[amosmcd]

in reply to: Articles available-Psychological Impact of Graves’ disease. #1181504

Hi, Nancy–

I’ve been away from the forum for a little while. Are there any articles left?

Thanks,
Amy

[amosmcd]

in reply to: organization abilities compromised #1181732

I have always been disorganized, so having GD has done nothing to make it worse or better. My cognitive and memory skills seem to have gone down the tubes, but my GD diagnosis coincided with menopause, so my brain is screwed one way or another! 😮

I think I’m in the same boat as a lot of women my age (56) so I try not to get too frustrated.

I did hire a professional organizer once and while she helped me with my huge paper piles, the strong tendency to be disorganized never changed, so it was pretty much a waste of money. I’m trying to just accept I will never have a tidy house.

Amy

[amosmcd]

in reply to: Worried thyroid removal will ruin my singing #1181588

Hi, Jason–

I had a TT on April 30th, and now a little over 7 months later, I am still having issues with my voice. It tends to get hoarse if I talk a lot, and I’ve lost my upper range when I sing. I sing only for fun, have no real talent whatsoever except I can sing on key. My family all sings for fun. It’s been very disheartening. I finally made an appt to see my surgeon to follow-up. I’ll see her Jan 8th. My surgeon has never had any patient have permanent vocal issues, so I’m really hoping I am not her first.

I’m encouraged about reading that speech therapy may help. I chose surgery over RAI due to concerns about radiation. It’s a tough decision to make. I don’t think I could have chosen a better surgeon, based on her complication rate, so hopefully this will resolve.

I wish you the best of luck. A beautiful voice is a joy for others to hear. Would not want you to lose this gift.

Amy

[amosmcd]

in reply to: Hello again, and another post-TT update #1180534

Well, it’s been 5 months since my TT. Things are getting a little better. I’m still hypo with my TSH a little above 7, although it’s dropped a little since the last set of labs. T3 and T4 need to come up a little. I definitely feel hypo. Not a lot of energy, feeling cold, heart palpitations off and on. Really hard to get out of bed in the mornings. I’m on 62.5mcg of Levothyroxine, and even though I felt crappy before on 75mcg of Levo, I obviously have to increase my dose.

My endo and I both believe that a lot of my previous issues with dose changes were because they were too much at once. So this is just a 12.5mcg increase. I feel like my body is finally leveling out and the labs are more a match to how I’m feeling. I’m fine now with waiting 4 weeks between lab draws instead of 3. This is going to be a slow process for me, but I have finally developed patience. I would like to have more energy, but I’m at least not freaking out about it like I was earlier in my recovery.

I’ve signed up for another 5K walk at the end of October, and plan to do one every month to motivate me to keep walking. The Blerch is alive and well, unfortunately.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I’ve started gaining more weight, which I don’t like. It’s only a few pounds, but I’ve been feeling really hungry lately and especially craving carbs. I’m at a perfect weight right now and want to stay where I am. Hopefully bumping up my Levo dose will help with that. I do look less gaunt than I was when I hit bottom with my weight loss a year ago, so I’m sure I’m healthier. I’m also supposed to get a Dexascan this month since I’m now slender and post-menopausal. My gyn recommended it and my endo just ordered it. Hopefully my bones are healthy.

That’s it for now. Again, I’ll probably not be here on the forum too often in the near future, but hopefully I’ll get back here before my next endo apt and labs.

Amy

[amosmcd]

in reply to: Will be gone from forum for a while #1181082

Thank you so much for your good wishes and prayers for my sister and brother-in-law and family.

Jerry starts chemo on Oct 7th, will get it for 3 months and then they’ll do another CT scan to see how he’s responded to treatment. He’ll get both oral and IV chemo. They aren’t planning any surgery at this point, because it would delay the chemo and the chances of infection or complication is too high with his liver function not normal.

We are praying that he will eventually go into remission, although his oncologist said this is not curable. My brother, my boys and I will fly to Boise to spend Thanksgiving with them. I’m planning other trips after that, but probably after the first of the year. And of course if my sister needs me, I’ll go anytime.

Thanks again for your support.

