# Hallelujah



## mccreel (Apr 13, 2010)

I'm starting a new thread because I felt the last one became too much of a back and forth and I don't like that. 
Anyway, I saw the Dr. today, he talked to me for about 30 min, explained a lot about how thyroid could effect a lot of other parts of things, explained how after the test we could compound what I needed, explaind how he don't like to go by just tsh because he don't think and latest studies have shown that is not a reliable enough test (hallelujah) and he has ordered a FULL panel work up. Free t4, Free t3, Total t4, TPO, tsh included, something called Vitamin d 25 hydroxy, and ferritin because he said those 2 could effect how thyroid could work. I will do blood work tomorrow before I take meds so it will be 24 hours at least since I last took them to get blood work as close to no meds in system as possible because he wants to see where I am as a starting point himself. Actually i usually set my clock to take meds so by time i drop my son off at school, get to Huntsville to get the work drawn when these outpatient labs open, it will be close to 30 hours. He said he was at a conference on thyroid a couple of months ago and an internist was speaking on how he was butting heads with some endocrynologists on their own information. Some was still going by old numbers, not the new hypo numbers, not wanting to use t3 supplimentation, and it was in their own endocrynology research, yet they were ignoring it. They didn't understand it. But he goes to all the conferences he can, is up on all the new research, knows about how sometimes t4 does not convert to t3 as it shoud so you need to supplement. Sometimes it is not needed but a lot of the times it is. He wrote out different examples of if it shows this, you need this, if it shows that, then it means this, if you are vitiman d defficient and t 3 low then we need to go this route. I feel very confident with him. It will be the first of next week when my blood work is in and we go from there.
I am relaxed for the first time in weeks.


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## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

I understand that Cytomel stays in the system for much longer than a few days. More specificially, at 2 ½ days the Cytomel is at 50% concentration. So you’re probably not accomplishing much by not taking your meds on the morning before the test.


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## peaches (Sep 29, 2009)

You Go girl! I am glad to hear that you have a doctor who seems to know what he is talking about. I hope everything helps you to get your body back on track. CA-Lynn is probably right you won't be able have all of the medication out of your system but at least you have a doctor who is listening and is willing to run the tests and do what he can to get you back in the swing of things again. Let us know who your test work out.hugs4


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## mccreel (Apr 13, 2010)

CA-Lynn said:


> I understand that Cytomel stays in the system for much longer than a few days. More specificially, at 2 ½ days the Cytomel is at 50% concentration. So you're probably not accomplishing much by not taking your meds on the morning before the test.


This is the last time I reply directly to you Ca Lynn. I am not mad or being sassy. Just a statement. EVery time I post, you reply with something negative. I don't know what your problem is. I don't know why. You are what I got started with the back and forth with in the last post with. I am not going to waste my time with the back and forth this time. I found someone that knows what he is talking about and for the first time I feel great about my treatment choices. I think I will believe the Dr. about the testing thank you. If all you have to say on my posts are negavive, you can just not post thank you. And I hope you have a great life. no hard feelings.


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## HeidiBR (Apr 4, 2010)

What is negative about what CA-Lynn posted? I think it is informative, and think she is trying to help you out, so that your tests are more accurate.


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## hillaryedrn (Dec 14, 2009)

Please, everyone. Just let it go. This site is supposed to be for support. Let's try to keep it that way. Keep it nice, clean, and supportive. No debates about what was negative or otherwise. Thank you.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

mccreel said:


> I'm starting a new thread because I felt the last one became too much of a back and forth and I don't like that.
> Anyway, I saw the Dr. today, he talked to me for about 30 min, explained a lot about how thyroid could effect a lot of other parts of things, explained how after the test we could compound what I needed, explaind how he don't like to go by just tsh because he don't think and latest studies have shown that is not a reliable enough test (hallelujah) and he has ordered a FULL panel work up. Free t4, Free t3, Total t4, TPO, tsh included, something called Vitamin d 25 hydroxy, and ferritin because he said those 2 could effect how thyroid could work. I will do blood work tomorrow before I take meds so it will be 24 hours at least since I last took them to get blood work as close to no meds in system as possible because he wants to see where I am as a starting point himself. Actually i usually set my clock to take meds so by time i drop my son off at school, get to Huntsville to get the work drawn when these outpatient labs open, it will be close to 30 hours. He said he was at a conference on thyroid a couple of months ago and an internist was speaking on how he was butting heads with some endocrynologists on their own information. Some was still going by old numbers, not the new hypo numbers, not wanting to use t3 supplimentation, and it was in their own endocrynology research, yet they were ignoring it. They didn't understand it. But he goes to all the conferences he can, is up on all the new research, knows about how sometimes t4 does not convert to t3 as it shoud so you need to supplement. Sometimes it is not needed but a lot of the times it is. He wrote out different examples of if it shows this, you need this, if it shows that, then it means this, if you are vitiman d defficient and t 3 low then we need to go this route. I feel very confident with him. It will be the first of next week when my blood work is in and we go from there.
> I am relaxed for the first time in weeks.


