2006 19:46:05 -0500 (GMT-05:00) bLaZy boBBie writes: Now day seven on Armour (skipped day six)Hello!Have to say I am doing more things at home, still cannot 'concentrate' onthem.The 'doing' is big as I have been always sleeping and confined to laying down most of the day.What did I do- made meals! watered plants! yippie!!Have laundry from last summer, will be so glad when I can start on this.Dishes from 2 months I may try to strt into tommorrow : )-Bobbie (cannot believe the difference from a mere med switch) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 Hi there, I am still too weak to do much and am enjoying improvement each day in baby steps. Will take this very easy, on sythenics there were months I could not walk without assistance. I cannot believe any doc would leave their patient with so many problems for 9 months. I have other dxs too, so am being very careful. Am ordering a cane to walk with as I still am not sure footed. The cane is really neat, its clear. Am so happyyyyyyyyyyyyyy about Armour! -Bonnie -----------Subject: Re: Re: started Don't over do it Bobbie... trust me on that one... I did and crashed.... Let your body build it's strength again... muscles that are not used to being used can become exhausted.....----------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 Hi there, I am still too weak to do much and am enjoying improvement each day in baby steps. Will take this very easy, on sythenics there were months I could not walk without assistance. I cannot believe any doc would leave their patient with so many problems for 9 months. I have other dxs too, so am being very careful. Am ordering a cane to walk with as I still am not sure footed. The cane is really neat, its clear. Am so happyyyyyyyyyyyyyy about Armour! -Bonnie -----------Subject: Re: Re: started Don't over do it Bobbie... trust me on that one... I did and crashed.... Let your body build it's strength again... muscles that are not used to being used can become exhausted.....----------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 Hi there, I am still too weak to do much and am enjoying improvement each day in baby steps. Will take this very easy, on sythenics there were months I could not walk without assistance. I cannot believe any doc would leave their patient with so many problems for 9 months. I have other dxs too, so am being very careful. Am ordering a cane to walk with as I still am not sure footed. The cane is really neat, its clear. Am so happyyyyyyyyyyyyyy about Armour! -Bonnie -----------Subject: Re: Re: started Don't over do it Bobbie... trust me on that one... I did and crashed.... Let your body build it's strength again... muscles that are not used to being used can become exhausted.....----------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 9 months? How about 10 years? And when my foot went bad and the dumb doc diagnosed me with Plantar Faciitis from being fat..... didn't look at my labs, didn't ask about anything just told me to put a little plastic cup in the heel of my shoe and lose some weight... Well, gee.. the weight is ANOTHER symptom!!! You keep going, Bobbie... baby steps rock!!! and one day it won't be such teeny steps anymore.. it will be full strides. It's soooo hard to be patient... but its so worth it.... Topper ()"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body. But rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO-HOO what a ride!" On Fri, 6 Jan 2006 23:04:39 -0500 (GMT-05:00) bLaZy boBBie writes: Hi there,I am still too weak to do much and am enjoying improvement each day in baby steps.Will take this very easy, on sythenics there were months I could not walk without assistance. I cannot believe any doc would leave their patient with so many problems for 9 months.I have other dxs too, so am being very careful. Am ordering a cane to walk with as I still am notsure footed. The cane is really neat, its clear.Am so happyyyyyyyyyyyyyy about Armour!-Bonnie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 I guess it depends on how you look at it... how long it took.... I was increasingly hyper from puberty... no on caught it... I went into thyroid storm in my early thirties and the first doc I saw, though noting my symptoms, didn't bother to test me and told me that I was too fat to be sick (I'd lost 40 pounds in 30 days, and I'd recently started a new job working as a money courier for a vending company... Please explain to me how it's okay, no matter what weight you start out at, to lose more than a pound a day while working a job with a LOT less physical demand than the previous job and getting free candy, cookies, sandwiches and chips all day long at work?) It was another ten months before symptoms got so bad that they affected my job and I went back to see another doc, an orthopedist, to find out why I couldn't lift my arms.. She was the one that diagnosed me in thyroid storm... I was in such bad shape that they had me at the hospital in a matter of hours and did the scans on a gurney set up in the hallway and then nuked me and shuttled me out of the building before I contaminated anyone else. I spent the next too years working with my endo... she was wonderful in many ways but she was a Synthroid doc, two years it took a body, without any remaining gland function, to accept Synthroid without getting sick..... the next 8 years no other doctor gave me anything else, and never increased the dose. I gained nearly 200 pounds after getting the RAI and being put on Synthroid, most in the first year. I was not quite six years from RAI when I developed plantar faciitis and ended up needing crutches to walk.. that ended up messing up the tendons in my legs, hips and back too.... but all this was attributed to my being a fat lazy slob that spent my days sitting on the couch watching soap operas and eating bon bons. The last doc that I saw wrote me an open ended prescription... didnt' say how many times I could fill it, just that I could only get refills to a certain date... so when the foot got so bad that I couldn't work any more and had to quit my job I started hoarding pills... thinking that they were what was keeping me from getting even worse. I had to lay in as much as I could, cuz without insurance I wouldn't be getting any for a while. Every gone on a job interview on crutches? No one will hire you. My stash lasted me another two years... then that was gone.... Wrapping this up.... it was after two years with no meds, crutches to walk, trying to hold down a job (by then I'd lost my house and my car, ever ridden a bus with crutches? For the first weeks someone will give you their seat... then, at some point some guy will jump up and holler the fat lady is using her crutches just to get a seat, that she's been doing it for weeks... not cast on her foot or leg, nothing.. quit giving up your seats! That morning no one did. I tried to stand... I almost made it all the way downtown.. but my good leg gave out and I fell... wedged down on the floor I couldn't get the crutches around or get hold of a seat to get up.. Passengers had to help the fat lady off the floor.... After than they gave me a seat.... but that one man always glared at me) That job I lost when the company went bankrupt. No job, no money, no insurance, no home, no car...... no medicine. Pain that never stopped, couldn't sleep for pain. Tired all the time... couldn't poop for weeks at a time. It was when my body would stop breathing when I was wide a wake that I started getting truly afraid that I would die.... I'd go to bed at night wondering if I'd stop breathing and wouldn't wake up. Twenty to thirty Ibuprophen tablets at a time, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day, just to cut the pain enough to not scream... That's where I was when I made the choice to do it myself. I learned, I read, I joined a newsgroup.... I placed my first order of an OTC strength of natural thyroid. Three months later, still on a really low dose, the equivalent of only 1/2 grain, about 37 mcg of T4.... The person that ended up on crutches after spending five or six years at a dose of 200 mcg of Synthroid wasn't using crutches to get around the house anymore.... I didn't need crutches to go pee!!!! I was still taking them, and using them, when I was leaving the house, I was still too weak and got too sore to quickly to walk for long with out them... but a few more months go by and I'm only bringing one with me when I leave the house. Pretty soon the one is just in the car, just in case..... and pretty soon after that.... the crutches stay at home... I was still taking less that two grains worth... All the years on the synthetic crap... getting worse and worse and worse... and in just a few months, on a relatively low dose.... symptoms are going away....... The most wondrous day of all... the one that brings tears to my eyes right this second remembering..... The day that I learned how huge a difference timing of dosing was... the day I shifted my doses so that I took the last one just before bed...... and the next morning... for the first time in over ten years... catch that? for the FIRST TIME IN OVER TEN YEARS I woke with no pain All those years... doctors called me fat, lazy, stupid, a liar, irresponsible, a smart ass... they had me on the WRONG MED! My symptoms were not made up, they were not exaggerated, they were not imagined... they were the accumulations of years of living without a thyroid gland and without the right replacement, one that my body could use... and each and every doctor that I saw ignored that and blamed it on me.... made up, imagined... a lie... my own doing.. I was fat cuz I didn't exercise and I ate