Re: Sandy - burn out ?

[Guest guest]

wow, you see. I learn something new every single day! Thanks Pam. I honestly

thought that my thyroid would burn itself out one day. I do remember looking at

my dr thinking, wow, if it's gonna burn itself out, why do I wanna hurry that

process along? See, you gave me something else to be glad about tonight! :-)

One of my co-workers who had surgery due to cancer of her thyroid gland looked

at me one day and said: " why don't you just let them get rid of your thyroid so

you can get to feeling better? " rofl. It was HER crummy dr who was yanking me

off and on meds cuz I was 'normal' levels that months go around with blood

tests. My current Endo snickered when I repeated what had happened, and he

said, well, sure, they were normal......cuz you had the drugs and they were

working! :-) I really like this guy. He's young, isn't a push RAI freak

(which I really love) and he's figured out just HOW truly stubborn I am! lol.

I do have to wonder though, how all these poor people who are mismanaged on

'crummy care' by Endo's, etc who are just herded into having that ablation done.

That part really frustrates me. Not once do some of these dr's really tell the

truth, but will offer meds when they meet somebody who isn't like a lamb being

led to slaughter, following THEIR whims.

I figure one of these days people may get tired of hearing how my crummy care

went that got me to where I am, but I'm just stubborn enuff to tell it to

anybody who's facing such a serious thing as doing away with such a vital organ.

I guess until the experienced people with this get tired of hearing me and tell

me to 'shut up' heh, I'm just gonna keep enlightening anybody who will listen.

I think that until ALL avenues have been exhausted, and I know from prior

treatment, I've not always gotten the best of care where HyperT/Graves was

concerned, I'm just not going for destroying something that affects so many

things in my body.

I would love to see the entire treatment some of these people have received,

dosages of ATD's, appts schedules, labs and values in their care to see just

how many were truly getting 'optimal care' before they took the ablation. Now

that would be a real study in my opinion. I'm betting a lot have been hood

winked or were treated so shabbily that they felt they had no choice and just

wanted to try to find some resemblance of 'normal'. I remember when I got to

where I hurt so badly from the hypoT, and started having carpal tunnel symptoms,

that I just wanted relief. I came close to making the decision to just do the

RAI, and something in the back of my mind just keep fighting me on it. I was

the one who just never found a good time to have it. lol

I'm glad you told me about the synthroid. I am not really opposed to synthroid,

as much as I'm opposed to some of these dr's who just flat refuse to use other

things that I've read about. If synthroid ever came into my medicine cabinet,

I'd be willing to try it, but I just don't want a dr telling me it is my 'only

salvation' to feel normal, if it in fact doesn't work for me. I've also noticed

that the vitamins have sure helped along with the meds since I learned about a

lot of the things we're deficient in and added those. It's very evident if I

stop taking those vitamins too. I don't feel near as good.

One of the best things I ever did for myself was finally getting back on here,

even though I didn't do that while Dr Dummie was treating me and overmedicating

and taking away and telling me I wasn't fitting into his 'game plan'. I could

have saved myself SO MUCH trouble and problems. It's amazing what the right

dosage of meds, and the right 'game plan' can accomplish. :-) My FAVORITE PET

PEEVE: is a dr who tells a person that they have a 'normal' thyroid, and then

the person gladly says: I don't have anything wrong with my thyroid, yet they

can't tell you what those labs were. I fell into that trap when I got to Endo#2

right after diagnosis.....and I refuse to ever let that happen again. I'm still

considering sending him an email to suggest that if he needs some help learning

HOW to treat a person on ATD's, maybe he could pick up Elaine's book, Graves

Disease and do something good for his patients & himself so they can get more

from him than I did. If I was my insurance company, I'd make him reimburse for

all the money he charged them for me. I bet THAT would get his attention! rofl

Sandy~Houston

Sandy - burn out ?

Hey Sandy !

Wonderful expatiation of what so many of us go through before we figure out

we are going to have to learn the real facts if we want our quality of life

back to what it was or , in my case, much better.

