Hearing "you're smart you should know better" left me feeling dumb.
Gosh it seems like ages ago now.
Mostly because I avoid thinking about it much. I fired my endocrinologist a few years ago and assume my follow up diagnosis is still clear.
There is just one problem with doing that...when I went in yesterday to my old endocrinologist he recognized me, then proceeded to ask where I'd been and then ripped me a new one for knowing better than to let my levels get out of control.
I was there at the demand of my OB/GYN.
On my most recent labs testing my thyroid levels I was cruising an 85. That is way out of whack for anyone.
Meaning I am severely Hypothyroid.
(See pictures of poster listing symptoms of hypothyroidism)
Normal TSH levels range from (0.5-5.0) .
Someone post cancer is supposed to be at a suppressed level below (0.1-0.5) and chemically kept at a borderline normal to hyperactive level.
An underactive thyroid is called hypothyroid. The higher the # on your TSH level the more Hypothyroid you are.
Potentially giving you more of those symptoms listed. The most common being fatigue . I get stupid and slow when i'm hypo. And need to sleep all day.
Add that to being pregnant. It's a BAD combo.
The hubs has been bugging me for a long while asking if I'd been taking my meds. The answer was YES! I'd even doubled my dose knowing from last time the need for more thyroid meds goes up during pregnancy.
Now here is the kicker. At some point (november) somehow the wrong dose got ordered for me and put on autofill at the pharmacy.
I thought I was still taking 250 mg of thyroid hormone. And doubling it.
I found out yesterday I'd only been taking a negligible amount
of 25 mcg doubled which means I was taking a whopping 50 micrograms of thyroid meds which is Nothing!
No wonder I feel like crap! No wonder I have no energy! No wonder the Endo ripped me a new one! Not to mention the "I told you so from the hubs".
Sadly I have no one to blame but myself!
I should have gone to the Endo in the beginning of the pregnancy for him to monitor my levels and my meds like my OB wanted.
I should have noticed the change in my dose.
I should have known better.
Ugh.
Now it's a mad rush to get it under control before I deliver.
Now I have to go to the lab every week.
Now I have to go see the Endo I hugely dislike weekly too.
Now he's going to go back to talking to me like i'm an idiot having proven myself to be one for not noticing I was taking the wrong dose.
Now my history of thyroid cancer is coming back to haunt me and I have to get some follow up tests i've been avoiding.
Brightside? Now I might get my levels under control and I might have some energy again.
And ideally i'll start losing weight.
The muscle fatigue will go away.
The slow reflexes will get better.
And the dimwittedness will fade.
Moral of the story?
Know your dose.
Stay on top of follow up.
Be your own advocate and quit ignoring the problem.
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15 comments:
Oh Julie. I'm sorry this has happened to you. Hope you get to feeling A LOT better soon. Thanks for sharing the symptoms too. I had no idea what they were. Take care of you!
Blame in on pregnancy brain. Any woman who is pregnant is not at her regular mental self. Hopefully you will be feeling a bit better soon.
Well it's not like you haven't had a ton of things going on and stresses in your life. Don't be too hard on yourself.
85?!!!! That's insane! How do you get out of bed in the morning?!? I am glad you are getting it taken care of. You poor pregnant person, it is going to take a good 6 weeks to feel back to "normal" as it is, and then to deliver a baby too. I am just shaking my head. Any thing I can do to help? I can come and get Pearce and bring him him to my house to play for a day or two.
I'm just glad you are getting it figured out now and not when you are delivering! Sorry you have to go to a doc you don't like. NOT fun!
That is sooooo sucky! i had a thyroid issue before i had my oldest and to have to deal with it as ong as you have is just sucky! well at least you know your body well enough to know when its out of whack! on another random note how do you have such cute writing on your blog?? i want some!
Eeek! Hope you get feeling better soon! and it isn't like you've had a lot on your plate recently.....and we moms always put ourselves last.
Yikes! Glad you realized DeNile isn't just a river! It's hard to deal with stuff like that but I hope you get back to normal as quickly as possible. Scary stuff!
oh wow...well at least you are on the right track now...better sooner than later but you can't change that now.
Excellent advice. I hope you fell better before the little one arrives. You can always blame all of this on the dimwittedness... it's just one viscous circle.
I'm so sorry! I hope they can get everything back where it needs to be. Will keep you in my prayers.
Being hypothyroid myself -- and now pregnant -- I think we get used to feeling a little foggy and off all the time. I hope you feel better soon. Don't be too hard on yourself. You have enough going on without feeling bad about a mistake. (Found you through Blogher and glad I did.)
Well, there is the irony. Lack of meds makes you fatigued which does impair your thinking which makes it much harder to notice your meds are messed up. It's a vicious circle!
As the king of beating the crap out of myself for every stupid boo boo, I hereby give you permission to forgive your self and move on.
ugh. doesn't sound fun. hope you can get your levels back to where they need to be soon!
miss you.
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