Love,
Amy

[amosmcd]

in reply to: I walked a 5K today! #1180996

Hi, Sue and Shirley–

Oh, I for sure know there will be days when no matter what, I will blerch-out and stay in my recliner all day or not get out of bed til afternoon! I don’t want anyone to feel guilty or feel like I was being preachy. I was just happy about feeling good and wanted to pass it along, because you guys know how hard it’s been for me since surgery. To have a nice, fun, energetic day like today has been so rare for me, I just want to try to force myself more to try not to give into my low energy and depression. GD is too unpredictable to say that bad days will not happen. I guess I’m just personally tired of having more bad days than good, and hoping if I make myself do stuff it will help.

I’m really sorry to hear about your A. fib, Shirley! And that you needed cardioversion. That totally sucks! And gastroparesis, too. I know you’ve been dealing with that low TSH for a long time. Have you tried banging your head against a wall over and over again to see if your TSH will climb a little? I’m sure you’ve already tried that!

If it isn’t one thing, it’s another with GD. I guess we just have to take one day at a time. I know long-term planning is hard, because I never know how I’ll feel from day to day. But I’m so tired of it ruling my life.

Amy

[amosmcd]

in reply to: No sleep driving me insane! #1180940

I have a lot of trouble with sleep, too. I fall asleep easily, but wake up in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep.

I’m able to take Benadryl, it doesn’t affect my heart rate, even when I’m hyper. I think it affects each person differently. I only have to take a tiny bit, like 1/3 of a 25mg tablet, because it tends to make me really sedated. I only do that as a last resort, but that ends up being 2 -3 times a week.

What also helped me was I kicked my 3 cats out of my room (they have gotten over it, but they meowed pitifully outside my door the first few nights) because they slept on my bed and made me too hot. I have always worn earplugs because I’m a light sleeper and work evening shift, so morning noise wakes me up, too. Most of this summer I’ve had to have my bedroom window open, and turning on a small fan made enough white noise to drown out the extra noise from the open window.

I’m still having problems, but my thyroid levels are still all over the place since my TT 4 months ago. I’m hoping once they level out, I’ll sleep better.

Hope you find something that works consistently for you!

Amy

[amosmcd]

in reply to: Tweaking Meds – Bad Idea, I know #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

[amosmcd]

in reply to: Feeling OK but Looking Horrible #1180820

Hi, Sue–

I’m sure it’s just a temporary thing. I wake up some mornings and look like a banshee from Hell. 😆 I think it just takes a while to fully recover from surgery, even though it seems like it has been long enough.

Hang in there, I’m sure you’ll be back to your normal gorgeous self soon!

Amy

[amosmcd]

in reply to: Update TT on 8/13/13 #1180861

Hi, JCC–

Welcome to the Post TT Club here!

I went back to work after a week and then had to take time off a bit later because it was too much too soon, but hopefully you’ll do fine. Definitely get a lot of rest when you can, though.

Hope you continue to have a smooth recovery and keep in touch!

Amy

[amosmcd]

in reply to: My TT Journey 8/27/13 #1180793

Hi, Ibminlou2–

Hope you are doing well after your surgery. It’s a big decision to make and it affects everyone differently. I’ve had some issues with getting my thyroid levels stabilized, but I don’t regret having the surgery. I had the same issues before surgery, so don’t get discouraged if things take time. Patience is definitely something people with thyroid problems have to have!

Take care and keep in touch!
Amy

[amosmcd]

in reply to: Post Thyroidectomy #1180812

Hi, Christina==

Welcome to the forum!

It’s normal for your neck to feel tight after surgery. Even after the steri-strips come off. Once your incision has closed you can use Vit E oil or Mederma to help minimize the scarring. It’s also helpful to keep your incision covered up when out in the sun to prevent the scar from becoming permanently red. You only need to do that the first summer after your surgery.

I hope you continue to feel good. Try to get rest, our bodies consider thyroidectomy major surgery, so it can catch up to you if you don’t get enough down time.

Keep in touch with us and let us know how things progress.

Amy
TT on 4/30/13

[amosmcd]

in reply to: Hi Friends….been a while….an update… #1180853

Hi, Karen–

I’m so sorry that your eyes are still a problem! It’s so easy to take good vision for granted until something like this happens. Damn GD, indeed! Thyroid I get, but eyes?? WTH?? It just seems so damn random. I hope you can find something to help you.

I complain about my post-TT experience, but you’ve got a double-whammy going on, which is not fair. The mood swings are hard to deal with, but definitely not your fault. I hope things stabilize with your dose soon.

