Thyroid Drugs - Page 6

[doulajewla]

Zoloft is safest, ive researched that, thanks. Zoloft is THE safest one while breastfeeding, but I wont be taking it due to weight gain. Any others are LESS safe than zoloft

[doulajewla]

I am going to the same endo this week---only because i cant get in anywhere else. BUT , I do have an appt at Dartmouth, the really really good hospital in NH but they cant take me until the end of September. And this wednesday im going to a naturopath just to see what alternatives there are to meds because im afraid after the inderal incident.....where i couldnt breathe because im an asthmatic and not supposed to take that. im so scared of everything else. I just dont get what he did with the stupid labs! Why arent they in order? why didnt he do FT4, FT3 at the same time? I dont get it. I am still having horrible symptoms and its just really hard for me, and has been for 3 1/2 years now, ive been telling every doctor ive had that i have something wrong with my thyroid and no one believed me till now...the reason why I had them run my labs in June is because im sick of feeling like this, and i am starting to think its getting worse, not better! Finally they ran the tests and sure enough, here i am. So yeah, finding a new endo is easier said than done right now, since alot of endos are booked in VT. I never knew they were so popular lol!

[Pynki]

I declined the radio-active iodine test because YOU MUST WEAN for it. It's radioactive iodine IN YOUR BODY and THROUGH YOUR SYSTEM! YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN'T HAVE THAT TEST DONE AND BREASTFEED!

Just so you know.

Originally Posted by KirstenMary

You can always pump and dump.

Actually, you can't.
http://www.endocrinologist.com/Radioactive.html

Precautions

Some precautions are necessary because of the small amount of radiation that emanates from the neck where the RAI is stored for a few days after treatment. While this radiation is beneficial for the person being treated, precautions are needed to reduce the radiation families and friends are exposed to.

1. Avoid prolonged contact with others, especially children and pregnant women.

In general, a distance of one arm's length should be maintained between the person treated and others who spend more than two hours next to the patient in any 24 hour period. This applies especially to children and pregnant women. While brief contact with a person after treatment is acceptable, sleeping together, watching television, going to movies, long care or plane trips should be avoided for approximately 11 days after the treatment.

Sharing food and utensils, including glasses, bottles, cans of soda, water, beer, etc., should also be avoided. For example, when the treated person is eating an ice cream cone, it should not be licked by anyone else. Dishes and eating utensils should be rinsed before being put with those of the rest of the family. Paper plates and plastic utensils should only be used if they are immediately disposed of outside the home. Cooking is fine, as long as the utensil used to taste the food while cooking is not re-used before rinsing.

2. Drink lots of liquids, void often, and flush twice.

The treated person should drinks lots of liquids, especially water, to help remove the RAI from the system, flush the toilet twice after using it, and be sure to thoroughly clean up any spilled urine. Laundry need not be washed separately unless the treated person has sweated heavily, such as after exercise.

3. No pregnancy or breast-feeding.

It is extremely important that women who are breast-feeding stop before the RAI is given, since iodine is concentrated and excreted in breast milk.

Pregnant women should not be treated with RAI, and pregnancy should be avoided for six months following treatment.

[doulajewla]

I never knew all that...my endo said if I ever needed RAI then i could just pump and dump for a month. I would not ever do it anyway, i could not stop breastfeeding even for a month without some serious depression issues. id never go on RAI right now. I am glad i dont have to right now....but in the future...i dont know now since im a postpartum doula and i wouldnt be able to handle the babies...so i doubt RAI would ever be for me.

[doulajewla]

Saw the Endo today

So I saw the endo today. This appt went better, although im very upset. We went over everything. I felt like he was rushing me, so when he kept talking fast I would repeat everything he said so I got it all. My TSH was undectable in June...now its .28 which is coming up to normal...he thinks that IF this is PPT then the thyroiditis is resoliving itself and my levels are coming back up to normal and I should be fine. BUT, ive had symptoms for 3 1/2 years. He literally told me, "I have no diagnosis for you, and I know its terrible because you're feeling lousy and what can we do?" I said yeah, i cant keep going like this. He said 3 months we will do more bloods to see if i stay the same or dip down or go sky high. He felt my thyroid and said he still feels the heterogenity there, and that could be from the PPT *OR* i have an underlying autoimmune disorder that is separate from the PPT. We wont know for sure yet though. He said for the rest of my life though, once a year get my levels checked out since i have that heterogenity and thyroiditis. We just dont know what from yet. Am I going up and down i asked him...good question he said, and we will do more bloods in a few months to find out. He said to go to Dartmouth (big hospital around here) and see an internist to see what else it could be if this is not thyroid related.

This is all good and fine....he was thorough and very nice and liked that i asked questions. He also told me NO KELP that dr was wrong. So i am NOT going back to that naturopath. He said absolutely no kelp, it quite possibly would make this whole thing worse. So where does that leave me....confused and angry over the symptoms I do have. Knowing this, I do know from this board that it does take time to feel better after our levels come back to what is normal for us....so i wait another 3 months and if im still nuts then we find out more bloods...and if that shows nothing, then I am going to jump in a lake lol. I just need to get better...and no one has any answers yet...he said he wished he did. He also said no to the calcium channel blocker because if thyroid isnt causing my heart to race something else like anxiety (independant of hyperthyroid) is. Well, where does that leave me? I dont know. .gif:

[Pynki]

Kelp is good for hyPOthyroidism. NOT HYPER!! EGAD! If you've been taking Kelp it could very well have been making it worse!

[doulajewla]

Ive only been taking the kelp since yesterday LOL. I knew i wasnt supposed to, but the doc was like "yeah its a common misconception, its fine to take." So i figured, ok one or two doses until i see my endo shouldnt be bad. But i was more irritable i found. And my endo was like NO NO NO lol, and i said, I KNEW it was bad, but i am desperate for an answer so i tried it, that other doc said it was ok. I think ill just doctor myself like i was doing before all this hyperthyroid stuff started and do what i think is best. No kelp, and some good calming herbs for now. Too afraid to take the calcium channel blocker.