Yaaaaaaaaay.

[feuervogel]

I get to see my doctor tomorrow morning to talk about my thyroid blah. Apparently they prefer you to speak to someone if you're having problems, rather than just getting bloodwork. Which means another $20 copay tomorrow, plus the one for my exam in a month.

I'd say 3 migraines in 10 days when I'd had one or two in the previous 4 months is kind of significant, yeah. Never mind the tinnitus, eyebrows thinning, tiredness, or mucosal dryness.

I'm not sure how we're going to manage my dose, because a whole tablet is too much, and half isn't enough. I'm willing to play some of the tricks we play with warfarin, with a varying daily dose, if that'll help. Alternating half and whole will get me 19 mcg/day avg, while taking 4 halves and 3 wholes a week would be 18 mcg/day avg. I'll see what the labs show, I guess, and what the doctor suggests from there.

Comments

[annathepiper]

Sympathies from a fellow thyroid patient, hope it doesn't take a huge time to work out the proper dose for you! Things were a little wacky for me till I got mine settled.

[feuervogel]

Thanks!

My doctor's having me try alternating half and whole tablets until my next appointment, and she's adding a thyroid check to the bloodwork I'm getting done May 6. That's 3 weeks, so we should be at a new steady state again, even if my TSH won't have responded fully by then. It was undetectable in March.

[annathepiper]

You're most welcome!

Right now I'm actually taking two thyroid hormones--the levothyroxine/Synthroid at 137mcg, and liothyronine/Cytomel at 1-2 tablets of 5mcg as needed. I've found that this has been helpful for fine-tuning the amount I need in my system. I don't know if that'd work for you but in case it's an option, I'm mentioning!

Either way, good luck. :)

[feuervogel]

I'm on 50 mcg of Synthroid (had been stable for a year or so, after increasing from a year or so on 25 mcg), then after the Summer From Hell last year, when I was nauseous constantly and just doing very badly overall (which turned out to be abdominal migraines, after an extensive workup starting with a GI, going through a GYN, ENT, my eye doctor, and a neurologist), it was determined that I needed T3 as well.

Now we have to figure out how much T3. I was on 25 mcg, which was too much, so we cut it in half, and that's too little. Aiming for the happy middle this time. The T4 level was fine last month. I'm borderline hypothyroid. When we started treatment, my TSH was 2, which is the upper limit of normal. But my pharmacy school profs said, "treat the patient, not the number," and I was symptomatic. On 25 mcg, my TSH went down to 1-1.5, so I guess it was actually borderline.

There's a lot of medical debate on when to start treatment of hypothyroidism, and whether a TSH of 2 is where it should start, or if the current standard of 5 is where it should stay. The problem with letting the hypothyroidism go uncontrolled for so long is that it sucks for the patient, who's lethargic or cold or whatever other symptoms they have, and it could lead to long-reaching repercussions. Ask two endocrinologists, get three answers...

[annathepiper]

*nodnodnod to all of that*

I'm very happy that my endoc trusts me to know when my body's got the right levels. I hope yours will reach that same happy state with you. :)

[feuervogel]

My doctor's pretty awesome about that :) My body lets me know when things are off, and I say "hey, this ain't right," we chat a bit, and she makes some changes. It may help that I'm a medical professional...

[annathepiper]

Excellent! :) It sounds like you're in awesome hands.

[skogkatt.livejournal.com]

How did that go?

[feuervogel]

I tweeted about it, so I guess I didn't think about putting it here ^^;

We're going to alternate half and whole tablets and see how that goes for now. I'm having labs done May 6, for my physical (cholesterol, etc), and that's when we'll get thyroid levels.

[amakarie.livejournal.com]

I hope that they manage to figure out something better to help you manage symptoms. :/

[feuervogel]

It's working; we just have to get the dose right. Hormones is tricksy.