too much.. exercise.. that's what you do at night after a day of hobbling around on crutches.. yeah... right after the half mile hobble home from the nearest bus stop.. okay... right... it was my mistake... yep... all my fault.. I should have gone jogging in the evenings. I'm ranting.... It still makes me soo angry. I went to the doc, the first time, in time for proper treatment. I was ignored. By the time it was diagnosed it was radiation or die.... by the time I figured out what else they'd done wrong to me... I'd lost everything I'd worked all my life to achieve. Poopy doctors. We need to educate ourselves and them. NO ONE should have to be treated the way that I was. When I found out that I wasn't the only one.. that there are literally thousands more out there being treated as badly... it just makes me livid. I get the daily newsletter from Dr. Weil... sometimes it's informative.. sometimes it's not... this is what is in today's newsletter.... After reading it... please explain to me how come we are ignored, mistreated, abused..... As we watch commercials on TV for getting free diabetic testing supplies... "According to the American Association of Clinical Endrocrinologists, an estimated 27 million Americans - more than the number of Americans diagnosed with diabetes and cancer combined - are affected by thyroid disease. January is Thyroid Awareness Month, a good time to learn more about the thyroid - a small, butterfly shaped gland in the neck that influences metabolism and the function of the kidneys, heart, liver, brain and skin. Make sure your thyroid is functioning correctly - learn about the symptoms of thyroid disease, create a personal health history, and then talk with your physician if you have questions or concerns - he or she can help determine through simple tests if your thyroid is over- or under-functioning. " More than diabetes and cancer combined. Determine through simple testS What am I missing? Why are we ignored? Why is it that no one cares? Could it be that such a huge percentage of us are females? Could it be that such a huge percentage of us are huge older females? Maybe if more of us were young and skinny or male they'd care more? Oh... I'm stopping now... rant is over... this time. It really is thyroid awareness month... pass the word... pass on information.... if you can open the eyes of just ONE person this month..... that would be cool! Share our link: www.thyrophoenix.com not too hard to remember... and they can find links to more info from there and links to this group too..... Spread the word.... get tested.. don't let life pass them by.... Topper () On Sat, 7 Jan 2006 22:29:02 -0500 (GMT-05:00) bLaZy boBBie writes: Thanks Topper, for the podcast links.Do you mean to say you went ten years before using Armour?Or that you had the condition for 10 years?I am about there-10 years, 9 1/2 to get a DX, then only 9 months to get what is likely the right med.Am tired of couse but did more than usual, a friend drove today so it was easierto do a few errands, God bless our friends.Today I am terribly itchy on face & neck. Precipitated from a haircut, had ten inches taken off,I cannot believe what awful condition it was in. Couldn't tell from looking in a mirror that I wassporting the Hashi hairstyle.-Bonnie (i meant to sign Bobbie - now I am forgetting my name- yikes!) : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 I guess it depends on how you look at it... how long it took.... I was increasingly hyper from puberty... no on caught it... I went into thyroid storm in my early thirties and the first doc I saw, though noting my symptoms, didn't bother to test me and told me that I was too fat to be sick (I'd lost 40 pounds in 30 days, and I'd recently started a new job working as a money courier for a vending company... Please explain to me how it's okay, no matter what weight you start out at, to lose more than a pound a day while working a job with a LOT less physical demand than the previous job and getting free candy, cookies, sandwiches and chips all day long at work?) It was another ten months before symptoms got so bad that they affected my job and I went back to see another doc, an orthopedist, to find out why I couldn't lift my arms.. She was the one that diagnosed me in thyroid storm... I was in such bad shape that they had me at the hospital in a matter of hours and did the scans on a gurney set up in the hallway and then nuked me and shuttled me out of the building before I contaminated anyone else. I spent the next too years working with my endo... she was wonderful in many ways but she was a Synthroid doc, two years it took a body, without any remaining gland function, to accept Synthroid without getting sick..... the next 8 years no other doctor gave me anything else, and never increased the dose. I gained nearly 200 pounds after getting the RAI and being put on Synthroid, most in the first year. I was not quite six years from RAI when I developed plantar faciitis and ended up needing crutches to walk.. that ended up messing up the tendons in my legs, hips and back too.... but all this was attributed to my being a fat lazy slob that spent my days sitting on the couch watching soap operas and eating bon bons. The last doc that I saw wrote me an open ended prescription... didnt' say how many times I could fill it, just that I could only get refills to a certain date... so when the foot got so bad that I couldn't work any more and had to quit my job I started hoarding pills... thinking that they were what was keeping me from getting even worse. I had to lay in as much as I could, cuz without insurance I wouldn't be getting any for a while. Every gone on a job interview on crutches? No one will hire you. My stash lasted me another two years... then that was gone.... Wrapping this up.... it was after two years with no meds, crutches to walk, trying to hold down a job (by then I'd lost my house and my car, ever ridden a bus with crutches? For the first weeks someone will give you their seat... then, at some point some guy will jump up and holler the fat lady is using her crutches just to get a seat, that she's been doing it for weeks... not cast on her foot or leg, nothing.. quit giving up your seats! That morning no one did. I tried to stand... I almost made it all the way downtown.. but my good leg gave out and I fell... wedged down on the floor I couldn't get the crutches around or get hold of a seat to get up.. Passengers had to help the fat lady off the floor.... After than they gave me a seat.... but that one man always glared at me) That job I lost when the company went bankrupt. No job, no money, no insurance, no home, no car...... no medicine. Pain that never stopped, couldn't sleep for pain. Tired all the time... couldn't poop for weeks at a time. It was when my body would stop breathing when I was wide a wake that I started getting truly afraid that I would die.... I'd go to bed at night wondering if I'd stop breathing and wouldn't wake up. Twenty to thirty Ibuprophen tablets at a time, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day, just to cut the pain enough to not scream... That's where I was when I made the choice to do it myself. I learned, I read, I joined a newsgroup.... I placed my first order of an OTC strength of natural thyroid. Three months later, still on a really low dose, the equivalent of only 1/2 grain, about 37 mcg of T4.... The person that ended up on crutches after spending five or six years at a dose of 200 mcg of Synthroid wasn't using crutches to get around the house anymore.... I didn't need crutches to go pee!!!! I was still taking them, and using them, when I was leaving the house, I was still too weak and got too sore to quickly to walk for long with out them... but a few more months go by and I'm only bringing one with me when I leave the house. Pretty soon the one is just in the car, just in case..... and pretty soon after that.... the crutches stay at home... I was still taking less that two grains worth... All the years on the synthetic crap... getting worse and worse and worse... and in just a few months, on a relatively low dose.... symptoms are going away....... The most wondrous day of all... the one that brings tears to my eyes right this second remembering..... The day that I learned how huge a difference timing of dosing was... the day I shifted my doses so that I took the last one just before bed...... and the next morning... for the first time in over ten years... catch that? for the FIRST TIME IN OVER TEN YEARS I woke with no pain All those years... doctors called me fat, lazy, stupid, a liar, irresponsible, a smart ass... they had me on the WRONG MED! My symptoms were not made up, they were not exaggerated, they were not imagined... they were the accumulations of years of living without a thyroid gland and without the right replacement, one that my body could use... and each and every doctor that I saw ignored that and blamed it on me.... made up, imagined... a lie... my own doing.. I was fat cuz I didn't exercise and I ate too much.. exercise.. that's what you do at night after a day of hobbling around on crutches.. yeah... right after the half mile hobble home from the nearest bus stop.. okay... right... it was my mistake... yep... all my fault.. I should have gone jogging in the evenings. I'm ranting.... It still makes me soo angry. I went to the doc, the first time, in time for proper treatment. I was ignored. By the time it was diagnosed it was radiation or die.... by the time I figured out what else they'd done wrong to me... I'd lost everything I'd worked all my life to achieve. Poopy doctors. We need to educate ourselves and