Guest guest Posted August 7, 2006 Report Posted August 7, 2006 Honestly I would probably just offer to go to the doc with her. If she doesn't want or won't go for that, give her a note pad and write down a list of the questions she needs answers for. Then have her write it down so she will remember what was said. I'd say it would be easier though, if you just went with her.kats3boys wrote: I need to figure out how to get this medical jumble into simple terms.I am bad..I know a few have responded to my posts going and what does that mean in english..***** snipped ***** I am thinking I stuck her brain in overdrive and it is probabley still trying to get out of first gear...Anyone with any ideas? I understand she needs further testing including FT3 etc. and most likely needs replacement hormone but I need to take a hypo brain , explain it with out using any medical terminology and have her understand it and have her question a doctor on it and explain it to the doctor..Or should I just come up with an excuse to go see the doc and drill him myself and have him order the tests for her?Kats3boysKathy >^,,^<KitzCat146@...http://www.chaytongroup.com/modernbill/order/index.php?aid=ka081104http://www.heartwarmers4u.com/members/?kitzcatkitzcat2001 on Yahoo Messengerkitzcat on MSN MessengerIn a cat's eyes, all things belong to cats. - English Proverb Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1ยข/min. Quote
Guest guest Posted August 8, 2006 Report Posted August 8, 2006 Kat... I pondered on this for a while.... trying to come up with something simple to maybe make it easier for your sis to grasp..... Hypo brain makes it harder to comprehend something new.... and we all know... well, many of us know, how Hypo can creap up on us so slow that we can't see it sneaking up on us... Two little 'stories' came to mind.... I'll toss them up for you to look at... and maybe they can help you draw a 'picture' that your sis can 'see'..... The story about the frog and the pot of boiling water.... How if you take a frog and throw him in a pot of boiling water he reacts immediately and tries to get out..... but if you put him in a pot of room temp water and then slowing turn up the fire under the pot the frog just sits there, not reacting, and gets boiled anyway..... Relating this to how hypo and symptoms creep up on us so slow and so sneaky that we don't notice all the things that have changed in us, that how we are feeling 'is just the way it is' and so 'what can we do to make it better if this is just the way it is for ME?' The other thing I thought of was the tire analogy that I bring up all the time..... First, I still haven't come up with a 'simple terms' way to explain why the ranges for TSH has changed.... but the other part... did you guys ever ride bikes as kids? Riding bikes with the right tire pressure is pretty easy... but if one of the tires has a leak and tends to go a bit flat it's harder to peddle.. and you can't get a decent speed coasting down a hill..... and when it comes to going up hill.. that low tire really makes it harder.... So you go get more air in the tire and it's easier to peddle. You can go like that a whole summer, topping off the tire when it gets low enough to make peddling too hard to be fun...... Now your sis...... My brain is weird... you know that... but this is where it went laying in bed last night... TSH is like the little hole in the tired... the larger the TSH number the bigger the hole (this gets us around the old range new range thing). With no way of knowing how long it's been there, there is know way of knowing how much hormone (air pressure) is still inside. If it's been there a long time, there isn't much air pressure (hormone) inside anymore... and it's making everything she does harder to do, just like peddling on a low bike tire is harder to do. Going through life with low thyroid hormones sneaks up on you just like the pressure leaking out of a bike tire and you kinda get used to it... everything is harder to do and not as much fun... but you can still do it if you work at it..... But isn't it a whole lot more fun to go riding with the tires pumped up? Wouldn't it be a whole lot more fun to feel better by getting the hormones checked to find out how low the hormones are? If she says the TSH is mid range so that should be okay.... Well you can still ride bike when the tire is only half flat... but it's not as much fun..... Anyway..that's where my brain was wandering last night... For lists of things... high cholesterol used to be one of the key signs that a person was hypo (before the TSH testing). If a person had high cholesterol they were given thyroid (natural was the only thing available then) and it generally brought the cholesterol down, and made them feel better, too. Cholesterol that doesn't come down with an improved diet, or the fancy new drugs that are available.. that's usually a thyroid thing. Being tired all the time... low thyroid hormones can often be it. Feeling like stuff that you used to love to do all the time being too much work to be fun..... .low thyroid. Having so many other family members having thyroid problems means that you have a much higher chance of having a problem too, and the sooner it gets checked... before it gets BAD, the easier it is to get things better... .... and if this is the only thing that works... dare her.... have the TSH and Frees tested if the numbers show that she's okay with the ranges