I think you hit paydirt here. Any doc that voluntarily orders the Frees and Ferritin lab tests is an Ace as far as I am concerned. Good for you!! He sounds current. That is also impressive.

Let us know.


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## mccreel (Apr 13, 2010)

HeidiBR said:


> What is negative about what CA-Lynn posted? I think it is informative, and think she is trying to help you out, so that your tests are more accurate.


she did a lot of posting on another post of mine and everytime it was negative. maby it was ment to be informative. but it was negative. And it came across as, well, I don't want to get into it again. I guess we just rub each other the wrong way for some reason. I don't know why. She don't like the Dr. I go to and I don't like her all negative comments to every post I post


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## mccreel (Apr 13, 2010)

hillaryedrn said:


> Please, everyone. Just let it go. This site is supposed to be for support. Let's try to keep it that way. Keep it nice, clean, and supportive. No debates about what was negative or otherwise. Thank you.


That's fine and all I want. I don't want lectures and negativity. I got all of that from my nasty dr. that dismissed me out of hand the other day...lol
I just got back from my blood test. I also had some blood test for allergies done today too. I think I am out of blood..lol. I think they took about 12 tubes. Really. Can't wait for results. Will let you know as soon as I know. Sorry for letting myself get in the back in forth. I have been down because of not being able to find a dr. that gives a crap enough to even run a test to find out what the heck is wrong me. I have REALLY been down. I usually don't let myself get drawn into crap like that. Everyone has there own opinion. I have just been in such a state this week. Feeling bad to begin with then being treated like a nut by a dr. does wonders for soemone's state of mind. I'm sure some of you can relate. So, Sorry.


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## mccreel (Apr 13, 2010)

Andros said:


> I think you hit paydirt here. Any doc that voluntarily orders the Frees and Ferritin lab tests is an Ace as far as I am concerned. Good for you!! He sounds current. That is also impressive.
> 
> Let us know.


He talked to me for a real long time, when i told him my expreiences with other dr's he just rolled his eyes like "those iddiots". It was kind of funny. he said a full panel and when I looked at the form for the work I was like YEAH!!!!!
Finally, I am getting a full work up and maby can finally find out what the heck.
he said it could be possably as late as Tuesday or Wednesday for results. I'll let you guys know.


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## hillaryedrn (Dec 14, 2009)

I'm glad you're finally getting the information you need from the doctors! Good for you!


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## mccreel (Apr 13, 2010)

you know, when did it become so freaken hard for a Dr. to actually believe a patient when they are sitting in their office? I understand some patients make things up, but they are easy enought to find out if you take your time with them, you can tell if they are making symptoms up, instead of just barely spending time with the patient, pre judging them and kicking them out. Someone prejudged my mother one time in the e.r. as having an anxiety attack (another seperate time from a time I talked about before) was not going to run bloodwork at all and was just letting her sit there, and she was swelling and swelling, she was having one of her anaphalactic attacks, a Dr. that she knew happen to walk buy and hear her and asked if he could look at her and started working on her immediately. She was almost to the point of having to be trached. (I was not with her on that one, drove herself.)
I was admitted with strange symptoms in hospital, jerking, stuttering, couldn't say more than 2 words without completely stopping and freezing up, could not walk without help, brain locking up, it was awful, i was dissoriented, they all thought i was having panic attack. Had to make them admit me. Blood work was showing nothing yet I still could not function. Had to call nurst to help me to bathroom. Would ease up for a while then start back. Like rounds of seizures or something. I found where mixing my migrain med with certain medications causes something called seratonin syndrome. Causes all the symptoms I was having. Told them about the meds I accidentely mixed and and they just looked at me like I was nuts. They started asking me how my relationship was with my husband. Asked if we had a fight, if he treated me O.K., ran him out of the room to speak to only me about our "relationship". the dr. gave me medication that clashed with my migrain meds and sent me into another fit and ingored that face and released me from the hospital a few hours later. The thing about seratonin syndrome is weird. You could look it up, they say the way you know it is seratonin syndrome, look at the meds people are taking, after you run all the tests, if nothing shows up on the tests then it is probably seratonin syntrome. Strange thing I know, but, I left the hospital, went to my family dr, he said he had someone else that had happened to, gave me some meds for it, my husband took me home and took off from work to stay with me because I was still sick. But with the meds my dr. gave me, it helped counteract what was happening and withen a few days I was getting over all that. Now those people in the hospital were supposed experts that was running tests that decided when i came in there that I was over nervous, had anxiety attacks, had problems at home, and it manefested the way it did. If I knew about seretonin syndrome, my family dr. knew, they are putting out FDA warinings about mixing certain meds with migrain meds can cause seratonin symdrome and have all the symptoms I was having, black box warning on my migrain meds and they looked at my meds when i checked in, how hard would it be to find out or at least investigate that it could be a possibility? I saw a story that a women had collapsed in her home, went into a coma, took her to hospital, run all kinds of tests, Dr. could not find anything wrong. She had mixed migrain meds with something that threw her into seratonin syndrome so much it threw her into a coma. That is dangerious and they just ingored me and I could have died....O.K. my rand is done for now.....


