Re: The fence and ALL ! Pam L

[Guest guest]

Hi Nick,

Bless your heart. I did read a bit of the beginning of your saga before I

left this weekend. I am just now needing to get to my evening job, so short

this must be for now.

First, her lab tests need to be the correct ones. Many of us have been kept

very sick because the wrong tests were done, and then the dose we were

supposed to take was very wrong... which is mot likely what has happened to

your wife.

It is counter intuitive to the brightest person to continue taking a pill

that makes them sick, ache all over, very depressed and anxious , including

panic attacks... then to top it off we have vision problems and gain weight.

Thus... the self dosing looks like the only option at that point. BUT what

they don't understand is these pills take a very long time to show true

results. The pills we take today will affect us weeks down the road.

I really can not think of anything I had ever taken before that did such a

thing.

Tomorrow, she MUST have a FREE T 4 ! Then the doctor will want a TSH, and do

try for a FREE T3, though a plain old T3 really is fine for right now if

that is a problem.

IF they only do a TSH you are still stuck, and more time marches on. It will

tell you absolutely nothing.

I wonder if you have access to her diagnosis labs? Do they contain the

necessary antibody tests to confirm the cause of her hyper ?

The ones you want are TSI and TPO. If the doctor says they are unneeded, I

would say since I AM ill and have been, it seems only fair to have a clear

diagnosis ! These are expensive, so there may be some pressure to forget

about it.

You really need all her lab results laid out in order by date, and then you

really can figure out what happened and how to avoid it in the future. I bet

my bottom dollar she was badly overdosed. And did not have fellow Graves'

patients to help her along the path.

But... that has all changed now :-)

Till then... do ME a favor and remove any deadly weapons from the house...

in the river is a good place for them. That may sound extreme to other

members that have not been at the far ends of thyroid disease, but I know,

back in my really bad times, I even thought at the time, I was glad I did

not have anything here to consider either homicide or suicide. I DID have

moments when I knew if something was here, I may well have done something

horrible. We try so very hard to prevent anyone from going this high or this

low, but without other Graves' patients to commiserate with, much of this

does seem very real to her. She can not know for sure that it IS a temporary

condition only. We do get better !

Our minds are conditioned to believe what we see and feel, not understanding

the gray filter that has been installed without our knowledge.

I will try to share more as we go along.

The end of my story is I now have so much MORE than ever before I was

diagnosed. Learned many hard lessons, and now have the beginning of a life

more wonderful and full of love, that I could have ever imagine in those

horrid days. Much less before.

And yes... I was one of the sicker ones to start with. So that really has no

bearing.

If your wife is anything like many of us... passionate and willing to do the

education and walk the walk, she WILL come out on the other end so much

bigger and more wonderful in all of those great qualities you saw in her

when you two first fell in love.

Husbands and wives that stick by, and are willing to go the extra mile are

rare and wonderful individuals. Many, many leave. Cancer is the biggest one

... they just say " I am outa here " !

I see it all the time. No one really knows till the chips a REALLY down

what the partner will do.

So Nick... you and your wife will always find us willing to step forward and

help how ever we can. It is still going to be tough for awhile, but it WILL

get better. When we don't know the answer, we can try to find it... as a

group.

It warmed by heart so at all the great ideas sent forth after you first

joined.

Hang in there, and figure out how to be sure they DO the correct labs !!!

-Pam L-