[cathycnm]

in reply to: aspartame? #1071986

We were just studying the low cal sweetners in pharmacology. There were no real links to disease except for saccrine and cancer in animals. When those studies came out – my mom (a dietitian) was very upset with the press because for many diabetics this was healthier than sugar. And the amount they fed the rats was like the equivalent of 10 pounds a day of sugar.

There are many new choices in low cal sweetners in the forefront – it would not surprise me to see the colas change at some point – once we know more about these. Many are closer is structure to sugar itself.

Caffeine – on the other hand – has been linked to some physical illnesses. And who knows – maybe it is the combo of the two that is the culprit. I have 1/2 diet coke or so a day – try to stay below that. The caffeine and my sleep do not mix but I prefer non-sugar sweetners due to some tendency toward low blood sugar that spike and plummets after a regular soda. Cathy

[cathycnm]

in reply to: Graves and workplace dynamics #1072042

Hi all – An update. This staffer pulled the same song and dance with one of my other employees – blaming her for everything. I honestly feel better – this is very obviously a mis-match for the underachiever employee. The team here is small and tight knit – people either fit or they don’t. I don’t think it is a click – but it is a team and non-team-players who cannot make meetings, orientations, etc and then blame others that they are missing info just don’t fit. We have learned a lot from this and will shore up our interview and orientation process. Mismatches hurt everyone. I know my Graves impacted my leadership – and I need to rebuild some relationships that were hurt but I am now seeing that my illness may not have been the major cause of this employee’s behavior. Blessings to all for your kind words. I grow stronger each day. And my punctal plugs are a huge hit. I can read and not be in pain, again!!!! One step forward!

[cathycnm]

in reply to: Graves and workplace dynamics #1072041

Hey all – thanks for the encouragement. Actually – I am Ms Graves. She is an underachiever. I got into my old "I will be responsible" dance with her and then caught it and stopped. I think that is the issue – she really thought she had me pegged for doing all the work in the relationship. Our department is located off from the main branch and they have more staff there so apparently it works for them to carry her load for her. Here it is a smaller team and it is so noticeable when someone does that.

She is being phased way down at our site – so that may be part of her reaction – she was not picked for our position because she does not have the experience or the community commitment. And she works with my boss more than I do at the other site (in a different dept) so I don’t want to involve the boss because they tend to favor workers from their site. So, I am just letting it pass. 3 more weeks and the semester is done and my 1/2 time person will be here. But I have to shift back to my old self for that to work well.

I am also a very shared governance type of leader – but folks have to be committed enough to come to meetings for that to work. Many of my staff have never met one another. All contract staffs who work off-site are a huge lesson in conflict – and the one full timer (Ms Graves) doing all the work – which is my old family of origin pattern and not a healthy place to stay.

I felt strong enough to pull rank cause complaining about something that happened months ago and has been adjusted just drains the org. I feel embarrassed for some of my behavior when I was sick – but we all just have to move on and focus on building a better system for the future. Thanks for your words. Building relationships one day at a time. Cathy

[cathycnm]

in reply to: thyroid storm vs. panic attack #1072053

Emily – My understanding is that most thyroid storm is related to some sort of physical stress – such as trauma, surgery, etc – and less dependent on your TSH. However, the risk goes away once our thyroid is under control.

Hyperthyroid makes up way more sensitive to adrenaline – so it is understandable that you might feel more fear or anger. Panic attacks could definitely be related. I would only suggest doing little things to relax. About a month ago, I knew I was getting some hyper symptoms again – my cats knocked a favorite plant and pot off my table. The pot broke. I was seething – that is the day I said "I gotta be hyper again". I decided to take the afternoon off from my studies and went to a neighboring town to look around and go for a walk. I found a cook new pot – and came home much more mellow than I started my day. I knew that I had to take care of myself – my poor cats, they just looked up so confused when I was yelling at them. It is often the simple pleasures that bring us to a better place while we wait to heal. Cathy

[cathycnm]

in reply to: Something in on my eye? #1072087

Buttamama – My first symptom of Graves (that I recognized as something besides stress) was a very sore eye that burned and I could not stand light. It came after computer work late into the night. I honestly thought I had pink eye but it resolved a day or so later without antibiotics – I also wondered about glaucoma just because of the pain that woke me up at night. It was bad enough to patch. I did not have any bumps, though.