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## HeidiBR (Apr 4, 2010)

I guess I'm really lucky. I really like and respect my endocrinologist and I was lucky since he was the first doctor I went to. From your earlier posts on this thread, it sounds like you have found a great doctor, too. I wish you the best of luck in getting what you need - a doctor who listens is more than half the battle, I think.


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## mccreel (Apr 13, 2010)

Hey guys, got my info back today. Was not able to get to the lab as early as I wanted, Had something come up with my son at school so I had already taken my meds but his office called and told me of an alternate place where they draw blood closer to my house. He's in Huntsville and I am just outside of Decatur, about 35 miles from each other and these are clinics associated with Huntsville Hospital. Anyway, he said just go ahead and get the blood and he would see where I am on the meds because I had told him I am still having a hard time with my allergic mess at home and it has been running me down and I could really tell the difference by late afternoon from not taking my meds. I don't know if it was a psychological thing or not but anyway, He had my t4 and tsh that my original dr. did. I am getting them sent to me but my free t4 was 1. 8 range .8 to 1.9 my free t3 was 3.2 range 1.8 to 4.2 he did not mention tsh because he does not go by that much. I am having them sent to me. He also said that my Iron and Vitamin D were EXTREMELY, and it was emphasized, low. almost non existent. i did not even think to ask the numbers. But I am having the info sent to me. Anyway, He is starting me on iron and large doses of vitamin d and I am to be rechecked in 3 month's. He said to keep my meds the same unless I start feeling like they are not working as well and I am starting to loose ground instead of gaining. I did some research and a couple of things could be aggravating my allergies and swollen glands mess I have been having. Of course the thyroid can cause part of it, but there has been some research that shows that there has been a rise in vitamin d deficiency and in people that have had asthma problems and allergy/anaphalatic reaction they were low in vitamin d. The low b12 I am taking injections for, low iron, low vitamin d, hypothyroid,-I'm a walking mess. No wonder I am hypo allergic reactive (I know probably not a real term, my term. I do that sometimes...lol..) I have always had a milk allergy but not enough to send me into an allergic frenzy mess. I have been trying to super clean my house and every time I vacuum to clean up after our cats, I swell up, and I can't breath and I have to go outside. We have had cats for 20 years. Non stop and that has NEVER happened. Never ever. So hopefully it will all correct itself when I get my system backed up.
Anyway, there it is.
Melissa


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## hillaryedrn (Dec 14, 2009)

I'm glad you got this taken care of!! That Vit D is interesting if nothing else! Vit D is an immune system booster, so if it is low, that does indeed explain the allergies! I am very interested in seeing all of your results when you get them.


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## mccreel (Apr 13, 2010)

O.K. guys, I am learning as I go, but I have had some reactions that is interesting that I thought I would share. I have had a reaction to aldactone, rash, itching, had to stop taking. Turns out some of the side effects can be, and it is a quite common one, a tumor on the thyroid. Can't blame the dr. on that one though because I had asked for a new diuretic when I became allergic to dyazide and that was one of them that did not have lactose in them (since I am allergic to lactose) and it was right as I was diagnosed with hypothyroid and did not even look at that possibility. But really, if it happens quite often, how safe could that drug be? It also says it triggers symptoms where your body reacts like it has lupus. my grandmother had lupus so I could be at risk anyway, I already had endometriosis and now hypothyroid, don't need anything else. Symptoms are supposed to stop when medication stops though. Also, had a stuffy head flare up and took mucinex d which had sudifed in it. BAD IDEA!!! I know it is supposed to be not so good for hyperthyroid but I found out some people (apparently me) develop super sensitives to drugs and medications like sudifed is one of them. Swollen glands, throat swelling, skin looked translucent, almost like wet rice paper if that makes any sense and my veins looked neon blue. very strange. But after I took some benedryl it went back to normal. After sudifed wore off, started feeling better and as aldactone got out of my system, slowly got better. Now I am going to have to find a natural diuretic that works really well I guess. I still swell really bad. Hopefully as my thyroid gets more straightened out I will swell less but for now I need one and I also read that thyzide diuretics are not good to mix with hypothyroid anyway and I have to have a potassium sparing because my potassium tends to drop out. I guess in the long run natural would be better due to the potassium loss I tend to have. I have been trying to find a way to get off as many meds as I can. Especially since I don't want anything to mess with my thyroid meds. I know steroids are out, had steroid shot with bad allergic reaction and that was a hugs mistake. Sent me on a whirlwind of bad stuff. Learned because of how hypothyroid people metabolize things differently and how steroids to cortisol that it just don't gell well. Zyrtec made me swell up and my neck actually turned blue like I had lack of oxygen and it gave me allergic asthma. I vacuumed and my chest almost sized up. I came off of zyrtec, have vacuumed since and have not seized up once. My other main thing is trying to find something for a stuffed up head because I am ALWAYS getting sinus infections, so what is there that will work and not interfere with hypothyroid and the medications?
Melissa


