[SueAndHerZoo]

#1060174

99.9% of me knows and believes that messing with our thyroid meds is a really bad idea, but today I am so tempted to make just a TINY little tweak, just a little one, maybe even just for one day, and here’s why:

I’m starting to strongly suspect that my Levothyroxine might me a tad too high. I’ve only been on it for 7 weeks (today) so I’m still on the original starting dose of 125 but I’ve got some of the symptoms of hyper this past week: anxiety, too hot, overactive digestive system, hard time staying asleep, etc.

So rather than wait till the 17th for my next blood draw I’m going tomorrow morning, but still, that means I won’t talk to the doctor till probably Wednesday or Thursday so any dose change won’t start till Friday and THEN it takes about 6 weeks to feel any difference, right? So, being impatient about starting to feel better, would it be terrible to skip a pill one day this week or maybe break it in half one day this week?

If I suspect it’s too high, would it be terrible to bring the level down a little starting Tuesday? (not tomorrow, because I want to go have blood drawn).

OK, let the lectures begin. I believe I gave one to someone a few weeks ago so do as I say, not as I do.
Sue

[Raspberry]

#1180971

You already know…it’s better to wait. You can always hound your doctor’s office by phone to get your results and a little guidance earlier than usual. I’ve heard of people having noticeable effects from changes as small as 12mcg – I’d be pretty cautious about skipping a whole day or chopping things in half. Still I know the feeling, I wish I could feel better NOW myself!

[snelsen]

#1180972

HiSue,
I understand! The 17th is a whole week away! Here’s my suggestion.
1. Get the blood draw tomorrow.

(as I recall, you do work in health care, don’t you??)

I can tell you for a fact that those results are REALLY ready the same day sometimes just a few hours later.

2. Get the results yourself.
3. Call the doc, or the voice who answers, and try at least to speak to an ARNP, RN or MA..NOT the receptionist.
Report your labs and your symptoms.
Ask for a return call, including a request for him/her to call in a lower RX.
The next dose down is 112 mcg. Is this a possible plan of action for you??

Kinda hard to split pills, skip’em, stuff like that, cause then you lose your regimen, as you already know…..
Shirley

[amosmcd]

#1180973

Hi, Sue–

Ha ha ha ha! You told me not to skip my Levothyroxine when I was about to lose my mind, and I listened to you and called the on-call doc instead (because it was a weekend.) Which is a great option, BTW. She dropped my dose from 88mcg to 50mcg, and within 2-3 days I was very improved, symptom-wise. Even that first day, I didn’t rev up like I would after taking the 88mcg. I did not have to get my labs drawn for them to do that. I simply told the doc what I told you guys in my forum post–I refused to take the 88mcg anymore. I was lucky that the on-call doc was very understanding and worked with me. I hope that works for you. I don’t think it’s right that we should have to wait a week to get a med change, whether we’re waiting for lab results or not. Like Shirley said, there are ways to insist on getting a call back.

Once you get the okay from whichever doc you talk to, you have done the right thing, even if they drop your dose a lot like they did with me. I needed relief immediately.

I hope you are able to get things changed. Keep us posted and don’t give up!

Amy

[SueAndHerZoo]

#1180974

Thanks, everyone. I needed a kick in the pants to do the sensible thing. But as you all know too well, when you don’t feel good and you’re looking at weeks (sometimes months!) before you get relief, it’s enough to make you do something drastic.

Yes, I realize the lab results are usually available in 24 hours or less and I think they sit on my doc’s desk until an hour before I see him. So I will definitely call and nag starting Tuesday afternoon.

I can get my own results without hearing them from a doc???? That would be so awesome! I’ll look into that first thing in the morning or will ask about it when I go get blood drawn.

Yes, Amy, I recall lecturing you about not doing what I was tempted to do…. was hoping you’d see the humor in it.

Very good to hear that sometimes we can feel relief within days, not weeks. I can handle this stuff if I know there’s a light at the end of a short tunnel, but the longer the tunnel gets, the harder it is to stay positive.

Thanks all.
Sue

[snelsen]

#1180975

You sure can! Ask, and push about this. THere should be a way you can sign up for electronic access to you chart. I had a lab drawn this morning at 8, and I already have looked up the results at 10am.

About the only thing that patients cannot access before they see the doc to discuss, are path reports, psych/mental health notes and sexually transmitted disease results.

Docs are historically used to having control over all information. Most docs in this current environment, welcome the patient being as informed as possible.

As an a side note this morning, one thing that was lacking in my health care was the fact that I go to two different medical institutions for health care, so I have to be the reporter from one to the other, until the glacially slow information is faxed, then sits in medical records for a couple of centuries until it can be scanned in the computer.

**All changed now as of this month. There is a new implementation with Obamacare, called Care Everywhere Authoritization Form, which means NOW, my primary care doc at Univ. of Washington, can access my cardiology records at Swedish.

Thought this would interest everyone.
Shirley

[SueAndHerZoo]

#1180976

snelsen wrote:

You sure can! Ask, and push about this. THere should be a way you can sign up for electronic access to you chart. I had a lab drawn this morning at 8, and I already have looked up the results at 10am.

Shirley

Unfortunately, I can’t get the lab results directly. I went to the website as soon as I left Quest Diagnostics (where I get my blood drawn) and they DO have a system where you can get your results and even get them on your SmartPhone! Unfortunately, there are twelve states where that has still not been approved, and Connecticut is one of them.
Sue

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