I was also told it could not possibly be thyroid for years and years. Now,

after watching my thyroid labs, as they went up and down, due to darn poor

doctorin', I also now understand why I felt the ways I did in cycles over

the years. I had a couple serious bouts of hyper starting at the birth of my

first child, when I was promptly told it was all in my head, as I turned

skinny as a rail, shook all the time, lost TONS of my hair, and was really

angry. :-(

Then there were the cranky, short tempered, cold, fat, to exhausted to do

anything but sleep if I was not at work years. Cried pretty much all the

time those years.

But the funny thing is , once I started learning about what thyroid symptoms

are, it had me wondering if a person could have this happen before the Big

Bang of Graves' ? But had not found complete information yet, and was out

there working on the short lists of symptoms and trying to figure out what

these labs really did mean? And why the doctor kept telling me my levels

were perfect... as he kept sending me up and down with the wrong doses all

the time.

Yep... lost and sick... thinking that my gut instinct about not swallowing

anything radioactive just had to be right, but fighting the doctor and being

so sick, I just plain did not know what to do.

Everyone was concerned because I looked like hell too. Got tired of trying

to explain to all of them what I did not understand yet either.

Then came the computer my friend gave me, ( twenty bucks of parts for me to

pay... what a guy ) as he was past concerned and wanted to do something but

didn't know what to do.

The rest is history as they say, but the day I saw the fact that this COULD

have been happening all along, and that most Graves' patients ARE hypo

before our diagnosis... well... that was a big day ! I WAS right !

Now to my point.

The antibodies that destroy our thyroid.. TPO have been doing their work all

these years. Thirty at the very least .

Then my TSI antibodies took over and I was HYPER to a new degree.

Antithyroid drugs get rid of TPO and TSI antibodies, so as long as they are

both gone before we go off the drugs, how could they burn out our thyroid

even more ?

In the past, they did not understand the antibodies, and did not have the

lab tests... so logically the patients were off the drugs before their time

was really up. The TPO antibodies were logically in the greatest number by

the time they no longer needed ATDs. They would then slowly have their

thyroid destroyed. Right ?

Thus the old time truth that a thyroid burns out. A __MHYH___ that most

doctors continue to cling to while they push RAI, and tell us we " might as

well get it over with now " . " The organ is diseased anyway " .

Damned convincing argument if the patient is still hesitant on the radiation

ya' know.

How many patients will figure out the truth about antibodies before it is

too late ? And they WILL continue to pass this doctors " Lie " on and on to

anyone that will listen. Because at that point they believe they have no

vested interest in putting in the time to learn such things. And it is not

an easy class. :-)

So Sandy... relax.

I have had at least 30 years of past damage and I am on Synthroid... but

only because of all those years I was not treated when I should have been.

It is real easy to treat this amount of hypo.

I take the smallest amount of Synthroid they make. .025 mg.

Full replacement is .300 !

Hugh difference !

MY thyroid functions almost perfect even after the abuse it has been through

Thirty years is a very long time.

My thyroid makes ALL the thyroid hormones. Not just the T4 and T3 that you

can buy.

My parathyroid glands are working great , so calcium should not be a big

problem in the years to come. Unfortunately the parathyroid glands are

damaged by RAI slowly very often, so it is not just surgery where they are

in danger.

For the younger gals, I have read in several good books and sites, that the

parathyroid glands are often the cause of pre-eclampsia during pregnancy,

which is not only dangerous for both mother and child, but can cause the

need for medication during the pregnancy to save the mother, but the amount

of medication must be very precise, as it can damage the baby.

Sandy... If because of the years you also had with undiagnosed thyroid

disease, you could end up with this same small amount of replacement, but it

is just not a problem at all. It is a matter of fine tuning an engine that

works. You do not open the hood and find nothing there !

The younger gals , after proper use of ATD, in theory should not even need

this much.

Hope that helps,

-Pam L-

3 1/2 years Graves', TED, and PTU. Remission due to SLOW reduction of PTU

(despite an incompetent endo ! ), improved lifestyle, excellent nutrition,

herbs, and looking at the big picture.

Pills alone only help the symptoms. We must help our bodies to heal.