My first thought is go to the eye specialist because then can treat the eye directly – but then again, letting your endo know can help them with the overall treatment puzzle. My eye specialist has been more helpful for eye-specific symptoms – like extra vision testing and the punctal plugs for dry eye. The endo is definitely more aware of what my thyroid levels are. It sounds like TED/Dry eye to me but someone needs to look to see if there is a bump. Eye sight is nothing to play with.

Let us know what you find out.

[cathycnm]

in reply to: graves is a psychosomatic disease #1072100

Billyb – There are probably body-mind elements to every illness on the planet. There is also genetics. I see it as our genetics being our hardware and our environment being our software. I don’t believe I have any past unhidden traumas that caused this, though. I do think I tend to take on lots of responsibility – and that this trait may be more common than not in Graves pts. I also have thyroid disease in the family – mom had Graves and my sis has hypo. I think it takes a combo of genetics in the right environment for any disease to fester. I also have a lot of stomach cancer in my family – so it would be crazy for me to smoke, drink and eat fat and think I was doing myself any favors. I think we are all need to be smart about our genetic vulnerabilities and to choose environments that do not promote those. I also do not think Graves is something I chose to manifest. I have seen some life coaches (and I have some training in that area) who go way out on a limb to say people choose this and I simply do not agree. I think we can clearly see genetic predispositions and familial patterns. I would hate to make someone feel they are being blamed for having Graves. C

[cathycnm]

in reply to: PREGNANCY, HELP!!! #1072340

Alice – I think there are lots of keys to having an optimal pregnancy. It sounds like your thyroid is on-track. Be sure you are eating well, taking prenatal vits with enough folic acid. And a healthy balanced diet. As pregnancy progresses – be sure to learn the signs of preterm labor and pregnancy induced high blood pressure. And once you are 28 weeks – the kick counts are important. For now – watch for spotting, etc. I guess I am saying – if your thyroid is on-track, that is wonderful. It is also important to focus on all the other keys to healthy pregnancy. It is easy to get so focused on one thing, that we loose track of the general principles of healthy pregnancy. I guess the mother hen nurse midwife had to get on my soap box about that. It sounds like you are doing a wonderful job so far. I am holding my breath and crossing my fingers for the heartbeat. We can usually see a heartbeat on ultrasound by 6 weeks – have they looked for this yet? It is much sooner than when we can hear on the doppler. I don’t remember you saying if you had an ultrasound yet. C

[cathycnm]

in reply to: Diazepam – possible withdrawals? #1072128

Nancy – I agree. I have spent the last 2 weeks beating myself up too much over still being on remeron (one of the few antidepressants that actually helps my sleep – and insomnia is the first thing to go in any stress related illness). My doc wants me off of it because my cholesterol in high now and it can be a drug side effect. Which, I agree with. My endo also has me on a diuretic (Maxide) because I have too much calcium in my urine and that may be feeding the osteoporosis. I have concerns that the calcium in the urine is also a drug side effect from the parathyroid hormone I am on for osteoporosis (symptoms started the same week that I started the med). So – now the maxide to stop that. Maxide can also increase cholesterol. So – 3 more months and I am off the forteo. I want to see if I can get another urine calcium (go off the Maxide on a trial basis before hand) to see if the urine goes back to normal.

If I can get off both Remeron and Maxide, I think my cholesterol would go down. I honestly just don’t generally eat a ton of high cholesterol foods. I have my weaknesses, but not enough to cause this. The online calculators say my LDL needs to be 36% lower. Holy cow, batman – my diet is just not that bad. And I agree – I would prefer fewer meds than medicating more and more drug side effects. But I have felt badly that I am still on the remeron (1/3 of the lowest dose now) – still with a high T4 again – I want to wait until the game of thyroid level ping pong is a bit more stable.

Hyperm – I can totally empathize with your story of wanting to wean off and not being quite ready. I have felt that way about the Remeron for almost a year now. I just keep cutting the dose and seeing if symptoms surface again – if so, back up. My doc is aware that I am trying to wean off and she agrees with my plan. I just felt a little pushed the last time we talked about it – and I am also concerned with the cholesterol. But maybe it is the diuretic, anyway – who knows.

I got my eye plugs yesterday and like them so far – I can feel more moisture. One step forward!

