New Member

Posted February 24, 2007 · February 24, 2007

Thank God I found this group. Everything describing problems with

thyroid disorders was exactly what I'm going through. It's just

comforting to know that it's not " all in my head. "

Was diagnosed with hyperactive thyroid about 4 years ago. Tried

meds, but doctor thought radio iodine would be the best treatment. It

took about 4 weeks to take effect and " Wham! " What a nightmare. It

seemed to take forever to get synthroid adjusted. Started at .25mcg

and increased .25mcg about every 6 weeks. Doctor refused to increase

dose or period of time between increases. Finally, at .175, my labs

were where they should be.

In November, I became very sick. E.R. told me I had a kidney

infection. Took 2 weeks of anti-biotics and a week after the

infection came back. I honestly thought I was dying. After another 6

weeks of antibiotics, it's finally cleared up. During that time, I

went to a different E.R. for treatment. They did bloodwork and I

called the doctor the next day. The nurse told me my thyroid was

abnormal and to see my primary care doctor. I just moved to N.M.

about 6 months ago and don't have a primary doctor or insurance,

which I told them at the E.R. I asked the nurse if the results were

high or low. She told me it was high, so I asked " You mean I'm

hyper? " She said yes. It didn't make any sense to me, so I did some

searching on the net. One emergency room doctor explained how after

an infection, you can have a thyroid storm and go from hypo to hyper.

I discontinued synthroid and still felt like @##%%**. Went to a

clinic about a month ago. Doctor did labs and I'm hypo! Started

taking synthroid again - about 2 weeks now, but still exhausted all

the time. Have sleep apnea also and can't use machine. Can people

hold down a job when going through this? Is it me, or is it

impossible for me to try to get a full time job at this time? Came

very close to becoming homeles - Thank God I still have a place to

stay, couldn't imagine being homeless like this. When I try to

explain to people how tired I am, it's obvious they think I'm either

crazy or lazy.

One more thing - blood pressure is up and my legs and feet are

swollen. Went through this about a year ago, nobody seemed to have

any answers. Also had cellulitis. Any relation to thyroid? Thanks for

listening. Jeff

Posted February 24, 2007 · February 24, 2007

Jeff, the truth is that you may very well have been hypo when the nurse said

you were hyper, this being because when many of these docs look at a LOW

TSH, they think that means hyper, and it darn well does NOT. It is the

actual thyroid hormones that count here, not the pituitary hormone that does

the stimulating. Also, how could you go into thyroid storm, if your thyroid

was totally killed off before that? Did they know that you had had RAI or

not? Your thyroid was essentially dead (more than likely), so it would be

close to impossible for it to go into storm at that point. What are your

lab values for the FREE amts of T3 and T4, not Total Thyroxine or T4, and

not T3 Uptake, and not Total T3, and not FTI, Free T index, which is an

estimate of the Free and available amts, not the actual Frees. Do you know

whether or not you formed kidney stones? This is important as it seems that

a lot of people who take high amts of T4-only seem to get them. My oldest

daughter did, and I've seen many others do this. Also gall stones. It's as

though something tries to crystallize there. I know there are links

concerning this, but I don't have the info right with me, offhand.

New Member

> Thank God I found this group. Everything describing problems with

> thyroid disorders was exactly what I'm going through. It's just

> comforting to know that it's not " all in my head. "

> Was diagnosed with hyperactive thyroid about 4 years ago. Tried

> meds, but doctor thought radio iodine would be the best treatment. It

> took about 4 weeks to take effect and " Wham! " What a nightmare. It

> seemed to take forever to get synthroid adjusted. Started at .25mcg

> and increased .25mcg about every 6 weeks. Doctor refused to increase

> dose or period of time between increases. Finally, at .175, my labs

> were where they should be.

> In November, I became very sick. E.R. told me I had a kidney

> infection. Took 2 weeks of anti-biotics and a week after the

> infection came back. I honestly thought I was dying. After another 6

> weeks of antibiotics, it's finally cleared up. During that time, I

> went to a different E.R. for treatment. They did bloodwork and I

> called the doctor the next day. The nurse told me my thyroid was

> abnormal and to see my primary care doctor. I just moved to N.M.