and relationships that you show her before she goes in.... you'll shut up.... Make a chart showing where TSH should be.... where each of the Frees should be..... so that it's a visual. Mark on it where your numbers were when you were feeling crappy... and where they are now.... Okay... shutting up. Topper () On Mon, 07 Aug 2006 05:53:42 -0000 " kats3boys " writes: > I need to figure out how to get this medical jumble into simple > terms. > I am bad..I know a few have responded to my posts going and what > does that mean in english.. > > Talked to my sister last night..she is starting a new diet..the > doctor wants her to diet because she now has high cholesterol..now > yes my sister does need to diet... she deals with type 2 diabetes > and is roughly 250 lbs with a petite 5 foot frame.. > > I asked her if the doc did a thyroid test on her and she said yes it > > is normal..TSH 2.5.. > > Now what I know is she is over weight.. > She does not eat enough to account for being over wieght. > She is tired all the time, basically dead on her feet. > She suffers from chronic depression. > She heals slow. > Her hair is bad..really stringy.. > She has type 2 diabetes( not bad though, just over) > She now has high cholesterol. > She started puberty at 9. > The family has a history of thyroid, diabetes and autoimmune > disorders although she is the only member of the family that gains > wieght in her sleep. > I tried to explain to her that 2.5 is too high.. that she needs the > doc to order a TPO and T4 test and take it from there.. > I tried to send her a few links and explain a few things to her.. > Now I don't know if it just me or she has hypo brain but I was about > as clear as mud. She knows the range is 0.45-5 so she is in the > middle perfectly normal.. > I told her to talk to my mom who had RAI and all of a sudden > developed high cholesterol, but it went away as soon as she was > dosed properly on replacement, hopefully that may clue her in a > little..but she wants me to send her something she can understand > and bring to the doc, same doc as mine..thinking I may just talk to > him myself it is easier.. > My mom was hard enough to convince after RAI that she was hypo big > time and not being treated properly..my sister is going to be even > harder, especailly considering she would probabley rather take a nap > instead of reading anything I send her.. > How come I can understand something so simple and have it come out > as mud trying to explain it to her? Does anyone have links or info > that is in hypo english for her to understand? > I sent her the ACEE guideline link, the NEJM link , thyroid manager > and Merck that all say 1.25-1.75 is normal and anytihng above 2 -2.5 > should be more closely looked at.. > I am thinking I stuck her brain in overdrive and it is probabley > still trying to get out of first gear... > Anyone with any ideas? I understand she needs further testing > including FT3 etc. and most likely needs replacement hormone but I > need to take a hypo brain , explain it with out using any medical > terminology and have her understand it and have her question a > doctor on it and explain it to the doctor.. > Or should I just come up with an excuse to go see the doc and drill > him myself and have him order the tests for her? > Kats3boys Quote
Guest guest Posted August 8, 2006 Report Posted August 8, 2006 and if this is the only thing that works... dare her.... have the TSH > and Frees tested if the numbers show that she's okay with the ranges and > relationships that you show her before she goes in.... you'll shut up.... > Make a chart showing where TSH should be.... where each of the Frees > should be..... so that it's a visual. Mark on it where your numbers were > when you were feeling crappy... and where they are now.... > > Okay... shutting up. See I was thinking of this for the fight with the doc..I know I can get him to do it just to amuse me and to get me to shut up. It does become a fine line on patient confidenciality though. Although last time he weaned her off her antidepressants she was fine for about 4 months then the bottom started to come out from underneath her..I talked to the doc, more of a heads up and he called her in for a check up..he had to have her every 2 week sfor a few visits before she would admit to still needing them..he could not say your sister thinks you need to be medicated.. And she knows once the doc says she is fine I will not shut up..lol She really wants the info to arm herself but it is hard to start a fire with wet wood.. Not sure the charting would work with my labs..my labs are at the other end, they look totally different then the norm..even someone with Grave's...I see then on the grave's board diagnosed with Grave's because of Free's lower than mine but a TSH much lower than mine too.. Plus on replacement her FT4 is going to have to be as high as mine except I am hyper..she would still be hypo.( thinking hers might not be as easy as T4 meds but it going to take more..diet/ exercise/ mini meals) She already has type 2 diabetes which is insulin resistance so she may have thyroid resistance too. Thinking I need to work on her with baby steps..starting with what is a thyroid..wait for it to sink in and go from there. But don't know if I have the patience for that and thinking more and more I may need to go ( cough, cough, cough) go see the doc.. Kats3boys Quote
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