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## hillaryedrn (Dec 14, 2009)

mccreel said:


> I have had a reaction to aldactone, rash, itching, had to stop taking. Turns out some of the side effects can be, and it is a quite common one, a tumor on the thyroid. Can't blame the dr. on that one though because I had asked for a new diuretic when I became allergic to dyazide and that was one of them that did not have lactose in them (since I am allergic to lactose) and it was right as I was diagnosed with hypothyroid and did not even look at that possibility. But really, if it happens quite often, how safe could that drug be?


According to the 2010 Davis Drug Guide, here are the possible side-effects of Aldactone (spironolactone):

dizziness, clumsiness, headache, arrhythmias, GI irritation, ED, dysuria, gynecomastia in males, breast tenderness, deepening of voice, increased hair growth in females, hyperkalemia, hyponatremia, hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis, agranulocytosis, muscle cramps, and allergic reactions.

I found no evidence of this medication causing a tumor on the thyroid. I also checked with the MD's I work with and none of them had heard of this either. Could you post a link to where you found this information? I'm curious!

As for finding something that works with your stuffy head and doesn't interfere with hypo/meds, I'm afriad I'm at a loss as to what to suggest!! I wasn't aware of the meds you listed as interfering with hypo/meds, so I'm sorry I can't help there!


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## mccreel (Apr 13, 2010)

http://doublecheckmd.com/DrugDetail.do?dname=Aldactone&sid=1558&view=ps
granted it is in testing when they give high doses but still it shows a possibility. I just know I have been off of it 3 days now and things are starting to calm back down for me. The thing is, I also took the sudifed 3 or 4 days ago so the sudifed probably kicked things off but since I have been so hypersensitive it may have got where I could not take it anymore. That is what happened to me before. I had always had sensativites to lactose. I could eat dairy but too much would give me infections. I used a protein drink and had an allergic reaction because it was whey protein. Very concentrated. After that all my meds that had a lactose binder I started having reactions to. I had to change all my meds be where I had no lactose in them. Then I started settling down. That is how I got on aldactone to begin with. I was on dyazide and it had lactose as a binder. I was on dyazide for 16 years and I suddenly became allergic. Had to change. So maby when the sudifed set me off this time it was the aldactone that took the brunt this time because I quit taking it and things started calming down. With a lot of help from benedryl. But if you read warnings for sudafed it givs warnings for thyroid. mainly for hyper but they say some hypo become extra sensative to drugs and it can affect them and can set off something like thyroiditis/infimation. So I guess that is what happened with me. Not everyone that is hypo but lucky me. My mom has anaphalactic reactions to all kinds of stuff so I guess I shouldn't be surprised I am having reactions to things. I also got to thinkin drugs have always acted different in me. If a dr. gives a person 1 pill for pain I would only need 1/2 or it would knock me out for over 24 hours. Actifed, taking 1 would knock me out for 12 hours. When I started on topamax for my migrains you are supposed to be able to move up on dosage every 2 to 3 weeks, I went from 25 to 50mg after 2 but when he tried to move me to 75 I was like a zombie, it took me 2 month's to move up to 75 and I needed to move up because I was still getting a good bit of heaaches. And it took another 3 to get me to 100mg before my headaches started slowing down. He said he had never seen anyone have to move up so slow. I am just wondering if it was because maby I was borderline or kind of hypo then and I didn't know about the t4 and t3 stuff and didn't know to push about the right things so I may have been borderline most my life and after my hysterectamy for endometriosis and my other hormones went crazy it just finish going off the deep end. Just a thought.


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## hillaryedrn (Dec 14, 2009)

> Animal studies have suggested an association between spironolactone with benign adenomas of the thyroid


Is this what you were talking about? Ok, yes, those tests are performed using "megadoses" of medications.



> Turns out some of the side effects can be, and it is a quite common one, a tumor on the thyroid





> granted it is in testing when they give high doses but still it shows a possibility


This is definitely only a REMOTE possibility, not a common side effect.

I'm sorry you're having so many problems finding medications that work for you!


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