Hugs to you Michelle. I will be thinking of you.

I have had it. It is stressful enough to have DS having more seizures. He is being put on new medicine. We have been told a whole list of things that can be triggers for seizures. Stimulants being one of them. He is ADHD. Stimulants relax him. The new medicine is suppose to help also with the ADHD. We have to slowly introduce it. He broke his arm. The day before his MRI. Suddenly we have the MRI and a trip to the sports med people to all in the same morning. Because of the cast he is limited how he can play. He isn't active like he needs to be and can't do the things he needs to be doing. He is so hyper right now I am going crazy. He has to have surgery on his arm monday. He almost slipped tonight goofing around in the bathroom. Had I not caught him he would have cracked his head open. I am so stressed at the moment. I just need to vent. It was the straw that broke the camels back. At the rate this summer is going; I won't have any brown hair left. It will be all white and I'm not even 40. He is so hyper I don't even feel comfortable leaving him with my mother to go to the gym which means I'm not getting there. I have to go. Thanks for listening.

Michelle

Hugs to Peg and Laura both. I know you're both strong enough to get through these tough times.

Hugs to you Peg. you are a loving daughter.

Wow, a stressful week on the whole. Nothing has had a bad outcome but man I am pretty stressed out. I'm not really across the finish line yet either. I'm having an overnight guest tomorrow and the house really isn't clean enough for that. I knew I should've just hired a housekeeper but I keep dragging my feet. Now I think I'll have to take a couple hours off work tomorrow to get things in shape. Blech....

Today would've been my mom's 71st birthday. I am happy to say that everything is so much easier for me this 3rd year but it still makes you pause. My dad seemed good tonight though and that makes all the difference for me. It's hard to see him hurting but things seem to be easier for him this year too. This is our 3rd birthday without her. Seems sort of unreal....

I did get some good news today. My car has been making weird sounds and I'd been having trouble getting a diagnosis of what was wrong. I found a Subaru specialist who immediately knew what was wrong by my description and assured me I was safe on the interstate. He even recommended I let it go a while longer. Don't find many mechanics sending work away. I really, really appreciate it when I find someone I feel like I can trust with the car stuff. I hate dealing with it and I was within inches of trading it in in the last few months but I really don't want a car payment. Looks like we'll be able to keep going for quite a while. Whew!

Lots of stress in other loved ones lives and that is stressing me out but I am happy to say it doesn't seem to have phased my eating. It's not so much that I stress eat but I don't take the time to eat healthy sometimes when the stress level rises. I'm doing good this week on that front.

Peg

Thanks for the idea, Peg. I might just try and do that. (And thanks for the laugh. )

I guess I've calmed down about all of this considerably since my dr referred me to this endo. And it's not like I have not had to make adjustments to being cold for the last, oh, roughly 18 years, so really 3 more months will really not be that big of a deal. I just got my hopes up too much that I'd have a solution sooner rather than later. And I'll just keep doing what I've been doing to keep going with all of the other stuff, since I can't really do much else.

quote:

Originally posted by p7eggyc:
Aren't there also issues around just running a TSH test and not the other ones (which I can't remember right now...T4??)? That was the other reason I thought I would rather consult a specialist because I just felt like they would be more likely to look at the entire picture instead of relying on one test. Am I off track?

No, I don't think you're off track. I think it is pretty common for most regular doctors to run a TSH and leave it at that, where an endo is more likely to run the TSH, the T4, the T3 and the other one which I'm blanking on. So yea, it's much better to have the big picture.

I happen to be low in T3, for which I take Cytomel (in addition to the Synthroid I take for T4), and just a TSH wouldn't have shown that.

Laura,
Wow, that's a long time for an appt. Maybe I will call the one I had looked at the other day. Did you tell them you could take a cancellation? It might be worth it to give them a buzz any day you have a little time on your hands (stop laughing) and see if they happened to have a cancellation.

I don't know if this will be any comfort but I've been cold more easily since I lost weight so it could be that too. I used to be the girl running around CO w/o a coat for most of the year and I'm not that girl and haven't been since 2004. I don't think my thyroid has been messed up that long if it is. I doubt I'd still be borderline if it had been that.

Peg

Well, I've got an appointment now...

in September!

Oh well... I'm going to put together as much information as I can in the meantime. Symptoms, family history, time lines, hard numbers, etc. I don't know how much good it'll do, but I have to try.

I guess I'm going to be cold all summer anyway.

I know my dr ran the T4 and other test, and my dietician knows the endo that I got referred to. She said he's really good. I'm going to eventually call and see if he works under the 2007 change (I'm slightly above by those standards) of what is normal or hypo or hyper, or the "conventional" standards, where I'm slightly under.

quote:

As I've stated before in regard to my own situation, I understand why many doctors are conservative when it comes to thyroid meds:
a) they raise your metabolism and can be very dangerous (to your heart) if overmedicated.
b) docs get used to being asked by patients to prescribe meds for weight loss, whether or not the patient is hypo, so they get an attitude about not wanting to prescribe meds unless the patient is clearly in the hypo zone on levels.

