Shelly W.

[Guest guest]

Hi Shelly. Wow, what a week to join - at least I hope you're feeling less

alone in seeing the stress this has brought to other married couples. My

heart goes out to all of you - as Sandy said, my DH knew what PMS was but

GD was a whole new thing.

I think you've also seen what great advice one can get from this group.

If you believe in the positive health effects of imaging (relaxing and

focusing on a future, healthy image, or the healing process) here's one

for you: Imagine yourself going to the doctor, knowing exactly which test

or tests you should have, looking at the results, and after discussion

with him/her, gradually lowering your dose and feel better. This process

will repeat itself about every 4-8 weeks for the next year to year and

half or so. You'll be feeling good and on a minimum dose and wondering if

you're ready to go off the ATD. You'll know exactly which tests will

indicate if you really are ready and get them. Then you will either go

off your medication and stay in remission, or stay on a very low

maintenance dose, either for another few months or long term. This too is

OK if it's what it takes to maintain your health. The minimum dose is

very small and comparatively inexpensive, and will not pose a health

risk. You'll probably be able to get by with bloodwork about every 3

months then too.

This is a very realistic picture of where you can be when you take ATDs

for GD. There may be some bumps in the road, it is the best case scenario

I've laid out, but again, it can happen more often than your doctors will

say.

Something which hasn't been addressed is having a baby. I'm not sure if I

remember your details. I meant to save one or two of your messages for

this morning but see that I haven't. So I hope I don't mix things up.

By now you realize why RAI isn't a good idea. G-d willing you'll have

insurance and some stability again soon. But RAI, which if you would have

to pay for isn't cheap, would mean very frequent bloodwork till you get

stable. Synthroid, which is probably fairly inexpensive, might NOT be the

wonder drug for you, and you would have to experiment with other forms of

thyroid hormone supplement. You would also need more frequent FT3

testing, which is more expensive than the FT4. If you DON'T have RAI and

follow Pam's, etc. guidelines, you can most likely get by with just

having the FT4.

Moreover, the official organization of endocrinologists has changed their

guidelines from waiting 4-6 months after RAI to try to conceive to a full

year. The reason for waiting is possible danger to a fetus, as well as an

understanding of how long it takes to get stable after RAI. There are

other things the doctors won't say, such as RAI will make you hypo, which

could make conception more difficult. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

Now, though, wouldn't be a good time to try for a baby. Forgetting about

insurance, it's potentially heartbreaking. Active GD increases the chance

of miscarriage. For those who've made it over the hump and went on to

have safe pregnancies, that is in fact quite possible. Still, it requires

very careful monitoring and means being on PTU since Tapazole isn't safe

for pregnancy. There is also the fact that pregnancy means a maximum safe

dose for the baby - the risks are small but there. In your situation the

best thing to do would be to wait till you're in remission for a few

months which could be as little as 2 years from now. You're young enough

(IIRC 23, right?) that you don't have to worry about fertility. Older

women in your situation may choose not to wait as long but to wait till

they're feeling more stable and knowledgable about GD and then try when

doing well on a lower dose, even if they're not in remission yet because

of the time factor.

I'm not even going to go into being pregnant without insurance. I will

say though that you don't need to feel you have to wait till you have

thousands of dollars tucked away in junior's college account to try to

have a baby. That's all nice but financially the major thing you need to

figure out is how much you need to live NOW, not in the future. Despite

what you read about how many thousands it takes to raise a baby in just

the few years that's not entirely true. I've found better quality resale

shopping and from hand-me-downs than I could ever find in the stores.

Many county health departments offer free immunizations (loaded topic we

can discuss again in your last trimester ;-) regardless of insurance.

And say that you thought you were in better shape financially but find it

tight - there are government programs that even the most hardened

conservative would be happy to see you on because you'd be using them to

get back on your feet, such as WIC and state medical programs for

underinsured kids.

So realize that time's on your side. You don't need to rush into anything

but should just use this time to concentrate on getting back to yourself.

BTW, there's a wonderful book I wish I would have read years ago called

The One Minute Mother. It will give you some great insights into what

parenting is about and give you good life skills not just in preparation

for parenting.

Take care, Fay

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