[SueAndHerZoo]

in reply to: Sue’s TT – Part 2 #1180654

Thanks, Christina, for taking the time to answer and explain it so well. You’ve given me SO MUCH hope that at some point I am going to feel good! I saw a sneek peak of it a few weeks ago and was such a happy person that when I felt it slipping away it’s doubly disappointing. Too soon for me to be discouraged, I know, but who knows, maybe I’ll learn patience when I’m in my sweet spot.

Your post also made me realize that I really should do at least a consult with another endo because although mine does listen when I force him to, it shouldn’t be that much of a battle. I’d love to think there’s one nearby that is as compassionate as yours. Won’t know till I look, right? (and yes, it’s delightfully pretty and pleasant here in Conn.)

Sue

[SueAndHerZoo]

in reply to: Feeling OK but Looking Horrible #1180831

Hi again, Christina.

I’m not sure if your eye thing is the same as mine. I know you said your antibodies are in check so it’s not GED, but mine don’t swell. They seem sunken and I have darkness in the concave area.

Or.. perhaps the tissue of my face is slightly swollen which makes the under-eye area LOOK sunken?

Accck…… if I’m a person who loves a challenge, I’ve certainly got one with this disease!
Sue

[SueAndHerZoo]

in reply to: Sue’s TT – Part 2 #1180652

Thanks, Christina, your post helped TREMENDOUSLY! To know that you are still “tweaking” after 7 months helps me to accept that I can’t possibly put a logical, scientific reason behind every little shift I feel or think I feel. Here I am bummed out that at almost 8 weeks TT I am still fluctuating and some people “tweak” for months or years. I really need to learn patience but I am so bad at it – I guess I just need the constant reminders. Thank you for that.

I’ve just researched other endos in my area, checked their credentials, their patient ratings, etc. and if I am not happy with my old endo after my next visit I will schedule a consult with a new one. My original doc has done me well for years and if I beat on him he does finally listen, but I wonder if there are docs out there who listen BEFORE you break down and cry. When I ask him a question I get a 15 minute dissertation in which he quotes medical journals and scientific evidence to back what he’s saying and I comprehend about 2% and then the appointment is over. I need to talk to a person, not an encyclopedia.

OK, so even if you’re not wondering, I am: why would your level need adjusting after 7 months? What changes at that point? I was thinking I would need 3-4 months to find the sweet spot and then it would stay the same indefinitely. I’m past menopause so no more fluctuations there. Sorry – I guess I overthink and second guess everything.

Thanks again for sharing – I’m going to try to enjoy my day and not obsess over feeling “off” today.
Sue

[SueAndHerZoo]

in reply to: Sue’s TT – Part 2 #1180644

Raspberry wrote:

Hi Sue, I hope you are getting some sleep and aren’t an insomniac like me tonight! In my obsessive internet research, I’ve read a number of posts from people after TT or RAI taking literally over a month to fully adjust to a dosage change of their replacement hormone. It may be the you are finally experiencing the full effects of living on the dose you now take and it needs to be adjusted (my guess would be UP). I got early extra blood work today myself and I hope my endo doesn’t think I’m being a ninny, but I feel kind of crazy and hyper lately.

Hi Raspberry. thanks for the post, not sure why but it made me feel better. I, too, am obsessively reading and some would probably say that’s making things worse but I don’t believe that. Since we pretty much are our own best doctors, knowledge can’t be bad, as long as we learn how to weed out the good info from the bad. But even if all we’re reading are other people’s experiences with no science to back it, it still helps, at least it does for me.

This morning as I lay in bed with my mind racing and feeling panicky and obsessive I realized my meds might be too high. Granted, I have been complaining about being tired lately but when I look at the other symptoms, they all point towards hyper. Tomorrow will be exactly 7 weeks on 125 of Levothyroxine. That is the dose I started with after surgery and there have been no changes yet since my first post-surgery bloodwork was too early to be reliable. My digestive tract is acting up again (too fast, but I have colitis so sometimes it’s hard to tell which ailment is causing the urgency) and a lot of my anxiety quirks are back and I was throwing the covers off again last night (it was so nice not to be a furnace for a few weeks there). The only symptoms that says “hypo” is the draggy, drugged, exhausted feeling, but that could be there with hyper, too, let alone just be there 7 weeks post-op.

So rather than wait till my scheduled September 17th blood work I think I will go in Monday. My doctor will, of course, tell me my levels aren’t severe enough to be feeling symptomatic but I will tell him as I have for a while now, my body is a better gauge than the blood tests.

I only wish he wasn’t anti T3 testing. But can I assume if I am feeling a little hyper that my body IS successfully converting T4 to T3? I may have to threaten to go elsewhere if he doesn’t humor me and test for it. Why do they argue – it’s not like they are paying for the test – I don’t understand the hesitation to just check everything!