Aren't there also issues around just running a TSH test and not the other ones (which I can't remember right now...T4??)? That was the other reason I thought I would rather consult a specialist because I just felt like they would be more likely to look at the entire picture instead of relying on one test. Am I off track?

Peg

Iz,
So sorry that things have been tough but bravo for seeking out some support. I am a big believer in pulling in those resources. I wanted to also suggest that you might find similar support online in a forum like this. You could check into YahooGroups for an appropriate email group and I am an active member at a board on iVillage that is a very safe and supportive place and I wouldn't be suprised to find a group around this issue over there. I tried to check but it doesn't want to load right now.

Hope you find just what you need and find it sooner rather than later. Big hugs.

Peg

thanks jill!
\
i have to say, dd has made tremendous progress in the last 2 years. therapy is a good thing! the more I understand her struggles, the better for both of us.

Iz-
I too am glad to hear you are getting the help/support you need. Sounds like your life has been pretty rough lately and being able to talk with those who are going through the same things as you can be a tremendous release of stress and will help you feel that you are not alone in what you and dd are going through. Big Hugs to you both.

Jill

thanks guys!

quote:

Originally posted by iz:
i have decided to seek support for parenting a child with depression. it has been super stressful. dd just lets out all of her *^(*&%*&% on me. i am the target. i am to blame for everything. you know..intellectually, i can say--this is her illness talking. but i am human. and i absorb people's negative toxic (and it is hard to admit that your own child is this toxic) energy, and it gets to me.

I'm so glad that you have reached out for help, Iz. I hope that it is of benefit to you. In the meantime, sending hugs from the beach.

Iz,
I am glad to hear that you are getting support for yourself and that you are reaching out. Big hugs.

laura, i am glad that things are progressing. keep us informed!

i have decided to seek support for parenting a child with depression. it has been super stressful. dd just lets out all of her *^(*&%*&% on me. i am the target. i am to blame for everything. you know..intellectually, i can say--this is her illness talking. but i am human. and i absorb people's negative toxic (and it is hard to admit that your own child is this toxic) energy, and it gets to me. she is not on meds, and we do not have any mental health coverage. she goes to a therapist that has a sliding scale. she won't take her ADHD medication because it makes her feel weird. we had the dosage adjusted and she still won't take it. i try to talk to other parents but they just think i am a terrible parent for not delaing with this the right way. so today, i emailed a friend who's son is also depressed, asking about resources for myself. and i emailed the depression bipolar alliance local contactperson for local support groups. there were days last month when i jsut oculd not take anymore. then dd went away to the beach, and the within the first 30 minutes of her return, she started in on me again--i was to blame for everything, etc etc. just horrible negative junk coming out of her mouth. this was the tipping point for me. i need help!

quote:

Originally posted by Coaster Girl:
My doctor referred me to an endo, after reading a letter I dropped off this AM that basically said the same things as I was venting about on Thursday night. I should have a definite appointment time tomorrow.

Great news! As Peg said, glad to hear things are moving forward!

quote:

I was borderline in my elevated levels

I meant to post about this last time, but I forgot. One thing that creates a LOT of angst in the thyroid community is that the labs set the standards for what is and is not hypothyroid (i.e., what is a "normal" level and what is hypo) and those standards change sometimes...as they did a couple of years ago. And not all doctors are up on those changes or agree with those changes.

So, while the threshold for hypo may have changed from D to B, for example, a lot of doctors will still not give you meds if your levels are B or C because they are either consciously or unconsciously still going by the old standard of what was hypo.

As I've stated before in regard to my own situation, I understand why many doctors are conservative when it comes to thyroid meds:
a) they raise your metabolism and can be very dangerous (to your heart) if overmedicated.
b) docs get used to being asked by patients to prescribe meds for weight loss, whether or not the patient is hypo, so they get an attitude about not wanting to prescribe meds unless the patient is clearly in the hypo zone on levels.

quote:

My doctor referred me to an endo, after reading a letter I dropped off this AM that basically said the same things as I was venting about on Thursday night. I should have a definite appointment time tomorrow.

Glad to hear you got things going in a positive direction! Hang in there!

Peg

My doctor referred me to an endo, after reading a letter I dropped off this AM that basically said the same things as I was venting about on Thursday night. I should have a definite appointment time tomorrow.

I was borderline in my elevated levels, and based on the extremely short time I had with her on Monday, she had no idea of the extent of the symptoms. I even added the comparison of 2 sets of cholesterol levels (this last set was higher than the first) to my letter and told her even my registered dietician was stumped as to why.

I feel better knowing that things are moving, albeit slowly, but hopefully there will be some relief before I have to decide what to do with my fall class schedule.