them. NO ONE should have to be treated the way that I was. When I found out that I wasn't the only one.. that there are literally thousands more out there being treated as badly... it just makes me livid. I get the daily newsletter from Dr. Weil... sometimes it's informative.. sometimes it's not... this is what is in today's newsletter.... After reading it... please explain to me how come we are ignored, mistreated, abused..... As we watch commercials on TV for getting free diabetic testing supplies... "According to the American Association of Clinical Endrocrinologists, an estimated 27 million Americans - more than the number of Americans diagnosed with diabetes and cancer combined - are affected by thyroid disease. January is Thyroid Awareness Month, a good time to learn more about the thyroid - a small, butterfly shaped gland in the neck that influences metabolism and the function of the kidneys, heart, liver, brain and skin. Make sure your thyroid is functioning correctly - learn about the symptoms of thyroid disease, create a personal health history, and then talk with your physician if you have questions or concerns - he or she can help determine through simple tests if your thyroid is over- or under-functioning. " More than diabetes and cancer combined. Determine through simple testS What am I missing? Why are we ignored? Why is it that no one cares? Could it be that such a huge percentage of us are females? Could it be that such a huge percentage of us are huge older females? Maybe if more of us were young and skinny or male they'd care more? Oh... I'm stopping now... rant is over... this time. It really is thyroid awareness month... pass the word... pass on information.... if you can open the eyes of just ONE person this month..... that would be cool! Share our link: www.thyrophoenix.com not too hard to remember... and they can find links to more info from there and links to this group too..... Spread the word.... get tested.. don't let life pass them by.... Topper () On Sat, 7 Jan 2006 22:29:02 -0500 (GMT-05:00) bLaZy boBBie writes: Thanks Topper, for the podcast links.Do you mean to say you went ten years before using Armour?Or that you had the condition for 10 years?I am about there-10 years, 9 1/2 to get a DX, then only 9 months to get what is likely the right med.Am tired of couse but did more than usual, a friend drove today so it was easierto do a few errands, God bless our friends.Today I am terribly itchy on face & neck. Precipitated from a haircut, had ten inches taken off,I cannot believe what awful condition it was in. Couldn't tell from looking in a mirror that I wassporting the Hashi hairstyle.-Bonnie (i meant to sign Bobbie - now I am forgetting my name- yikes!) : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 I guess it depends on how you look at it... how long it took.... I was increasingly hyper from puberty... no on caught it... I went into thyroid storm in my early thirties and the first doc I saw, though noting my symptoms, didn't bother to test me and told me that I was too fat to be sick (I'd lost 40 pounds in 30 days, and I'd recently started a new job working as a money courier for a vending company... Please explain to me how it's okay, no matter what weight you start out at, to lose more than a pound a day while working a job with a LOT less physical demand than the previous job and getting free candy, cookies, sandwiches and chips all day long at work?) It was another ten months before symptoms got so bad that they affected my job and I went back to see another doc, an orthopedist, to find out why I couldn't lift my arms.. She was the one that diagnosed me in thyroid storm... I was in such bad shape that they had me at the hospital in a matter of hours and did the scans on a gurney set up in the hallway and then nuked me and shuttled me out of the building before I contaminated anyone else. I spent the next too years working with my endo... she was wonderful in many ways but she was a Synthroid doc, two years it took a body, without any remaining gland function, to accept Synthroid without getting sick..... the next 8 years no other doctor gave me anything else, and never increased the dose. I gained nearly 200 pounds after getting the RAI and being put on Synthroid, most in the first year. I was not quite six years from RAI when I developed plantar faciitis and ended up needing crutches to walk.. that ended up messing up the tendons in my legs, hips and back too.... but all this was attributed to my being a fat lazy slob that spent my days sitting on the couch watching soap operas and eating bon bons. The last doc that I saw wrote me an open ended prescription... didnt' say how many times I could fill it, just that I could only get refills to a certain date... so when the foot got so bad that I couldn't work any more and had to quit my job I started hoarding pills... thinking that they were what was keeping me from getting even worse. I had to lay in as much as I could, cuz without insurance I wouldn't be getting any for a while. Every gone on a job interview on crutches? No one will hire you. My stash lasted me another two years... then that was gone.... Wrapping this up.... it was after two years with no meds, crutches to walk, trying to hold down a job (by then I'd lost my house and my car, ever ridden a bus with crutches? For the first weeks someone will give you their seat... then, at some point some guy will jump up and holler the fat lady is using her crutches just to get a seat, that she's been doing it for weeks... not cast on her foot or leg, nothing.. quit giving up your seats! That morning no one did. I tried to stand... I almost made it all the way downtown.. but my good leg gave out and I fell... wedged down on the floor I couldn't get the crutches around or get hold of a seat to get up.. Passengers had to help the fat lady off the floor.... After than they gave me a seat.... but that one man always glared at me) That job I lost when the company went bankrupt. No job, no money, no insurance, no home, no car...... no medicine. Pain that never stopped, couldn't sleep for pain. Tired all the time... couldn't poop for weeks at a time. It was when my body would stop breathing when I was wide a wake that I started getting truly afraid that I would die.... I'd go to bed at night wondering if I'd stop breathing and wouldn't wake up. Twenty to thirty Ibuprophen tablets at a time, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day, just to cut the pain enough to not scream... That's where I was when I made the choice to do it myself. I learned, I read, I joined a newsgroup.... I placed my first order of an OTC strength of natural thyroid. Three months later, still on a really low dose, the equivalent of only 1/2 grain, about 37 mcg of T4.... The person that ended up on crutches after spending five or six years at a dose of 200 mcg of Synthroid wasn't using crutches to get around the house anymore.... I didn't need crutches to go pee!!!! I was still taking them, and using them, when I was leaving the house, I was still too weak and got too sore to quickly to walk for long with out them... but a few more months go by and I'm only bringing one with me when I leave the house. Pretty soon the one is just in the car, just in case..... and pretty soon after that.... the crutches stay at home... I was still taking less that two grains worth... All the years on the synthetic crap... getting worse and worse and worse... and in just a few months, on a relatively low dose.... symptoms are going away....... The most wondrous day of all... the one that brings tears to my eyes right this second remembering..... The day that I learned how huge a difference timing of dosing was... the day I shifted my doses so that I took the last one just before bed...... and the next morning... for the first time in over ten years... catch that? for the FIRST TIME IN OVER TEN YEARS I woke with no pain All those years... doctors called me fat, lazy, stupid, a liar, irresponsible, a smart ass... they had me on the WRONG MED! My symptoms were not made up, they were not exaggerated, they were not imagined... they were the accumulations of years of living without a thyroid gland and without the right replacement, one that my body could use... and each and every doctor that I saw ignored that and blamed it on me.... made up, imagined... a lie... my own doing.. I was fat cuz I didn't exercise and I ate too much.. exercise.. that's what you do at night after a day of hobbling around on crutches.. yeah... right after the half mile hobble home from the nearest bus stop.. okay... right... it was my mistake... yep... all my fault.. I should have gone jogging in the evenings. I'm ranting.... It still makes me soo angry. I went to the doc, the first time, in time for proper treatment. I was ignored. By the time it was diagnosed it was radiation or die.... by the time I figured out what else they'd done wrong to me... I'd lost everything I'd worked all my life to achieve. Poopy doctors. We need to educate ourselves and them. NO ONE should have to be treated the way that I was. When I found out that I wasn't the only one.. that there are literally thousands more out there being treated as badly... it just makes me livid. I get the daily newsletter from Dr. Weil... sometimes it's informative.. sometimes it's not... this is what is in today's newsletter.... After reading it... please explain to me how come we are ignored, mistreated, abused..... As we watch commercials on TV for getting free diabetic testing supplies... "According to the American Association of Clinical Endrocrinologists, an estimated 27 million Americans - more than the