My appointment happened to fall on that really snowy Friday a few weeks ago so most of his patients had cancelled. I think he was a little bored because he ended up spending almost an hour with us.
He explained everything in great details, ordered more blood tests to further narrow it down and for the 1st time in 3 months made me feel like I wasn't going crazy. I had gotten to where I was itchy 24 hours a day, with it worse at night. I'd have 2 or 3 baths a night just to get me through the night. My head was getting so foggy I couldn't even think. I had a rash from my knees to my ankles and I was eating 24 hours a day.
He found an old blood test from 2008 that showed I was borderline hyperthyroid then. Not sure what has happened since then but he said it was very likely shot into Graves Disease after my hysterectomy. A few other things I learned.
- Thyroid stuff is very misdiagnosed. Sometimes dermatology issues are caused by Graves. Thyroid
- It can make you wacky. He had a patient about my age run away from home and end up in the psych ward. It was Graves disease.
- Had a teen patient in a wilderness program, she was a super behavior problem. Graves disease.
- Possibility that my body could put it in remission and might not have to be on medication my whole life.
We decided to go ahead and try medication for a while and see if it helps. I can always "kill" the thyroid later. If it doesn't go into remission I'll be on medication for the rest of my life anyway.
The drug seems to be helping, although the first few days on it were a little "iffy." I cancelled my chemo and honestly was hoping to drop out of the study. But after talking to Dr. Z I'm going to give it another month and just make a decision month by month.
No comments:
Post a Comment