Thanks for letting me vent. I know I don’t have it as badly as some but it was SO NICE to feel great for a few weeks it’s really heart-breaking to see it slipping away, ya know?

Sue

[SueAndHerZoo]

in reply to: Sue’s TT – Part 2 #1180651

Back with another update: 7 weeks post TT:

I was feeling really good at weeks 4 and 5 …. was kind of hoping that was my new normal because it was great. Enough energy to get through the day and evening, able to sleep at night, and very little anxiety. Calm and happy.

Then week 6 something happened. I noticed the dark eye circles and felt kinda “sick”. I hoped it was a bug but it is still pretty much going on. I am really, REALLY tired, stomach is acting up, and the anxiety is returning.

As I said in a separate post, I’m wondering if I’m more carb intolerant after TT so I am cutting way back on carbs for the next week or two to see if that helps anything.

Is there some sort of wall we hit or a “crash” that hits us after TT? I was hoping I was in the clear when I felt so good a few weeks ago and, medically speaking, I can’t figure out why things would go awry at the 6 weeks mark, but hopefully it’s temporary, whatever it is. I just wish I knew WHAT it was.

I go for blood work September 17 but if I’m still feeling this lousy Monday or Tuesday I will go sooner.

Not regretting the TT, just don’t like this part.
Sue

[SueAndHerZoo]

in reply to: Carb Intolerance #1180945

1. Dark circles: I have heard of and seen people who get circles under their eyes from allergies, and I agree that it’s not always lack of sleep because even on weekends when I’m getting 10 hours or so the circles are there, 24/7. I don’t THINK mine is an allergy issue but it’s possible. But they came on pretty suddenly after surgery and they aren’t budging no matter what I do. I recall how great my eyes looked when I was low-carbing so I’m hoping to see an improvement in my eyes in a week or two. If I do, we’ll know I’m onto something. Yes, I think dark circles can also be strictly hereditary, but I was checking out my sisters this weekend and they don’t have them and I had these once before but then got rid of them. Time will tell but I am really sick of looking sick.

2. If you Google carb intolerance you will find much reading about the different affects that different carbs have on our individual systems. And it seems to be VERY individual. Some can tolerate one thing that another can’t, and some can tolerate small amounts of something but only occasionally and not a big quantity. If I can stay fairly low carb for the next two weeks then I will start slowly testing items back in to see what I can tolerate and what I can’t. I also think that after taking a break from carbs for a while you can get away with some better than you can when you’re loading them on daily. When I was doing Atkins I would behave Monday through Friday and cheat on weekends…no problems.

Hope we hear from others about this….. I’m betting there are a lot of people who could feel better if they started noticing a connection between what they ate and how they feel. It amazes me how a few modifications in my life have changed how I feel in a big way. I apparently don’t do well with fruit. I miss it, but I don’t miss the way it made me feel.
Sue

[SueAndHerZoo]

in reply to: No sleep driving me insane! #1180937

You’ve gotten really good advice and suggestions already so I won’t add anything except to let you know that I can totally relate. Before my TT I was wound up and exhausted all day and all night. And every hour that you toss and look at the clock and realize you’re still not sleeping you add more pressure to yourself and that makes it worse. Somehow, you’ve got to try to relax and know that even lying in bed with eyes closed is some sort of rest, even if it’s not quality sleep. Take the pressure off of yourself if you can.

I hope the housecleaning works for you but for me I found that doing anything active before bed made me MORE wired. I needed to chill out for an hour or two before attempting to sleep with either boring TV or reading or ideally meditation.

Good luck.
Sue

[SueAndHerZoo]

in reply to: Feeling OK but Looking Horrible #1180829

Raspberry wrote:

I wish you luck with the products Sue – I feel for you my eyes have looked “unhealthy” for so long now. I know I’m lucky they aren’t worse, but they used to be my best feature and now it’s depressing. I feel like people do react to my appearance negatively like checkers in stores – there’s a subtle shift in their attitude once they actually look at me even though they don’t say anything. There’s a product I’ve been thinking about trying but haven’t yet, thought I’d throw it out there Earth Sciences azulene eye cream claims to reduce puffiness and darkness. I’ll report back on it at some point.

So what’s with this “unhealthy eyes” thing????? Is it pretty common after TT or thyroid issues? Lord knows our thyroids control hundreds of things in our bodies but I’m not sure I understand this one. I was hoping it was a temporary thing but now it seems like it might be here to stay since my TT.

My eyes were my best feature, too, and I haven’t heard a single person tell me what gorgeous eyes I’ve had in 7 weeks. Instead it almost seems like they are avoiding looking at me when they talk to me so that they won’t say something about how horrible they look. Of course, it may be my imagination, but real or not, it’s sad and depressing.

