Annie - I agree completely about the airplane comments you made. Last week coming back from Ft Lauderdale I had a man sitting on me - it wasn't just that he also hadn't bathed - wow was I happy for fresh air and room to move even though I still take up my share.

Torister my fellow lab lover - you look fabbo (to steal a word from Rat's vocabulary).

Annie: I had an ultrasound at ER and it found nothing. Then I had a HIDA scan.T
hat is the dye one. That hurt bad when they put the CCk in. I felt like I was
going to vomit. That is how they knew my galbladder was bad. I think the CCk stuff
is only a few minutes long but when your in pain it seems forever. BUT that is what you
have to go through to find out what is wrong. ADORABLE puppy!

Torister: DEMAND to go to an endocrinologist. I have hypothyroidism and was diagnosed from
my regular Dr. SHe had me on Armour medication which comes from pigs. For 7 years my numbers
were ok but I had irregular periods, tired and finally I demanded that I get a referral.
A paramedic told me you need to be under their care because the thyroid can cause so
many problems. I went to an endo and will see her every 6 months for the rest of my life.
She explained so much to me about my throid and what the numbers mean. My period is now
one time.My endo Dr told me she wanted me on synthroid because if the pigs are having
problems, I get their problems. Who would have thought!

the airline comments..I dont fly because I am so large..
and well people have cooties LOL. If so many americans are overweight
the airlines need to make larger seats. They won't but they should.

As for me: Yesterday my oldest broke out in hives..hubby took him to the Dr today. She
prescribed a steroid. I think its from the acne medication he started a few weeks ago.
She told him it could be from anything. Poor kid has big whelps all over him. My youngest
burnt all the tips of his fingers getting a pizza out of the over. Suffered all day
yesterday with his ahnd in a bag of ice. So when I got home I told him you should have
called me at work. I put Neosporin on it and in 10 min he was fine. Then this morning
he wakes up and misses school because he is having "poop" problems again.
So I let him stay home. On the way to work he calls me and I could tell something was wrong.
He tells me that he has noticed BLOOD when he poops. UGH! I freak. Hubby took him to the
dr today too. She did tests. She thinks he is eating soemthing and it is causing bleeding.
It is not actually in his stool. She also told him to chew his food better.

I tell ya..rough week here. I have jury duty tomorrow. I have to call at 11am. I hope
I don't have to go..I am so NOT in the mood!

Oh don't worry...I will. I have been on Levothyroxine since the spring of 2007. I got blood drawn last Tuesday and still do not have my results. I called last Friday and you would think I wanted top secret information. I was told I would be called if something was abnormal, otherwise the results would be mailed to me. My doc will be getting a call as soon as I have them in hand and I will be getting that referral. I should have gotten a referral a year ago when I went in with the same complaints that I have now and was told "You know...you can't use thyroid meds like diet pills...." I weighed 330 lbs and I had nearly passed out at Macy's Christmas Eve. Well, she got an earful. I do NOT LIKE to go to the doctor...so the fact that I was there meant something. I told her I was getting 10-12 hours sleep a night...falling asleep sitting up before dinner, etc. etc. and she thought I wanted to use my thyroid meds to lose weight...HA! She picked the WRONG person to say that to! She called me from her home about 8 hours after my lab work was done. My levels had quadrupled in 4 months (meaning very LOW thyroid function) and was amazed that I could even function at the level they were at. Well, after I said "I guess I really wasn't looking for a diet boost, huh?" She apologized and she adjusted my meds. My level has been creeping up each time I have gone in for bloodwork...at the very HIGH end of normal. I am having the SAME symptoms as I did a year ago...and again...no response. Sooooooooo.......as soon as I have my results...I will be seeing an endo. I am tired of this crap. I am a person who needs only 6-7 hours of sleep a night and I wake up before the alarm! The only reason I am up now is to watch Westminster...and I took a nap! lol

We shall see what happens next!

Good for you Torister!!!!! I have heard that thyroid meds have been abused to loose weight. That is scary stuff! I am sure that is why I have been loosing good as well cause my levels are where they should be. I work in a lab and i love when the docs try to tell me how long bloodwork takes or what the levels are. LOL

Thyroid: Mine has been slowly declining the past 2 years or so. It is almost completely non-functional and I was diagnosed with having Hashimoto's Disease in January. I am almost at full replacement now of synthroid. I didn't even know I had all these weird things and it was my thyroid. I figured it went along with being so overweight. My new doctor is the one who diagnosed me. Now that my thyroid replacement is way up there, I am noticing how much more awake I am, and my skin isn't as dry, my hands don't fall asleep if I raise them above my waist and I can actually remember words (I swear I thought I was going senile at 36...). In 3 months I get my blood levels measured again to see if my thyroid is completely dead (And get the final highest replacement of synthroid available), or if my levels have evened out.