number of Americans diagnosed with diabetes and cancer combined - are affected by thyroid disease. January is Thyroid Awareness Month, a good time to learn more about the thyroid - a small, butterfly shaped gland in the neck that influences metabolism and the function of the kidneys, heart, liver, brain and skin. Make sure your thyroid is functioning correctly - learn about the symptoms of thyroid disease, create a personal health history, and then talk with your physician if you have questions or concerns - he or she can help determine through simple tests if your thyroid is over- or under-functioning. " More than diabetes and cancer combined. Determine through simple testS What am I missing? Why are we ignored? Why is it that no one cares? Could it be that such a huge percentage of us are females? Could it be that such a huge percentage of us are huge older females? Maybe if more of us were young and skinny or male they'd care more? Oh... I'm stopping now... rant is over... this time. It really is thyroid awareness month... pass the word... pass on information.... if you can open the eyes of just ONE person this month..... that would be cool! Share our link: www.thyrophoenix.com not too hard to remember... and they can find links to more info from there and links to this group too..... Spread the word.... get tested.. don't let life pass them by.... Topper () On Sat, 7 Jan 2006 22:29:02 -0500 (GMT-05:00) bLaZy boBBie writes: Thanks Topper, for the podcast links.Do you mean to say you went ten years before using Armour?Or that you had the condition for 10 years?I am about there-10 years, 9 1/2 to get a DX, then only 9 months to get what is likely the right med.Am tired of couse but did more than usual, a friend drove today so it was easierto do a few errands, God bless our friends.Today I am terribly itchy on face & neck. Precipitated from a haircut, had ten inches taken off,I cannot believe what awful condition it was in. Couldn't tell from looking in a mirror that I wassporting the Hashi hairstyle.-Bonnie (i meant to sign Bobbie - now I am forgetting my name- yikes!) : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Topper - thank you for sharing that. You have certainly been through a LOT. I am recognizing more and more that I have been undiagnosed for a very long long time. My TSH levels are not horrible compared to some I have seen mentioned, but I have not felt well in decades. I have been under-functioning as a contributing member of society and have had the psychological difficulties that accompany a good mind with an uncooperative body (sense of worthlessness or being of zero value). Two years ago I chose gastric bypass in a desperate attempt to lose weight because I could not lose it any other way. My quality of life was so bad that I felt that it was worth the risk of dying. That says a lot when you calmly go under the knife to have your innards totally replumbed. My endocrinologist has NEVER tested me for thyroid and yet I presented to him a morbidly obese woman with chronic pain and major fatigue. Guess I was lazy and a hypochondriac. To top it off, as a gastric bypass person I have learned that the surgeons work very hard to promise the wonderful life post-op, but the idiots (I am not writing the word that came to mind) can't agree on a program of consistent supplementation or protein for us across the board. We are routinely seeing gastric bypass post-ops with major deficiencies because their "GOD" surgeon has them on too little in the way of supplements. I parted company with my surgeon some time ago. Our surgeons are ordering way too few tests to check the nutritional status of our bodies. I had to find a doctor who would order the tests that post-op graduates are suggesting and THAT is how I found my thyroid levels going up. But, they were at 2.7 pre-op and with all of my symptoms and the new guidelines that some doctors actually pay attention to I was hypothyroid and should have been under treatment years ago. I am so DISGUSTED with the medical community and truly resent the fact that I actually have to see these guys to get medical tests and medications that I KNOW I need. So, here I sit with a hypothyroid that had it been addressed perhaps, maybe, possibly I might have avoided gastric bypass. Gastric bypass can produce a major life change for many people, but I will always remain convinced that it should be the tool of last resort after GOOD doctors are unable to be of help. Trick is finding the good doctors. Here I sit with the prospects of finding a doctor to prescribe medications for thyroid that I have to find a way to fit into my very full daily supplement schedule. Lordy, the rules of thyroid medications, rules of iron and calcium - sheesh. Guess I will be looking for a watch that can hold multiple alarms to keep me on schedule. Ironic as it is there was a time in my life when I absolutely abhorred being tied to schedules (a childhood thing from a mother who was incessant with her schedules) and now I am finding my life rules by them. I will do this because my greatest fear of all is not being able to take care of myself as I age and I do not want to end up in a nursing home. So fight the good fight I will. I think what scares me now is what if it is too late to help my body recover enough to feel good again. Actually, I am not sure that I remember what feeling good feels like. I have had brief days of feeling pretty good and like most of us use those days to frantically get something done and then collapse again for weeks. Sandy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ slkscb@... ~ Open RNY 12/8/03, 150 cm, Barix Clinics, 303/290 day of surgery/195 current/ goal is to be HEALTHY. Emergency appendectomy 11/1/04, Gallbladder 1/12/05. "Know your labs and track your trends." AZ Grads join us at: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AZGRADSOFWLS/ Check out my gastric bypass journal at www.acdlady.com/WLS_1 for many educational links. My OH profile is at http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=M1062876220 I am not affiliated with the medical profession except as a proactive WLS post-op. "Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else’s." – Wilder -- Re: RE: started I guess it depends on how you look at it... how long it took.... I was increasingly hyper from puberty... no on caught it... I went into thyroid storm in my early thirties and the first doc I saw, though noting my symptoms, didn't bother to test me and told me that I was too fat to be sick (I'd lost 40 pounds in 30 days, and I'd recently started a new job working as a money courier for a vending company... Please explain to me how it's okay, no matter what weight you start out at, to lose more than a pound a day while working a job with a LOT less physical demand than the previous job and getting free candy, cookies, sandwiches and chips all day long at work?) It was another ten months before symptoms got so bad that they affected my job and I went back to see another doc, an orthopedist, to find out why I couldn't lift my arms.. She was the one that diagnosed me in thyroid storm... I was in such bad shape that they had me at the hospital in a matter of hours and did the scans on a gurney set up in the hallway and then nuked me and shuttled me out of the building before I contaminated anyone else. I spent the next too years working with my endo... she was wonderful in many ways but she was a Synthroid doc, two years it took a body, without any remaining gland function, to accept Synthroid without getting sick..... the next 8 years no other doctor gave me anything else, and never increased the dose. I gained nearly 200 pounds after getting the RAI and being put on Synthroid, most in the first year. I was not quite six years from RAI when I developed plantar faciitis and ended up needing crutches to walk.. that ended up messing up the tendons in my legs, hips and back too.... but all this was attributed to my being a fat lazy slob that spent my days sitting on the couch watching soap operas and eating bon bons. The last doc that I saw wrote me an open ended prescription... didnt' say how many times I could fill it, just that I could only get refills to a certain date... so when the foot got so bad that I couldn't work any more and had to quit my job I started hoarding pills... thinking that they were what was keeping me from getting even worse. I had to lay in as much as I could, cuz without insurance I wouldn't be getting any for a while. Every gone on a job interview on crutches? No one will hire you. My stash lasted me another two years... then that was gone.... Wrapping this up.... it was after two years with no meds, crutches to walk, trying to hold down a job (by then I'd lost my house and my car, ever ridden a bus with crutches? For the first weeks someone will give you their seat... then, at some point some guy will jump up and holler the fat lady is using her crutches just to get a seat, that she's been doing it for weeks... not cast on her foot or leg, nothing.. quit giving up your seats! That morning no one did. I tried to stand... I almost made it all the way downtown.. but my good leg gave out and I fell... wedged down on the floor I couldn't get the crutches around or get hold of a seat to get up.. Passengers had to help the fat lady off the floor.... After than they gave me a seat.... but that one man always glared at me) That job I lost when the company went bankrupt. No job, no money, no insurance, no home, no car...... no medicine. Pain that never stopped, couldn't sleep for pain. Tired all the time... couldn't poop for weeks at a time. It was when my body would stop breathing