It figures.

Jul 1, 2009 at 9:42 PM
25 comments

Every Clinical Laboratory Science student I've talked to has, at some point in their schooling, diagnosed either themselves or someone around them with some kind of rare and crazy disease that they've read about. Many disorders present with the same nonspecific symptoms: fatigue, lethargy, headache, malaise, etc. Show me one person - a student especially - who's not worn out and prone to the occasional headache!

So as a CLS student, it was with a very weird sort of delight that I discovered that I actually do have a disorder. But here's the thing: my disorder is in MY WORST SUBJECT!

Chemistry.

Ugh.

I went to the doctor the other day, thinking that I was messed up from my trip down the steps on my butt a couple of weeks ago, and in the process made a comment about being very tired lately. I've been anemic before, and thought it was happening again. Well, as it turns out, my hemoglobin (iron) is fine.....but my thyroid is messed up!

Dang hormones! I never understood them in the first place.

I guess I will go read up on thyroid function now. That will be one section of the board exam that I'll be sure to pass.

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Fatigue, lethargy, malaise? That sounds like everyone I know. I call it "having to work for a living."

I know! I'd have thought nothing of it if not for the fact that I'd tried to donate blood once and my hemoglobin was way low. Thyroid was nowhere on my radar.

I'm glad they've figured out what's wrong and can fix it, though :)

I'm bummed that it's going to take a few weeks to know if it's working. I wanted that magic pill effect! :) No really, I'm thrilled that something is going to help me feel less bleh.

I would love magic pills. :)

Glad you found out what's going on. I bet once the medicine starts working, you'll really notice a difference.

I so need to have my blood checked, but I've procrastinated on doing it for quite a few years...guess I'm afraid of what they might find! :)

Dude! Nathan doesn't have a thyroid. I've been dealing with it for years (watching his weight, his skin, his growth, his hair, all for signed that his medication isn't working right). Welcome to the club! :D

A plus? If they put you on synthroid, you should loose weight without even trying! Oh, and if they do..don't use the generic stuff, get the name brand. There have been problems associated with generic. It's been a while since I've done any research (We've been dealing with it since he was like two days old.) so I can't put my hands on it right now but even his endoconoligest says go named brand. Not that you've gotta listen to me or anything, I'm not a doctor. I just play one on TV!

Oh, and can I tell you..I'm really glad DeWitte didn't got into any kind of medical field. He didn't think he was peeing enough a couple weeks ago (it was like 100' out and he was sweating like a crazy man!) and desided, by the end of the day, his kidneys must have stopped working. Imagine him wih access to rare diseases! Yet still, not as bad as when he had endometriosis.

I promise to never let DeWitte borrow any of my textbooks.

Thanks for the tip about the generic. I am on Synthroid but told them to just give me the generic, because it's always way cheaper. Interesting! When I go to refill I'll have to be sure to ask for the name brand stuff.

When I told my mom about this, she said my grandpa had had hyperthyroidism when he was about my age and had lost all kinds of weight. I told her that in that case, maybe I should take double the dose prescribed. (I was joking, of course.) So when I got the meds the first thing it said was DO NOT TAKE THIS MEDICATION FOR WEIGHT LOSS. I had to laugh. But hey, it would be a welcome side effect!

[this is good]

Endocrinology blows.

My BIL's German Shorthair is on that stuff... or something similar. She went from being lethargic and ready to be put to sleep back into a hunting machine. So here's to hoping you turn into a hunting machine.

Oh, Mello, if only Synthroid really did make you lose weight like that. I was so hoping that would happen when my thyroid came out last year and I started on the pills, but no. My endocrinologist insists on brand, too, not the generic. I get my bloodwork done q 6 mos, wouldn't mind being a little hyperthyroid in hopes of shedding some weight but the doc isn't buying it--eat your vegetables, she says. I feel so much better in general although when I'm done, I'm done; there's no reserve there. Maybe your problem is transient, like Oprah's!

I could work with that.

And sucks.

I'm not holding out lots of hope for weight loss, but I'm hoping a little! I really just want to feel good again.

I hadn't heard anything about Oprah - I'll have to go read up.

I lost about 15 lbs, so you may lose a little. I was hoping for that magical wake up 50 lbs thinner effect! Thyroid hormone controls so much that goes on. You'll feel better, it just takes awhile to find the right dosage, which can be frustrating. My vitamin D was off, too, you may want to have that checked. Generally I feel way better at 52 than I ever did in my 40's, now I know why.

10-15 lbs would be just about perfect for me. I had done some reading and noticed that my doc started me out on what seems to be a pretty low dose based on my size. I'm getting checked again at the end of August so hopefully it'll be a quick adjustment to get me on the right amount.

my dosages went low, high, and then backed off to somewhere in the middle and that's keeping my TSH at a normal level; it took almost a year after the thyroidectomy to get it settled. Did they do an ultrasound or is this all bloodwork diagnosis? I had a multinodular goiter (benign) that was found by accident--I was referred to the endocrinologist because my cortisol level was off, and she felt my neck and said, "did you know you have a thyroid node? Let's do a biopsy."

So far all I have is a high TSH (16.8). I had the bloodwork done after I saw my doctor so he just sent over a prescription and I haven't seen him since. I suppose he'll feel around my neck when I go back.

good luck, keep us posted. in the meantime, just pace yourself (hard with work and kids etc), naps are always good!

Thanks!

hormones are crazy things!!! i've been struggling with mine for a while now...

Hey, Mello,
I found this from Dr. Oz re: generic vs name brand, thought you might be interested since there was a question:
Q. Are generic drugs really the same as brand-name products? I've started taking the generic drug for Effexor, but I think the brand-name pill worked much better.

A. Generics are mostly the same. The FDA requires them to contain the identical drug and have the same quality, purity and strength as the brand-name product.

But there is some wiggle room within these regulations that may affect how the drug works in you. For example, the amount of generic drug that gets into your blood after you take it—called bioavailability—must be within 20 percent of the branded drug. That means if 100 percent of a brand-name drug gets absorbed into your blood, maybe only 80 percent of the generic gets in. In addition, generics can contain up to 7 percent above or below the dose stated on the prescription (so instead of 100 milligrams, you might be getting only 93). Further, the inert ingredients and the formulation (meaning, what else is in there to make it into a pill or tablet) may change in the generic form, and this can alter your absorption of the drug too. Together, all these factors could add up and lower (or raise!) the drug's effect on you. But most don't.

That said, some generics do not perform as well in treating the symptoms of a disease as the branded drug does. Thyroid medication seems to be particularly prone to this not-as-good-as-brand-name effect. But for the vast majority of patients and drugs, generics are equally effective—and they're less expensive.

hope things are going well...

Thank you! I had heard some of that before but not all of it. Interesting that he specifically mentioned thyroid meds too. I got the generic on this prescription but will be refilling with the brand name when the time comes.

I had known some of the inert ingredients could affect absorption, but I didn't realize the percentages were so large. I think the reason thyroid meds are so affected is that just a small difference in a hormone level can make a big difference clinically; we're dealing with micrograms there, not milligrams. I noticed that I really felt the change when I went from 175mcg down to 150mcg--that's only a 0.025mg drop, but wow, I had a week of hot flashes until I adjusted. Hormones are so touchy!

Just makes the human body all the more amazing, huh?

It figures.

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