I hope the product helps and that you’ll share with us but I’m not sure there is anything we can do to fix this from the outside.
Sue

[SueAndHerZoo]

in reply to: Is Graves as a response instead of a disease? #1180920

Hmmmmm…. definitely food for thought. Now that I think about it I had just gone through a very prolonged, stressful period when my “borderline” thyroid condition of many years finally blew up and demanded attention. And then it was pretty much under control (with meds and a remission) for about 6 years until I went through the WORST stress-filled 6 months of my life. It blew up again demanding I take care of it, and myself.

I’ve recently had a TT so what does that mean for the future stressful periods in my life (since none of us can avoid them completely). Does it mean it will trigger it to attack our eyes instead? Geez, that thought is enough to keep me sedated on tranquilizers for the rest of my life – scary!

Sue

[SueAndHerZoo]

in reply to: Feeling OK but Looking Horrible #1180827

Thanks, Amanda….. your comments were very helpful. I think I’m going to have to give up trying to figure out WHY my eyes look so terrible because I / we may never know. I’ll instead focus on learning the best way to minimize the look so that people will stop asking me if I feel alright. I have some new products on their way (mail order) and will practice and play around and if that doesn’t work I will take a trip to a Sephora and see what they can do.

I used to find that the more I tried to cover it the more I drew attention to it but now the darkness is so bad that some attempt is better than none.

Ahhh, the little things other people take for granted. :rolleyes:
Sue

[SueAndHerZoo]

in reply to: Lack of endurance or old age? #1180900

Right there with you on the age and the Energizer Bunny….. several people really do call me that, or at least they DID 2 months ago.

I am hoping this is temporary and that we will get our endurance back….it’s not always possible to plan a “down day” after an activity day.

Sue

[SueAndHerZoo]

in reply to: Feeling OK but Looking Horrible #1180825

Thanks for the responses everyone.

I don’t think I have any eye symptoms – I think I was just very paranoid and LOOKING for things to worry about. When I am busy and distracted my eyes are fine, when I have too much time on my hands, I start thinking they feel funny. If I notice any symptoms that seem continued or persistent I will definitely see my eye doctor, but I have a question regarding that: I saw him in February of this year because I felt like my eyes “weren’t working together”. If I closed one it was fine, if I closed the other it was fine, but with both opened, I felt like they weren’t focusing together. He did a typical exam and found nothing was wrong. Would he have noticed any GED problems without actually LOOKING for them? I never mentioned GED to him because I didn’t find out I was out of remission until a week later.

Regarding the dark circles, I’m sorry to hear you, too, have noticed your eyes look worse. Misery loves company, but I hope we both find that it’s TEMPORARY. Today they look so bad I thought of calling in sick. And please do share any make up tricks that work…. I’ve tried several and now have another eye concealer on order – hope by the time it arrives I won’t need it.

The journey continues, but I keep trying to appreciate how good I feel most of the time and how much worse it COULD be.
Sue

[SueAndHerZoo]

in reply to: My TT Journey 8/27/13 #1180796

Hi there. Glad you’re doing well – the headaches are gone, right?

When I went for my first post-surgery follow up with my endo I asked him why he only checked my TSH and my free T4 and how we’d know if my body was converting T4 to T3 properly. He went into a very long and technical explanation (of which I understood very little) about why there was no need to check T3 and that there is never a reason to supplement with T3, etc. I was disappointed that he wouldn’t even consider the possibility and he then told me that some of his patients have insisted on trying it so he abides begrudgingly, and then stated that it has never brought improvement to the patient – he totally is against T3 dosing. I was disappointed but somewhat comforted knowing that if I don’t feel good in a few months he will consider letting me try T3 for experimentation.

I work with a lady who has been on Synthroid for well over a year and is still feeling awful …. her doctor is going to let her try T3 after her next visit but that’s not until October. I’ll be monitoring her closely and let others here know what kind of results she has.

Take care of yourself and get lots and lots of rest.
Sue

[SueAndHerZoo]

in reply to: Feeling OK but Looking Horrible #1180821

Thanks for the laugh, Amy. I loved your “banshee” reference…. lately when I look in the morning I see a sort of zombie affect. It hasn’t gotten better and now I wonder if I have a cold or something…. lots of congestion, mild stomach upset, and extra tired.

If that’s the worst of my problems I’m a lucky lady. I am also paying close attention to slightly changing vision…. don’t know if it’s a TED thing or if I’m just being paranoid. Having the eyes involved scares the crap out of me.
Sue

[SueAndHerZoo]

in reply to: Hello again, and another post-TT update #1180532

Hi Amy…. so glad you updated because I’ve been wondering and thinking about you.

It is really good news (amazing how we can find things to celebrate in what other people would think are negative things) that your labs are now more closely matching how you feel. Validation is always a wonderful thing.

Congratulations on your positive attitude and your determination to get on with your life in spite of the way you feel. That is incredibly hard to do so I really applaud you for that.

Perhaps the worst is behind you and the good stuff will start to happen soon. Long overdue, right?

Stay in touch.
Sue

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