when I was wide a wake that I started getting truly afraid that I would die.... I'd go to bed at night wondering if I'd stop breathing and wouldn't wake up. Twenty to thirty Ibuprophen tablets at a time, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day, just to cut the pain enough to not scream... That's where I was when I made the choice to do it myself. I learned, I read, I joined a newsgroup.... I placed my first order of an OTC strength of natural thyroid. Three months later, still on a really low dose, the equivalent of only 1/2 grain, about 37 mcg of T4.... The person that ended up on crutches after spending five or six years at a dose of 200 mcg of Synthroid wasn't using crutches to get around the house anymore.... I didn't need crutches to go pee!!!! I was still taking them, and using them, when I was leaving the house, I was still too weak and got too sore to quickly to walk for long with out them... but a few more months go by and I'm only bringing one with me when I leave the house. Pretty soon the one is just in the car, just in case..... and pretty soon after that.... the crutches stay at home... I was still taking less that two grains worth... All the years on the synthetic crap... getting worse and worse and worse... and in just a few months, on a relatively low dose.... symptoms are going away....... The most wondrous day of all... the one that brings tears to my eyes right this second remembering..... The day that I learned how huge a difference timing of dosing was... the day I shifted my doses so that I took the last one just before bed...... and the next morning... for the first time in over ten years... catch that? for the FIRST TIME IN OVER TEN YEARS I woke with no pain All those years... doctors called me fat, lazy, stupid, a liar, irresponsible, a smart ass... they had me on the WRONG MED! My symptoms were not made up, they were not exaggerated, they were not imagined... they were the accumulations of years of living without a thyroid gland and without the right replacement, one that my body could use... and each and every doctor that I saw ignored that and blamed it on me.... made up, imagined... a lie... my own doing.. I was fat cuz I didn't exercise and I ate too much.. exercise.. that's what you do at night after a day of hobbling around on crutches.. yeah... right after the half mile hobble home from the nearest bus stop.. okay... right... it was my mistake... yep... all my fault.. I should have gone jogging in the evenings. I'm ranting.... It still makes me soo angry. I went to the doc, the first time, in time for proper treatment. I was ignored. By the time it was diagnosed it was radiation or die.... by the time I figured out what else they'd done wrong to me... I'd lost everything I'd worked all my life to achieve. Poopy doctors. We need to educate ourselves and them. NO ONE should have to be treated the way that I was. When I found out that I wasn't the only one.. that there are literally thousands more out there being treated as badly... it just makes me livid. I get the daily newsletter from Dr. Weil... sometimes it's informative.. sometimes it's not... this is what is in today's newsletter.... After reading it... please explain to me how come we are ignored, mistreated, abused..... As we watch commercials on TV for getting free diabetic testing supplies... "According to the American Association of Clinical Endrocrinologists, an estimated 27 million Americans - more than the number of Americans diagnosed with diabetes and cancer combined - are affected by thyroid disease. January is Thyroid Awareness Month, a good time to learn more about the thyroid - a small, butterfly shaped gland in the neck that influences metabolism and the function of the kidneys, heart, liver, brain and skin. Make sure your thyroid is functioning correctly - learn about the symptoms of thyroid disease, create a personal health history, and then talk with your physician if you have questions or concerns - he or she can help determine through simple tests if your thyroid is over- or under-functioning. " More than diabetes and cancer combined. Determine through simple testS What am I missing? Why are we ignored? Why is it that no one cares? Could it be that such a huge percentage of us are females? Could it be that such a huge percentage of us are huge older females? Maybe if more of us were young and skinny or male they'd care more? Oh... I'm stopping now... rant is over... this time. It really is thyroid awareness month... pass the word... pass on information.... if you can open the eyes of just ONE person this month..... that would be cool! Share our link: www.thyrophoenix.com not too hard to remember... and they can find links to more info from there and links to this group too..... Spread the word.... get tested.. don't let life pass them by.... Topper () Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Topper - thank you for sharing that. You have certainly been through a LOT. I am recognizing more and more that I have been undiagnosed for a very long long time. My TSH levels are not horrible compared to some I have seen mentioned, but I have not felt well in decades. I have been under-functioning as a contributing member of society and have had the psychological difficulties that accompany a good mind with an uncooperative body (sense of worthlessness or being of zero value). Two years ago I chose gastric bypass in a desperate attempt to lose weight because I could not lose it any other way. My quality of life was so bad that I felt that it was worth the risk of dying. That says a lot when you calmly go under the knife to have your innards totally replumbed. My endocrinologist has NEVER tested me for thyroid and yet I presented to him a morbidly obese woman with chronic pain and major fatigue. Guess I was lazy and a hypochondriac. To top it off, as a gastric bypass person I have learned that the surgeons work very hard to promise the wonderful life post-op, but the idiots (I am not writing the word that came to mind) can't agree on a program of consistent supplementation or protein for us across the board. We are routinely seeing gastric bypass post-ops with major deficiencies because their "GOD" surgeon has them on too little in the way of supplements. I parted company with my surgeon some time ago. Our surgeons are ordering way too few tests to check the nutritional status of our bodies. I had to find a doctor who would order the tests that post-op graduates are suggesting and THAT is how I found my thyroid levels going up. But, they were at 2.7 pre-op and with all of my symptoms and the new guidelines that some doctors actually pay attention to I was hypothyroid and should have been under treatment years ago. I am so DISGUSTED with the medical community and truly resent the fact that I actually have to see these guys to get medical tests and medications that I KNOW I need. So, here I sit with a hypothyroid that had it been addressed perhaps, maybe, possibly I might have avoided gastric bypass. Gastric bypass can produce a major life change for many people, but I will always remain convinced that it should be the tool of last resort after GOOD doctors are unable to be of help. Trick is finding the good doctors. Here I sit with the prospects of finding a doctor to prescribe medications for thyroid that I have to find a way to fit into my very full daily supplement schedule. Lordy, the rules of thyroid medications, rules of iron and calcium - sheesh. Guess I will be looking for a watch that can hold multiple alarms to keep me on schedule. Ironic as it is there was a time in my life when I absolutely abhorred being tied to schedules (a childhood thing from a mother who was incessant with her schedules) and now I am finding my life rules by them. I will do this because my greatest fear of all is not being able to take care of myself as I age and I do not want to end up in a nursing home. So fight the good fight I will. I think what scares me now is what if it is too late to help my body recover enough to feel good again. Actually, I am not sure that I remember what feeling good feels like. I have had brief days of feeling pretty good and like most of us use those days to frantically get something done and then collapse again for weeks. Sandy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ slkscb@... ~ Open RNY 12/8/03, 150 cm, Barix Clinics, 303/290 day of surgery/195 current/ goal is to be HEALTHY. Emergency appendectomy 11/1/04, Gallbladder 1/12/05. "Know your labs and track your trends." AZ Grads join us at: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AZGRADSOFWLS/ Check out my gastric bypass journal at www.acdlady.com/WLS_1 for many educational links. My OH profile is at http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=M1062876220 I am not affiliated with the medical profession except as a proactive WLS post-op. "Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else’s." – Wilder -- Re: RE: started I guess it depends on how you look at it... how long it took.... I was increasingly hyper from puberty... no on caught it... I went into thyroid storm in my early thirties and the first doc I saw, though noting my symptoms, didn't bother to test me and told me that I was too fat to be sick (I'd lost 40 pounds in 30 days, and I'd recently started a new job working as a money courier for a vending company... Please explain to me how it's okay, no matter what weight you start out at, to lose more than a pound a day while working a job with a LOT less physical demand than the previous job and getting free candy, cookies, sandwiches and chips all day long at work?) It was another ten months before