Catching up, part two

I just read my first post and thought it seemed a bit flat. I'm sure I can do better if I put my mind to it. I recall that I promised to write my opinion of the medical profession, but that might not be such a great idea. Probably it will come out anyway, but let's not push it.

A complicating factor in my treatment is that I have a thyroid disorder which requires me to take thyroid replacement. My thyroid went out of control three or four years ago and I was diagnosed with Graves' Disease and treated by having my thyroid zapped with radioactive iodine (I'm not convinced that I have Graves' Disease, but that's a long story for a different day). So my thyroid is now not fully functional. Anyway, just before I started the Interferon I noticed some symptoms of hypothyroidism, but when I went to the doctor and had labs done, he told me my levels were normal. I knew they weren't, but he insisted. Naturally. Why would he listen to the patient? I told him that my jaw muscles swelled every time I ate, making me look like a hamster, and I knew that was from hypothyroidism because the only other time that's ever happened was just before I started the thyroid replacement. Other symptoms were tension, muscle fatigue, anxiety, tingling in my hands and feet, deafness and brain-fog. I sat in his office and said, "Do I have to do my hamster impression? I will. I brought some gum on purpose to show you." But he said the hamster cheeks weren't a recognized symptom of hypothyroidism and they must be caused by something else. Back and forth we went, with my having to go get poked at the lab every two weeks until Dr. G. finally coughed up a prescription for 100 mcg of thyroid.

After about three days on 100 mcg (up from 88 mcg) I knew it was too much. I was stumped. If raising my dosage didn't help, what could I do about my symptoms? In despair, I hauled out The Hypothyroid Sourcebook, by M. Sara Rosenthal, and in about five minutes I had my answer. Apparently there are some people who need T3 treatment in addition to the usual T4 that I was taking. I went back and looked at all of my labs from the previous couple of months and noticed that my T3 was consistently low. It was in the normal range, but just barely. What pissed me off was that Dr. G. could easily have found this information. He's not an endocrinologist, but he knows at least one, and no doubt he has resources at his disposal. Had he believed me that my symptoms were caused by hypothyroidism, he might have done the research I did and learned what I learned.

I left Dr. G. alone and had Dr. H. write me a referral to Dr. W., my endocrinologist. During our consultation he informed me that hamster cheeks aren't a recognized symptom of hypothyroidism. I'm really getting tired of hearing that. Do they think I'm lying? I'm sure I'm not the only person who has that symptom, but I might be one of the few who has noticed it. For one thing, how often do we look in the mirror when we're chewing? But also, I have a heavy, muscular jaw, so the hamstering effect is very noticeable. I just happened to catch a glimpse of it in a mirror one day after I'd eaten some nuts, and it scared me. I thought my face was deformed, but then I noticed that the swelling went down within a few minutes. But I digress...

Dr. W., bless him, was willing to write me a prescription for T3, even though he said that T3 levels weren't a reliable guide unless they were high because they fluctuate a great deal under all circumstances. What clinched it for him was the anxiety I talked about, the deafness, and a slight tremor in my hand, which I'd only noticed that morning. He wrote it for 5 mcg, which is the smallest dose they make, and told me to take half a tablet every day for four days. If the tremor was still there and/or the anxiety was worse, I was to go up to a full tablet every day. I've now been on a full tablet for two days and am only just starting to notice some improvement. My cheeks are still hamstering, but not as much, and my muscles work a bit better than they did three days ago. The anxiety got worse on 2.5 mcg and is now easing up.

Why did I just write all of that detail? I suppose because this hypothyroid business has made the Interferon treatment just that much harder. The anxiety in particular was difficult. I had to quit drinking coffee. I was having panic attacks, which I haven't had in years, because the anxiety was caused by the tension, which simply would not go away, no matter what I did. I emailed my massage therapist friend and said, "I need a pity massage." He obliged, and I had one good night but the tension was even worse the next day. I thought I might die of anxiety. And that night I had to do my shot, which always causes a bit of anxiety anyway.

I hate being patronized by the medical profession. Why is it that so many doctors assume that their patients are ignorant morons? Yes, that's a sweeping generalization, and I know several doctors who aren't like that at all. But Dr. G. put my back up. He gets paid a lot of money to be my doctor, so why did I have to do my own research?

Happily for me, during all of this I was able to lean on Judy, the nurse practitioner who is overseeing my Interferon treatment. She is one of the kindest people I've ever met. She has given me lots of useful information about dealing with the treatment and lists of herbs that might help with sleeplessness and hair loss and so forth. She even gave me her home phone number, in case I had a question after hours. So I'm not completely down on the medical profession. Just certain aspects of it. I got spoiled by Dr. J. who was my primary care physician until she moved away and was replaced by Dr. G. It was a wrench to lose her because she was such a good doctor. She was the one who discovered that I had Hep C. I'd been tested in treatment and the result was negative, so I thought I'd escaped. But eight years later Dr. J. suggested that I have a test, just to be sure. So there are good doctors, and there's no reason why I have to put up with Dr. G. any longer. I plan to request a different primary care physician the next time I make an appointment.

I'm not sure I'm all caught up, but I'll leave it at that. Possibly more backstory will be required at a later date, but for now I think I'll just stick to the present. I intend to write one post a week, but I'm such a compulsive journalist that it might end up being more than that. In fact, it might end up being about a lot more than Interferon and Hepatitis C. A self-involved woman with a blog is a scary proposition.