[Anonymous March 15, 1997 at 9:52 am Post count: 93172]

#1163773

Dear Bobbi,
You are such a hard worker. As usual, thanks for the incredible
responsiveness, both at the personal sharing level and the rereading and sharing of written resources.
I have seen a few posts on alt thyroid where it is clear that someone
with GD would like to remain in denial and just block the betas. I am sure your last post
will stand as a reminder how important it is to get protected from the
thyroid gland’s over production by one of the standard-primary
ways.

I think the ability to see things down to the least preposition and the
comma is a very valuable gift…don’t lose it or disparage it. That is why I asked you
to expound further…”What has Bobbi encountered? Her geiger counter is
signaling.” Your experience ( terrifying!!!) makes perfectly easy
to understand your concern that efforts to discuss a possible peripheral
and minor consequence of a med might lead to mismanagement of someone’s
GD. Horrible thought.

As to your on-going dilemma….The incredible dance of trust.
It seems that the doc has now told you more of the process…
numbers were off but my interpretation was more off…
and this could possible be the bridge to future better relationship.
I mean you seem ardently responsible ( and we must be ) as a patient
and thereby are probably able to get almost any doctor to
be a better doc. It is always an imperfect process. But with someone
reading and asking questions and holding the careprovider openly
accountable,it seems like we stand the better chance. Sometimes
things happen where it is too much work and too scary( there is real incompetence that
is the rule rather than the exception) to start over. And after all we
are sick and they are the ones at work…and we already help them in life by paying)
If you stay, I hope that this physician realizes the priviledge of continuing on with you, and if you
go, I hope your wake will be inspiring and provoke increased dedication
in this doctor as well. Have a beautiful Florida morning, this California dawn
is drawing me nigh. Jeannette PS this may not be proff read as much as it needs,
hope it won’t drive you nuts…

[Anonymous March 15, 1997 at 9:56 am Post count: 93172]

#1163774

Oh dear..thinking about Bobbi I write her name in the place where
my goes…my apologies on that last post. At least I signed it.
And I will sign again. Please forgive me, Bobbi. From Jeannette

[Anonymous March 15, 1997 at 2:07 pm Post count: 93172]

#1056567

I’m finding mixed messages in my huge file of research materials. Again, it comes down to semantics. I found a single reference to one type of beta blocker, propanolol (which I think is what Inderal is), having “minor effect in reducing the peripheral conversion of T4 to T3.” Note (and this is where my reading of the statement differed from others): it did not say it has “the” minor effect of, or “a” minor effect of…. It just said “Propanolol has minor effect….” It could simply have been an editing error, and my reading things too much like an attorney going to trial on a contract dispute. : ( Anyway, I guess I must have totally discounted the impact of beta blockers on T3 as a result. This statement was immediately followed by the statement that propanolol “does not decrease the production of thyroid hormones, neither does it alter the natural history of the disease.”

I found the source of the information that had scared me to death, based on having only beta blockers prescribed at first, and it was a FAQ sheet on the alt.support.thyroid board. Unfortunately, it doesn’t say the source of the FAQ sheet information, itself. “While beta-blockers control some symptoms of hyperthyroidsm, the will do nothing to treat the underlying disease. Taking beta-blockers alone can be extremely dangerous, in fact, as they can mask the symptoms of Graves’ disease while the disease steadily worsens.”

OK. It’s a gorgeous day outside in the southern part of Florida, so I think I’ll take myself off the subject of Graves Disease, and enjoy myself. I wish you all a terrific, and upbeat day.

Bobbi

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