symptoms got so bad that they affected my job and I went back to see another doc, an orthopedist, to find out why I couldn't lift my arms.. She was the one that diagnosed me in thyroid storm... I was in such bad shape that they had me at the hospital in a matter of hours and did the scans on a gurney set up in the hallway and then nuked me and shuttled me out of the building before I contaminated anyone else. I spent the next too years working with my endo... she was wonderful in many ways but she was a Synthroid doc, two years it took a body, without any remaining gland function, to accept Synthroid without getting sick..... the next 8 years no other doctor gave me anything else, and never increased the dose. I gained nearly 200 pounds after getting the RAI and being put on Synthroid, most in the first year. I was not quite six years from RAI when I developed plantar faciitis and ended up needing crutches to walk.. that ended up messing up the tendons in my legs, hips and back too.... but all this was attributed to my being a fat lazy slob that spent my days sitting on the couch watching soap operas and eating bon bons. The last doc that I saw wrote me an open ended prescription... didnt' say how many times I could fill it, just that I could only get refills to a certain date... so when the foot got so bad that I couldn't work any more and had to quit my job I started hoarding pills... thinking that they were what was keeping me from getting even worse. I had to lay in as much as I could, cuz without insurance I wouldn't be getting any for a while. Every gone on a job interview on crutches? No one will hire you. My stash lasted me another two years... then that was gone.... Wrapping this up.... it was after two years with no meds, crutches to walk, trying to hold down a job (by then I'd lost my house and my car, ever ridden a bus with crutches? For the first weeks someone will give you their seat... then, at some point some guy will jump up and holler the fat lady is using her crutches just to get a seat, that she's been doing it for weeks... not cast on her foot or leg, nothing.. quit giving up your seats! That morning no one did. I tried to stand... I almost made it all the way downtown.. but my good leg gave out and I fell... wedged down on the floor I couldn't get the crutches around or get hold of a seat to get up.. Passengers had to help the fat lady off the floor.... After than they gave me a seat.... but that one man always glared at me) That job I lost when the company went bankrupt. No job, no money, no insurance, no home, no car...... no medicine. Pain that never stopped, couldn't sleep for pain. Tired all the time... couldn't poop for weeks at a time. It was when my body would stop breathing when I was wide a wake that I started getting truly afraid that I would die.... I'd go to bed at night wondering if I'd stop breathing and wouldn't wake up. Twenty to thirty Ibuprophen tablets at a time, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day, just to cut the pain enough to not scream... That's where I was when I made the choice to do it myself. I learned, I read, I joined a newsgroup.... I placed my first order of an OTC strength of natural thyroid. Three months later, still on a really low dose, the equivalent of only 1/2 grain, about 37 mcg of T4.... The person that ended up on crutches after spending five or six years at a dose of 200 mcg of Synthroid wasn't using crutches to get around the house anymore.... I didn't need crutches to go pee!!!! I was still taking them, and using them, when I was leaving the house, I was still too weak and got too sore to quickly to walk for long with out them... but a few more months go by and I'm only bringing one with me when I leave the house. Pretty soon the one is just in the car, just in case..... and pretty soon after that.... the crutches stay at home... I was still taking less that two grains worth... All the years on the synthetic crap... getting worse and worse and worse... and in just a few months, on a relatively low dose.... symptoms are going away....... The most wondrous day of all... the one that brings tears to my eyes right this second remembering..... The day that I learned how huge a difference timing of dosing was... the day I shifted my doses so that I took the last one just before bed...... and the next morning... for the first time in over ten years... catch that? for the FIRST TIME IN OVER TEN YEARS I woke with no pain All those years... doctors called me fat, lazy, stupid, a liar, irresponsible, a smart ass... they had me on the WRONG MED! My symptoms were not made up, they were not exaggerated, they were not imagined... they were the accumulations of years of living without a thyroid gland and without the right replacement, one that my body could use... and each and every doctor that I saw ignored that and blamed it on me.... made up, imagined... a lie... my own doing.. I was fat cuz I didn't exercise and I ate too much.. exercise.. that's what you do at night after a day of hobbling around on crutches.. yeah... right after the half mile hobble home from the nearest bus stop.. okay... right... it was my mistake... yep... all my fault.. I should have gone jogging in the evenings. I'm ranting.... It still makes me soo angry. I went to the doc, the first time, in time for proper treatment. I was ignored. By the time it was diagnosed it was radiation or die.... by the time I figured out what else they'd done wrong to me... I'd lost everything I'd worked all my life to achieve. Poopy doctors. We need to educate ourselves and them. NO ONE should have to be treated the way that I was. When I found out that I wasn't the only one.. that there are literally thousands more out there being treated as badly... it just makes me livid. I get the daily newsletter from Dr. Weil... sometimes it's informative.. sometimes it's not... this is what is in today's newsletter.... After reading it... please explain to me how come we are ignored, mistreated, abused..... As we watch commercials on TV for getting free diabetic testing supplies... "According to the American Association of Clinical Endrocrinologists, an estimated 27 million Americans - more than the number of Americans diagnosed with diabetes and cancer combined - are affected by thyroid disease. January is Thyroid Awareness Month, a good time to learn more about the thyroid - a small, butterfly shaped gland in the neck that influences metabolism and the function of the kidneys, heart, liver, brain and skin. Make sure your thyroid is functioning correctly - learn about the symptoms of thyroid disease, create a personal health history, and then talk with your physician if you have questions or concerns - he or she can help determine through simple tests if your thyroid is over- or under-functioning. " More than diabetes and cancer combined. Determine through simple testS What am I missing? Why are we ignored? Why is it that no one cares? Could it be that such a huge percentage of us are females? Could it be that such a huge percentage of us are huge older females? Maybe if more of us were young and skinny or male they'd care more? Oh... I'm stopping now... rant is over... this time. It really is thyroid awareness month... pass the word... pass on information.... if you can open the eyes of just ONE person this month..... that would be cool! Share our link: www.thyrophoenix.com not too hard to remember... and they can find links to more info from there and links to this group too..... Spread the word.... get tested.. don't let life pass them by.... Topper () Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Sandy.. I am going to stand up on tippy toes and scream at the top of my lungs..... GET ON NATURAL THYROID AND TAKE IT SUBLINGUALLY! Taking it sublingually will reduce the number and frequency of restrictions on how to take it.. you won't have to figure out how to squeeze it in between other supplements... you won't have to try to hold off on eating to try to get it in... you won't be juggling with inconsistent dosing cuz of the way your altered digestive system works now.... I think you have it in you and do some foot stomping to get the thyroid replacement that not only works better for a lot of us... but, geez.... I just can't see a synthetic -- that requires a consistent level of stomach acids to break it down to a usable form and then a digestive system to absorb it.... I honestly don't think a modified digestive system can do it efficiently... to provide consistent dosing..... Then top that off with conversion.... and how, if the body isn't getting enough of the T4 in... and the oooooooo stop it Topper... stop it..... You're a smart lady... I think you understand how important it is for you to learn how your new body works and to do what you need to do to be as healthy as it can be.... Don't let them push you aside... don't let them put you down... don't let them stand on their pedestals and tell you to deal with it.... arrrgghhhhhhhh shut up Topper! Topper () On Sun, 8 Jan 2006 09:00:43 -0700 " and Steve" writes: Topper - thank you for sharing that. You have certainly been through a LOT. I am recognizing more and more that I have been undiagnosed for a very long long time. My TSH levels are not horrible compared to some I have seen mentioned, but I have not felt well in decades. I have been under-functioning as a contributing member of society and have had the psychological difficulties that accompany a good mind with an uncooperative body (sense of worthlessness or being of zero value). Two years ago I chose gastric bypass in a desperate attempt to lose weight because I could not lose it any other way. My