BabyDogs: OOH I wish that I could post pictures! Or links! Our dogs are our children (no interest in the 2 legged versions...) and adorable and spoiled rotten. I would love to post pics and gush over them. Post count is close, so maybe later in the week I'll be able to publicly fawn.

Planes: I hate flying Luckily, my hubby is rail thin, so I get to moosh onto him. I bought an extender seat belt that I bring with me. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't need it anymore (I've lost a pants size), but still... Funny this comes up this week as my favorite director / comedian Kevin Smith got kicked off a Southwest flight for being a safety issue with his size. I have been following his blog, and his twitter since the moment it happened, and also following the Southwest response: the company is being totally dishonest about the situation and very "size-ist". The short version is that he was kicked off for being fat, but he could buckle the belt, the arms went down, and the ladies next to him stated they were both fine. The airline is just spewing out the company line that he didn't safely fit, even though their definition of safely fitting is arms down and belt buckled. It's really ugly and I am boycotting the company just based on their refusal to put the truth out there instead of just the "spin" they put on the whole thing. Just ugly.

HA! That sounds like ME...senile at 45 YO. I will be talking and then lose my words! Yikes. Scarey for someone who is out working with the public! Can I ask what level of synthroid you are at? I didn't know they had a "highest dose". I called my doc today and she is on vacation and I won't get my results until MONDAY unless I *HAVE* to have them they will have a Nurse practitioner call me. I was like Gee...I have felt like garbage since December...I sure would like to know what my lab results are. So sorry to inconvenience you all.

I am researching endos in my area who take my insurance and I am just going to say..."I want a referral to Dr. _____. We are at a point where I no longer feel my symptoms are being taken seriously by you and I want to go to a specialist". I can't take feeling like I am 70 years old anymore.

She just upped me to 125mcg and, in her words, "this is almost a total replacement of thyroid". I guess that your body naturally is supposed to produce X amount of thyroid hormone, and mine is producing almost none, by her statement.

In 2005, I had Doctor A that stated my levels were "a little low" and I was put on 10mcg (I think?) but then another health problem requiring surgery popped up and I went off of the synthroid. Then in 2007 I got Doctor B who put me back on and every 6 months it was upped by 25mcg or so until I was at 100mcg and she never tested again and said something like "I'm sure it's fine" ... at which point I changed doctors as that didn't sit well with me (other reasons too, but this was the last straw) and now Doctor C is awesome, upped me to 125mcg, and I get retested in 3 months.

It is a world of difference. I think. I've changed the way I eat at the same time I got my new dosage, and have lost the 36 pounds since. But I really think it is the thyroid; the problems I was having are just to specific to the disorder.

That is the level of Levothyroxine that I am taking.....

Same level as mine. I was on 150 mcg for a while and the levels went a little too low. That can cause osteoporosis.

Hugs,
Ratkity

Really? I had no idea! Interesting stuff. Oh well. I will post more when I get some results. I feel like I am whining...and I am *SO* not a whiner. lol

Have a great night!

It's not whining! The whole point of this forum is support for each other; that is what we are here for!

ok I am at 112mcg. I wasnt told there was a top lol. That is interesting..so what happens when you get to the "top" and it isn't working?

For all you hypothyroid peeps,

There is an average daily amount of the drug: this is from rxlist.com (best link for medicine pharmacology, dosages, etc).

"The average full replacement dose of levothyroxine sodium is approximately 1.7 mcg/kg/day (e.g., 100-125 mcg/day for a 70 kg adult). Older patients may require less than 1 mcg/kg/day. Levothyroxine sodium doses greater than 200 mcg/day are seldom required. An inadequate response to daily doses .300 mcg/day is rare and may indicate poor compliance, malabsorption, and/or drug interactions."

The drug sheet and my doc recommend taking it on an empty stomach early in the morning.

Hugs,
Ratkity

My husband takes 175 of thyroid. His meds pretty much kill the thyroid, and he's a really big guy. He's the only person I have ever met that has called me a shrimp.

Himself is legend around here!

Are you guys still snowbound up there?

Hugs,
Ratkity