success!

June 6, 2006

Edie, I take b-12 injections twice a week this would help you I feel alot better

since doing that. Thanks Steph

Edie <ediemarie@...> wrote: Oh, I'm feeling so much better now. I

finally got to see a doctor who would

listen to me! And he's not an endo. I have to go through the VA health

care system which really seems to stink. The doctor I saw yesterday was a

contract doctor rather than a VA system employee.

Anyway, the two previous doctors I saw refused to prescribe more than .050

mg of Synthroid. On my own, I started taking 0.100 mg. After a couple of

weeks, I bumped it up to 0.125 mg. I was thinking about bumping it again to

0.150 mg when I saw this doctor yesterday. My labs yesterday were:

TSH - 0.98 Ref: 0.34 - 5.6

Free T4 - 0.9 Ref: .6 - 1.8

I know he asked for Free T3 also, but I'm not finding it on the printout I

was given.

As he was walking into the room where I was waiting, he asked what level of

Synthroid I was taking. I told him 125. He asked what dose I wanted. I

told him that I thought I'd like 150. He said okay. Then he wrote the

script. Cool, huh? THEN he looked at my labs. I told him that I thought

I'd like to go to 150 because my Free T3 and Free T4 weren't quite where I

wanted them yet. He said that was no problem. I was soooooo happy!

Finally a doctor who let me decide how I felt and what I needed. Here's the

only problem: he can't be my primary care physician because he's only a

contractor with the VA system. And because of that, he could only give me a

30 day prescription. So, I've got a follow up appointment with an even

different doctor at the end of the month. Hopefully, that doctor will let

me stay at the level I want. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

So, now I believe there's a problem with my other lab results. Since y'all

were talking about B12 and such, I'm wondering if I need to take more. I've

been taking the following supplements:

500 mg Vitamin C

1000 mcg Vitamin B12

200 mcg Selenium

plus a prenatal vitamin (because it has more iron and folic acid than

regular vitamins)

My labs show that my red blood cell count and my hematocrit are low. Could

this be due to poor absorption of B12? Could that be my continued tiredness

even though my TSH and T4 levels are considerably better (my T3 was better

also - within normal, but the low side of normal - I just can't remember

what he said it was)? For this next appointment, should I ask the doctor to

check my B12? What other things could be causing this? Could that also be

cause for my continued depression? I guess I shouldn't really expect my

depression to resolve within just a few days of getting my levels to normal.

Or should I? Are there some other supplements I can take for memory and

brain fog? I'm still somewhat hypersensitive to certain comments my

boyfriend makes. Do you suppose that's part of the depression? The second

doctor (idiot) that I saw prescribed Prozac. She said it would help with

some of my PMS symptoms. Should I skip it and see if the proper dose of

Synthroid resolves the depression? Or are there others of you out there

taking anti-depressants with success?

I know I've asked a lot of questions. Thanks for your time and assistance.

Edie

June 6, 2006

EDIE i TAKE ZOLF AND THAT HELPS WITH MY DEPRESSION ALOT. STEPH