quality of life was so bad that I felt that it was worth the risk of dying. That says a lot when you calmly go under the knife to have your innards totally replumbed. My endocrinologist has NEVER tested me for thyroid and yet I presented to him a morbidly obese woman with chronic pain and major fatigue. Guess I was lazy and a hypochondriac. To top it off, as a gastric bypass person I have learned that the surgeons work very hard to promise the wonderful life post-op, but the idiots (I am not writing the word that came to mind) can't agree on a program of consistent supplementation or protein for us across the board. We are routinely seeing gastric bypass post-ops with major deficiencies because their "GOD" surgeon has them on too little in the way of supplements. I parted company with my surgeon some time ago. Our surgeons are ordering way too few tests to check the nutritional status of our bodies. I had to find a doctor who would order the tests that post-op graduates are suggesting and THAT is how I found my thyroid levels going up. But, they were at 2.7 pre-op and with all of my symptoms and the new guidelines that some doctors actually pay attention to I was hypothyroid and should have been under treatment years ago. I am so DISGUSTED with the medical community and truly resent the fact that I actually have to see these guys to get medical tests and medications that I KNOW I need. So, here I sit with a hypothyroid that had it been addressed perhaps, maybe, possibly I might have avoided gastric bypass. Gastric bypass can produce a major life change for many people, but I will always remain convinced that it should be the tool of last resort after GOOD doctors are unable to be of help. Trick is finding the good doctors. Here I sit with the prospects of finding a doctor to prescribe medications for thyroid that I have to find a way to fit into my very full daily supplement schedule. Lordy, the rules of thyroid medications, rules of iron and calcium - sheesh. Guess I will be looking for a watch that can hold multiple alarms to keep me on schedule. Ironic as it is there was a time in my life when I absolutely abhorred being tied to schedules (a childhood thing from a mother who was incessant with her schedules) and now I am finding my life rules by them. I will do this because my greatest fear of all is not being able to take care of myself as I age and I do not want to end up in a nursing home. So fight the good fight I will. I think what scares me now is what if it is too late to help my body recover enough to feel good again. Actually, I am not sure that I remember what feeling good feels like. I have had brief days of feeling pretty good and like most of us use those days to frantically get something done and then collapse again for weeks. Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Sandy.. I am going to stand up on tippy toes and scream at the top of my lungs..... GET ON NATURAL THYROID AND TAKE IT SUBLINGUALLY! Taking it sublingually will reduce the number and frequency of restrictions on how to take it.. you won't have to figure out how to squeeze it in between other supplements... you won't have to try to hold off on eating to try to get it in... you won't be juggling with inconsistent dosing cuz of the way your altered digestive system works now.... I think you have it in you and do some foot stomping to get the thyroid replacement that not only works better for a lot of us... but, geez.... I just can't see a synthetic -- that requires a consistent level of stomach acids to break it down to a usable form and then a digestive system to absorb it.... I honestly don't think a modified digestive system can do it efficiently... to provide consistent dosing..... Then top that off with conversion.... and how, if the body isn't getting enough of the T4 in... and the oooooooo stop it Topper... stop it..... You're a smart lady... I think you understand how important it is for you to learn how your new body works and to do what you need to do to be as healthy as it can be.... Don't let them push you aside... don't let them put you down... don't let them stand on their pedestals and tell you to deal with it.... arrrgghhhhhhhh shut up Topper! Topper () On Sun, 8 Jan 2006 09:00:43 -0700 " and Steve" writes: Topper - thank you for sharing that. You have certainly been through a LOT. I am recognizing more and more that I have been undiagnosed for a very long long time. My TSH levels are not horrible compared to some I have seen mentioned, but I have not felt well in decades. I have been under-functioning as a contributing member of society and have had the psychological difficulties that accompany a good mind with an uncooperative body (sense of worthlessness or being of zero value). Two years ago I chose gastric bypass in a desperate attempt to lose weight because I could not lose it any other way. My quality of life was so bad that I felt that it was worth the risk of dying. That says a lot when you calmly go under the knife to have your innards totally replumbed. My endocrinologist has NEVER tested me for thyroid and yet I presented to him a morbidly obese woman with chronic pain and major fatigue. Guess I was lazy and a hypochondriac. To top it off, as a gastric bypass person I have learned that the surgeons work very hard to promise the wonderful life post-op, but the idiots (I am not writing the word that came to mind) can't agree on a program of consistent supplementation or protein for us across the board. We are routinely seeing gastric bypass post-ops with major deficiencies because their "GOD" surgeon has them on too little in the way of supplements. I parted company with my surgeon some time ago. Our surgeons are ordering way too few tests to check the nutritional status of our bodies. I had to find a doctor who would order the tests that post-op graduates are suggesting and THAT is how I found my thyroid levels going up. But, they were at 2.7 pre-op and with all of my symptoms and the new guidelines that some doctors actually pay attention to I was hypothyroid and should have been under treatment years ago. I am so DISGUSTED with the medical community and truly resent the fact that I actually have to see these guys to get medical tests and medications that I KNOW I need. So, here I sit with a hypothyroid that had it been addressed perhaps, maybe, possibly I might have avoided gastric bypass. Gastric bypass can produce a major life change for many people, but I will always remain convinced that it should be the tool of last resort after GOOD doctors are unable to be of help. Trick is finding the good doctors. Here I sit with the prospects of finding a doctor to prescribe medications for thyroid that I have to find a way to fit into my very full daily supplement schedule. Lordy, the rules of thyroid medications, rules of iron and calcium - sheesh. Guess I will be looking for a watch that can hold multiple alarms to keep me on schedule. Ironic as it is there was a time in my life when I absolutely abhorred being tied to schedules (a childhood thing from a mother who was incessant with her schedules) and now I am finding my life rules by them. I will do this because my greatest fear of all is not being able to take care of myself as I age and I do not want to end up in a nursing home. So fight the good fight I will. I think what scares me now is what if it is too late to help my body recover enough to feel good again. Actually, I am not sure that I remember what feeling good feels like. I have had brief days of feeling pretty good and like most of us use those days to frantically get something done and then collapse again for weeks. Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Sandy.. I am going to stand up on tippy toes and scream at the top of my lungs..... GET ON NATURAL THYROID AND TAKE IT SUBLINGUALLY! Taking it sublingually will reduce the number and frequency of restrictions on how to take it.. you won't have to figure out how to squeeze it in between other supplements... you won't have to try to hold off on eating to try to get it in... you won't be juggling with inconsistent dosing cuz of the way your altered digestive system works now.... I think you have it in you and do some foot stomping to get the thyroid replacement that not only works better for a lot of us... but, geez.... I just can't see a synthetic -- that requires a consistent level of stomach acids to break it down to a usable form and then a digestive system to absorb it.... I honestly don't think a modified digestive system can do it efficiently... to provide consistent dosing..... Then top that off with conversion.... and how, if the body isn't getting enough of the T4 in... and the oooooooo stop it Topper... stop it..... You're a smart lady... I think you understand how important it is for you to learn how your new body works and to do what you need to do to be as healthy as it can be.... Don't let them push you aside... don't let them put you down... don't let them stand on their pedestals and tell you to deal with it.... arrrgghhhhhhhh shut up Topper! Topper () On Sun, 8 Jan 2006 09:00:43 -0700 " and Steve" writes: Topper - thank you for sharing that. You have certainly been through a LOT. I am recognizing more and more that I have been undiagnosed for a very long long time. My TSH levels are not horrible compared to some I have seen mentioned, but I have not felt well in decades. I have been under-functioning as a contributing member of society and have had the psychological difficulties that accompany a good mind with an uncooperative body (sense of worthlessness or being of zero value). Two years ago I chose gastric bypass in a desperate attempt