Ready for some Vanilla crap?

My thyroid is whacked.

Sure, we already knew that.  But after almost four months of taking the levothyroxin my numbers still suck.

My T3 and T4 (for those who know what this stuff means) are pretty much okay.  But my TSH is 14.8 (the "normal" being considered below 5 for most labs, the "optimal" being below 3 for most folks with thyroid problems) and my thyroid antibodies?  Ahem.  They’re in the ten thousands when they’re supposed to be less than 60.

Ain’t life grand?

On top of that I’m severely deficient in Vitamin D so is it any wonder, at all, that I’m freakin’ exhausted all the time?

Here’s a "Long and Pathetic List of Hypothyroid Symptoms" from stopthethyroidmadness.com.  And here’s an overview of hypothyroidism from endocrineweb.com.  But, basically?  Here’s the short list:

If you have fatigue, weight gain, low motivation and ambition, heat and/or cold intolerance, headaches and migraines, dry skin and hair, irritability, anxiety and panic attacks, hair loss, fluid retention, depression, decreased memory and concentration, unhealthy nails, brittle nails, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, low sex drive, lack of vaginal secretions,  insomnia, hives, asthma, allergies, slow healing, acne, or carpal tunnel syndrome, you may have a thyroid disorder.

Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?  And I have pretty much all those symptoms and more.  (Luckily, vain as I am about it, my hair hasn’t been effected much.  It’s dry but fixable with product and it’s not falling out.  Thank god.  I really am fucking vain about my stupid hair!)  No wonder I’ve taken to doing lube reviews lately, eh?

The good news is that nearly all my "female" issues – other than low libido and vaginal dryness – were cleared up by the ablation procedure.  I have my six month pap in March but at least most of those complaints/pains are gone.  It’s nice to have a few less problems to deal with.

The doc did change my thyroid med when I saw her yesterday.  She put me on a natural thyroid pill called Armour that seems to get good results.  She’s also put me on some high dose vitamin D and a high dose fish oil cholesterol pill – since thyroid issues also cause your cholesterol to go all out of whack. 

I tell ya, I cannot WAIT for this to resolve itself.  Did I mention I’ve gained twelve – yes, TWELVE – pounds since September?  That was actually the docs biggest clue that the old thyroid pill wasn’t working.  I simply don’t eat enough calories to gain that much weight in that short of time without the thyroid stuff being the reason.

So.  That’s my vanilla blandness for the day.  If you weren’t one of the folks who wanted to be updated…  ignore it.  If you were…  there ya go.  An update.

I"m off to walk my fat ass to Walgreens to pick up some of these prescriptions.