Hatrack River Forum: Xavier's Thyriod Saga: Pulse Pounding Action! Scary Radiation! Crippling Lethargy!

This is topic Xavier's Thyriod Saga: Pulse Pounding Action! Scary Radiation! Crippling Lethargy! in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :

Inspired by Boris's thread, I thought I would discuss my thyriod trials and tribulations.

For the longest time I resisted going to the doctor's, because I had no job or health insurance. My major health concerns were that that my hand's constantly trembled (severely sometimes) and my resting pulse was usually around 110-125 beats a minute. The first one was scary for fear that I had a neurological problem, but the second one was downright terrifying, considering both of my parent's died in their 40's with terminal heart problems. A heart attack killed my Mom at 43. My Dad had a heart attack a week or two before he died at 49, and his autopsy revealed that he most likely would have died of a heart attack within a year or two. My mother was a smoker of cigarettes, and my father was a marijuanna smoker, but niether were overweight. Considering my genes and my pulse / blood pressure, I already considered myself middle aged at ~20 years old.

But when I did get a job, I went in for bloodwork, and it was revealed that my thyriod hormone levels for T3 and T4 were something like three times the normal range. This was good news! It actually explained both of my symptoms in one neat little diagnosis, and it was about the most easily cured disease which could cause either of those problems. Me and Niki (Valentine014) were greatly releaved. It also explained some other oddities of my body. It explained why I had to go to the bathroom an insane amount of times a day. Also, why I could be perfectly comfortable on a freezingly cold day without so much as a coat. It also explained why I could eat and eat and eat and still both be hungry, and not gain a pound (more on that later).

So I was diagnosed with Grave's disease about 3 months ago. That means that my Thyriod was hyperactive, caused by my immune system attacking it, and the thyriod releasing more hormone than usual as a defense mechanism. I told my immune system over and over again to play nice, but it wouldn't listen! The doctor's recommendation was actually to take my immune system's side and kill my thyriod. Yeesh, doctor's have no sense of justice.

A little pill with a surprisingly strong dose of radioactive iodine was the method of execution. Had to sleep in the living room for a couple days, and had a terrible sore throat, but not too bad. They don't try to kill "just enough" of your thyriod to get you at a normal level. Standard procedure is just to take the sucker out for good.

Now my thyriod is a mass of dead tissue [Frown]

. R.I.P.

My thyriod hormone was dead center in the "normal" range about a month ago, and the doctor wanted to wait until it was down to hypo (too little) range before starting my on the synthetic thyrioid hormone.

So now a month after that, without even taking a blood test, I can assure you that my thyriod hormone levels are down to a very very small number. I had a very standard set of symptoms of a hyperactive thyriod, and now I have just about all the symptoms of a hypoactive thyriod person [Frown]

.

First off, my pulse is now down to around 62 beats while resting. That may not mean much to those who are used to having a slow heartbeat, but that is just about half of what mine was a couple months ago. The transition hasn't been easy, let me tell ya.

The main symptom is that my energy levels "crash" in the afternoons now. Its making my work life very difficult. The reason I have the time to type this all out, is that I am far too tired to actually do any work. I just stare at my screen in frustration. I'm a programmer by trade, and by definition have to spend most of my day thinking. Very hard to do after my crash.

I can't seem to make my "crash" time any later than 3:30. I got 10+ hours of sleep thursday of last week, and still couldn't make it any longer before turning into a waste of space at my desk on Friday. I've taken a day off already, and have been leaving an hour or more earlier than eight hours every day. I'll probably have to claim that as sick time, which I am quickly running out of, and the year isn't much more than half over.

One of the days I left early was because I was freezing my ass off at my office. It was 100+ degrees outside (literally), but the air conditioner was making me extremely cold and uncomfortable. This from the same guy who would skip wearing a coat in near subzero winter conditions just last winter.

I've also had some pretty serious mood swings and depression. I go home and stare at the TV, or my computer, or nothing in particular. I went something like three days without smiling, and have gotten into multiple fights with Niki. Not fun.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention. I have gained, no exaggeration, over twenty pounds in the last month and a half. [Eek!]

My metabolism went from a hot furnace to absolutely nothing. It was funny when my pregnant coworker was marveling that she had gained seven pounds that month, and I told her my total for this month. I'm gaining weight over twice as fast as she is. The idea of doing exercise is laughable to me right now, as I barely have the energy to get off the couch. I am going to wait until we get my levels back to normal before trying to lose a single pound.