[cathycnm]

in reply to: Diazepam – possible withdrawals? #1072125

Hyperm – Here I am with my pharmacology book as my Friday night date. Diazepam can have withdraw symptoms after long-term use – it is usually panic and other related symptoms (some pts think they are relapsing). It is interesting that it is uterine cramping. I would let your doctor know – you might have a urinary of vaginal infection??? Beats me but that side effect is not in the book. Let us know. Cathy

[cathycnm]

in reply to: early on-set menopause #1072138

Soulshine – It sounds like you might be having anovulatory cycles. When that happens – ovaries do not ovulate and it is that process that slows down the estrogen and proliferation. It can cause irregular, long, heavy periods. The estrogen is what makes the uterine lining grow and grow. The progesterone that comes with ovulation – makes the lining plusher but slows the overall growth. So if you don’t ovulate – the progesterone is not produced to counter balance the estrogen. Because the cycle is not normal – it is frequent for periods to be irregular, heavy and long.

Anovulatory cycles are more common in the teen years and after 40. They are not harmful in and of themselves – but can cause things like anemia if the blood loss is too much. Some thyroid disorders can be causes of anovulatory cycles. Of course, mine is an educated guess – only your doctor can diagnose this. Anovulatory cycles are common from stress and perimenopause. Be sure that you are getting enough iron and let your doctor know to be sure it is nothing more serious.

[cathycnm]

in reply to: ok what size did you enter your prof pic as???? #1072192

It is funny how the brain processes seeing faces in a different way than just type. The smiley guys are nice – but not as nice as a real human face.

[cathycnm]

in reply to: ok what size did you enter your prof pic as???? #1072187

Well – Hey, that was a fun way to escape studying for a little bit! You guys all look great.

[cathycnm]

in reply to: PREGNANCY, HELP!!! #1072335

Alice – as a nurse-midwife, there always seemed to be two moments of pure joy and relief – the first with that 8 week heart beat and the second with that first scream. Let us know – I know I will have my fingers crossed!

[cathycnm]

in reply to: Okay, I’m ready to go off Prednisone now, please … #1072259

Well, well – Just my luck. I am walking on the walking path and pass my PCP jogging with her baby and hubby (also a doc) – I pass them both directions. I like her a lot. It is just my profile looks like I am binge eating – stress, intermittent depression and a jump in cholesterol – plus school (less exercise). But honestly – I can say I have binge eaten some this semester (last 2 mos) but for the year as a whole, I am eating at home more and I prefer a pretty low fat fare. And I have busted my rear getting 10,000 steps a day – in snow storms, I have danced in my living room. As for the depression – I have never had to be on antidepressants more than the 6 weeks it takes them to kick in – but as soon as I think I will wean off, boom – I swung the other direction with the thyroid. I am really working hard of my health – my labs just don’t show it. I think I will make another apt with my endo to talk about the course of action with the osteoporosis and Graves – might be better than phone. And I want a referral to a dietitian because if I am screwing up – I have no idea where – other than the last 2 months. I am pretty educated about this.

Enjoy the cookie – I have fresh apples! And some great frozen berries for dessert at night. C

[cathycnm]

in reply to: Okay, I’m ready to go off Prednisone now, please … #1072257

Belldandy – I bet. The benzoyl peroxides are good drugs and you can purchase them OTC in a variety of products. On the sugars – corticosteriods can raise blood sugar and create diabetes like symptoms. I would say to try to go with complex carbs or fruit sugars (eat fruit) vs candy. Similar to what we tell diabetics. Sounds like you are weaning down so this won’t be with you forever.

I was just thinking how grumpy my high cholesterol (same now as when I was hypo – but I am slightly hyper, so it should have come down some) and migraines are making me. That are reading volumes in my pharm book and having a spell of cold weather – time to go enjoy a walk (at least there is sun today) and buy a few groceries. Maybe I can find a fun low cholesterol reciepe book. I honestly do not eat a high fat diet. Two of my meds (a thiazide diuretic for calcuim levels and my remeron for bouncing moods) can increase cholesterol. I honestly think it is a combo of genetics and drug side effects and reading too much (too little exercise). It is sure easy to get grumpy when we don’t know how to change these things ” title=”Very Happy” /> And when I am a little hyper again – makes me so mellow about frustrations – NOT!!! Good luck – I hear you!

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