> about 6 months ago and don't have a primary doctor or insurance,

> which I told them at the E.R. I asked the nurse if the results were

> high or low. She told me it was high, so I asked " You mean I'm

> hyper? " She said yes. It didn't make any sense to me, so I did some

> searching on the net. One emergency room doctor explained how after

> an infection, you can have a thyroid storm and go from hypo to hyper.

> I discontinued synthroid and still felt like @##%%**. Went to a

> clinic about a month ago. Doctor did labs and I'm hypo! Started

> taking synthroid again - about 2 weeks now, but still exhausted all

> the time. Have sleep apnea also and can't use machine. Can people

> hold down a job when going through this? Is it me, or is it

> impossible for me to try to get a full time job at this time? Came

> very close to becoming homeles - Thank God I still have a place to

> stay, couldn't imagine being homeless like this. When I try to

> explain to people how tired I am, it's obvious they think I'm either

> crazy or lazy.

> One more thing - blood pressure is up and my legs and feet are

> swollen. Went through this about a year ago, nobody seemed to have

> any answers. Also had cellulitis. Any relation to thyroid? Thanks for

> listening. Jeff

Posted February 24, 2007 · February 24, 2007

Jeff,

Welcome to the group. I would recommend that you start keeping

a diary. You will need to make changes if you want to be able to

hold down a job and work through the adhustments you need to make now

that you are hypo.

Fill the diary up with morning temp readings, resting pulse

readings,what you ate, and how you felt during the day. I would also

suggest a multivitamin specifically for a man and adding B complex

and vitamin E. That should help you with your energy levels. Also

some food changes maybe needed as well. Some people react to sugars,

gluten products and the various goitrogen products. If you pay

attention to your body it will tell you what changes you will need to

make.

I never worked while making my adjustments however, Mom did and

she said that making a schedule and keeping to it the best she could

helped her out.

There is alot of information out there fot you to assimilate and

digest and there is misinformation as well so try to verify your

sources. In the files section of the group there are some good books

listed that will help as well.

As for your fluid retention not everyone will have that, it is

usually associated with how much weight you are carrying around. My

doctor has me taking 80 mg. of Lasix which is a diuretic.

You will also need regular labs done because you may need more

than Synthroid. I take a generic form of that and sometimes I am

still fatigued so I think my adrenals are affected but I'm only a

patient wish I had a degree I think he would listen to me better. My

doctor that is.

Best of luck and if you have questions I am sure someone will

be able to guide you in the right direction for answers.

Robin

- In The_Thyroid_Support_Group , " "

wrote:

>

> Jeff, the truth is that you may very well have been hypo when the

nurse said

> you were hyper, this being because when many of these docs look at

a LOW

> TSH, they think that means hyper, and it darn well does NOT. It is

the

> actual thyroid hormones that count here, not the pituitary hormone

that does

> the stimulating. Also, how could you go into thyroid storm, if

your thyroid

> was totally killed off before that? Did they know that you had had

RAI or

> not? Your thyroid was essentially dead (more than likely), so it

would be

> close to impossible for it to go into storm at that point. What

are your

> lab values for the FREE amts of T3 and T4, not Total Thyroxine or

T4, and

> not T3 Uptake, and not Total T3, and not FTI, Free T index, which

is an

> estimate of the Free and available amts, not the actual Frees. Do

you know

> whether or not you formed kidney stones? This is important as it

seems that

> a lot of people who take high amts of T4-only seem to get them. My

oldest

> daughter did, and I've seen many others do this. Also gall

stones. It's as

> though something tries to crystallize there. I know there are

links

> concerning this, but I don't have the info right with me, offhand.

>

> New Member

>

> > Thank God I found this group. Everything describing problems

with

> > thyroid disorders was exactly what I'm going through. It's just

> > comforting to know that it's not " all in my head. "

> > Was diagnosed with hyperactive thyroid about 4 years ago. Tried

> > meds, but doctor thought radio iodine would be the best

treatment. It

> > took about 4 weeks to take effect and " Wham! " What a nightmare. It

> > seemed to take forever to get synthroid adjusted. Started

at .25mcg

> > and increased .25mcg about every 6 weeks. Doctor refused to

increase

> > dose or period of time between increases. Finally, at .175, my

labs

> > were where they should be.