to lose weight because I could not lose it any other way. My quality of life was so bad that I felt that it was worth the risk of dying. That says a lot when you calmly go under the knife to have your innards totally replumbed. My endocrinologist has NEVER tested me for thyroid and yet I presented to him a morbidly obese woman with chronic pain and major fatigue. Guess I was lazy and a hypochondriac. To top it off, as a gastric bypass person I have learned that the surgeons work very hard to promise the wonderful life post-op, but the idiots (I am not writing the word that came to mind) can't agree on a program of consistent supplementation or protein for us across the board. We are routinely seeing gastric bypass post-ops with major deficiencies because their "GOD" surgeon has them on too little in the way of supplements. I parted company with my surgeon some time ago. Our surgeons are ordering way too few tests to check the nutritional status of our bodies. I had to find a doctor who would order the tests that post-op graduates are suggesting and THAT is how I found my thyroid levels going up. But, they were at 2.7 pre-op and with all of my symptoms and the new guidelines that some doctors actually pay attention to I was hypothyroid and should have been under treatment years ago. I am so DISGUSTED with the medical community and truly resent the fact that I actually have to see these guys to get medical tests and medications that I KNOW I need. So, here I sit with a hypothyroid that had it been addressed perhaps, maybe, possibly I might have avoided gastric bypass. Gastric bypass can produce a major life change for many people, but I will always remain convinced that it should be the tool of last resort after GOOD doctors are unable to be of help. Trick is finding the good doctors. Here I sit with the prospects of finding a doctor to prescribe medications for thyroid that I have to find a way to fit into my very full daily supplement schedule. Lordy, the rules of thyroid medications, rules of iron and calcium - sheesh. Guess I will be looking for a watch that can hold multiple alarms to keep me on schedule. Ironic as it is there was a time in my life when I absolutely abhorred being tied to schedules (a childhood thing from a mother who was incessant with her schedules) and now I am finding my life rules by them. I will do this because my greatest fear of all is not being able to take care of myself as I age and I do not want to end up in a nursing home. So fight the good fight I will. I think what scares me now is what if it is too late to help my body recover enough to feel good again. Actually, I am not sure that I remember what feeling good feels like. I have had brief days of feeling pretty good and like most of us use those days to frantically get something done and then collapse again for weeks. Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 Topper - what I need to know specifically is what brand of sublingual (Armour?) and where does one get it? How does a person (medical professional) calculate dosage levels? I am assuming that the results of Free T3 and Free T4 will be of big help in knowing if this will be what I need. Specifically I am wondering about the natural's that contain T3 and how a person determines that they need it since if I recall correctly it can increase risk of heart problems. I completely agree that a sublingual would indeed be of major benefit. I am currently waiting on lab results. Hopefully I will hear this week. I don't know how long the Copper and Selenium take to come back. I know with my WLS labs some of them take about two weeks to come back because they have to be sent out to a different lab. I will share my numbers as soon as I have them. I had my B12 up to almost 1300 last labs and my Ferritin is 66 (I am focusing on getting in my full daily dose to raise it to 100). My ferritin was 13 pre-op and I believe 12 as a post-op. I am most hopeful of getting my life back on track so that I can drive my motorcycle again, plus do other things on my list. Sandy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ slkscb@... ~ Open RNY 12/8/03, 150 cm, Barix Clinics, 303/290 day of surgery/195 current/ goal is to be HEALTHY. Emergency appendectomy 11/1/04, Gallbladder 1/12/05. "Know your labs and track your trends." AZ Grads join us at: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AZGRADSOFWLS/ Check out my gastric bypass journal at www.acdlady.com/WLS_1 for many educational links. My OH profile is at http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=M1062876220 I am not affiliated with the medical profession except as a proactive WLS post-op. "Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else’s." – Wilder -- Re: RE: started Sandy.. I am going to stand up on tippy toes and scream at the top of my lungs..... GET ON NATURAL THYROID AND TAKE IT SUBLINGUALLY! Taking it sublingually will reduce the number and frequency of restrictions on how to take it.. you won't have to figure out how to squeeze it in between other supplements... you won't have to try to hold off on eating to try to get it in... you won't be juggling with inconsistent dosing cuz of the way your altered digestive system works now.... I think you have it in you and do some foot stomping to get the thyroid replacement that not only works better for a lot of us... but, geez.... I just can't see a synthetic -- that requires a consistent level of stomach acids to break it down to a usable form and then a digestive system to absorb it.... I honestly don't think a modified digestive system can do it efficiently... to provide consistent dosing..... Then top that off with conversion.... and how, if the body isn't getting enough of the T4 in... and the oooooooo stop it Topper... stop it..... You're a smart lady... I think you understand how important it is for you to learn how your new body works and to do what you need to do to be as healthy as it can be.... Don't let them push you aside... don't let them put you down... don't let them stand on their pedestals and tell you to deal with it.... arrrgghhhhhhhh shut up Topper! Topper () On Sun, 8 Jan 2006 09:00:43 -0700 " and Steve" writes: Topper - thank you for sharing that. You have certainly been through a LOT. I am recognizing more and more that I have been undiagnosed for a very long long time. My TSH levels are not horrible compared to some I have seen mentioned, but I have not felt well in decades. I have been under-functioning as a contributing member of society and have had the psychological difficulties that accompany a good mind with an uncooperative body (sense of worthlessness or being of zero value). Two years ago I chose gastric bypass in a desperate attempt to lose weight because I could not lose it any other way. My quality of life was so bad that I felt that it was worth the risk of dying. That says a lot when you calmly go under the knife to have your innards totally replumbed. My endocrinologist has NEVER tested me for thyroid and yet I presented to him a morbidly obese woman with chronic pain and major fatigue. Guess I was lazy and a hypochondriac. To top it off, as a gastric bypass person I have learned that the surgeons work very hard to promise the wonderful life post-op, but the idiots (I am not writing the word that came to mind) can't agree on a program of consistent supplementation or protein for us across the board. We are routinely seeing gastric bypass post-ops with major deficiencies because their "GOD" surgeon has them on too little in the way of supplements. I parted company with my surgeon some time ago. Our surgeons are ordering way too few tests to check the nutritional status of our bodies. I had to find a doctor who would order the tests that post-op graduates are suggesting and THAT is how I found my thyroid levels going up. But, they were at 2.7 pre-op and with all of my symptoms and the new guidelines that some doctors actually pay attention to I was hypothyroid and should have been under treatment years ago. I am so DISGUSTED with the medical community and truly resent the fact that I actually have to see these guys to get medical tests and medications that I KNOW I need. So, here I sit with a hypothyroid that had it been addressed perhaps, maybe, possibly I might have avoided gastric bypass. Gastric bypass can produce a major life change for many people, but I will always remain convinced that it should be the tool of last resort after GOOD doctors are unable to be of help. Trick is finding the good doctors. Here I sit with the prospects of finding a doctor to prescribe medications for thyroid that I have to find a way to fit into my very full daily supplement schedule. Lordy, the rules of thyroid medications, rules of iron and calcium - sheesh. Guess I will be looking for a watch that can hold multiple alarms to keep me on schedule. Ironic as it is there was a time in my life when I absolutely abhorred being tied to schedules (a childhood thing from a mother who was incessant with her schedules) and now I am finding my life rules by them. I will do this because my greatest fear of all is not being able to take care of myself as I age and I do not want to end up in a nursing home. So fight the good fight I will. I think what scares me now is what if it is too late to help my body recover enough to feel good again. Actually, I am not sure that I remember what feeling good feels like. I have had brief days of feeling pretty good and like most of us use those days to frantically get something done and then collapse again for weeks. Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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