Posted by ksvt on December 5, 2000, at 21:03:05
In reply to Noa - thyroid results, posted by ksvt on December 4, 2000, at 13:37:29
> > - I wish I could take some of you with me on pdoc appointments. I might do alot better job at maintaining my focus. I saw my pdoc this morning and as is typical, came away feeling that I really hadn't explained myself very well, or made him understand what I was trying to accomplish. I got him to increase the dose of the drug I'm taking now. He tried to suggest that i try another augmentation drug, but his effort seemed really half-hearted, and he rather quickly backed off one we had discussed before (celexa) because it's an SSRI and I haven't responded to those all that well in the past. So I sort of ended up where I wanted to before I went but I still felt so crummy about it afterwards. I think it's because what I really wanted from him, and didn't get, was some acknowledgment that it is worth the trouble to explore meds alternatives - that there is room for improvement and that improvement is a viable goal. Unfortunately, I've been in pretty good shape for the last couple of days so I don't (at least didn't today) present as someone in distress. As horrible as I feel sometimes, there is still a quantitiative difference between now and when I first started seeing him. I don't see him very often now, so unless I'm sitting in his office with a gun pointed at my head, he just sees how much better I am. I realized after the fact that I had spent a chunk of the time trying, in my rather awkward way, to convince him that I wasn't just some hypochodriacal woman who can't tough out a little mood shifting. (he seems to think alot of it may be PMS) I don't know why this is important since my therapist was pretty encouraging that I go so I don't think she feels that was. I decided that if I'm going to get anywhere with a new doc, I'm going to have to do a better job of explaining the frequency and severity of my depressive feelings. So I came up with the idea (ala Shellie's spread sheets) of trying to chart my moods like by diary entries or something. Have any of you tried this and if so, was it helpful?? ksvt
Noa - I just found my most recent bllod work results (March, 2000). I don't know what any of the tests are for or, obviously, what the results mean. My T4 was 8.7 and my TSH was 1.99. There was no T3 (I think you mentioned this one). Could you fill me in on what all this means? Thanks k
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> If waiting is hard, go ahead and start the process of transferring to a new doc now.
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> > About the thyroid---what I have learned is that many docs trust the statistical norms for TSH results as the "Truth" for everyone, but the real TRUTH is that for some people, the edges of the normal range is not normal for them.
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> > My TSH tested at the border of normal, but I felt horrible. One review in the Brittish Journal of Medicine found that a TSH of 2 or above (when TSH is high, it can indicate hypothyroidism, when it is low, it can indicate hyperthyroidism) was highly correlated with later overt thyroid disease. But docs consider anything between .5 and 5 (approximately--it can be differnt for different labs) to be "normal". Mine tested at about 4.5. I was in horrible shape. Not until I was on enough thyroid hormone that my TSh went down to below 1 did I start to really feel better.
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> > What were your TSH, Total T4, and T3 results numbers? (Do you mind my asking?)
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> > Lots more info in the THyroid and Depression folder--link at top of PSB page.
poster:ksvt
thread:3353
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20001117/msgs/3462.html