> > In November, I became very sick. E.R. told me I had a kidney

> > infection. Took 2 weeks of anti-biotics and a week after the

> > infection came back. I honestly thought I was dying. After

another 6

> > weeks of antibiotics, it's finally cleared up. During that time, I

> > went to a different E.R. for treatment. They did bloodwork and I

> > called the doctor the next day. The nurse told me my thyroid was

> > abnormal and to see my primary care doctor. I just moved to N.M.

> > about 6 months ago and don't have a primary doctor or insurance,

> > which I told them at the E.R. I asked the nurse if the results

were

> > high or low. She told me it was high, so I asked " You mean I'm

> > hyper? " She said yes. It didn't make any sense to me, so I did

some

> > searching on the net. One emergency room doctor explained how

after

> > an infection, you can have a thyroid storm and go from hypo to

hyper.

> > I discontinued synthroid and still felt like @##%%**. Went to a

> > clinic about a month ago. Doctor did labs and I'm hypo! Started

> > taking synthroid again - about 2 weeks now, but still exhausted

all

> > the time. Have sleep apnea also and can't use machine. Can people

> > hold down a job when going through this? Is it me, or is it

> > impossible for me to try to get a full time job at this time? Came

> > very close to becoming homeles - Thank God I still have a place to

> > stay, couldn't imagine being homeless like this. When I try to

> > explain to people how tired I am, it's obvious they think I'm

either

> > crazy or lazy.

> > One more thing - blood pressure is up and my legs and feet are

> > swollen. Went through this about a year ago, nobody seemed to have

> > any answers. Also had cellulitis. Any relation to thyroid? Thanks

for

> > listening. Jeff

>

Posted February 25, 2007 · February 25, 2007

Jeff, there is hope and no, it's not all in your head. My biggest question right now is why can't you use your CPAP????? That is a very important piece of equipment that you depend on to keep you breathing and your body oxegynated during sleep so your body can repair and heal damage. You certainly aren't doing yourself any favors here by not using your machine and in not using your machine, you are not getting the rest you need to feel more energetic. It's probably a combination of both the lack of medication and not using your machine. You also need to get a copy of your labs from the hospital. By law, they have to give them to you although they are allowed to charge for them.Jeff Wade wrote: Thank God I found this group. Everything describing problems with thyroid disorders was

exactly what I'm going through. It's just comforting to know that it's not "all in my head."Was diagnosed with hyperactive thyroid about 4 years ago. Tried meds, but doctor thought radio iodine would be the best treatment. It took about 4 weeks to take effect and "Wham!" What a nightmare. It seemed to take forever to get synthroid adjusted. Started at .25mcg and increased .25mcg about every 6 weeks. Doctor refused to increase dose or period of time between increases. Finally, at .175, my labs were where they should be.In November, I became very sick. E.R. told me I had a kidney infection. Took 2 weeks of anti-biotics and a week after the infection came back. I honestly thought I was dying. After another 6 weeks of antibiotics, it's finally cleared up. During that time, I went to a different E.R. for treatment. They did bloodwork and I called the doctor the next day. The nurse told me my thyroid was abnormal and to

see my primary care doctor. I just moved to N.M. about 6 months ago and don't have a primary doctor or insurance, which I told them at the E.R. I asked the nurse if the results were high or low. She told me it was high, so I asked "You mean I'm hyper?" She said yes. It didn't make any sense to me, so I did some searching on the net. One emergency room doctor explained how after an infection, you can have a thyroid storm and go from hypo to hyper. I discontinued synthroid and still felt like @##%%**. Went to a clinic about a month ago. Doctor did labs and I'm hypo! Started taking synthroid again - about 2 weeks now, but still exhausted all the time. Have sleep apnea also and can't use machine. Can people hold down a job when going through this? Is it me, or is it impossible for me to try to get a full time job at this time? Came very close to becoming homeles - Thank God I still have a place to stay, couldn't imagine

being homeless like this. When I try to explain to people how tired I am, it's obvious they think I'm either crazy or lazy.One more thing - blood pressure is up and my legs and feet are swollen. Went through this about a year ago, nobody seemed to have any answers. Also had cellulitis. Any relation to thyroid? Thanks for listening. Jeff

Posted February 25, 2007 · February 25, 2007

Thank God I found this

group. Everything describing problems with