Hyperthyriodism was certainly the scarier of the two, having my heart feel like it was going to beat right out of my chest (it would honestly keep me up at night sometimes it was so loud and fast), but hypothyriodism has the more unbearable symptoms I would say.

My endocronologist appointment is on August 5th, so I still have two work weeks left before I can start the hormone treatment. I called the endocronologist's office with my symptoms, but they said that this was the earliest possible appointment, and to call again if I get worse.

On the practical end, I am wondering who else on hatrack have had thyriod problems, and what they did about them. Of special interest to me would be what they do about the afternoon (or whenever) energy crashes. Today I tried drinking large quantities of caffiene at lunch, but no dice. Getting massive amounts of sleep didn't work much better.

On a more general end, I am waiting for the clock to say something between 4:00PM or 4:30PM depending on how long I can stay here killing time, and felt like sharing my thyriod stories with you folk [Smile]

Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :

I am hypothyroid, although I didn't notice I had any symptoms until they cleared up through daily supplements.

The weird thing is that I think my thyroid cranks up every now and then and I get a brief spate of too much T4, which leads to smaller versions of the symptoms you describe. There's nothing I can do when this happens except wait it out.

The good news is that most of your symptoms should respond to medication within a week or so. The only downside is that you will not have the same ability to eat anything, and so may still gain weight until your body's appetite meter readjusts.

Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :

Wow. That sounds hideous. [Frown]

My doctor very briefly thought I had thyroid issues when I was a teenager, but it turned out to be a false alarm.

Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :

Once you start on your replacement hormones, you will feel normal, and it will be a wonderful feeling. In the meanwhile, try to remember, it is spelled "t-h-y-r-o-i-d".

Until then, feel better and take care. Sorry you are so down.

Posted by Jim-Me (Member # 6426) on :

My sister had hers removed because it was cancerous... and she went through many similar things, though not as severe. I hope it goes as well for you as it now is for her.

Posted by Theaca (Member # 8325) on :

The sudden change in thyroid function is going to be much more noticeable to you than to people who went from normal to hypothyroid much more slowly. Also, you had gotten used to the hyperthyroid state, to some extent, so that even when you are "normal" (euthyroid) you might feel hypothyroid in comparison to your previous self. The weight gain is a very unfortunate common problem in people who are used to eating anything they want while hyperthyroid. You'll probably have to fight that one when you are euthyroid too.

Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :

My mother had this, Xav. I don't really remember all that she went through, but I do remember her saying that she could definitely, definitely tell the difference between generic and brand name thyroid replacement horomone. The brand name worked, and the generic only worked so so. We went generic whenever possible normally, but it's worth the money to get the brand name replacement in that case.

This was, as a caveat, almost ten years. Things might have changed since then.

Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :

quote:
In the meanwhile, try to remember, it is spelled "t-h-y-r-o-i-d"

Haha, well, the first thing to go when I get tired is my spelling ability. Plus I was feeling way too lazy to stick this is a spell checker.

quote:
The sudden change in thyroid function is going to be much more noticeable to you than to people who went from normal to hypothyroid much more slowly. Also, you had gotten used to the hyperthyroid state

I have had similar thoughts Theaca. I also suspect that I have had hyperthyroidism for a while, since the hand tremors have been going on for years. When my brother saw the hand shaking in Saving Private Ryan he said "Hey that's you Phil!" and that movie came out in 1998. Same goes for the fast metabolism and heat tolerance. Been that way almost as long as I can remember.

quote:
My mother had this, Xav. I don't really remember all that she went through, but I do remember her saying that she could definitely, definitely tell the difference between generic and brand name thyroid replacement horomone.

Thanks Katie! I'll be sure to mention that with my endocrinologist. I'm sure we will try the generics first anyway though.

Thanks for the support guys!

Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :

I wish I had thyroid problems. It would explain the 10+ hours of sleep I have to get, not to mention the fatigue and lethargy... But they tested me and nothing came up... I'm hoping the sleep apnea study I'm taking will come up with something. (sigh)

Anyway, good luck. At least you have hope that it'll turn around in the forseeable future. [Smile]

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

Man! I am so sorry you are going through this, but I'm also glad that your condition was/is treatable. I hope the hormone replacement therapy works well for you.