As far as those wear-over sunglasses, I *chose* to wear those because they were so much cheaper than prescription sunglasses. I have noticed they’ve made smaller lens shapes so they’re not so dorky-looking. I have always needed to wear a hat out in the sun even with large lens sunglasses because the glare bothers my eyes, and I can’t wear those tiny fashionable sunglasses because they just don’t cover up enough of my eyes. I’ve given up caring what I look like in the summer, because I’d rather be comfortable than fashionable. But it would be nice to be both!

Hang in there, and I’m thinking good thoughts that things will get better for you soon.

Amy

[amosmcd]

in reply to: Hello again, and another post-TT update #1180530

Hello again! Today it’s been exactly 4 months since my TT. What a rollercoaster I’ve been on! Here are my labs drawn this past Monday:

TSH: 7.531 (0.34-5.40)
FT3: 2.5 (2.2-4.3)
FT4: 0.69 (0.57-1.25)

I’d been on 50mcgs of Levothyroxine for 3 weeks. I did feel good for a few days off and on, but mostly did not feel great. However, it was much better than feel bad AND feeling hyper. Still, I’ve been very draggy, very unmotivated, hard to wake up in the morning, not sleeping well, and starting to get heart palpitations (which I’d never had being hypo before, but I’ve never been this hypo!)

So now my endo wants me back up to 75mcg where I did not feel good, but is having me start out at 62.5mcg (half of a 125mcg tablet) until I see her on 9/27, which I was really happy to hear. I would have refused to just up right to 75mcg from 50 after so many hard swings on my labs. I’ve had to miss a couple days of work because I felt so exhausted. I just started on the 62.5mcg this morning. It took til yesterday to hear back from the endo’s office.

I would have thought that 4 months out I would be feeling a lot better than this, still so far from how good I felt before surgery, but I’ve accepted it will just take me quite a while to find my sweet spot on the meds. I’m actually glad my labs are now so whacked out, because it matches more with how I feel. Before they weren’t so far (aside from the TSH) from where I was pre-op. I’m much more willing to go longer between lab tests if I have smaller dose changes than when I had the bigger changes. I want to give my body time to adjust, and obviously it has not liked the big changes.

My weight has remained the same, although I’ve gained a big of fat and since I’m not walking as much as I use to, I’m sure I’ve lost muscle mass. I’m still skinny, so I’m not complaining, but I’d prefer to have muscle over fat! I signed up for a 5K to walk with a friend, which I could easily do but now it will be a challenge. I’ve only been walking 2 miles at a time these days.

My brain is not functioning well. Cognitively I feel really snowed. I know it’s a combination of menopause and thyroid, and I’m sure it will get better eventually. I’ve been forcing myself to get out of the house and do things on my days off or else I’d just sit around and nap all day. Tomorrow evening I’m going to a sports bar with my brother to watch the UW Huskies beat the crap out of Boise State (since they beat us last year) and the next day I’m going to a minor league baseball game with my oldest son. I took Labor Day off so I can rest that day. The weekend before I went kayaking with my brother and to another baseball game with a friend. Trying to have a life.

My incision is healing really well. The swelling is 95 percent gone, and it’s just a thin pink line. I still can’t sing, but it doesn’t bother me.

So I’m trying to be positive, even though it’s hard right now. The son who’s going to the baseball game with me has been very depressed (he’s on the autism spectrum) and I’ve been trying to get him help, and at times it’s overwhelming, but it helps take my mind off of myself. He’s on a new anti-depressant so I’m hoping he’ll feel better soon. I get help from my younger son (they both still live at home) so that helps.

That’s my update and I’ll update again after I seen my endo at the end of Sept.

Amy

[amosmcd]

in reply to: Running out of Steam Post TT #1180665

Hi, Sue–

Ha! Naps are my new normal! Who knew? I think definitely you are still early in the post-op period to still feel tired. My endo told me after two months I would feel good. We know how that’s been working for me!–but obviously 2 months seems a reasonable period of time to recover from surgery, and you’ve got a month to go. Plus, our thyroid controls so many functions, I think it’s a double-whammy to the body to have it removed.

I’m glad you’re not feeling so anxious and hyper anymore. We will survive these tough times and come out stronger for it. Hang in there!

Amy

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